"Relax! You're so tense," a gentle voice instructed from behind me. I left my troubling thoughts and stumbled back into reality.
"Sorry," I mumbled. Megan Trevett sat behind me, squeezing my shoulders in a massage-like pattern.
"So, what's the name of Ike's girlfriend again?" Megan asked, referring to the road trip my older brother had taken nearly half an hour earlier to Chandler, Oklahoma. His best friend of 4 years, Willow Carter, was in town visiting her brother and sister-in-law, and Isaac had taken advantage of this rare occasion by going to see her. Willow had moved to New York nearly 3 years ago and only came back to Oklahoma to visit once or twice a year. This time, she would be in the area for the entire summer before heading back to New England to start her freshman year of college in Boston, MA. Megan scooted up beside me on the leather couch in my father's den. "Wasn't it Maple or Fern or something?"
"No, it's Willow," I corrected, smiling. "And she's not his girlfriend, they're best friends."
Megan smiled and shrugged. "I knew it was some type of tree or plant."
I merely smiled and nodded, then zoned out again. I had a lot of things on my mind at the moment, and was having trouble juggling them all. Megan waved her hand in front of my face, and I snapped out of thought.
"You seem to be extra spacey today," she commented. I shrugged.
"Sorry. I'm just thinking."
"What about?"
"Just stuff. Mostly Willow. I can't wait to see her. It's been almost 3 years," I replied. Meg sighed, her lips forming a cute little pout, then snuggled up close to me.
"Don't worry Tay. If you guys were nearly half as close as you described to me earlier, then you shouldn't have any reasons to be nervous at all," she assured me.
"Who said I'm nervous?" I teased gently. She smiled playfully, then took my hand in hers.
"Come on, I bet your brothers and sisters are starving." She pulled me up off the couch and I followed her to the kitchen of my parent's house. They were off on an anniversary vacation, so I was put in charge of taking care of everything and everyone while they were gone. Ike dropped by a lot to, to help out. Together, we took over our siblings' education for the 2 weeks that our parents would be gone. They were over in Europe, traveling through England and France and Germany and all those happy places. Even though it was in summer, my younger brothers and sisters still had school because of the short amount of time they are schooled each day. The only days they didn't have school was on the Forth of July, Jessi's 13th birthday, Mackie's 8th birthday and when the days were really hot.
"Nah, let's let them starve," I suggested jokingly as we entered the kitchen. 4 year old Zoë and 10 year old Avie were sitting at the kitchen table, coloring.
"Let who starve?" asked Avie."You," I replied, poking her nose as I passed. She swiped at my hand.
"You can't starve us. Ikey won't let you!" she protested. Zoë nodded her agreement. I grinned evilly at my two youngest sisters.
"Ah, but our dear Isaac isn't around to stop me."
"Yes I am," came my brother's voice. We all looked at the kitchen door and saw Ike leaning against the doorframe with a grin on his face. Behind him, a sight for tired eyes, stood Willow.
"Willow!" Avie shrieked, jumping from her chair and running to our friend. They embraced, then Willow looked at me and smiled.
"Hi Tay," she greeted. I managed to blink a few times, then grinned back at her.
"Hey stranger, long time not see," I returned, stepping forward and encompassing her in a hug. Afterwards, she stepped back and looked at me carefully.
"My God, Tay. You're a completely different person! You're all grown up now," she commented with a bewildered look on her face. I laughed a little.
"I was just thinking the same of you," I admitted. Will looked beyond me and smiled warmly. Megan stepped up beside me and put her hand on my shoulder. I put my arm around her. "Will, this is my girlfriend Megan. Meg, this is Willow."
"Glad to meet you. I've heard so much about you, I feel as though I know you already," Megan stated, offering her hand. They shook politely. Zoë ran over and hid shyly behind my legs, peeking out at our guest. Willow's eyes went wide.
"Oh my God, Zoë?" she gasped. She turned to Ike and he nodded. "You were just a tiny little baby the last time I saw you. You've grown up on me. You have to be, what, seven now?"
I smiled at how Willow was with my sister. Zoë wasn't usually shy, but rather bubbly and cheerful. Zoë giggled at the big-kid treatment she was getting and held up four fingers. I reached down and picked her up, hanging her upside-down over my shoulder.
"Yeah, the little Zippy Zoë is growing like a weed," I agreed, calling her by the nickname Mackie had made up for her. I set her down again, and she ran away from me, with Avery close behind her. Megan went over to get the box of spaghetti out of the pantry, and I turned to Will expectantly. "Are you staying for dinner?"
"I haven't been asked," Will replied. I gave Ike a demanding look.
"Hey, I never got a chance to ask her. Besides, she just got here. I've kidnapped her for the evening," Ike announced, giving me a grin. He threw his arms around Willow's waist from behind and half dragged her out of the kitchen. I rolled my eyes and turned to Megan.
"Well?" I asked.
"Well what? I just met her," she replied, chewing on a stick of hard spaghetti. "But she seems nice. See? I told you that you had nothing to worry about."
"Something the matter?" I asked.
"I know your parents are gone, but we're still missing people," Willow stated. Ike smiled.
"Jessi is at riding camp, Mackie is in Virginia visiting some family," he explained. "And Zac is… actually, I don't know where he is."
Ike turned to me with a shrug. I tried to think, remembering if Zac had gone to a friends house and which one. Megan smiled. "Obviously Taylor has short term memory loss," she joked. I gave her an offended look as everyone else laughed. "Zac went to play football with some friends."
Avery offered to say Grace, and I gave Willow's hand a tiny squeeze as we all bowed our heads in prayer. She opened her eyes and smiled at me quickly. After thanking the Lord for our friends, family, and the meal, we began to eat. Everything seemed so normal, as if three years hadn't past since the last time we ate together.
"Oh, hey. I didn't know anyone was home," one of them said.
"When is there a time when anyone is not?" I asked, grinning. I recognized my brother, even with mud streaked across his face, as he sank to the floor and proceeded to pull off his muddy shoes. I made a face at him. "You'd better clean that up."
"I will, I will. Don't have a cornea," he replied. "When's dinner?"
"About half an hour ago. There are leftovers in the fridge. Where have you been?"
"We were playing football over on the high school field," one of my brother's friends told me. Zac stood up, his hair and clothes caked with mud, and his eyes lit up at the sight of Will.
"Willow! You're here!" he exclaimed, stepping forward to give her a hug. She smiled politely and held up her hands to stop him.
"Sorry Zac, maybe later. You know, after you've clean up," she promised. Zac shrugged, but smiled broadly.
"It's so good to see you. I wasn't expecting to see you until later. Sorry you didn't have much of a welcoming party without me here."
I made a face at him. "Oh yeah, I bet she's heart broken now," I quipped sarcastically. Zac narrowed his eyes, two dark slits among a face of brown. I reached out and brushed a glob of mud across his forehead. "Why don't you guys go outside and turn on the hose to wash off?"
Zac retaliated by wiping his muddy hand across my check, then grinned as he led his friends back outside. Willow and I went back into the kitchen and I washed my face off. Will grinned at me.
"He hasn't changed much," she stated. I shook my head.
"No he hasn't. If you don't count the out-of-control hormones, he's the same kid," I agreed. Then I paused. "Nope, nevermind. He had those before too."
Willow laughed. We were quiet for a moment as we both watched the four teenagers in the back yard spraying each other with the hose. After a few minutes, I turned to my friend and offered her my hand.
"Feel like going for a walk?" I asked. She agreed and we took off away from the house.
"I knew you'd like her. She's a really great person," I agreed. I reached over and took Megan's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. I pulled my truck into the driveway of the fifth house on the left. I knew the route from my home to hers better than any other place in Tulsa, seeming as I'd been driving there for the past year. The house she lived in with her parents was white with peach colored shutters, and a white picket fence around the front yard. It was picture perfect, a dream house. I turned in my seat to give Meg a smile. "So, what's on the agenda for the weekend?"
"Well, I have to work tomorrow until two. After that and Sunday I'm free," she answered. She reached over and tugged a strand of my hair. "So I'm basically all yours."
I grinned. "Good. How about dinner tomorrow night? Fancy dress required."
Megan raised her eyebrows. "Oh really? A suit and tie event? Our one-year anniversary isn't until next Tuesday. What's the occasion?"
"I just thought we'd celebrate a little early. If it's okay, I'd like to invite Ike and Willow to go with us," I suggested. Megan agreed.
"Why not include Zac and Reagan too?" she added, referring to my younger brother and his girlfriend. "It can be like a triple date."
"Well," I started. "More like a double date, and Isaac and Will. They don't do the dating thing, remember?"
Megan smiled and nodded. "Oh, right. Sure they don't," she teased. She reached over and cradled the side of my face in her hand, then kissed me. "I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Kay. Bye Meg."
"Bye Tay." She climbed out of the cab of my truck and let the door slam shut. I watched her walk up to her front steps, then turn and wave at me. I waved back and waited for her to disappear into the house before backing out of the driveway and heading back towards home.
"Need some help?" Willow offered from behind me. I looked up in the mirror and she appeared behind me. I grinned sheepishly.
"Yeah, a little. I have yet to master the art of proper tie knotting," I replied. Will smiled and took over with the hunter green silk tie. When she finished, she stepped back to admire her handy work. I adjusted it slightly in the mirror, then gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks."
"No problem. I knew that skill would come into good use eventually," she joked. I turned to her and my eyes widened.
"Whoa," I commented. Will struck a model pose, then laughed. She was wearing a simple sleeveless black dress that stopped just above her knees. She had curled her hair softly and it shone in the light of the room. She looked absolutely beautiful, a grown up version of the young girl I'd fallen in love with only years before.
"Ike? Are you just going to stand there or are we going to go meet everyone else downstairs?" Willow asked inquisitively. I merely nodded, then grabbed my suit jacket off the bed and followed her out of the room. We met up with Zac and Reagan downstairs. Reagan was dressed similar to Will, only her dress was long and navy blue. Zac simply wore a pair of khakis and a white dress shirt. Will and Reagan chatted easily together while we walked out to my Nissan Xterra. We were meeting Taylor and Megan at the restaurant. The girls sat in the back while Zac climbed into the passenger seat and I got in behind the wheel.
"So who'd you sucker in to babysitting the girls tonight?" I asked Zac as we headed off towards downtown Tulsa.
"Mrs. Thompson from next door. I told her that we wouldn't be too late, but she told me not to hurry. I guess she's just lonely for company," he replied. I chuckled.
"How can she get lonely? She's got like, 20 cats!" I exclaimed.
"It's only up to six now," he corrected me. I smiled, shaking my head in disbelief as we drew nearer to the restaurant.