Baby
I compare you to a kiss from a rose
On the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you
Stranger it feels, yeah
And now that your rose
Is in bloom
A light hits the gloom
On the grey…
-Seal, “Kiss from a Rose”
Taryn and Isaac scarcely moved from their places on
the deck for the remainder of the afternoon.
They finally decided to walk down to the water and tell the younger people in their group that it was time to get out and think about eating something. It was beginning to get dark.
Taylor, Zac, Iris and Melissa scrambled out of the water and grabbed their towels. They went racing toward the condo, shouting about who was going to get into the bathroom first. Taryn and Isaac followed slowly, hand in hand.
“The sunset is beautiful,” Isaac observed. “What a great day.”
Taryn nodded. “Absolutely perfect,” she agreed. “Oh, hey, by the way … how are you with a grill?”
Isaac grinned. “Well, I don’t have much experience myself, but I have watched my dad do it quite a lot.”
“You should be fine, then. Maybe we’ll start out with something simple like hotdogs before we move you up to hamburgers.”
Isaac chuckled. “That’s probably not a bad idea,” he admitted.
Taryn and Isaac went inside, and Taryn went to survey the contents of the refrigerator while Isaac pulled up one of the stools on the other side of the white tile bar.
“I went shopping before we came,” Taryn said. “I wasn’t sure what everyone liked, so I just got little bits and pieces of lots of different things.”
“We’re not real fussy,” Isaac said. “We’ve eaten enough airplane food to appreciate a home-cooked meal, no matter what it is.”
Taryn found two packages of hotdogs, and set them on the counter. She then rifled through a cupboard and came up with several different kinds of chips, napkins and paper plates.
“Ready to go fire up the grill?” she asked Isaac.
“Sure.”
Taryn and Isaac went out to the deck and started the gas grill. Taylor had apparently been victorious in the bathroom war, as he was the first to appear, freshly showered, from upstairs.
“Hungry?” Taryn asked him.
“Starving,” he admitted. “This place is great, Taryn. It’s so out-of-the way and pretty. Thanks so much for thinking of us.”
Taryn smiled and enveloped Taylor in a hug. “I know how hard you guys are working,” she said. “We all deserved a spring break.”
Blushing, Taylor hugged Taryn back as Isaac looked on and smiled.
“Hey Ike, you grilling, man?” he asked.
Isaac smiled proudly. “Yes, I have been honored with that duty.”
Iris and Melissa bounced out onto the deck, showered and wrapped in robes.
“We just got our pajamas on,” Iris said.
“We knew it was getting late, and we didn’t want to dirty other clothes,” Melissa explained.
“That was thoughtful,” Taryn said. “The last thing I want to spend this vacation doing is laundry.”
By the time Zac had taken his turn in the shower and arrived on the deck, Isaac had almost finished grilling the hotdogs. The group gathered around the table and ate, and when the meal was done they all pitched in to clean up.
As the final remnants of dinner were put away, Taryn noticed Iris and Melissa stifling yawns.
“I think some little girls are pretty tired,” she said. “It’s been a big day.”
“I’m tired,” Melissa admitted.
Iris nodded. “Me too,” she said with a sigh. “I just hate to see the day end ‘cause it’s one less day in our vacation.”
Taryn smiled. “We have all week,” she said. “You two better get on upstairs and go to bed.”
The girls grudgingly agreed, and after they made the rounds of goodnight hugs, trudged upstairs to collapse in their bed. They were asleep before their heads hit the pillows.
Zac and Taylor stayed up with Taryn and Isaac for a little while, but they too were soon overcome with drowsiness. Taylor was the first to admit to it.
“Man, I’m wiped out,” he said. “I’m gonna turn in. Come on, Zac. The bags under your eyes are hanging down to your knees.”
Zac frowned. “Thanks for pointing that out.”
He got up to follow Taylor. “Goodnight, guys. Taryn, thanks for everything.”
“You’re very welcome,” Taryn said.
Isaac and Taryn stayed downstairs on the couch for a while watching the big screen TV. When Isaac suspected that his brothers had had sufficient time to fall asleep, he suggested that he and Taryn retire to the upstairs as well.
Taryn smiled. “I thought you’d never ask,” she said.
