Free Our Time by Jessica Wilde

immediately after made my grin even wider.
"Maddy, this is Jocelyn White. Jocelyn, this is my sister Madison Bennett
Taylor."
    Jocelyn reached her hand out to
shake Maddy's hand while my sister glared at me for sharing her hated middle
name, but then she brushed her hand away and gave her a big hug instead.
    "Oh, it's so nice to meet
you. I've heard a lot about you."
    "Maddy," I warned.
    Jocelyn had a shocked expression
on her beautiful face as she turned to face me. "Well, I hope he didn't
say anything too awful."
    "Ha! I'm sure he doesn't
think there is an awful bone in your body! No, it was all very wonderful
things." Maddy winked at me and I just shook my head, annoyed that she was
throwing me under the bus, but not complaining because Jocelyn stepped a little
closer to me as I returned my hand to the small of her back.
    "And this gorgeous little
girl must be Olivia!" She crouched down in front of her and gasped as she
took in Jocelyn's daughter. "You are so pretty! I'm Maddy and we are going
to have a blast today."
    Olivia giggled shyly and hugged
her mother's leg tightly. "Oh, Liv you are just fine. No need to be shy,
love," Jocelyn crooned as she tucked some loose strands of hair behind her
little ears.
    Just then, Ty came barreling
across the store with Ella on his back and Josh chasing behind him. "Hey,
man, glad you made it." He slapped me on the back and then wrapped his arm
around Madison's shoulders. "Hi, I'm Tyler, Maddy's better half."
    He was actually, truly, her other
half. Blonde hair, brown eyes, and he was taller than me, which was pretty damn
tall, while my sister was short and curvy. They were complete opposites in
every way, but the longer they had been together, the more Ty started to show
us all who he truly was. 'The love of a good woman' he always said. I was
starting to believe him.
    "Oh, shut it!" Maddy
slapped him on the chest and laughed.
    Jocelyn looked like she was
beaming and got a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
    "So, your name is Tyler
Taylor?" she asked with a grin.
    Tyler frowned at her, but his
eyes were filled with amusement. I used to tease him about his name so much, we
almost didn't stay friends. Over the years, he had gotten used to it.
    I couldn't help myself. I burst
out laughing.
    Tyler stared at Jocelyn a little
longer, trying to make her squirm, but she kept the grin on her face. Probably
because Maddy looked like she wanted to hug her again.
    "I like you," Tyler
smiled.
    I knew then that this was going
to be a day to remember.
    We walked around the whole place
twice because the kids kept asking to go back and see the monkeys. Olivia was
amazed with all the animals and Jocelyn could hardly keep her from trying to
climb over the barrier when we got to the elephants.
    We had been there about two hours
before we stopped for a break and had some ice cream. Ella and Olivia had been
great together and were sharing their ice cream cones back and forth before Liv
dropped hers on the ground. She looked to her mother with her bottom lip
sticking out and tears welling up in her eyes. It broke my heart into a million
pieces.
    Jocelyn immediately hugged her
and wiped her tears, then gave her the rest of her barely touched ice cream
which halted both her tears and her sadness. She smiled and giggled at Jocelyn
and quickly started to smear the sweet treat all over her face.
    I watched the whole thing in
fascination, amazed at how quickly the little broken heart was put back
together. Jocelyn watched Liv with a smile on her face as she made a huge mess
and I couldn't take my eyes off of her.
    When she turned to look at me, I
couldn't think of what to say or do other than hand her my ice cream cone with
a wink.
    "Oh, I'm fine, thank
you," she laughed and waved dismissively.
    "You sure?"
    "Yeah."
    "But it's really good.
Chocolate," I sang and waved the heaping cone in front of her.
    She laughed again and shook her
head in amusement. "Okay, fine."
    She grabbed the cone out of my
hand, brushing my