Has anyone ever written anything
For you?
And in your darkest hour
Have you ever
Heard me sing?
Listen to me now
You know I’d rather
Be alone
Than be without you
Don’t you know …
-Stevie Nicks, “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You”
Iris jumping on her bed roused Taryn from her slumber.
“Hey, mom!”
“Hey, kid.”
“What time did you get home last night?”
“Why, do I have a curfew I was unaware of?”
“Just curious. Are we going to brunch with UncleCam and Uncle Gregor?”
“Why don’t you go call them and find out?”
“Okay.”
Iris loved to use the telephone, probably because she loved to talk so much. She flew from the bed and ran top speed to the phone in the hallway.
Taryn ground the sleep from her eyes, sat up and tried to remember what had transpired the evening before.
Oh, yes, she thought. I’m mad at Gregor, Cam’s totally confused and Isaac is going back to Tulsa and I may never see him again.
Taryn collapsed back against her pillows. Today was not going to be an easy day to get through. Being mad at Gregor was exhausting enough all on its own, and now she had these other things to deal with, too.
“Mom, pick up your extension!” Iris yelled from the hallway. Taryn picked up the receiver of the princess phone on her nightstand.
“Yes?”
“Are we still talking?” Gregor asked cautiously.
“I don’t know, Gregor. That depends on whether or not you can come up with a good excuse for what you tried to do.”
“Honest, Taryn, I was there for your sake.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, when an 18-year-old boy announces that he’s taking out my 28-year-old best friend and needs help, I naturally assume things.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t know. That you were either doing it because you’re just too nice, or maybe you’re one of those cutthroat reporter types who will do anything for an exclusive.”
“Gregor, you’ve known me long enough to know that I’m neither of those things.”
“Plus I wanted to be there to bail you out in case things weren’t going so well.”
“Things were going fine. Things went fine all night.”
There was a slight pause.
“Taryn, he’s 18. What’s going on here?”
“I don’t know,” Taryn admitted. “I like him. He’s sweet and classy.”
“He’s 18,” Gregor reiterated.
“I realize that.”
“He also lives in Oklahoma.”
“I realize that, too.”
“Do you want to go have brunch and talk about this later?”
“Okay. Harvey’s at 11 o’clock?”
“Fine. I'll call Cameron. You need him to come pick you up?”
"Yes. I'll see you then."
Taryn hung up the phone, and Iris reappeared.
“So, who did you go out with last night?” Iris asked nonchalantly.
“Do you want me to tell you the truth?”
Iris looked confused. “No, lie to me.”
“Smart aleck.”
“Of course I want you to tell me the truth.”
“Isaac Hanson.”
Iris began to giggle. “Real funny, Mom.”
Taryn looked pointedly at her daughter, into the black-brown eyes that she had given her. “I’m serious.”
Taryn’s words hung in the air for a moment.
“Mom, he’s 18.”
“That’s the rumor.”
Iris thought for a moment about this quite unexpected turn of events, twirling a strand of golden brown hair around her finger. “Where did you meet him?” she finally asked.
“I did a story on Hanson for the magazine.”
Iris’ curiosity was instantly piqued. “Did you meet Zac?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” Iris squealed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were doing that story?”
“Because I thought you might flip out or something crazy like that,” Taryn said with a laugh.
“What are they like?”
“Nice. Very nice guys.”
“So, this thing with you and Isaac … was it like a date date?”
“Yes.”
“Man, Mom, that’s something.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Are you going out again? Will I ever get to meet him?”
“Well, sweetie, that’s all up in the air right now. I know we’d like to get together again, but he lives in Tulsa and we live in New York. It could be really hard.”
“If I had the chance to date Zac, I’d move to Tulsa,” Iris said with a dreamy look in her eyes.
“Yeah, following men around the country has served us so well in the past,” Taryn said flatly.
Iris frowned. “Riley was a jerk, mom.”
“Yes he was. Anyway, sitting here, we’re not getting dressed for brunch, are we?”
“No. Hey, Mom … is this going to be one of those secrets we have to keep from Gram for a little while?”
“You got it.”
“Okay. I’m going to go get dressed.”
Iris got off the bed and padded to her mother’s bedroom door. She turned to look at Taryn.
“Mom, if you like him I think that’s great.”
“I do like him.”
The Mathews women smiled at each other and went their separate ways to dress for brunch.
