Free Love Today by Delia Delaney Page A

didn’t last long when an important client was in town and wanted Rachel to entertain her that night . My sister spent an hour of Maggie’s party getting ready to go out to dinner, and then cut out before the presents were even opened. Lexi took over the party for a few minutes while I argued with Rachel in the bedroom, but it didn’t do any good when she decided to leave anyways.
    I was furious. 
    I guess the only good thing was that Maggie wasn’t really affected by her mom’s departure. She had presents to keep her happy when her friends left, and while I cleaned up the house, she was content dressing up in her new dress up clothes.
    Around seven there was a knock at the door. I guess I was surprised that it was Jared, but in a way I wasn’t. At the same time, just seeing him bothered me. Besides earlier that morning, I’d only talked to him one time since he ate dinner with us , and that was when he called to compliment me on the concert photos from the WaMu theatre. I’ll admit that I was glad he’d called that day, and it really did make me reco nsider him all over again.
    N ow I was face to face with him. Now I couldn’t help but stare at him while my pulse picked up speed. I thought that he looked pretty hot in a pair of worn jeans, a button-up shirt, and a slim-fitting jacket. His hair was spiked into a little fauxhawk— that was trademark Jared Miller, and for some reason made him more recognizable. Had he looked like that when I first met him, maybe I would have had a clue.
    “I just wanted to drop off Maggie’s present,” he said with a partial smile. He handed the small gift to me and asked, “How’d the party go?”
    “Uh, pretty good,” I nodded. “I think she had fun.”
    I glanced back at her and she looked up; then she saw it was Jared at the door and she hopped up from the floor. Jared didn’t notice from the porch, and I could tell he was just about to say departing words, but Maggie was at the door saying hello just as I said, “You can come in.”
    “Hey Maggie,” he said, acknowledging her first. Then he quietly said to me, “You don’t have to invite me in…”
    But it was kind of pointless since Maggie was dragging him into the house to show him her new stuff, and I was still trying to recover my nerves from having him near me again. I could barely smell him as he walked by me and it made my stomach feel all tingly.
    Maggie went through every gift that she could, and Jared attentively acknowledged each one. But I couldn’t help but notice that he’d look at me every so often, and even though I was one of three people in the room and it was expected, I just seemed to read into it a little more. Especially when Maggie wasn’t looking at him while she was yammering away. He was staring at me with that smug look on his face, like he knew how much he was killing me with those eyes.
    Since that was making me uncomfortable, I finally said, “Maggie, Jared brought you a gift.”
    I’d been holding it for a few minutes, waiting for the chance to present it to her . I actually handed it to Jared so he could give it to her, and she climbed up on the couch to sit by him.
    “It’s not very big,” she stated .
    There was n’t really any meaning to it since it was just an observation coming from a five -year-old. But Jared only smiled and watched her open it.
    It was a spoon.
    “Huh?” Maggie asked, looking it over.
    Even though she didn’t get it at first, I did, and I was amused . Who would have thought of a stupid spoon for a birthday present?
    Jared only took the spoon from her— which by the way was a very artsy looking thing, and it even had Maggie’s name on it—and he hung it on her nose.
    “It sticks!” she exclaimed, but her movement made it drop. She stuck it back on by herself and smiled bigger than life. She came to me so I could get a closer look, and when the spoon fell again from her excitement, I couldn’t help but look it over for a second when I picked