Free Meet Me at Taylor Park by Jason W. Chan Page A

dressing, garlic bread, gingerbread cookies.
    The three of them sat down. Brandon said, “Wow, this looks so good.”
    Catherine indicated the dishes. “Please help yourself.”
    The three of them began to pile food onto their plates while Winter Wonderland played on the radio in the background.
    Catherine started cutting her drumstick. “So Brandon, what are you thinking of doing after graduation?”
    “Well,” he said, playing with his fork. “My father wants me to be an investment banker, but that’s not where my passion is.”
    Catherine stopped cutting and stared at him. “And what is your passion?”
    “Well,” Brandon said, dropping his fork. He looked at Katie, who half-smiled. “I thought about being a farmer. Growing food for people.”
    Catherine narrowed her eyes, and bit her lips. “I see,” was she said.
    Then, she set down her fork. “You do know Katie’s passion, is that correct?
    “Yes,” Brandon said, staring at his plate.
    “And you know that Katie is going away after graduation, right?”
    Katie was in the middle of drinking a glass of apple juice. She set it down abruptly, some of it spilling onto the tablecloth. “Mom!”
    Catherine shrugged. “What? It’s the truth.”
    Brandon put up one hand. “No, it’s fine, Katie.” He turned to her mother. “Yes, I’m aware of that, Mrs. Simpson.”
    Catherine took a sip of her glass of water. “Alright, just as long as you know. I hope you’re not going to move there with her. It could really get in the way.”
    Katie gripped her knife so hard that her knuckles were whitening. “Mom, we haven’t even talked about that yet.”
    “You have to talk about it sometime,” her mother said.
    Brandon didn’t know what to say, so he just pushed the mashed potatoes around on his plate, making some sort of hill.
    Katie looked at him apologetically. She tried to put some turkey in her mouth, but she had lost her appetite.
    Of the three of them at the table, only Catherine Simpson was eating heartily.
    *
    After dinner, Katie and Brandon stepped out into the chilly night. Christmas lights were hung on the neighbor’s houses. Some of them spelled “Merry Christmas” while others were in the shape of Santa Claus, reindeer and sleds. Red, blue, orange, yellow, green flashed cheerfully all around them.
    Brandon held Katie’s mittened hands, and together, they walked up the snow-covered street, which reflected the colorful Christmas lights.
    It had stopped snowing. Some of the snow had even melted, creating slush. It was like walking in water.
    Katie turned to Brandon, her face pink. “I’m sorry about my mom.”
    “That’s alright.” He looked down and kept walking.
    “I mean, I know we haven’t discussed after graduation yet. It was rude of my mom to mention that.”
    He looked up at her. “Why don’t we discuss it?”
    She bit her lower lip, and then fidgeted with the buttons on her winter coat. “Let’s just enjoy the time we have together. The future is far away. Really far away.”
    Brandon was tempted to argue, but said nothing. He didn’t want to ruin their Christmas.
    So he continued to walk, his boots stomping in the slush.
    Just then, a freezing breeze struck them, and they stopped moving and huddled together.
    He noticed that her scarf was loose, so he reached over and pulled it tighter for her.
    “All better?” he asked.
    She looked at him, and he stared back. She enjoyed the warmth that their little cocoon was generating.
    As she looked at him, a single snowflake fell on his toque. She touched it with one finger, and it melted right away.
    He touched his head. “What?”
    “There was a snowflake on your toque. It was really pretty.” She smiled shyly.
    “Pretty? You’re so weird.”
    She chuckled.
    He wrapped his arms around her. “And that’s what I like about you.”
    She laid her head on his shoulder.
    Brandon murmured, “Do you want to go to my house? It’s warm there.”
    Katie nodded. “What are we doing