Not a word was
spoke between us
There was little
Risk involved
Everything
Up to that point
Had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place
Where it's always safe and warm
Come in she said
I'll give you
Shelter from the storm …
-Bob Dylan, “Shelter From the Storm”
The Hansons took their out of town guests to their
favorite pizza place in Tulsa. Melissa handled meeting Zac and Taylor quite well, although she did find herself a bit tongue-tied whenever Taylor spoke to her.
When she expressed to Iris her fear that Taylor would think she was a “dork,” Iris quelled her uneasiness.
“He’s too nice to think that,” she assured Melissa. “Trust me, it gets easier.”
After dinner, Zac and Taylor offered to watch the girls back at the motel so that Isaac and Taryn could have some alone time. They chose to go for a walk in a nearby park. The sun was just going down, and as they walked hand in hand Taryn admired the sunset.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said.
“We like it,” Isaac replied.
“So, how are you feeling about tomorrow?” Taryn asked.
“Pretty good,” Isaac said. “I think it’ll be okay.”
“What goes on at these New Year’s shindigs at Casa deHanson?”
“Mostly just a lot of music and kids running around,” Isaac said with a smile. “It’s not going to be nearly as fancy as the party you took me to, but I think you’ll have a good time.”
“I’m really nervous about meeting your parents, Isaac. I don’t want them to think that I’m some sicko who runs around prowling for teenage boys.”
“Okay, number one, I’m not a boy. And number two, no one thinks that you went out looking to snag me.”
“You’re a boy in the eyes of your parents, and you will be till you’re 80,” Taryn said. “I’m just trying to see the situation through their eyes.”
“Don’t borrow trouble,” Isaac advised. “My parents will be cool with it, once they see how happy we are together.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
Isaac put his arm around Taryn’s shoulders, and they walked for a while in happy silence.
“Have you ever thought about doing something about this distance thing?” Isaac asked suddenly.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you write … you could pretty much do that anywhere, couldn’t you?”
Taryn stopped walking and turned to face Isaac.
“Isaac, you’re getting way ahead of the game here,” she said gently. “I’m not moving, at least not anytime soon. We’re way too new. I realize that you’re not Riley and that I can’t punish you for the things he did, but you have to understand that relocating is not even in my realm of consciousness at the moment. Not for anyone. I can’t do it to Iris again.”
Isaac tucked a strand of curly hair behind his ear.
“I know it seems like we’re moving fast,” he said. “But I just can’t help myself. I want to be with you.”
Taryn smiled. “Sweetie, if it’s meant to happen, it will. And it doesn’t matter if you’re at the North Pole and I’m at the South Pole, if we’re supposed to be together, we will be. But let’s not rush ourselves and ruin it. It’s been pretty perfect so far.”
Isaac hugged Taryn long and hard.
“I love you. You know that,” he said.
“Yes, I know that.”
“I’m sorry I get excited. I just think about you leaving again, and I hate it.”
“It’s not my favorite thing, either.”
Taryn stood on her tiptoes and kissed the tip of Isaac’s nose.
“Remember what you said to me on our first real date?” she asked.
Isaac raised his eyebrows. “Um, which thing?”
Taryn smiled. “You said that we’d never be apart for very long ever again in our lives, that somehow we’d always be together,” she said. “I believed that then, and I believe it now. You told me to hang onto that, and that’s what I do.”
Isaac nodded. “Pretty good advice from a young kid.”
Isaac and Taryn started walking again.
“But you know what,” Isaac said.
“What?”
“I’m glad we’re not apart now. It’ll be nice to have someone to kiss at midnight. Taylor worked as a substitute dance partner, but I can’t imagine he’d be much good at kissing.”
Taryn cracked up. Happy New Year to me, she thought.
