Finally Soulmates

Part 14

James led Tara to a hot cocoa stand that was, in James' opinion, the best hot cocoa ever. He only hoped Tara would agree. The line was only a little bit long because it wasn't that cold right now and yet, he knew that everyone would come for the hot food or drinks in less than thirty minutes considering the temperature was dropping.

When it was James' turn to order, he looked at Tara and asked her for what she wanted and then he ordered.

"Two white hot chocolates with raspberry and- Tara, do you want whipped cream?- And whipped cream." James ordered.

"Wait! I have a question," Tara stated, "Do you have some cinnamon?" The man nodded "can you sprinkle some on top of one?" The man nodded again with more of a smile. Tara was fascinated by the way that they made their hot chocolates so she watched with interest.

"What's your name, love?" he asked once he handed the two their cups of cocoa.

"Tara," She answered, rather confused.

"You remind me of my daughter," he smiled.

"How so?" Tara asked.

"You're stubborn, smart and beautiful," He answered. Tara didn't feel herself blush, and yet she did.

"Thank you," she said.

"You go and have a nice evening," he smiled at her before she walked away to James who was standing under a nearby tree.

"Come along, everyone is waiting for us, dinner and everything," he smiled to her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lindsey and Kelson held hands through the market before Kelson received a text saying that they were ready to gather for dinner. They walked around to the food stands where Scott and Tasha already had their food and sat at a table, Tara and James were standing in line for some German food, and Kelson didn't know what to do.

"What are you in the mood for?" Kelson asked.

"I think pizza," Lindsey answered.

"Any specifics?" Kelson asked.

"Just a cheese pizza," Lindsey shrugged.

"That's just it?" Kelson asked.

"No, get a soda too," Lindsey answered. Kelson nodded and jumped into a line for a pizza vendor. It took a little while before he came back with the food, and everyone sat at one table.

"So who all is done looking through vendors?" Scott asked around the table. Tara and James raised their hands along with Scott, but Kelson wasn't quite sure.

"Wait, there's one thing," James changed his mind. Tara looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry Tara, but it's just going to be me, Scott and Kelson."

"Okay," Tara shrugged.

"You know what that means?" Lindsey asked.

"It's just us girls!" Tasha squealed.

"Okay, this is not okay, why can't I go with you?" Tara asked.

"Christmas gifts," James answered immediately. Tara sighed exasperatedly.

"I don't need anything!" She protested.

"Then sit here and admire those ice skaters." James pointed at the nearby outdoor rink. Tara turned to where he was pointing and watched the skaters.

James and the other two guys walked away before they could talk to each other. They watched as Lindsey and Tasha went in another direction before they felt they could be open, mostly James felt that way.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked. "What's with the privacy?"

"I want to get her a ring." James whispered.

"You what?" Kelson stared in awe.

"I want to propose but not yet, I want her a little more comfortable with me." James revealed.

"You've tamed the shrew, but why wait?" Scott asked.

"I feel she is opening slowly and if I jump, I'll completely lose her trust." James explained.

"I don't understand." Kelson said.

"Help me pick out a ring." James answered shortly.

"Okay," Kelson shrugged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tara sat alone, thinking, well, more like remembering. Remembering something she didn't want to remember, something she had blocked out from her memory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tara, come here, I'm not too far."

The skates were hard to walk in and the combination of getting on ice terrified her.

"If you slip, I'll catch you."

Tara took one step onto the ice, then slipped and took her foot off of the ice.

"Don't you trust me?"

Tara repeated this action, but this time kept herself from slipping, and then placed her other foot on the ice and she felt like she was going to fall but large hands caught her. She looked up with a smile and saw her dad.

"I said I would be here. Now, remember roller blading."

Tara nodded and started to take short little glides before she became comfortable with the flow, all of this while holding her father's hand.

"Now, Tara, I'm going to go a few feet away, I want you to trust me. Skate to me, okay? All by yourself."

Tara started to glide to her father and he held his arms open wide for her. She eventually reached him and he caught her.

"See, Tara? I told you that you could do this!" He smiled so wide that Tara couldn't resist smiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tara didn't want to remember that because she was trying not to cry. She hated crying, but only because it was a public area. She was just sitting alone.

Instead, she focused on the figure skaters, the ones who were actually good at skating. Not that she wasn't, but she wasn't ready to get back onto the ice.

Only five minutes later did James come back, and once that did happen, he asked what she didn't want to hear.

"Do you want to go skating?" James asked.