Chapter 7
Cindy
That Saturday evening I was sitting at home watching TV when the phone rang. “Hello” I answered.
“Cindy?” a somewhat familiar voice asked.
“Yes” I said.
“Hey, its Taylor.” A smile immediately crossed my face.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked.
“Nothing, I’m bored. You wanna come over or something. I can’t go anywhere right at the moment,” he said.
“Um, sure. I’ll be over in a few” I told him.
Twenty minutes later I was ringing the doorbell at Taylor’s house. Within seconds he opened the door holding the cutest little girl I’d ever seen at his hip. “Hey” he said with a grin on his face.
“Hey there, who’s this?” I asked.
“This is my baby sister Zoë” he told me. “Zoë, this is my friend Cindy.”
“Hi Cindy” she said quietly. She tried to hide in her big brother’s shoulder, but I could still see the grin on her face. It was the same grin I’d seen on Taylor’s face many times. She looked just like him with her big blue eyes, and dark blonde curls. She was going to be beautiful if she grew up looking like him.
“Why don’t you go back and watch your show, the commercial probably over. We’ll be there in a minute” Taylor suggested setting the little toddler down on her feet.
“Okay” she said and padded off in the direction of the sounds obviously coming from the TV.
“Come on in Cindy” Taylor stepped aside and let me in. “The rest of my family is at some party this evening, I don’t even know what it was about. I offered to stay home with the little one.” He gestured to where Zoë had just run.
“That was nice of you,” I said.
“Well, to tell you the truth, I’d rather be here watching her, than there, doing…whatever” he said and grinned. “Anyway, we should probably get back to her, I don’t like to leave her alone for too long.” It was obvious how much Taylor loved his little sister from the way he talked about her, and how he treated her. I smiled as I followed him to the living room; it gave me a whole new appreciation for him as a person.
“She’s so cute” I said quietly as we reached our destination and found her staring intently at a big fluffy bear dancing around his house on the television screen.
“Yeah she is, she’s a good kid” he agreed.
We settled on the comfy, overstuffed couch behind Zoë. We instinctively sat as close to one another as possible without actually touching. “So, you don’t mind kids show’s for entertainment do you?” he asked.
“I can probably handle it this once” I teased him.
“Well, each time I watch her I promise her ice cream if she’s a good girl. Maybe she’ll share tonight,” he said wiggling his eyebrows at me.
I just laughed. “You’re terrible, giving her sugar before you hand her back to your parents.”
“Well, that’s why she likes her big brother. And our parents have yet to figure it out” he grinned proudly at his deception.
As if on cue, Zoë came running up to us. “Tay Tay, can we have ice cweam?” she asked innocently.
“That’s my girl,” he said swooping her into his arms. He stood and started for the kitchen. “Come on Cindy, we’re going to have some ice cweam” he called over his shoulder. Little Zoë giggled as Taylor gave her an airplane ride all the way to the kitchen.
The three of us each got a helping of ice cream and sat at the kitchen table to eat it. Zoë was very determined to eat it on her own, but Taylor had to help her a bit, just so she would actually eat it, instead of just making a mess of it. I loved watching him with her. It made me smile, making me glad I’d found such an amazing person to befriend.
Just as the last of our evidence was being put away in the dishwasher, we heard the front door open. “Just in time” I teased Taylor. Zoë went running widely to meet her parents by the door.
“So, I think this is our cue to go find some fun” Taylor said.
We brushed past his incoming family on our way out the door, Taylor yelling, “I’m going out” as our only hello’s and good-bye’s. It puzzled me to witness the change from loving brother, to this more cold and impersonal person with the rest of his family, but I didn’t ask questions.
I had no idea what Taylor had planned for us for the rest of the night, but I was pretty sure we were in for a wild one.
