Page 18 of When You Smile

“Does your sweet mother know?”

“I think you mean my loud mother.” Taryn laughed. “And there’s nothing she doesn’t know. Martie Ross is intrusive and makes no apologies.” She slid a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned in. “My only real time away from my house the past couple of years was studying at coffee shops, the origin of my coffee opinions. I really looked forward to that decompression time, and I ordered everything on their menus. Learned a lot about beans and their roasting processes from conversations with the baristas. Nothing compares to freshly roasted, which is why this place is already getting high marks.”

Charlie peered into Taryn’s cup and her eyes went wide. “Is that black?” she practically shrieked. “You’re drinking black coffee?”

“It’s not a horror movie.”

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was exponentially quieter, making the comedy that much better. “I’ll try to compose myself. Are you a mob boss?”

“Not yet,” Taryn whispered. Charlie nodded with a knowing gaze as she sipped her liquid dessert. She definitely knew how to enjoy herself, and it was refreshing. Taryn didn’t remember her having the unexpected funny side. “Listen, it’s the absolute best way to experience the true flavors of the beans. You should try it sometime.”

“I don’t think I will be. And who are you right now?” Charlie asked around her cup. “This is a glow up.”

Taryn made the keep-it-coming gesture. “Say more.”

“No way. I will not give you a big head.” Charlie squinted in study mode. “You’re just a lot more…worldly than I would have imagined at what, twenty?”

“Twenty-one and half, thank you very much.”

“Oh, and a half? My mistake. Can’t forget the half.” She patted Taryn’s hand, which just made Taryn feel all the younger.

“Stop that.” She vowed to prove her maturity to Charlie one day soon and started brainstorming all the ways to do it. “And you’re twenty-six. I remember the age difference.”

“You were paying attention, huh?”

“Big-time. I thought you were the coolest.” She shrugged. “And I don’t mind you getting a big head. Go ahead. I’ll wait and sip.”

Charlie went still. “And what do you think now?”

Taryn felt a ripple in her stomach, and she resisted the inclination to shimmy against it. There was a very powerful energy bouncing between them that was better than the caffeine high. “So far, you’re living up. Dessert style coffee excluded.”

“That’s fair. What else?” Charlie rested her chin in her hand as if ready for all the details. When the light caught her eyes, they shone such a vibrant shade of sky blue it forced a lump in Taryn’s throat. “Catch me up on all that’s happened over the years.”

“Well, my dad experienced a pretty significant stroke. That’s been the headline. My senior year of high school. So you could say everything went sideways. Our plans came to a halt. My mom, who is as strong as a California redwood, was destroyed.”

“God.” Charlie sat up straighter. “I’m so sorry, Taryn. I had no idea.”

“Totally okay. How could you? We didn’t plaster it on social media in order to keep his privacy intact, and it’s not like you lived in Dyer anymore.”

“That must have been absolutely horrific.”

Taryn felt the uncomfortable memories swarm. She shoved them away. “It was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” She had to purposefully distract her brain from jumping back in time to the night he’d not been able to speak to her just before crashing into the glass coffee table in their living room. They didn’t know if he’d live or die after the ambulance rushed him to the closest hospital. As a family, they’d had to figure out how to maneuver through the life-altering adjustments that had to be made to care for him in that first year. “But he’s climbing his way back. He’s the most determined person ever.”

“Is that why you didn’t start at Hillspoint as a first year?”

Taryn hesitated and swallowed the reality. Confessing to Charlie that she’d actually made the decision to bail on school before her father’s stroke seemed too embarrassing an admission. She was a coward still in so many ways. The world just didn’t know it. “My mom needed my help. For a while, he wasn’t able to stay on his own. Mobility and short-term memory issues.” The answer, while also true, made her feel like a fraud.

“So you put your world on hold for them. You’re a good person, you know that?”

Taryn shrugged. “I think it’s what anyone would do for someone they love.” She was selfish and hated herself for it, hiding behind her family’s misfortune.

“And how is he now? Self-sufficient?”

She softened, because the answer made those scary memories so much more manageable. “Mostly.” She touched her chest. “He’s working part-time at a new dealership, so it made sense for me to get back to life as scheduled, too.”

“I think you’re meant to be here at this exact point in time. I’m not sure why I feel that way.” Charlie squinted, grappling to explain. “But I do.”

Taryn grinned when she thought back to running into Charlie for the first time. “I have to say, spotting your babysitter when you’re overserved at your first college party is a little surreal.”

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