After his meeting, Taylor went back to his
apartment to change his clothes and wait for Rory to pick him up.
Zac had left a note on the kitchen table saying that he was going to lunch with Maeve and that he would see Taylor later. Taylor smiled. It was a good sign that Zac and Maeve were spending so much time together, he thought. Maybe things were going to return to normal and even get better for everyone.
Zac saying that Taylor had never ridden a horse was a gross understatement … Taylor had never so much as been within ten feet of one.
He wasn’t sure what to wear for such an occasion, and stood in front of his closet for a long while before he decided on a pair of jeans and a white knit sweater that Taryn had gotten him for his birthday that year. Sweaters were Taryn’s trademark gift … she got them for practically everyone in the family for Christmas and almost all the birthdays … except for Jessica, whose birthday was in the summer.
Taylor washed his face in the bathroom and tied his longish hair back. It was just now growing out right from a disastrous cut he had gotten a few years back. Isaac and Zac had also gone momentarily daft and cut their hair at that time as well. It had taken a while for them to start liking their hair after the cuts. They had all decided they wouldn’t be doing that again.
Taylor grabbed a pair of athletic shoes on his way back past his bedroom. He made his way to the living room and was on the couch putting his shoes on when the phone rang.
Taylor picked the phone up from the end table next to the couch.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Tay!” Avery was on the other end.
“What’s up, Avie?”
“I was just going to ask you the same thing,” Avery said.
Taylor shook his head. “Not a lot,” he said. “I’m going out this afternoon, though.”
“To a meeting?” Avery asked.
Taylor smiled slowly. “No,” he said. “I already went to a meeting today.”
“You and Zac going somewhere? Maybe I could tag along. I feel like we haven’t been spending as much time together as I’d like to,” Avery suggested.
Taylor cradled the receiver on his shoulder and continued tying his shoes. “Well, no, I’m not going anywhere with Zac,” he said.
“Oh? Where are you going then?”
“Um, horseback riding,” Taylor said.
Avery began to laugh. “What?”
“Horseback riding,” Taylor repeated.
“Why in the world would you do a thing like that?” Avery asked between giggles.
“Because I got asked,” Taylor said. “Nothing wrong with trying out something new, is there?”
Avery snickered one last time before getting her giggles completely under control. “I guess not,” she said. “Who are you going with?”
“A girl from work,” Taylor said. “Her name is Rory.”
In spite of herself, Avery felt a slight pang. She tried not to feel like Taylor was choosing to spend the afternoon with some girl rather than to spend it with her. After all, she reasoned, she had just now called. Ditching his sister for an afternoon out with some girl was something Taylor would have done a year ago, she told herself. That’s not what this is.
“A girl, huh?” Avery asked nonchalantly.
“Avie, you know I’d love to spend the day with you,” Taylor said soothingly. “If you would have called earlier, I wouldn’t have made these plans.”
“You could have called me,” Avery pointed out.
“I don’t want you guys to feel like you’re responsible for entertaining me every spare second,” Taylor said. “Weekends are your free time, Avie. I know Mom cracks the school whip all week. I don’t want you to feel obligated to hang out with me. You’ve got friends. You don’t need your lame older brother dragging you down."
Avery felt a pout coming on. She tried to quell it, but it came anyway. She had always been territorial where Taylor was concerned … she had never much cared for any of his girlfriends. She had liked both Taryn and Maeve from the start, but somehow no one had ever been right for Taylor. And over the years, there had been quite a parade of possibilities. Avery just found it impossible to warm to anyone she felt threatened her place in Taylor’s life. And now, with all the problems he was going through and all that he had to overcome, Avery was even more protective of her older brother. She didn’t much like that he was going out so soon after he had started his recovery … no one could care for him the way she did. But she knew she had to put on a happy face about it. The last thing Taylor needed was for her to pull a guilt trip on him.
“You know you’re not a burden for me, Tay,” she said. “I guess I should have called sooner. I suppose I forgot how fast your social calendar fills up. I just didn’t think you’d be dating again so soon.”
“Oh, this isn’t a date,” Taylor said quickly. “Rory and I just work together. I don’t even know that you’d really call us friends yet.”
Avery smiled softly. “Well, you have a good time anyway,” she said, trying to hide the disappointment in her small voice.
“Tell you what,” Taylor said. “A community theater group is doing ‘Camelot’ at the opera house tomorrow. You want to go and catch the matinee together?”
Avery brightened. She loved going to plays with Taylor at the opera house downtown … he had taken her to see “The King and I” when she was very small, and since then the two of them had been to dozens upon dozens of shows there. It was Taylor and Avery’s own little tradition.
“That would be great,” she said. “I’m sorry, Taylor. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”
Taylor grinned. “You are Mom’s daughter,” he pointed out. “You’re learning the whole guilt trip thing from the master.”
Avery chuckled. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” she said.
Taylor smiled. “Me too.”
There was a knock at Taylor’s apartment door. “Rory’s here, Avie. I have to go.”
Avery was mad at herself for the slight pang of jealousy that shot through her at the mention of Rory’s name. “Okay. Hey Taylor?”
“Yeah?”
“The saddle horn goes in front.”
“Ha, ha,” Taylor said sarcastically. “You’re almost as funny as Zac.”
