Good on Paper

"Yeah. It's very...cool," she said wondering just who this Luke guy was and what kind of magical powers he possessed.

Taryn dropped her son off at her father's house a few minutes before nine on her way to work, and stopped in to check on him.

"Hi, Dad!" she said before adding, "Look at you!"

He was wearing a nice shirt and some decent pants with a pair of dress shoes for the first time since her mom's funeral.

"Oh, this?" he said dismissively. "It's nothin'."

"Yes. I see that," she teased. "Well, you look very nice in...nothing."

"And before you ask, yes, I've been checking my sugar levels every few hours," he told her.

"My, my, my!" Taryn said as the mystery grew. "All dressed up and checking your glucose levels. Interesting."

"You've met Luke, right?" Edwin asked his daughter, ignoring her playful sarcasm.

"No. No, I haven't, but I can't wait to do so. He must be a pretty great guy," she said.

Her father, who rarely ever smiled anymore, winked and said, "He is. Just...not on paper."

Taryn was so upset by the remark she didn't see Matt jump up to open the door for a guy who had to be Luke.

As he walked in and said to the boy, "Hey, there. You must be Matt," he heard Taryn saying something to her father.

"That's so not fair, Dad! You know how important it is to me to have some security the next time around. I don't think it's unreasonable at all to want a future husband to have a decent resume."

"Resume, shmezemay!" he snorted as he turned his attention toward Luke.

"Hey there, young man! I see you met my grandson already."

The boy was beaming as Luke stood there with an arm loosely around Matt's shoulder.

"I have. He and I are gonna have so much fun today he won't believe it," Luke said smiling at Matt then looking over at Taryn who was just then turning around.

Both of them were more than a little surprised when they saw each other.

For her part, Taryn realized in less than a second that her father's new friend was not only not in his 60s as she'd guessed, he was clearly in his early-to-mid 20s. He was also quite obviously very athletic and very handsome.

"Oh. Hi, there!" she said as her brain adjusted to the reality that had just replaced her previous imaginings.

"You must be Taryn," he said as he held out his hand and smiled.

"And you are obviously the infamous Luke Edson," she said smiling back.

He had to be a little over six feet tall, and all six feet of him were very well filled out from his narrow waist to his tapered chest to his very good-looking face to a head of dark hair that looked both nicely-styled and unkempt at the same time.

"Guilty as charged," he said as he shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Yes. You, too. I was beginning to wonder if you were a real person or some kind of figment of everyone's imagination," Taryn said. "Oh, and thank you so much for taking my dad to the doctor."

"My pleasure," he said sincerely. "We had a great time, didn't we, Mr. Johnson?"

"You can call me Edwin," he said without a growl or a snort.

"Wow. You really have made a good impression," Taryn said to Luke.

"Your dad is a great guy," he said immediately.

He mussed up Matt's hair and said, "And I can already tell I'm gonna really like this guy, too!"

"Can we go now?" Matt asked excitedly.

"Sure. Whenever your grandpa is ready," Luke told him.

He looked at Taryn then said, "I'd invite you to join us, but judging by how nicely you're dressed, I'm guessing you're on your way to work."

She didn't have a lot of money, but always dressed well and this was no exception as she sported a very nice, dark-blue dress and a pair of black pumps. Luke had seen many, many beautiful women before, but there was something about her that made it nearly impossible not to stare.

Taryn had very soft, very blonde hair that fell to her shoulders, and she was clearly a very attractive woman. Her face still looked young and pretty, and her blue eyes seemed to almost sort of sparkle. He'd also noticed a perfect smile and a pair of soft, full lips that only added to her beauty.

She was thin but not skinny, and although she wasn't exactly overly well-endowed upstairs, she'd been blessed with what looked like a full B-cup, and that just happened to be Luke's ideal size in terms of what he found appealing. Lastly, her legs were long and slender, and the heels accentuated her very nice calves making her someone he found extremely attractive.

"Luke?" she heard him say in a way that told him she was repeating his name.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "What was that?"

"I was asking how long you thought you might be," she said with a warm smile.

"I'm not sure. I suppose that depends on your two best guys here," he said smiling back.

"Okay. That makes sense," she said.

She turned around and told her dad, "I'm really glad you're doing this, Dad."

"I'm mostly doing it for Matthew there," he said, not wanting his daughter to know he might just 'check out the field' if all those women Luke had mentioned really were there.

"Come on, Grandpa. Let's go!" Matt said.

Taryn turned back around and when she saw the look on her son's face, a look she hadn't seen in far too long, she smiled at her son and then at Luke.

"I don't know what to say other than 'thank you'," she told him.

"I'm the lucky one," he told her. "I made friends with your dad a few days ago, and now I've got another new friend. Right, Matt?"

He looked down at Matt and smiled, and the boy looked up and him and smiled back.

"Right!"

"All right! Let's blow this pop stand!" Edwin said, causing Taryn to give him a 'what in the world is going on here' kind of look.

"Bye, Mom!" Matt said without a hug or a kiss.

"Um...excuse me!" she said as she pointed to her cheek.

"Mom!" he said.

"What? You're too big to kiss your mom goodbye?"

"It's Luke," her father said as he walked by.

"Oh. Right. Sorry. How about a hug then?" she asked.

"Ah. Okay," he said reluctantly.

The hug he gave her told her he was very happy, so even though she didn't get a kiss goodbye, she knew he was in a very good mood.

"It was nice to finally meet you, Taryn," Luke said as they got ready to leave.

"Yes. You, too," she told him.

The mystery hadn't been cleared up at all. It had only gotten deeper as she tried to figure out how someone so young—and so handsome—had so much free time to be able to perform these random acts of kindness. Then again, maybe the Boys Club paid him enough to get by on if he still lived at home.

Were she still his age, she knew she'd have been immediately drawn to him. Now, however, she could enjoy his good looks without any such distraction knowing that not having a job, and a good job, at that, was a huge disqualifying factor no matter how attractive—or nice—he might be.

Her dad could poke all the fun he wanted at her for being a 'resume snob', but Taryn was bound and determined to find someone grounded and stable this time around. She'd married for love once, and that hadn't turned out well at all. No, money wasn't everything, but the kind of love she'd had wasn't exactly all it had been cracked up to be, either.

She had to admit the sex had been pretty great, though. At least early on, anyway. But now that she was determined to find a man who first looked good on paper before getting involved, good sex had mostly been a distant memory from back when she and her ex-husband couldn't keep their hands off of each other.

"Have a good time, you two!" she told her dad and son.

"We will!" Matt called back as they headed out the door.

"Can you lock it, honey?" her dad asked knowing she had a key.

"Sure, Dad. Go. Have fun!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said with another arm wave that made Taryn want to laugh. Then again, just seeing him getting out the house made her want to tear up. That he'd asked Matt to go with him—did.

She waited until the three guys were in the big, black Tahoe, then let herself do just that. Young or not, if Luke could bring a little happiness into the lives of the two men she loved the most, she'd take it.

"Take it," she said to herself as she locked the door, dabbed her eyes, then headed down the steps. "Now that's rich."

How long had it been since she'd 'taken it'? She was trying to remember as she waved goodbye while the SUV backed out but honestly couldn't recall. Matt was talking away and didn't even notice her. Luke did, though, and he waved back at her and smiled, and her body reacted. It kind of made sense as she'd just been thinking about...that...and okay, he was a very good looking guy, job or no job, and his unacceptable age aside.

She sighed as she got into her car. Maybe today she'd meet some new loan officer or divorced customer with the kind of credentials she was looking for. Just in case, she checked to make sure her mascara hadn't run then started the car and headed for the bank where she'd work since her husband left her and their son for a woman ten years younger than her.

As usual, Taryn didn't meet anyone new and interesting that day. She didn't mind at all, though, as she was mostly interested to see how the day went for Matt and her dad.

When she pulled into her dad's driveway, she was very surprised to see the black Tahoe sitting there. She walked up to the door and before she could open it, she heard her dad roaring with laughter. She pushed it open and stepped in just as he was telling Luke something.

"You shoulda seen his face when I asked that little filly if she wanted to dance!"

He turned her way and saw Taryn and said, "Hey, honey! Come in! I was just telling ol' Luke here how I swooped in and stole this little lady from some old geezer who was monopolizing all of her time."

Before she could ask, "They had dancing there?" Matt started in.

"Mom! Today was the coolest day ever! Luke and I played HORSE for like two hours. Just me and him!"

"Just he and I, honey," she said then added, "Wow. That's wonderful. So it sounds like both of my boys had a good day then."

"It was awesome!" Matt said. "And Grandpa has a girlfriend. Right, Grandpa?"

Edwin smiled a goofy smile and said, "Well, not exactly, Matthew. But she did say she'd like to get together for a cup of coffee one of these days."

He looked at his daughter then said, "And she's a looker! Young one, too. Just turned 63 last month."

She moved in amongst them and sat down by her dad and said, "Well, well. I guess I should hang out at this Boys Club!"

"It isn't just for boys, Mom," Matt told her. "You should come with us! Right, Luke?"

"I'd enjoy that," Luke said. "I'm not sure your mom would, but it'd be great if she'd join us sometime."

"Oh, I don't know. I'm not very good at sports, and unless they have a few handsome, single, successful men my age just hanging around..."

"Ah, right," Luke said remembering what he'd heard her say. "No, I'm afraid the men are all closer to either your dad's age or mine, and I don't know of any who are cardiologists or trial lawyers."

He smiled when he said it, but the words stung a little anyway.

"Luke's not that young, is he, Mom?" Matt asked hopefully having no idea why she might not be interested in him like that.

For the first time since she'd decided what she was looking for this time around, Taryn had inklings of feeling snobbish. Or perhaps the better word was 'elitist'. Either way, it was a little unsettling.

"It wouldn't be a date, honey," she said to her son while looking at Luke. "I would be going more to see what you and Grandpa do there."

Her dad sat up and said, "Oh, you don't want to see what I do there, Tee-Tee."

He hadn't used her childhood name in...years.

"Oh, well aren't you just the man about town now!" she said with a smile.

"And I beat all those other old fogies in checkers, spades, and seven-card stud! I even won $20!"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Edwin," Luke said with a smile. "Since gambling isn't permitted there."

"Oh, breaking hearts and rules, huh, Dad?" Taryn said.

He smiled then said, "Oh. I gotta check my sugar levels here. Gotta start takin' better care of myself, you know?"

He got up, went to the kitchen, and grabbed a test strip.

"Wow. You really are a miracle worker, Luke," she told him. "He's never even cared about that let alone been excited to do it."

"I think today was really good for him. I stopped in a few times to check on him, and he was having the time of his life. And he was quite a hit with a couple of the ladies."

"My father. A Romeo. Who'd have thunk?"

"Hey! Did my daughter just call me a lothario?"

Luke laughed as Taryn said, "No. I said, 'Romeo'!'"

"Ah. Okay. I gotta get my hearing checked. You know, in case one of them tomatoes whispers a sweet nothing in my ear."

Taryn shook her head, but she did laugh, too.

"I really need to run," Luke said. "I have a lawn to mow for someone before I call it quits today."

Taryn got up at the same time and said, "Come on, Matt. Let's walk out with Luke. Tell your grandfather goodbye, okay?"

He ran in and hugged his grandpa and told him goodbye then ran back to Luke and his mom as they headed outside.

"Bye, Dad! I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" Taryn said.

"Okay, honey! If I'm not here, I might just be out with Winifred who said I can call her Winnie," he yelled back.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?" she said just before closing the door and laughing again.

She shook her head then said to herself, "Yeah, right. Like I ever do anything. Or...anyone."

Luke gave Matt a 'guy hug' then said, "We need to do this again real soon, big guy."

"Really?" Matt said, his eyes wide in hopeful anticipation.

"Yes. Really. How about on Saturday?"

He turned to Taryn as he spoke and said, "Maybe your mom could come with us if she's not working."

"Oh. Wow. Saturday, huh? No, I'm no working," she said.

"Then come with us, Mom!" Matt said nearly begging.

"Well, if it isn't too much bother," she said. "I'd like to drive so I can leave once I get bored which won't take long, I'm sure.

"No problem," Luke said. "We have pickup games starting at 10 o'clock. We have everything from kids who've never played to what we call varsity level. So Matt won't have to worry about getting stuck with a bunch of 'pros'."

"Well, okay. I suppose we could do that," she said, and when she saw the huge smile on Matt's face, she knew it was the right thing to do.

Not having a dad around was tough. Having a mom who couldn't even play catch made things even tougher. Matt played video games and vegged out most of the time, and just seeing him excited about doing anything physical was wonderful.

"Great. Well I'll see you then," Luke said. "Both of you. And I'm guessing your dad could probably be talked into to tagging along, too. Winifred is almost always there every morning, and they seemed to be getting along quite well."

"So I hear," Taryn said with a smile. "Okay. Yes. We'll definitely be there. All three of us."

"Great!" Luke said.

He turned to Matt and asked for a high five and got a hard slap from the boy.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Luke said. "See you Saturday, buddy."

"See you Saturday, Luke!" he said back with a lot of enthusiasm.

As Luke backed out, Matt said, "Luke is so cool!"

She put her arm around his shoulder and watched the Tahoe disappear then said, "Yes. Yes, he is."

When Taryn went to pick up her father on Saturday, she was shocked when she saw the house. For the first time since her mother died, other than when she or Becca took care of it, the house was clean. Everything had been put away, the dishes were all done, the floor had been vacuumed, and it even smelled nice.

She still hadn't seen her dad but could hear him humming somewhere in the house.

"Dad?" she called out.

"In here!"

"Mom. Grandpa's house isn't a mess," Matt said as they walked toward his voice.

"Yes. I noticed," his mom said as she looked around.

"And it doesn't stink."

Taryn tried not to laugh, but his blunt comment caused her to chuckle, because for the first time in many months, it smelled pretty good.

They found him in the den, and he was on the phone talking to someone.

"Where's that at?" Taryn heard him ask.

"Oh, okay. I know where that is. I can take the bus and meet you there. Oh, okay. If you want to pick me up, that's even better. Uh-huh. When? Oh. Eight o'clock. Sure. I can do that. Okay, Winnie. See you then. Bye now."

He looked up and smiled and said, "How's one of my two favorite daughters this wonderful Saturday morning?"

"Dad? Do you have a date?" Taryn asked.

"I sure do. Me and Winnie are going dancing at the senior center tonight," he told her.

She didn't bother correcting his grammar. She just stood there looking at him.

"Wow. That's really great, Dad. You must really like this Winnie."

"What's not to like, Tee-Tee? She's a nice girl and a real looker!"

"I can't wait to meet her," she said.

"Well, you're in luck because she'll be there this morning. She was on her way to the club and called me on that Blue Teeth thing."

"You mean 'Blue Tooth'?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," he said as he stood up. "Come on. We don't want to be late."

He walked by his grandson, mussed his hair then said, "You playin' a little ball today?"

"Yep! Luke said I get to be a team with other kids my age and skill level," Matt informed.

"I like that kid," Edwin said as he grabbed a sport coat.

"Dad. This is getting serious, isn't it? With Winnie," Taryn teased, knowing he'd just met her.

"Maybe. Maybe not," he replied as he slipped on the jacket. "But at my age, you can't waste a lot of time. If I play my cards right, Winnie and I will be having dinner here next week. Gotta keep the place lookin' good because that's important to a classy girl like her."

"I really do need to meet this woman," Taryn said again only with a happy smile. "Whoever she is, I like her already if she can get you to change this much in that amount of time."

Her dad didn't respond to her comment. He just headed for the door singing, "Love is in the air, everywhere I look around..."

"Is Grandpa getting married?" Matt asked once Edwin was out the door while they were locking it.

"Don't ask me, buddy, but something's come over your grandfather, and so far, it seems like a pretty good thing to me."

"And Grandpa doesn't stink today, either," Matt said just as innocently as his comment about the house.

"No. Not unless way too much aftershave is 'stinking'," she said chuckling as they walked down the steps.

Edwin was already in the car and raring to go.

After a few seconds of silence, Matt decided to ask his grandfather if he was getting married.

He laughed then said, "You never know! All I can tell you is meeting someone like Winnie can change your whole perspective on life."

"What's perspective?" Matt asked.

"The way you look at things or the way you feel about your life," his grandfather answered.

"Oh, okay. Then my perspective has changed, too."

"Yeah? How so?" Edwin asked.

"Well, before I met Luke, I was sad all the time. Now I feel happy and I want to go do stuff."

"How about you, Tee-Tee? What's Luke done for you?"

"Dad! Please."

"What? Are you tellin' me you haven't even looked? I know the kid is young, but he's a pretty handsome fella, right?"

"Yes, he's okay looking. But he is very young and he doesn't even have a job. At least not as far as I know."

"Oh, right. The resume thing. I know you're all grown up now, but you should still listen to your old man," he told her.

"About?"

"About looking for someone who makes you happy instead of the guy who checks all the boxes on that long list of yours."

"There's nothing wrong with knowing what you want, Dad," Taryn said defensively.