Like many love stories from 2021, ours begins during the height of COVID, when Spokane shut down and the youth of the city made their great escape… to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. One weekend, Taryn and her two friends, Kayla and Grace, decided to reclaim a bit of their early 20s. They booked a cheap motel room, piled into the car, and drove 45 minutes to Coeur d’Alene for a night out on Sherman Ave. The evening followed their usual routine: drop the car at Motel 6, Uber to Crickets for dinner, play some darts at The Moose, and finish the night at The Beacon. Meanwhile, Braden had made the same plan with his own crew: Devin, Reza, Chase, and Kristine. As fate would have it, both groups ended up at The Beacon that night. The moment Taryn saw Braden, she was intrigued—and sent her friends on a recon mission to find out who this guy was. They came back with a name, a green light, and a plan. A few moments later, Braden made his way over. Trying to hold a conversation in a packed bar wasn’t easy, so they exchanged numbers and went back to their groups. But later that night, when Taryn and her friends needed to escape a very persistent cowboy, fate (and conveniently placed bar seating) stepped in again—Braden and his friends were at the table right next to theirs. The girls made a quick escape to Braden’s table. The cowboy finally got the hint, and thanks to some slightly meddling (and very encouraging) friends, Braden and Taryn shared their first kiss, and spent the rest of the night deep in conversation. At 2am, the night came to an end. But when Taryn woke up, there was a message from Braden. A few days later, they had their first official date at a brewery on Monroe Street. They’ve been inseparable ever since.