Love Today by Delia Delaney

“You ever done a concert?”
    “You mean photograph one?” When he nodded his head I replied , “Yeah, a couple. Nothing big though, just some small shows for a friend.”
    “You have a friend in a band?”
    “Yeah, back in California.”
    “You’re from California?” He seemed surprised. When I nodded he added, “Where i n California? ”
    “San Francisco area.”
    “Cool. W hat band?”
    “My friend’s band? Uh, it was called Fish Fry. I know,” I said when he smiled . “But it’s how they all met—at a fish fry.”
    “Nah, that’s cool. What kind of music?”
    “ Alterna tive rock .”
    “Yeah? Are they any good?”
    “Uh, I believe they’re pretty good. I’ve known Maeve for about ten years—she’s the drummer—and Xavier and Dominic have been playing together for years.”
    “Hmm,” he said, seeming to think it over.
    I tried not to make eye contact with him. For some reason his presence affected me a different way than it had the first time. I gue ss when we’d met at the banquet I was in a hurry to get away from it. And Jared’s appearance was handsome at the time, but there was something about him this time that altered my assessment. I didn’t want to spend time putting it into words or a complete thought. I was trying to push it out of my head.
    “I’m hungry,” Maggie’s voice said from the kitchen.
    Oh, din ner. I almost forgot about it. I set the poster on the coffee table and told her , “Just a second, sweetie.” Turning back to Jared I said, “Sorry, I’m just finishing up dinner. Uh…” I motioned that I was going to head to the kitchen and he nodded.
    “Sure, I’ll let you get back to your night. Uh… Okay, well, I’ll see you , I guess…”
    I did get the impression that he wanted to stay, so I said, “Do you want to join us? It’s just lasagna, but there’s plenty. I just need to finish the salad and slice the bread . ”
    “Yeah, that sounds great,” he grinned. And it seemed genuine, like he was really excited or something . “You don’t mind? I mean I don’t want to interrupt your night with your daughter or anything.”
    I smiled and said, “No, you’re not interrupting. And Maggie is my niece. She’s Rachel ’s daughter.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “ I didn’t know Rachel had a daughter. But I don’t want to interfere with girl s night. ”
    “No, you’re not interfering; you’re joining girls night .”
    “Sweet,” he grinned again.
    I was beginning to think this guy got excited about the most basic things . He was in no way like his dad, whom I had always thought to be stuck up and conceited like my sister. Their idea of a thrilling meal included five stars.
    I liked having Jared join us for dinner. Maggie seemed to like him, especially because he had a sense of humor that she could really relate to. He was pretty casual and laid back, and it greatly contrasted my initial opinion of him. I understood what he meant the first time I met him, when he made sure I knew he wasn’t “corporate.” He definitely wasn’t of the s nooty sort, even expressing how grateful he was for the home cooked meal we’d shared with him. You’d think the poor guy a te frozen dinners all the time, but I just couldn’t believe that when he was related to John Miller. But then again, maybe Jared was the black sheep of the family…
    “Why do you have play clothes on?” Maggie finally asked him after we’d eaten. I tried to hold back a smile because I knew she was going to say something eventually.
    “Play clothes, huh?” he said, looking down at his worn jeans and t-shirt.
    “Are you gonna go play outside?” she added.
    With a smile he replied, “ Actually no, I’m not. This is just what I wear most of the time.”
    “Why?” she asked, truly confused.
    “Uh, because I’m just a playful kind of guy ,” he shrugged. “I don’t think I’d look very good in a pink ruffled skirt,” he added, nodding to hers.
    She giggled and ended up