Destination Love

Destination Love-Chapter Eight

"Well, that went well." Taylor carried plates into the kitchen and began loading the dishwasher. 

Alex picked up a stack from the dining table, and followed her. "I'm surprised no one stayed to help clean up." 

Taylor laughed with a shake of her head, "They never help clean up." She returned to the table for another stack of plates. "I've got this. You don't have to." 

"I don't mind." 

Taylor shrugged, and continued to carry plates, and left over food to the kitchen. 

"I heard something interesting from your sister." 

"Which one?" 

"Olivia." 

Great, this is going to be good, Taylor thought, "What's that?"  

"She said that the you and your siblings moved into this house when you were fifteen, but your mother never actually lived here." 

Taylor paused, and turned towards him, "Mom lived here for a while, then she got married again and built a house across the street." 

"Why?" 

"She had a new husband, and none of the kids were his. They wanted privacy. They were always close." 

"Why not just add onto the back of the house, or make a master suite on the first floor, why leave you here alone?" 

Taylor wanted to strangle her sister, "She was just across the street." 

"But not here. How old was Sloan?" 

"He's ten years younger than I am." 

"So he was five. Olivia and Daisy?" 

"They're two years younger then he is." 

"Three? What about the younger twins?" 

"Two yours behind the other set." 

"You lived here by yourself with five kids under six?" 

Taylor shrugged, "Mom was here when we went to bed, and she was here when we woke up. She walked the floor with the twins when they were teething, and she helped them all with their homework. Quite honestly, I wasn't here much." 

"Where were you?" 

"Working." 

"At fifteen?" 

"I've been working since we opened the B & B when I was ten." 

"Doing what?" 

"Everything I could." She loaded the last of the dishes in the dishwasher, and turned it on. "I needed to learn all I could to make sure it was successful." 

"You were ten. Didn't you want to be playing with your friends?" 

"I didn't really have many friends, except Mark and Samantha. They were my best friends all through school. We met when we started kindergarten. We actually went to U of M together." 

"You're changing the subject, Taylor." 

After brewing two cups of decaf coffee, Taylor handed him one. "What's the subject?" 

"Your childhood." 

"Why do we need to talk about that?" 

"Why don't you want to talk about it? I don't mind talking about mine. My father was an asshole, my mother was a drunk. He beat me, and she fell over drunk. She fell asleep with a lit cigarette in her mouth one morning just after I went off to fifth grade. The bottle of vodka she was holding exploded, and everything went up. Including my father."