His Best Friend's Mom

Walker didn't reply so Taryn asked another question.

"I know you said you're not dating anyone, but is there anyone in particular you're at least interested in?"

He took a deep breath then smiled at her and said, "You know, it's funny you should mention that, but I've been very interested in someone for quite a while now."

"Do you mind me asking who the lucky girl is?"

"I probably shouldn't say anything just yet," he told her, not sure what else to say.

"Oh, I see. Is that because she's someone I know?"

"Um...yes. You definitely know her, and that's kind of why I don't want say who it is. I will say she's incredibly attractive and well...she's quite a bit older than me."

"Hmmm. Maybe you should have gone to college after all," Taryn teased. "That way, you'd be surrounded by beautiful, older girls all day long."

Walker laughed politely when she did then said, "Well, the um...woman I'm interested is a bit older than college co-eds."

"Oh, really?" Taryn said smiling again. "And I know her. Hmmm. Have you told her how you feel?"

"Not directly," he told her.

"Well, unless you do, she may not know how you feel and if the age difference is more than say...five years...she may not even see you as a potential dating partner."

She smiled again then said, "Is she more than five years older than you?"

"Yes. The age difference is quite a bit more than that, but honestly, that doesn't make any difference to me. I don't think age is very important if two people share other interests."

"No, but it can be problematic in that you may not know very much about her world. When you start talking, you'll find she's from one era and you're from another. She'll know things you won't and vice versa. I can see how that would be a pretty big hurdle to get over."

"So you don't think it's possible she'd go out with me?" he said, his hopes waning.

"No, I'm not saying that. It's just that the more things you have in common the easier it is. Marriage—or any relationship—can be a real challenge, and when two people have huge differences, it can make things even harder. Whether it's religion or political views or having children and how to raise them or just little things like hobbies , the more you have in common, the better."

"Yeah. I get that. A conservative Republican, Southern Baptist who's pro-life might not do too well with a liberal Democrat who's an atheist and pro-choice."

Taryn laughed again then said, "Sometimes people can work through huge issues like that. It's just a lot simpler when you don't have to."

Walker shelved the 'heavy' discussion and asked about Rick and what Taryn had heard.

"I didn't want to say anything, but he thinks he may be getting sent to an infantry battalion that's getting ready to go to Afghanistan. I already worry enough about him. If that happens..."

Taryn was suddenly blinking rapidly and Walker felt terrible for asking.

"Let's stay positive, okay?" Walker said cheerfully. "Maybe that won't happen, and if it does, he won't be one of the guys being sent."

Taryn forced a smile then said, "I like the way you think! And...how about we find something more pleasant to talk about?"

It wasn't accusatory. It was simply a reflection of how she felt. Rick was her only child and having lost her husband, the thought of losing him was more than she could bear.

For the rest of the evening, they kept things light and chatted about pleasant memories and good times. Walker loved seeing Taryn smile and he loved making her laugh even more.

"That was absolutely delicious, Taryn," he told her when he finished the last bite.

"Thank you!" she said. "If you were fifteen years older it wouldn't be hard to persuade me to cook for you every night."

Her smile not only melted his heart, it stirred him in that certain place.

"Of course, you'll be long since married in fifteen years and I'll be... Well, let's not talk about that, okay?" she added.

"You'll always be beautiful," Walker blurted out but in a way that didn't sound like the words had been blurted.

"And once again, you've made me feel good about myself. If only I could bottle you up and shake out a little at a time when I need it."

"I don't know about the bottling up part, but I'm here for you anytime for anything."

Taryn smiled at him, but it was a different kind of smile this time.

"I know you are, Walker, and that means the world to me," she told him sincerely. "You're becoming a best friend, you know."

Being a woman's best friend was a death sentence when the guy was interested in her as more than just a friend. But he knew there was little chance of there ever being anything more. And yet he couldn't shake the thought and the hope that somehow—someday—she might possibly be more.

"Hey! I just remembered we haven't discussed our...joint celebration," Taryn said. "What were you thinking?"

While they were talking, Walker had finally come up with something and was waiting for the right time to spring it on her. "How long has it been since you've been skiing?" he asked.

"Skiing? Are you serious? It's been...years," she told him. "Many years."

"Then how about we head up to Crystal Mountain and go skiing?"

"I'd love to, but skiing is way outside my price range these days. That's why I quit going those many years ago."

"No, it'd be my treat," Walker said. "You still have your skies and cold-weather gear, right?"

"Hah! I have that stuff, but the clothes probably went out of style back in...well, around the time you were born," she said with a laugh.

"Oh, great," Walker thought to himself. "Another age put down."

"Besides, that's way too much money, Walker. Lift tickets were insanely expensive back when I was going skiing. They have to cost far more now."

"They do, but my dad's company has two annual passes and he uses them as rewards for the guys at work. He's offered to let me use them more than once. So...what do you say?"

"Oh, Walker. I...I don't know. I'd still feel guilty. I mean..."

Taryn stood up and grabbed her plate and Walker did the same.

When they got to the sink, he set his plate on top of hers and they found themselves just inches apart with his body almost directly behind hers.

"I'd love for you to go with me, Taryn," he said quietly as he pulled his hand back from around her waist after setting his plate in the sink.

"I do love to ski," she also said quietly. "And I've really missed it."

Her back was to him and Walker felt his hands moving on their own as they reached for her shoulders. When they reached their destination, he knew he'd made a mistake and deeply regretted doing it.

When Taryn didn't flinch or ask what he was doing, he kept them there and said, "Then let's do that. Let's go skiing together. You can pick the day."

Taryn felt somewhere between silly and deeply embarrassed that her body reacted to Walker's touch the way it did. It was as though a surge of electricity shot through her as her skin turned to goose bumps. She was too afraid to turn around, suddenly worried she might do something she'd regret even more.

"Okay. That...that sounds very nice," she managed to say hoping her voice wouldn't crack.

"Really? That's great!" Walker said. His hands pushed just enough to let her know he wanted her to turn around and Taryn's body betrayed her mind and turned against her will.

Even as she was turning, Walker was smiling and grabbed her and hugged her, holding her close. She wanted to push away but found her arms hugging him back as she smiled, too.

There was the briefest moment where their eyes met where Walker wanted to kiss her more than he'd wanted anything in his young life, and where Taryn feared that if he were to kiss her she might kiss back. It ended in a moment and both of them suddenly became aware of what they were doing.

Walker lowered his arms and stepped back as Taryn looked away and said, "I...I should get the rest of those dishes picked up."

There weren't any other dishes left except the plates the food were on, but Walker quickly agreed.

"Yeah, right. Let me give you a hand."

He passed her the plate the remaining pork chops were on, and she set it down before covering it with plastic wrap. There were several more uncomfortable moments before Taryn completely recovered and asked if he'd like some dessert.

As they ate their dessert, a slice of the chocolate cake she'd baked especially for their dinner, they decided they'd go skiing two weeks from today.

"That's perfect," Walker said. "It splits the difference rather nicely."

"It does and I'll still be 34 for a couple more days which sounds a whole lot better than 35, right?"

"I don't know about that, but I'll be 19 by then and that definitely sounds a lot better than 18 to me."

Taryn laughed loudly then said, "Oh, to be 19 again! If I was, this could be an actual first date!" She laughed again when she said that, but Walker wasn't laughing. Well, he was but only on the outside.

They talked for a good while longer before Taryn said she really needed to get to bed as she was opening the diner at 4am tomorrow morning.

"Four am?" Walker said. "That's ridiculous. I thought we started early at 7am."

Taryn sighed then said, "Maybe it would be nice to have a handsome knight ride and rescue me!"

"If I show up on a horse for our joint celebration, will you try not to laugh?" Walker said.

Taryn covered her mouth before cracking up.

"You are too funny! Smart, handsome, funny, well-spoken. Maybe I am going to be jealous of this 'older woman I know'."

"She's actually really hot," Walker told her.

"Hmmm. Who do I know who fits that description? She has to be single, too, so... Oh, I know! You're interested in Heather Williams, aren't you? She's about 30, recently divorced, and very attractive. That's her, isn't it?"

Walker laughed then said, "She is nice looking, but no, that's not her. 'My' girl is really hot. Smokin' hot!"

Taryn laughed then said, "It may take me a while to figure this out, but I will figure it out."

She smiled then added, "When I do, I can drop a hint if you'd like. Not to meddle or anything. Just being a friend."

"A best friend, right?" Walker said with a kind of wry smile.

"Yes! A best friend," Taryn said unaware how that made her new 'best friend' feel.

"Well, I should be going, I suppose," he said wanting to change the subject. "Dinner was amazing and well...so were you."

"Ah! I love that you made me feel good one more time before you leave."

She walked him to the door and said, "I can't believe what a nice time I had. Thank you for coming over and keeping me company."

"Thank you for inviting me and for making dinner. It really was great."

"You're very welcome," she said sort of tilting her upper body indicating she was very flattered. "So I'll see you in two weeks then, right?"

"Right," Walker agreed. "Unless you need me for something before that, of course."

"You are so sweet!" she said as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "It's almost like having my own son home!"

"Ouch!" Walker said. He saw her reaction to his then quickly changed his expression from a wince to a smile.

His reaction wasn't lost on Taryn, though. She found herself wondering if he saw their friendship as something more than that but quickly dismissed it as over analyzing the situation—something she was often prone to doing.

"Well, goodnight, Walker," she said sweetly.

"Goodnight, Taryn. And thank you again. For everything."

As she watched him walk down the porch steps she asked herself if going skiing with him was such a good idea. Once again, she dismissed that thought, too, for the same reason. And yet the way he'd looked at her when they'd hugged or the way doing so had made her feel set off more alarm bells inside her head.

She really did need to get to sleep, and she could try and think this through later when she had more time.

As she lay down later on she found herself unable to fall asleep as she kept replaying the events of the evening in her mind. Time and time again it came back to the hug and that brief moment when their eyes met. She felt silly and even guilty when her hand began moving to a place it had rarely ever been. For all the years she was married, there'd never really been a time when she'd needed to um...go there...as her husband provided her with everything she'd needed when it came to intimacy. Since his passing, she'd been too grief-stricken to think about such things until just a few months ago. Since then, there'd been, well...a handful of such occasions.

She was very, very wet as her middle finger began circling the Boy in the Boat. Taryn moaned softly as she relived the hug and 'the look' telling guilt and shame to temporarily get lost. She was sure there'd be 'hell to pay' later on for the guilt she'd almost certainly feel, but for now her needs outweighed her fears and minutes later her body shuddered in one of the most intense and amazing orgasms she'd ever had. Only then did she fall into a deep, contended sleep.

Ironically, this night was the first night in quite a while that Walker didn't fantasize about his best friend's mom. He'd had a nice time, but based on the way she'd treated him, he was beginning to realized he'd always and only just be her son's best friend. Taryn hadn't been anything but friendly and polite, Walker had just built this whole thing up in his mind to the point where he began believing there might actually be some kind of possibility.

"Yeah, right," he said just before 2am when he finally drifted off to sleep himself.

Taryn thought about calling him many times over the next several days, but there just wasn't anything left around the house that needed repaired. There were also those periods of guilt where she had to ask herself what in the world she was thinking. Walker was not only way, way too young, he was quite possibly the best-looking young man she'd ever seen and could go out with pretty much any girl he wanted. Any...younger girl. Even so, she was fascinated with his comment about liking someone she knew; someone who might even be over 30 years old.

After having thought it was kind of creepy, Taryn saw a sweet, romantic side to it she hadn't considered before. It really would be weird (if not creepy) with most guys his age, but Walker was quite possibly also the most intelligent, mature kid...young man...his age she'd ever met. He could talk easily about almost anything from history to quantum physics and although Taryn had little interest in the former and none in the latter, talking to him was always very pleasant and enjoyable. Yes, some girl, some much-younger girl, would be a very lucky woman one day.

As the weekend for their joint celebration got closer, Walker found himself hoping it would all just go away. He knew he needed to call and discuss the details, but the last thing he wanted was to feel like a kid again around a woman he realized would never see him as more than, well...a kid.

Taryn hadn't so much as seen Walker let alone talked with him since their dinner, and she couldn't help but think he'd probably found himself a nice girl or maybe even this older woman who still remained a mystery. She couldn't blame him, though. Given the choice, why would someone like Walker decide to go skiing with his best friend's mother when he could go do something fun with a hot, younger woman?

And yet it really bothered her that he wouldn't at least call and cancel. She'd gotten all of her old ski clothes out and even found her skis which were in pretty good shape considering how long they'd been up in the attic. It didn't get hot too often so they weren't warped or even in bad shape. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to go just to ski even if Walker didn't care to join her. She even thought about taking another day off and charging a lift ticket to her already nearly maxed-out credit card but knew she wouldn't.

Two days prior she couldn't stand it anymore and decided to call him. A part of her wanted it to go straight to voicemail while another part of her wanted to hear his voice.

"Hello?" she heard after the third ring. "Taryn? Is that you?"

"Oh, Walker. Hi, there. Yes. I was just wondering how we're looking for our little 'joint celebration' this weekend. I've been kind of excited about it but haven't heard from you. If you've changed your mind, that's perfectly all right, I just thought I'd..."

Walker was suddenly back on top of the world when he heard he say she'd been looking forward to it.

"No. I haven't changed my mind at all," he said unintentionally interrupting her. "I'm really looking forward to it, too."

"Really?" she said feeling secretly relieved. "Great. So when did you want to leave?"

"Early works for me. That would give us the entire day to ski. Is that okay with you?"

"Early is my middle name, remember?" she reminded him. "You'll never 'out early' me!"

"Oh, right. I forgot that you're up at the butt cra..." He stopped talking when he realized what he was saying.

Taryn laughed and finished his sentence.

"At the butt crack of dawn? Yeah, that's me. Just let me know what time you want to leave and I'll be ready."

"How about 8am? It'll take us around two hours to get up there and another half hour to get ready, but if that's okay, that's what I was thinking."

"Then that's what we'll do," she said cheerfully. "I like a take-charge kind of man."

Her voice was playful and Walker was very encouraged. Not that anything would really happen, but at least there was hope and hope felt pretty good.

"I enjoy being in charge," he said back being equally playful.

He paused then said, "At least I think I do."

Taryn laughed and said, "I'll be ready to go at 8 o'clock. See you then?"

"You will," he told her before saying goodbye.

Taryn felt so much better after they talked. She was still beating herself up (only mildly, though) for having such foolish thoughts. She consoled herself by knowing she'd never act on them and told herself it was okay to look forward to having a nice time in celebration of her birthday. Her son couldn't be home so what was wrong with spending a day with someone she'd known for a dozen or so years? She loved to ski and this was an opportunity to do so for free, and she was going and planned to enjoy herself.

Walker was also very relieved that Taryn was still interested. The fact that she'd called him was huge in his mind and told him she was looking forward to their joint celebration. His family wasn't big on birthday celebrations and his had consisted of a cake, the use of the ski passes for the weekend, and a $500 check. His dad wouldn't be caught dead shopping for anything other than tools, and although he'd essentially given his son a car when he turned 16, money was the preferred solution for any occasion. He made a ton of it so writing a check for such a small amount made everyone happy. Or maybe equally unhappy? Either way, Walker's birthday was over and done and he was taking the woman of his dreams skiing on Thursday!

Taryn had looked amazing when he had dinner with her, but Walker was speechless when he saw her that Thursday morning. He later learned she was wearing lipstick only because chapped lips drove her crazy, but her dark red, glossy lips were doing that to him from the moment he laid eyes on her.

Even though her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, it was still soft and silky and her face looked as beautiful as he could ever remember. And then there was the white turtleneck sweater underneath another black sweater that made him want to stare again at the two soft, round puppets underneath them. The leggings she was wearing were dated as was the ski suit laying out on the sofa, but Taryn was otherwise breathtakingly gorgeous.