Love Today (52 page)

I studied him for a second, trying to read his odd behavior. If I had to guess I would say that he was trying to get us out of the house.

“So is that why you’re down here?” I asked. “So you could intercept any kind of run-in between me and your mom, or Maggie or…”

He returned my gaze and then sighed. “Taryn, you don’t understand. It’s just… Well, you don’t want anything to do with my dad for obvious reasons, and my mom is… Well, she’s jus
t a different set of rules alt
ogether.”

I considered his words for a moment as I sat on a stool. “Jared, if you’d just
be
honest with me I would know what to expect.”

“I know, I know,” he nodded
, sitting down again
. “I just…don’t even know, either. She’s very… She’s just…”

“Jared, just spit it out.”

“She won’t think you’re good enough for me.”

I guess I wasn’t really
surprised
,
but I wasn’t expecting him to say it. I understoo
d it because so many people had pointed that out in the media—that Jared was dating/engaged to a “nobody”—but he had never cared until that moment. Yes
,
his mom’s premature disdain of me
hurt, but only at first
since
he did his best to explain it to me.

“
Taryn
, I love you so much
and nothing
is going to change that,” he assured me.
“
You are amazing
and more than I could ever expect for myself, and you’re a better person than I am. I feel so
blessed to have you in my life
and I can’t wait to wake up every day knowing that you’re mine for good. And because of that… I just don’t want to subject you to anything more from my family. My mom isn’t very pleasant sometimes and I don’t want her to have any sort of influence over you or…any opportunity to hurt you. I honestly want to protect you from that. It’s not for any other reason except that I love you so much and want you to be happy. I don’t want her to bring you down.”

I slightly nodded my understanding, just because I’d heard bits and pieces of
Jocelyn
Miller’s personality over the past several months. Words like “superficial” came to mind, as well as
“condescending” and “snobby.”
I’d gotten the impression that she loved her status as Jared Miller’s mom, and apparently it worked quite well for her over the years.

“She lives for fame an
d fortune,” Jared even
added
. “I’m not saying that she hasn’t been a good mom over the years, but lately s
he
seems to
ride
my status for all she can and…she has these ideas like…I should be dating certain people and—”

“Like Amanda?” I ask
ed. “Did she mean Amanda Benson
?”

He looked surprised that I figured it out, but he didn’t realize that it had bothered me all night until I could put it together. I remembered Jared had mentioned (sort of jokingly at the time but apparently not really) that people had tried to set him up with the famous actress. Knowing Jared as well as I did allowed me to agree that she really wasn’t his type like he had adamantly stated.

“That was, like, two years ago,” he finally said. “I told you about that and—”

“I know, but obviously your mom has fantasies that Amanda is going to be her daughter-in-law someday, not me.”

He wasn’t amused, even though I
smiled
. It honestly didn’t bother me, but I guess knowing that Jared was so sensitive about everything should have made me be a little more
understanding
.

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I just… Well, I just know that you and
I are
inseparable
. I don’t see anything tearing us apart unless one of us chooses that.
I’m
not looking to bail—”

“I’m not either. Never.” He took my hands in his and his genuine sincerity—the honesty and desire in his eyes—made me smile.

“So I guess what other people think is ir
relevant to me,
”
I said.

He wanted to believe me, I could tell, but Jared was such a deep soul that I felt he needed more than that.

“Jared, you mean more to me than I ever thought possible. I never thought I could love someone so deeply that I couldn’t even imagine my life without him. You talk about how blessed you are to have me, but I feel the same way about you. I wake up every day and can hardly believe I have someone like you in my life. My thoughts everyday are
‘Jared this’ and ‘Jared that’ and ‘Oh I can’t wait to see him’ and ‘Oh I love him so much’… Yeah, my world
absolutely
revolves around you,” I smiled.

I could tell it’s what he needed to hear, and I realized—through all my stubbornness and resistance to be so open and honest in a relationship—that Jared had influenced me anyway. I kne
w that I could always trust him
and I didn’t have to be so cautious anymore. I’d seen examples of it along the way, but without a doubt I knew we were in it for
the long haul
because I had my soul mate
.

He stood up and made me stand with him so he could hug me. He kissed the top of my head and said, “You
are
my
world. Don’t you ever forget that.
”

We stood there together for a few seconds until I pulled away so I could slide my arms around his neck. He smiled, leaned his forehead against mine, and then kissed me. It was such a peaceful moment, and I almost forgot about the obstacle I still needed to face until we both heard the sound of a bedroom door. I could literally feel Jared stiffen, and that forced me to muster all the courage I could find.

We didn’t separate until after his mom entered the kitchen. She saw us, and Jared even kissed me one last time before he acknowledged her presence.

“Good morning,” she spoke carefully, not only looking me over, but deliberately so.

“This is my mom,
Jocelyn
,” Jared
said,
probably just to get it over with. “Mom, this is Taryn.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, even though she turned her back to us to grab the juice out of the refrigerator.

I could tell Jared was annoyed, but I just shook my head
and silently told
him not to worry about it.
Joc
elyn removed a glass from the cupboard and then finally turned around to face us.

“Do you have a last name, Taryn?” she asked, looking me over again. She was already fully dressed for the day, makeup and all, and I wondered if she expected the same of me.

I would have answered but Jared spoke first when he asked, “What are your plans for today?”

She looked at him for a moment, almost like she was going to argue at first. But she poured juice into the glass and replied, “Just wanted to spend time with my son.”

Jared hardly paused and said, “Well I can’t this weekend.
You know that I go on tour next week, right?”

She took a sip
of juice; a good way to remain
poised. But she coolly replied, “Yes,
and
I know you have your priorities.”

I didn’t miss her subtle glance my way, and neither did Jared. But I wasn’t going to let her get to me, at least for Jared’s sake if not for my own. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, “I’m going to get dressed for the day.” He nodded hi
s head and then I turned to Joc
elyn and added, “It was nice to meet you.”

I left the kitchen
and purposely did not wait for a response. She didn’t say anything like I figured
, and as I headed u
p the stairs I heard Jared ask
about her trip to San Diego. I assumed he would just keep the conversation as neutral as he could.

Before heading to change, I did make a detour to Maggie’s room. She was actually just getting out of bed, and I watched from the doorway as she slid to the furry rug and pulled over a plastic tub of Barbies. I
spied on
her for a minute, mainly to see if she would continue to play or make a trip to the bathroom first. But she chose to play and I decided to join her. I figured that changing for the day could wait.

“I don’t have any of these Barbies,” she stated as she pulled a few more out of the bin.

I looked over the choices
, deciding that she was right. Some were just traditional “Barbies” with outfits she didn’t have, but there were a few that were
completely
new to her
.

“Look, it’s
Rapunzel
,” she smiled, holding up the doll with several inches of hair cascading to the floor.

“Yeah it is,” I agreed with a nod.

“I have this doll,” she stated.

I didn’t say anything because I
was waiting to see if she would add anything further
. Zack had given her a
Rapunzel
doll a few days after we’d seen the movie together. I wondered if she remembered that as she held the doll in her hand and twirled her hair.

“Does Zack have kids
now
?” she asked me.

I was surprised at first until I remembered a conversation we’d had about Zack finding another girl someday and possibly having a family with her.

“Um, no he doesn’t,” I said, picking up a Barbie that was dressed to play soccer. “It takes time to find a person that we love and want to have a fam
ily with. I’m not sure if he has
a girlfriend or not,” I added honestly. Deep down I hoped he did, but I hadn’t talked to Zack since the day on the phone when I was in Washington. He had sent me a couple of texts after that, inquiring about Maggie, but I
had allowed Maggie to call him so the phone conversations remained between the two of them
.

“Can I call him?” she asked, almost like she could read my thoughts.

“Uh, sure. Of course you can. Um, my phone is in the other room though, so how about you use the bathroom first
and I’ll go grab
it
.”

“Okay,” she nodded. There was a bathroom that connected to her room via a short hall that contained closet space on both sides of it, but she stopped in the middle of it and asked, “Is Jared
here
?”

I stood from the floor and answered, “Yes, he is. But he has a visitor right now, so let’s give him a little time before we join him for breakfast, okay?”

She nodded and I watched her enter the bathroom and close the door behind her.

I wasn’t sure how much
Jocelyn
Miller knew about me, or knew that I had Maggie, but I definitely didn’t want to just drop a bomb on the current situation if Jared hadn’t gotten to that point yet.
I had once needed time to introduce the concept of a new boyfriend to my parents; I could understand that Jared needed to do the same.

I was about to his bedroom when
he
saw me
from downstairs
and said, “Hey
,
Taryn.”

I redirected myself and arrived at the top of the stairs where I could see him standing at the bottom. “Yeah?”

“Is Maggie up yet?”

“Uh, yeah she is.”

He glanced behind him to where I realized his mom still was in the kitchen and then he looked at me again. But he took the stairs one at a time, almost slowly, until he was face to face with me. “Do you think, uh, she could come down and meet my mom?” he asked quietly. My heart thudded heavy a few extra times and he added, “It’s entirely up to you, but she’d like to meet her if it’s okay.”

“Um, of course it’s okay. But, uh…”

“I promise she’ll be civil,” he said.

“Maggie?” I teased. “I’m not so sure.”

He smiled but kissed me before he said, “She’s going to be heading out in a few. I just figured…”

He seemed uncomfortable, like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. I
understood that
this
was his mom
we were talking about,
and the news about Maggie must have been a shocking conversation for her. I was sure it wasn’t a pleasant one and I decided to let Jared handle his life how
ever
he needed to.

“Let me get dressed first—and Maggie—a
nd then we’ll be down.”

“Okay,” he nodded. “I’ll start some pancakes then, is that all right?”

“Sure, that sounds great.”

He kissed me again, a bit longer than the last one, and I watched him descend the stairs.

I was about to offer my niece to the Dragon lady…

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“I think Soccer Barbie wants a Minnie Mouse pancake,” Maggie said as I brushed her hair into three sections.