His Best Friend's Mom

Taryn was thrilled to have someone to take of and said, "How many would you like?"

She had another cup of coffee as Walker worked his way through a stack of three that was slathered with butter and maple syrup. When he was finished, Taryn asked if he'd like some more, but Walker patted his stomach and told her he couldn't eat another bite.

"Thank you for breakfast...Taryn," he told her sincerely. "I should get going. I told my dad I'd be late, but I don't want to take advantage."

Taryn smiled and said, "You see. That's just one of the many things I love about you, Walker. You are so mature and responsible. No, you go ahead and run along. I took the next three days off even though I can't really afford to. I just know I'm gonna be a wreck all day and then I have the weekend to recover. Hopefully, by Monday I'll be able to function again."

"Well, you let me know if you need anything. Anything at all, okay?" Walker said as they headed toward the back door.

"I will," she promised. "And I was serious about the little things around here so I may be calling sooner than you think."

Walker smiled then told her, "I'll look forward to that."

Taryn smiled as brightly as she could then kissed him on the cheek again.

"I'm so glad you were here for me today. Thank you, sweetheart," she said.

Walker knew she was on the verge of crying again, and although he wanted to stay, he showed himself out and got in his car and headed off to work.

For the next twelve weeks while Rick was at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California, Walker did as much to help out as he could. There was a leaky faucet in the kitchen, a wobbly stair rail, broken concrete steps at the front, a screen door that wouldn't shut, and a dozen other things to take care of.

Walker watched Taryn's mood go from sad, somber, and solemn to resignation as the weeks rolled on. But by the start of the eighth week, knowing Rick would home in two more, her mood began to brighten again. She'd never been unfriendly even when she was at her worst. She just couldn't find the energy to be happy. But now she was bright and cheerful whenever Walker stopped by.

"I can't wait until Rick gets back!" she said several times as his graduation day approached.

"Where does he go after boot camp and his leave here at home?" Walker asked.

"Oh, he just found out he'll be going to something called SOI for infantry training," she told him. "It's also in southern California at a place called Camp Pendleton."

"Infantry? I thought he was going to work on helicopters."

"Me, too, but they found out he has some issue with color blindness that didn't show up on his other physical."

Walker didn't know that much about the military but he knew enough to know that the infantry was where most people got killed. But he wasn't about to mention that to Taryn who was crossing off another day on her countdown calendar.

"Can you be here when Rick gets home?" Taryn asked two days before his scheduled return. She'd wanted to fly to San Diego for his graduation but every day she took off of work meant money she desperately needed.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world," he told her.

"I'm sure he'll want to do something with you, but as long as I get to hug him and know he'll be home in his room for ten days, I'll be very happy!" she said almost bubbling with enthusiasm.

Walker even helped Taryn put up a 'Welcome Home' banner in front of the house shortly before he arrived. They had just enough time to get to the airport and meet his flight, and Taryn talked0 non-stop the entire way.

Walker parked his car and walked inside with her and when they located the gate they needed, Taryn grabbed his again for the first time since well, that first time.

"Come on! Let's hurry!" she said as she pulled Walker along. "I am so excited I could scream!" she said as they arrived at the gate just as his plane was pulling up.

Walker realized Taryn had no interest in him nor did she feel the way he still felt about her as she squeezed his hand so hard it hurt. She was focused like a laser beam on seeing her son and he was little more than a prop. He knew she cared about him so she wasn't using him. She just had no idea the young man holding her hand had been pining away for her since the first time she took his hand.

"There he is!" she screamed as a much leaner Rick walked into the arrival area. He was wearing a khaki shirt and green pants which Walker learned were only referred to as 'trousers'. Walker had to admit his best friend looked pretty sharp. Maybe the Marine Corps really was the best place for him.

He stood and waited as Taryn ran to her son and nearly knocked him over as she hugged him.

"Look at you! You're so skinny! And...tanned! And...handsome!"

"Mom! Please!" he said knowing people were looking.

Walker saw several of those people walk right up to his friend, shake his hand, and thank him for his service. Rick hadn't really done anything yet, but he was willing to serve and had completed his form of basic training. So maybe he had done something; something more than Walker would ever do. Suddenly, he had a newfound respect for his friend who saw him and strode toward him.

"Dude! How are you?" Rick said as they shook hands.

"Damn! You look good there, Marine!" he told Rick. "And I think someone is just a tad bit proud of her son."

"You think?" she said grabbing Rick's arm and embarrassing him again.

"Let's get your bags and get you home!" Taryn said still giddy with happiness.

Rick spent the evening telling 'war stories' about boot camp. Everything was 'Sergeant This and Staff Sergeant That' or about some other guy in his platoon who was either squared away or a knucklehead. Neither Walker nor Taryn said much other than, "Wow! Really? Why is that?" or other short responses.

His mom was so glad he was home she didn't care what he talked about it. She hung on his every word, and every so often asked if he was hungry or thirsty. To her great delight he spent the entire evening at home and Taryn couldn't have been happier.

He did mention however, that he wanted Walker to go car shopping with him the next day.

"Ah, I guess we'll be visiting the Ford dealer?" Walker asked already knowing the answer.

"You got it! I've got a little over two grand to spend on a downpayment and one of those 'Stangs is gonna be mine! I just gotta decide on the color."

Rick didn't care that his monthly car payment, insurance and gas would eat up one entire paycheck and some of the other. This had been his dream for two years and tomorrow it was coming true.

Walker took the morning off to go with Rick who surprised him by not wearing his uniform. Still, the high and tight haircut was a pretty good clue to anyone familiar with Marines and the way they looked.

It took Rick more time to decide on the color than it did to test drive the machine he wanted. He fell in love with it before they got to the freeway. Once they had a clear lane, Rick said over his shoulder where Walker was sitting in the back seat, "I feel the need..."

Walker finished the Top Gun line with, "For speed!" just as Rick floored it. They were going over a hundred miles an hour in mere seconds before slowing it back.

Rick's scream of happiness was infectious and Walker had to howl, too.

"This thing...flies!" Rick said as he pulled back into the dealership. He leaned over to the sales rep and said, "Put a bow on this one for me!"

Rick was only a PFC or pay grade E2, and financing was normally reserved for E3s and above, but the owner of the dealership was a former Marine officer and he made an exception for a brother Marine. The two grand also helped. Without that, it wouldn't have happened, Marine or not.

"This baby is sweet!" Rick said as they cruised around town in his new bright yellow Mustang before heading home.

Taryn tried to be as happy for her son as he was, but the fact that the V8 was a pretty powerful car these days didn't set well with her. Then again, she was a mother, not an 18-year old Marine who'd be 19 before the next time he came home. Rick was all she had left in this world so she felt entitled to worry a little even when she tried not to show it.

Those ten days flew by in the blink of an eye and to make matters worse, Taryn only got eight of them with her son as he had to drive all the way down to Camp Pendleton before midnight of the 10th day.

This time she didn't cry even after he left. She just had this terrible sense of foreboding that hung over her like a dark cloud. Her son would now be assigned to Infantry Training Battalion where he would spend the next 59 days learning the essential skills needed to become a Marine infantryman. 'Every Marine a rifleman' was still a part of the Marine's credo and that is exactly what Rick would be. Unless he became a machine gunner or a mortarman. Even then, he'd be a rifleman first.

That didn't scare Taryn. What might come after did if what came next meant going to Afghanistan.

Walker had taken care of most of the little stuff around the house that needed to be done during boot camp, and he knocked out the remaining items during Rick's first two weeks at SOI which they learned stood for the School of Infantry.

When Walker finished the final job, Taryn wanted to pay him, but money was always an issue. Yes, things were financially less stressful now that Rick was supporting himself, but that only meant she could cut back on the hours spent at her second job.

"I don't need money, Taryn," Walker told her sincerely when she brought it up. "I like helping you."

She smiled and said, "You really are such a good boy, Walker."

She no sooner said it than she realized how it sounded.

"Sorry—young man. Old habits, you know?"

"It's okay. I understand," he told her. Even in the waitressing uniform she wore she looked beautiful and Walker was now even deeper in...whatever it was he felt for her...than he'd been not that long ago when just how attractive she was to him began setting in.

"It isn't much but I could make dinner for you," she said, her eyebrows raised in that hopeful kind of way.

Walker was surprised at the way his body reacted to her words. Fortunately, Taryn was completely unaware of his feelings (or his reaction) as Walker smiled politely and said, "That would be really nice. You don't have to, of course, but if you don't mind, then yes, I'd like that very much."

"Listen to you!" she said. "You sound like a grown man. Oh, and I want to hear about whatever girl or girls you're dating, okay? Lord knows that's the closest I'll get to anything close to an actual date of my own."

"I didn't think you were interested in dating," Walker said as his heart beat faster.

"I didn't either," Taryn told him. "But with Rick gone, I...I suppose it's finally time I got back into the pool or the ring or whatever people like me get into after decades of being out of action."

"People like you?" Walker asked.

"You know. Old, tired, worn out," she said with a smile.

"That's not what I see, Taryn. Not even close," he said trying to sound grown up but not sure he was pulling it off.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what you do see," she said with a polite laugh.

"You don't have to ask. I can honestly say you're the most beautiful woman I know."

His words were sincere but a little clumsy. Then again, he wasn't quite 19 yet, either, and what he said touched her deeply.

"Oh, Walker! You really are the sweetest b...young man I know. Well, except for my Ricky, of course."

Rick hated being called Ricky but his mom still sometimes said it and he never complained as long as she was the only one who did—and no one else but maybe Walker was around.

Walker suddenly found being lumped in with her son very unpalatable. He didn't say anything about it, it just made him feel like a little boy and when it came to Taryn, that was the last thing he wanted.

"Speaking of not quite being 19, aren't you having a birthday pretty soon?" Taryn asked having no idea she'd just deflated one 'sweet young man.'

"Oh, right. I guess I am," he replied. "And as I recall that means yours is just around the corner, too."

"Ugh! Don't remind me, okay?" she said shaking her head. "I'd be happy to forget about it all together."

Walker had a thought and decided to act on it.

"Why don't we combine them this year and do something together?" he said with a very positive, upbeat tone.

"What? You and me? Celebrate? Together?"

"Why not?" Walker said undaunted. "I'll be turning 19 and you'll be turning..."

"Watch it!" Taryn said playfully as she pointed a finger at him.

"I was going to say 29."

"Oh, well, in that case, you may continue," she said very pleased with the compliment.

"I just think we should have a kind of...joint celebration. What do you say?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, I don't suppose it would do any harm to actually do something other than work or sit home alone—again."

She looked right at Walker and said, "Okay. You're on. We'll celebrate together!"

"Great! I'll look forward to it," he told her now nearly panicked having no idea at all what they could do together since he couldn't even get into a bar. That was the bad news. The good news was he had roughly three weeks to figure it out. One week until his and two more after that to hers.

"You know what? I think I I will, too. Oh, and I still owe you a dinner for all your help around here. How about Thursday? I'd make it on the weekend but those are my best tip days and I can't afford to miss them."

"Thursday sounds perfect," he told her. "Can I bring anything?"

Taryn laughed softly and said, "I doubt you could get anyone to sell you a bottle of wine so...no. But that's really fine with me as I'm not much of a drinker anyway. Just stop by around seven and I'll have something ready. Or you could swing by a little earlier and we could talk. If you'd like."

Her tone of voice told him the only thing she had in mind was talking and although that, too, was disappointing, Walker knew he couldn't expect anything else.

"Since I really enjoy talking with you, I may just do that," Walker told her with as much confidence as he could muster up.

"Huh. That's funny because I just realized how much I've enjoyed talking with you. I swear it seems like yesterday when you and Rick were playing with toys up in his room or video games downstairs and here you are all grown up. It's just so...it just doesn't seem possible."

Another reminder of his youth. Great. If only there was some way he could impress on her the fact that in spite of his relative youth, he was indeed a grown man.

"Think, Walker. Think," he said to himself just before saying goodbye and letting her know he'd be there around six on Thursday.

Walker endlessly racked his brain but came up empty. There just wasn't anything he could think to do to change the nature of the situation.

He made sure to show up right on time, and when Taryn opened the door he did his best not to stare. He couldn't remember the last time he saw her dressed up and wearing makeup and the change was so startling it caught him off guard.

"Are you going to come in?" Taryn asked with a pleasant smile as Walker stood there staring in spite of himself.

"Oh. Sure. Sorry," he said as he stepped inside. "You um...you look...amazing," he said trying not to sound foolish.

"Well, thank you, kind sir," she said. "I can't remember the last time I had an evening off and someone to spend it with."

Her hair was very nicely styled and the small amount of makeup she wore made her already-beautiful eyes pop. She was in a pair of jeans that fit rather nicely along with a pretty sweater that was ribbed at the bottom and accentuated her very tight waist. Not wanting to be seen staring again, he settled for several, quick, stolen glances at the two very nice, soft, round globes hugged by the knit material. The neckline wasn't 'low' but it was low enough to show off a bit of cleavage, and Walker couldn't help but notice how very seductive a look this was even though Taryn thought of it as very modest and appropriate.

"I hope you're hungry," she said as she led him to the kitchen. "I'm making caramelized pork chops with white rice and brown gravy with broccoli. If that's okay."

"That sounds fantastic," Walker told her even though he wasn't a broccoli lover.

"With Rick gone, I don't get to cook too often. Then again, even when he was home I was working most of the time so I guess this is a kind of rare treat."

"Do you enjoy cooking?"

"I do," she told him. "I actually love to cook. Were I ever able to afford to quit working, I'd love to cook every evening. But I don't see that in the cards in anytime soon."

"Who knows? Maybe you'll find a well-to-do, handsome guy to sweep you off your feet," Walker said in a good-natured way.

Taryn laughed politely then said, "Money isn't that important to me, but it would be nice not to have to work. Don't get me wrong, I'd be more than willing to keep working. It would just be wonderful if I could be a full-time housewife. Then again, I'd have to meet someone, fall in love, and all that kind of stuff so..."

"Taryn? Trust me when I say you won't have any trouble finding someone once you do 'get back in the ring' or whatever they call it."

"Ah! There you go again making me feel good!" Taryn said as she started getting this ready. "Oh, by the way, speaking of dating, who's the lucky girl or girls in your life these days, Walker? Do you still see Amber?"

"Amber? No. We haven't gone out in nearly a year," he told her.

"A year? Has it really been that long? It seems like yesterday you were introducing her to me. She's a very pretty girl. Things change though, right?" she said with a small laugh having no idea how much Walker hoped certain things could and would change.

"I'm not really dating anyone these days. I stay pretty busy with work."

"Oh, right. Do you have long-term plans where working with your dad is concerned?"

"I do," he told her. "I really enjoy the business and that's probably the main reason I didn't go to college."

"I was initially really disappointed when Rick told me you weren't going because you're so smart, Walker. But I realized you're also very good at what you do, and if you enjoy doing it, then it makes a lot of sense."

She opened the pack of pork chops then asked, "Do you want to own the business one day or would you possibly want to start your own maybe?"

"I never take for granted the tremendous opportunity I've been given by having a dad who not only owns a business but who takes the time to show me how to run it. I've got most of the skills down now that any general contractor needs, but there are a lot of other aspects to running a business. There's so much administrative stuff to learn and for me, that's the hardest part. You know, the permitting process, payroll, liability, and so forth. My dad walks me through those things as often as he can."

"Your dad is a fine man, Walker. Your mom too, for that matter."

She smiled then said, "Hopefully I don't need to say this, but that obviously applies to you, too. You're a very special, very unique young man, Walker."

Filled with hope, Walker smiled back and said, "Thank you for saying that, but I seem pretty ordinary to myself."

"Ordinary? Hah! Hardly! You're one of the smartest people I know—of any age—and you have a heart of gold. And don't get a swelled head because your humility is something else I love about you, but you are a very handsome young man. That's why I assumed you were dating at least one lucky young lady."

"I guess it's a good thing I'm not wearing a hat. I'd have to let it out after all the nice things you just said," he replied.

"Well, I meant every one of them, Walker. You're a very special young man, and whenever you do get ready to settle down, that young woman will indeed be a very lucky girl."