Just Good Friends by Ruth Ann Nordin Page A

grandchildren.”
    “ Not everything is about
having children, Nathan.” Nathan might have gotten married for that
reason, but other people—like him and Tiffany—didn’t want to get
married to give their parents a grandchild. When they married, they
wanted it to be because they found someone worth spending the rest
of their lives with.
    “ I understand that, but it
might be what her mother is hoping for, and I can understand her
reason.”
    “ I don’t think so. I think
she just wants to see her daughter married. No one brought up
children or grandchildren. It was all about marriage.”
    “ So maybe her mom just wants
her to get married. There’s nothing wrong with that either. And,”
Nathan zoomed in on the book that had been on Tiffany’s bed and
showed it to Tyler, “this is actually a good idea. You will benefit
nicely from it.”
    “ Oh for heaven’s sake,
Nathan.” Tyler grabbed the phone and shoved it back in his pocket.
“I didn’t show it to you for that reason. I’m just saying her
entire family went overboard. They didn’t even hint about us
getting married. They pretty much came out and told us to get
married.”
    “ At least there won’t be any
miscommunication issues in your in-law relationship.”
    “ There’s not going to be any
miscommunication issues because we’re not married. At all. We’re
just friends.”
    Nathan shrugged. “I could marry you two
by proxy to solve all that.”
    “ No, you won’t. And we’re
not interested in getting married.” Tyler leaned back in his seat
and groaned. “This is all my fault. If I’d just kept my big mouth
shut, her parents would leave me alone.”
    “ Suit yourself,” Nathan said
as he rose to his feet.
    Tyler ignored him as he left the room
and turned to his work. He threw the message from Tiffany’s mom in
the wastebasket. There was no way he was going to answer it. He had
nothing to say to her, and after she got Tiffany’s letter, she’d
want nothing to do with him anyway. He really wished Tiffany would
let him take the blame for everything, because the whole mess was
his fault. Her lie was a simple one to resolve. His wasn’t. Maybe
he should write the letter. Or, maybe he should call her back and
tell her the truth. Then he could take the blame, and Tiffany would
be free to get their sympathy. That’d be best. She was their child
after all. He didn’t ever have to see these people
again.
    Decision made, he got ready to retrieve
the number from the wastebasket when Carmen told him he had a call
on line one. He picked it up. “Tyler Jackson, Vice President of
Rudolph Vacation Enterprises. How may I help you?”
    “ Tyler! How are you doing,
son?” Tiffany’s dad greeted from the other end of the
phone.
    “ Uh, Mr. Clark,” he said
then cleared his throat. If he wanted to explain what was going on,
now was a good time. “I’m glad you called. There’s something I need
to tell you about Friday night.”
    “ Before you tell me your
news, I want to tell you mine.”
    Noting the excitement in the man’s
voice, he ventured, “You have news?”
    “ Good news! In fact, it’s
the first time my wife and I decided to do anything this
spontaneous.”
    “ Oh?” Why did he have the
sinking feeling that he wasn’t going to like this?
    “ We’re coming to visit you
and Tiffany!”
    “ You’re what?” Tyler nearly
yelled in alarm.
    Carmen glanced his way, and Nathan
popped back into the room, his eyebrows raised in interest as he
walked up to Tyler.
    “ Now, don’t tell Tiffany. We
want it to be a surprise,” her dad continued. “We know how it must
seem to her. We spend so much time with Zoe and do everything for
her. It’s not fair to her. But you see, up to now, we haven’t been
able to afford to come for a visit. Fortunately, we just came into
a financial windfall and thought we’d take the trip down there. We
thought since you work at a travel agency, you could arrange the
tickets for us. We’ve never done