I wasn’t too picky about houses at all. Every house that Jared had researched was way beyond anything that I would have even considered, so I just went along with it and let him work out his preferences. There were particular things he required—like a certain amount of privacy for the home and a space for his recording equipment—so I felt that he should be the decision maker. He’d ask my opinion about almost everything, but I told him that houses were just not my expertise.
“Do you like the dark countertops?” he asked when we were in the kitchen.
I shrugged. I thought they were fine.
With a smile he said, “Well do you like them better than the gray granite that was in the Hillsdale house?”
I had to think for a second. “Uh, the one with the two-story entry?” When he nodded I said, “I like this color better.”
“So do I. What about the floors? Do you like so much wood?”
I looked to where the wood flooring went wall to wall throughout the main living space we were in. “Yeah, I think it’s really pretty. I don’t really like this color though… I kinda liked the wood that was in the Hillsdale house instead.”
“The Brazilian maple?”
I laughed and said, “Sure, the Brazilian maple.”
He smiled and took my hand to walk down the hall to the bedrooms. There were three of them in that particular hallway; two of them were bigger than any bedroom that I’d ever had, and the third one was a bit smaller.
“Maggie would like that,” Jared pointed out. It was a little step-up in the larger bedroom that had a cute railing around it and built in bookshelves.
I nodded my agreement. “Yeah, she would love that. She’d have those shelves filled in no time.”
“Definitely.”
After our tour of one end of the house, we journeyed to the other end. The master bedroom always gave me an odd feeling. I guess because Jared and I were in it together, not just looking at the basic feel of it, but also considering a life living in it. He always told me the master bedroom would be mine, but I could never picture it—at least not without him.
This particular bedroom didn’t really do much for me, and I could tell that Jared didn’t like it either. Even if we painted it a different color, he didn’t like the carpet in it, or the master bathroom.
“It’s okay, I guess,” he shrugged. “But it’s your room so you decide,” he added with a smile.
It was a no-go for me.
After taking a brief tour of the upstairs, we headed out for the next house on our list. I expected that it was going to be pretty nice because it was in the Claremont Hills area. Jared knew that bigger wasn’t necessarily better in my opinion, so I was glad when this house was a little smaller than the other ones that we’d looked at. I said “a little smaller,” not “small.” It was still a roomy home, but not overly so.
However, I got a good feeling the second we arrived. It was on two acres, fully fenced and gated with beautiful lawns and lots of privacy. When we walked inside, the living room was nice and simple, and I liked that the family room was at the back of the house with an extra bedroom and full bathroom. In the corner was a set of wide stairs that led both up and down.
The basement was mainly a huge rec room. Besides the big open room, there was also a bathroom and two large walk-in storage closets. The top floor consisted of one large bedroom with a bathroom, and other than a 14x16 open loft, that was it for the upper level.
I loved the combination of wood flooring and carpet, the kitchen was perfect to both of us, and the quality of materials used was to Jared’s approval. I was falling in love with the house before we even made it to the master bedroom.
Once we did make our way to the other end, we peeked into two more bedrooms that shared a bathroom, but around the corner from that…
“Whoa, welcome to another house?” I asked.
Jared chuckled at the double doors, but he opened the one with the handle and entered the room. He was casually looking around like he’d done in every other house, but I was still standing in the doorway. He turned around and realized that and asked, “What’s up?”
I finally entered the room and shook my head. “Nothing. I guess I’m still, um, easily impressed.”
He smiled and took me in his arms. “You think you’d like this as your room? Check that out,” he pointed. He kept one arm around me and motioned to the double doors that led to a private patio. The curtains were drawn back to reveal the beautiful landscaping and a hot tub. There had been other houses that were more impressive, but this one just seemed…perfect to me.
We walked outside for a few minutes to look around. The patio connected to the rest of the yard through a gate, but it felt so private with the way it was landscaped and decoratively fenced in, just for the master bedroom. The rest of the lawn was beautiful, and there was a lot of it.
I was in love with it.
“You wanna take a look at the bathroom and closet, or are you already sold?” Jared teased.
I smiled but re-entered the bedroom with him. Because of how much I liked the rest of the house, I wasn’t surprised that I loved the master bathroom. And of course the closet was beyond my expectations.
After studying the master wing, I stood with Jared in the middle of the bedroom, feeling a little overwhelmed. He seemed to be watching me closely, and I knew he wanted to hear my opinion. I think he knew my decision, but was waiting for me to speak first.
“I love it,” I finally said.
He smiled and said, “So do I. And I love you,” he added, leaning his forehead against mine.
It made my heart feel full and I wrapped my arms around him. “I love you, too.”
He kissed me, and we stood there for another minute enjoying the time alone. Finally he said, “Well, I think we could negotiate a deal for this place if you’re positive it’s what you want. But we can put in an offer and still look at a few more places if you’d like.”
I slowly shook my head. “I don’t think I need to look any further.”
He barely nodded. “Cool, neither do I.”
“What about the basement? Are you sure there’s enough room for your studio?”
“Oh yeah, definitely. I mean only if you’re okay if I frame in that farthest twenty feet?”
I sort of scoffed. “Jared, it’s your house. You can do whatever you want with it.”
He looked at me for a few seconds. “Is that what it’s gonna keep coming back to? It’s my house?”
“It is,” I smiled.
“No it’s not, Taryn. I want it to be our house.”
Neither of us said anything for a while. I wondered if he’d been feeling what I’d been feeling as we were looking at houses. Who was I kidding? I was house hunting with my boyfriend. How could it not feel like it was going to be a permanent situation?
We were still holding one another so I brought my lips to his and kissed him. The moment just seemed to speak to me, and I felt like my future had been confirmed. My heart felt so full that I couldn’t ignore it, and when Jared pulled back to smile at me he said, “I am the luckiest guy in the world.”
I honestly felt a little choked up at the moment. I don’t know if it was the happiness of the day, the house we were in, or that we had shared it all together, but it was meaningful to me and I knew it. It was a total reassurance of my decision the night before.
“Jared…”
He waited for me to continue, but I couldn’t at first. After a few seconds he even tilted his head slightly with inquiry, but almost like he was worried. Finally he said, “What is it? What’s wrong?”
I kind of laughed and said, “Absolutely nothing. I’m just…I’m so happy with you, and to hear you say things like that…”
“Say things like what? How lucky I am? Well I guess luck probably isn’t the right word to use. Maybe blessed would be a better choice. But it’s true, Taryn. You complete my life, and I just…feel like all of this is right.”
“I love you, Jared,”
I finally exhaled. “I love you so much and…and I agree with you. It feels right. I feel that this should be our house together. But what I’m also saying is that I don’t want to live here separately with you. I want all of it, all of this, with you. I’m not living in this house if it can’t be that way.”
He stared at me at first, and then smiled with surprise. “Taryn, are you sure?”
“I’m so sure that you’d better agree before I send you to the doghouse for the first time.”
He laughed and gathered me in his arms at the same time. “Lady, I love you. I honestly didn’t think that I could be any happier than I already was.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, just as Cassandra entered the room. Instead of getting embarrassed she said, “Ah, so this is why you two disappear for so long.”
Jared smiled and said, “How could I not with such an amazing girl. And since I want her to have this house, you can go ahead and get started on making it happen. Do what you need to, but if you have to match their asking price I’ll be completely broke.”
She smiled and left the room, but I guess I took his comment a little too seriously.
“I’m kidding,” he told me when he saw the look on my face. “But there is one thing I’m worried about…”
That caught my attention. “What is that?”
He paused for a bit, and I feared that it was something that would change everything. I was about to panic when he said, “Well, this whole time I’ve just been thinking about…”
“Thinking about what?”
“Okay, I’m gonna be completely honest here, okay? And if I totally screw this up, I’m really sorry and I hope you can just forget about it and we can go back to the way things were before.”
“Jared, what are you talking about?”
He took a deep breath and said, “Taryn, I’m so in love with you, and instead of you being my live in girlfriend…I’d rather you be my wife. And with Maggie, I just worry about the message we’ll be giving her. You know, you and me, living together and…” He sighed again. “I just prefer to make everything…I don’t know…correct. Honorable. To me that’s important, but you’re more important to me, and I want you to be happy…”
“Did you say you want to get married? Are you asking me to marry you?”
He looked at me for a moment, and I know he was trying to read me. Finally he said, “Yes, I’m asking you to marry me, Taryn. I love you, and I love Maggie, and I want to have everything with you. I understand that you’ve got some things to work out, so that’s why I’m saying you should just think about it for now—”
“Yes, Jared. Yes I will marry you. Yes, yes, yes.”
I loved the look on his face, and I knew without a doubt that it was the right decision. I was in love with him, and our future was with each other. I had everything I wanted in him, and to be the person to make him so happy made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
No…blessed.
Chapter Thirty-Four
We left our future home (we hoped) completely overjoyed. We spent the afternoon in San Francisco, visiting a couple of museums and sightseeing a little bit. The city wasn’t anything new to either of us, but exploring it together was different, and we checked out things that neither of us had really taken the time to see.
It was nice that Jared wasn’t recognized when we were out and about. He had on faded jeans and a black jacket, and with a hat on and sunglasses he blended in with almost everyone else meandering the streets.
However, he did get recognized when we went out to dinner that night. Everything we did was casual, but of course he left his hat and sunglasses in the car to go in the restaurant, and there were people that spotted him right away. He’d arranged for a private table for dinner, but first he spent some time indulging a few fans that presented themselves to him. He signed autographs and posed for a few pictures… He was very sweet and accommodating.
I was used to my role in these situations and I just stepped back and let him greet his fans. In a way it was fun to watch, especially because Jared was just a big sweetheart when it came to interacting with people. Many of them gushed over him in this way or that, or told him very nice things. He was genuinely appreciative of it all, but there was something about the way he would ask them a question or two that really pleased me. Instead of just saying, “Oh, cool,” when someone would recount what show of his they’d attended he would say, “Yeah? Who was with you?” or “Awesome, what’d you think of the opening band?” Or if someone mentioned anything about school, or sports, or anything…he would inquire more, like what school they went to, what grade they were in, or what their favorite sports team was. He just genuinely cared about other people.
“How old is Cameron?” he was now asking some lady. She had just told him that her son was a huge fan of his as he was signing an autograph for him. I could tell she was a bit fascinated by her son’s idol, as well.
“He’s seventeen. Biggest handful I’ve ever had, but he has a good heart.”
Jared kind of chuckled as he finished the message he was writing for Cameron on an envelope from the lady’s purse. “I was a punk at that age too.” He handed her the autograph and added, “Tell him to hang in there; he’s an important part of the world.”
That seemed to please her, and before he could move on to his next admirer she said, “He tried to catch you at the Warfield to sign his CDs, but I guess it’s impossible unless you have special passes or something?”
Jared nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. It gets kind of crazy otherwise.”
“Is there any other way he could meet you?”
I thought maybe Jared would politely express regret, but instead he said, “If he’s here in San Fran, get him over here. I’ll probably be here for the next hour or so. If you don’t mind waiting for me in the lobby, I’ll make sure I say hi.”
Okay, she was delighted, even though I knew Jared was trying to keep the conversation quiet so other people didn’t call their friends and family to head over too. As it was, I knew some of them had been on their phones excitedly anyway, along with cameras taking pictures and video most likely rolling. But Jared acknowledged everyone that took the time to approach him, and when we finally made it to our table thirty minutes later, I was famished.
“Now you’re gonna have to feed me extra,” I teased him.
“I’m sorry, I just have a hard time—”
“It’s fine, hon. I’m just kidding. I’m glad you take the time to talk to people. It shows how much you care.”
“This is the best type of place to do it in because there aren’t hundreds of people.”
“Well there might be in an hour,” I smiled.
With a chuckle he said, “Possibly, but don’t you doubt my ability to strategize, Taryn.”
I guess I found out what he meant later on when he had the waiter seek out Cameron and his mom in the lobby, and then invited them to join us for dessert. I could tell the kid was completely blown away to be eating with Jared Miller, and I thought about my own brother and how much he looked up to him, as well. I was thankful for examples like him, especially when he expressed over and over to Cameron how many good people he knew that had messed up their lives because of drugs and alcohol.
“So you don’t ever party?” the kid asked him.
I smiled because I’d already heard Jared’s response to that question dozens of times.
“I love to party,” he replied. “But you can have one hell of a party with good people, good food, and a lot of dancing. Now that’s a party. Drugs and alcohol only ruin the real fun that can be had.”
I didn’t exactly remain out of the conversation because one of the first things Cameron asked was if I was Jared’s girlfriend. I had replied yes, avoiding the whole fiancée technicality. There was no way I was going to break the news to the world that way. But it was kind of cool to share a half an hour with two complete strangers. Cameron did seem like a good kid, but I understood what it was
like to be a teenager. I’d had my rebellious days, and my parents had plenty of problems with Rachel.
Thinking about my sister sort of dampened my mood. I was glad I wasn’t a part of the conversation at that moment because I was thinking about her life instead. I wondered if there was any particular thing in our lives that could clue us in to our future. I doubted that, but I just didn’t know why I turned out to be so different from Rachel. Her life had ended so unexpectedly, and we still didn’t know why.
We left the restaurant through the back exit. I realized why Jared had parked on the side of the street at that point because he was spotted just as we were getting into the car. We made it out of there easily, but I was starting to get worn out from the long day.
“I’m sorry about all that,” Jared said once we were on the road.
“Sorry about what? I enjoyed the experience.”
“With fans? I thought maybe at the end you were getting tired of it.”
“Did it seem that way? Oh gosh, I hope not. No, I was just… I was just thinking about Rachel.”
He glanced at me as he drove and then took my hand. “Oh, I’m sorry. No it didn’t seem like you were tired of the fans, but I did notice that little frown line right there.” He lightly brushed the corner of my mouth. “I was just trying to read into it.” When I didn’t respond he added, “What were you thinking about Rachel?”
With a sigh I shook my head. “Just that it’s been almost four months and I still don’t know why my sister was killed.”
He barely nodded his head as he drove, but after a few seconds he pulled over and said, “I feel that it will get sorted out. I mean I can’t even guess why it happened, or who was involved but… I think you’ll know someday. For now…”
Love Today Page 28