Look around your world
Pretty baby
Is it everything
You hoped it’d be
The wrong guy
The wrong situation
The right time
To roll to me
-DelAmitri
Isaac shuffled his feet and looked at the ground. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “I didn’t really think that far ahead.”
He gave Taryn a shy “please rescue me” look.
God, is he adorable! Taryn thought. She quickly pushed away the thought.
“Do you drink coffee?” she asked.
“No,” Isaac said. “But I could go for a soda or something.”
Taryn smiled. Boy, was he young!
“I know a great place,” she said. “Let’s go. Do you have a car?”
“Yeah, but it’s rented and I’m not real comfortable driving in New York City,” Isaac replied.
“No problem. We’ll take my car.”
Isaac followed Taryn across the lot. She took out her keychain and pushed the button to unlock the doors of her Stratus. As she did so, Isaac scurried ahead and opened her car door for her.
Wow, thought Taryn. I thought Gregor was the only guy left who opened doors for women.
Taryn slid behind the wheel, and Isaac shut her door and jogged around to the passenger side.
“Where are we going?” he asked, as Taryn began to back out. Isaac put on his seat belt and settled back.
“There’s a great little coffee shop in the village,” Taryn said. “I don’t drink coffee either, but they’ve got great herbal tea. And soda.”
Isaac grinned. He watched the lights flying past the car window.
“I just never get used to being in all these different places,” he admitted quietly.
“I wasn’t raised in the city, but I like it here,” Taryn said. “Our apartment is in the suburbs, so it’s nice. I work here, so I get the best of both worlds.”
Isaac paused for a moment.
“Can I ask whom ‘our’ are?” he ventured.
Taryn admired Isaac’s directness. “My mother and my daughter,” she said.
Isaac let out a breath. “Whew! I thought I had asked a married woman out for a minute. I checked you for rings. I thought I was all clear.”
Taryn couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Isaac asked.
“You,” Taryn said. “Only an 18-year-old would consider what happened in the parking garage asking someone out.”
“How old are you?” Isaac pressed.
“Thirty-eight,” Taryn said, without missing a beat.
Isaac’s eyes grew wide. “No way,” he said.
“No, I’m just kidding. I’m 28,” Taryn said.
“You’re still young, too,” Isaac said.
“I feel pretty old sometimes,” Taryn admitted.
“How old is your kid?”
Taryn fixed Isaac with a look. “Nine,” she said.
Isaac let the information process. “You weren’t much older than me when you had her,” he surmised.
“Nope. I was a freshman at Yale.”
Isaac was visibly impressed. “Yale? Did you graduate? I mean with a baby and everything?”
“Yes, by the grace of God and with the love of my parents and a couple of very good friends,” Taryn said. In the back of her mind, a voice was saying, Why are you telling an 18-year-old your life story? What the hell are you doing?
But as they talked, Taryn just found the words tumbling out. It was like she was powerless to stop them.
“What about you?” she asked. “What’s your story?”
“Oh, you know, the usual kid stuff,” Isaac deadpanned. “Photo shoots, recording albums, world tours.”
Taryn laughed.
“It’s not a bad way to live,” Isaac said. “We’ve always been home schooled, so nothing much changed there. My mom and dad and our other brother and sisters all come on tour with us, so we’re never apart.”
“Do you get tired of Zac and Taylor?” Taryn asked.
“Are we off the record?” Isaac asked with a smile.
“Of course.”
“They’re not bad guys. We’re really close. That’s for real, I’m not just trying to look good.”
Somehow, Taryn doubted that Isaac Hanson could be anything but sincere.
Taryn pulled the car into the lot at the Corner Café.
“Here we are,” she said.
“Great,” Isaac said. “Wait right there, I’ll get your door.”
Taryn removed her seat belt and waited. She wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but she couldn’t wait to find out what was next.
Yes, she thought, maybe this is what I need. Maybe I deserve to be with someone who can make me feel young again.
