Free Love Today by Delia Delaney

the best career.”
    “That’s not so easy either.”
    “Let me guess, they’re both equally hot, and they’re both happy with their jobs.”
    “Yeah, pretty much.”
    “Okay, then what else is important to you? What is something that you could use to find out who tips the scale? Oh I got it. Maggie,” she smiled. “Not all guys are comfortable around kids—”
    “They’re both great with her,” I replied almost sullenly. “And she adores both of them , too, even though she’s been only been around Jared one time.”
    “Well there you go. Zack is around and he’s committed to you. He sounds more consistent.”
    “Yeah, but that’s because I told Jared I had a boyfriend and I wasn’t interested in seeing anyone else.”
    She stared at me with an open mouth.
    “What?” I asked.
    “You’re honestly confused? You’re dating a great guy and you’re still thinking about the other one all the time? Doesn’t that tell you something, Taryn?”
    “That I’m stupid?”
    “That you’ve got to spend time with Jared,” she laughed. “Come on, you know it’s the only solution right now. What’s it going to hurt? You either realize that he’s not that great of a guy and you appreciate that you have Zack, or you find out that he’s better than Zack, and you’re glad you had the sense to find out. I mean you say that things with you and Zack are pretty casual —which is what you wanted. You owe it to yourself to find out, Taryn. Especially if you’re not really that invested in your current relationship. ”
    I wanted to argue the last part, but I knew it was true. Zack and I were on pretty casual terms, and even though we spent time together like a couple, we both agreed to keep it simple by putting our other priorities first. If he had work to do, he did it. If I had work to do, I did it. If Maggie needed me, I always put her first. If getting together wasn’t an option, we didn’t make a big deal about it. I never regretted any time that I spent with Zack, and I believed he felt the same way, but I was so set on keeping my life trouble-free that I was really comfortable without the pressure.
    But now this thing with Jared… I was bothered with myself for letting it affect me. I guess it had been the same thing when Zack first started to pursue me, so obviously it was a pattern, right?
    I was just not good at dealing with the stress of dating.
     
     
    By noon the house looked pretty festive. Maggie was with her mom for the morning (thank goodness Rachel actually took that Saturday off), and while they were shopping and doing girl stuff, I agreed to get the house ready for the party that afternoon.
    Zack had called that morning from Canada to wish her a happ y birthday, but Maggie had already left. I spent thirty minutes talking to him while I finished up the cake, and that’s when Lexi had arrived to help me decorate the house . When we’d been hanging up streamers, my phone rang again, and I was shocked that it was Jared. Apparently he’d seen his dad earlier that day and somehow it came up that it was Maggie’s birthday.
    “I won’t invite myself to the party,” he said, “but I did get her a gift. It’s not every day that I get to shop for a little girl .” I felt obligated to invite him after that, but he said he couldn’t make it anyways. “ It’s okay, I can just have it sent over.”
    I didn’t argue the matter. For one I didn’t want that kind of stress on me by having him there, and another, I really didn’t want to subject him to anyone that might recognize who he was. Rachel was aware of it—and to her he was just John’s son —but other than that I chose to keep things simple .
    Maggie loved her birthday party and I was glad. I took lots of photos in between trying to organize games for her and her little friends. I actually had to ask Rachel to do this or that—like it wasn’t her job to begin with—but I was glad that she was at least there.
    But I guess that