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The sound of Josh’s voice jarred him awake.
“Hey, Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s for dinner? I’m starved.”
From the waitress stand, Katie peered out at the deck and then
turned back again, staring as Alex and the kids followed the
hostess to an open table near the railing. Kristen smiled and
waved as soon as she saw Katie, and hesitated only a second
before scooting between the tables and hurtling directly for her.
Katie bent down as the little girl threw her arms around her.
“We wanted to surprise you!” Kristen said.
“Well, you did. What are you doing here?”
“My dad didn’t want to cook for us tonight.”
“He didn’t?”
“He said he was too tired.”
“There’s more to the story,” Alex announced. “Trust me.”
Katie hadn’t heard him come up, and she stood.
“Oh, hey,” she said, blushing against her will.
“How are you?” Alex asked.
“Good.” She nodded, feeling a bit flustered. “Busy, as you can
tell.”
“It seems like it. We had to wait before they could seat us in your
section.”
“It’s been like that all day.”