couldn’t blame the kids for their eagerness to drop coins into the video-game machines.
“What do you guys want to eat?” he asked.
“I’d like grilled cheese,” Kylie said, “but only if they have real bread and square cheese.”
Angie cocked her head slightly. “What’s she talking about?”
Toby chuckled. “We stopped at a place in Lubbock one day, and they brought out a sandwich that had been made with focaccia bread and several fancy kinds of cheese. It was the restaurant’s claim to fame, and it cost a pretty penny, but Kylie didn’t like it. By ‘square’ cheese, she means good ole American slices, individually wrapped.”
“Aw.” Angie smiled. “I’ll have to remember that.”
“I want a corn dog and fries,” Justin said.
“Got it.” Toby turned to Brian. “How about you?”
“I want a cheeseburger, but I don’t want onions or lettuce or pickles. But ask if they’ll give me extra tomatoes.”
“Since we’ve got that out of the way, here you go.” Toby reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handful of quarters. “Why don’t you start with these? I’ll get some change after the waitress takes our order.”
While the kids dashed off, Toby waited for Angie to slide into the booth, then did the same.
As she settled into a middle spot, he removed his ball cap, as any proper Texan gentleman would do, leaving his brown hair disarrayed and close to his head. She was tempted to reach out and finger-comb it.
Or maybe she just wanted to touch it and see if it was as soft as it looked.
Odd, though. He didn’t appear to be the least bit...mussed. He actually looked darn near perfect.
As if completely unaware of her perusal—and why wouldn’t he be?—he reached across the table for the menus and handed her one, ending her silly musing.
But as she opened it up and scanned the offerings—burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches—her options, while too few by some people’s standards, still seemed too difficult to narrow down.
This was the part about eating out that she dreaded. She could never decide on what to order, especially when there were other people with her.
Since she didn’t want Toby to think that she was indecisive, she did what she’d learned to do on her other dates. Not that this was a date.
Or was it? Did Toby think it was a date?
The waitress, a tall brunette in her early forties, approached. “What’ll it be?”
Toby placed the kids’ orders, then asked Angie, “What would you like?”
She gave her standard reply. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
But when Toby ordered the double bacon cheeseburger, the large onion rings, fried pickles and jumbo peanut-butter milk shake, she realized she’d have to rethink her strategy if she ever went to another restaurant with him again.
Where was she going to put all that food?
“Maybe you’d better not bring me those pickles,” she told the waitress.
The woman nodded, then made a note on her pad. After she left them alone, things got a little quiet. Actually, too quiet, since Angie tended to get bored easily.
So she said, “Looks like the kids will be busy for a while.”
He smiled. “I remember when those games were brand-new. Fifteen years later, and they’re still entertaining kids.”
“You might not believe this,” Angie said, “but I was a whiz at Ms. Pac-Man. There weren’t too many people who could outscore me.”
“Not even Mr. Murdock?”
At that, Angie laughed and shook her head. “Please don’t tell him. I’ve never met a man more competitive than he is. If he finds out, I’ll be forced to defend my title.”
“Wow! A titleholder?” Toby tossed her a heart-strumming grin. “Who would have guessed that I’d be sharing a meal with a real live champion?”
“Yeah, well, it’d be nice to have a more worthwhile claim to fame than ‘Top Scorer on Ms. Pac-Man.’” Angie settled back in the booth. Even the praise over what little she had achieved in life didn’t do much in the way of soothing her embarrassment over her mother’s public criticism.
“I’m sure you have plenty of things to be proud of,” he said.
Their gazes met and held for a moment. Her smile faded, and she broke eye contact.
She was also a champ at changing subjects.
“The kids certainly seem to be settling in,” she said.
“They seem to be. It was tough for a while, though. Justin was acting out and getting in trouble at school, but he’s doing better now. And Kylie no longer has nightmares. Brian still holds back a bit, although I can understand that. It’s hard for him to trust adults. Each one he’s ever had to depend on has abandoned him—one way or another.”
She’d heard a few scant rumors about the kids, but she didn’t know what was true and what wasn’t.
“What happened to their mother?” she asked.
“She was diagnosed with cancer right after Kylie was born and died just before her first birthday. Justin was only two at the time, so Brian’s the only one who was old enough to remember her.”
“What about their dad?”
Toby glanced toward the arcade, where the kids continued to play. Still, he kept his voice low. “From what I understand, he wasn’t the kind of guy who could handle responsibility. When Ann, their mom, found out that she was pregnant with Kylie, he left her. And no one has heard from him since.”
“That’s so sad.” Angie had always been close to her father, and when her parents had split up, it had crushed her. Losing her dad to cancer two years later had been even worse.
“After Ann died,” Toby continued, “the kids went to live with her sister. But Barbara wasn’t prepared for the challenge of raising two toddlers and a five-year-old. She drank as a way of escape. And the kids seemed to exacerbate her stress—and her need for the bottle.”
“When did the state step in?” Angie asked.
“Last year, when Justin’s behavioral problems in school escalated. The authorities were called in to investigate, and that’s when they found out how bad things were at home. Shortly after that, Barbara was arrested. At that point, she was ordered to get in-patient treatment and the children were placed in separate foster homes. I hated the thought of them being split up. Family is important. And they’d lost so much already. So I volunteered to take them in.”
“That was a big step for a bachelor.”
He
