A knock on her window jerked her out of her reverie, and she opened her eyes, then sat up with a smile.
“Hey, Mom,” Noah said, peering into the car with his own smile.
She rolled down her window. “Is practice over?”
“Yeah, we’re quitting early today.” He looked around at the other boys, who were drifting away in twos and threes or climbing into cars with a parent or two. “I didn’t expect you to be here, and I told Kirby we could hang out until you got here.”
Libby hated disappointing her son more than anything, but it couldn’t be helped. “I’m afraid not, honey,” she told him. “I came to pick you up because I thought maybe we could stop at the Chick-a-Lick for dinner before I go to work.”
His eyes lit up, then quickly dimmed, before he ducked his head. Without looking up at her, he asked, “I guess he can’t come to the café with us?”
She couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She’d thought he would be excited to have the chance to eat at the café. They so seldom were able to enjoy even the small things. But she’d worked the extra hours and had a few extra tips, so they could afford—
She stopped herself, suddenly realizing that she was having a pity party for herself, and her selfishness surprised her. How much could a nine-year-old boy eat, anyway? She knew the answer was that they could often be a bottomless pit, but it shouldn’t matter.
“Sure, Kirby can come along, too,” she said. She’d make up for the little extra somewhere along the way. Giving Noah the chance to spend time with his friend was worth it.
She heard a shout, and Noah turned to look. She looked, too. A fancy sports car had pulled up, and Kirby was headed for it, waving at Noah as he walked toward it.
“It’s okay,” Noah said. “Looks like Mac got here early, too.” He turned to his mom. “So we’re going to the Chick-a-Lick?” he asked, without a hint of disappointment.
Libby looked at her watch. They had less than two hours before she had to be at work. Just enough time, if they hurried, to enjoy dinner at the café. “I worked a few extra hours this morning,” she explained. “Get in. You can order anything you want.”
“Cool.”
She laughed as he circled the car and opened the back door to get in. How did she get so lucky to have such a good kid?
When Noah was settled in the backseat, she drove the two blocks to the café, thinking about how things might have been. Before she’d divorced Noah’s father, there’d been enough money to take an entire boys’ football team to a fancy restaurant—after every practice. In fact, Noah’s third birthday party had been held at Chase Field. More than one hundred guests had attended, most of them friends and business associates of her ex-husband and his family. She often wondered if Noah remembered it, but she’d never asked. It no longer mattered. They weren’t the same people they were then.
Those were the times Libby didn’t want to think about, so she concentrated on parking only a few spaces down from the café. Luckily the dinner crowd hadn’t yet arrived. “Any idea what you’re going to order?” she asked, as they stepped up onto the sidewalk.
“That depends,” he answered.
“Really? On what?” She reached for the door to the café to open it, but Noah beat her to it. Surprised, she thanked him with a smile as she passed inside.
“You know.”
She did, and it hurt her heart and her pride. Noah rarely complained when there wasn’t enough money left over at the end of the month to do something special. It was the price they paid for safety. She’d done her best to explain it to him when they left Phoenix, and he must have understood at least part of it.
She leaned down and spoke in a quiet voice. “You can have anything on the menu.”
He looked up at her as she straightened, a sparkle in his dark brown eyes. “Anything?”
The café was more than half full, and she nodded to answer him while they made their way to one of the smaller booths in the back. She’d just slid into the booth when Darla appeared to take their order.
“It’s good to see you two,” Darla greeted them. “Would you like menus?”
“Please,” Libby asked, winking at Noah.
Darla handed them each a menu. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes with your water and to take your orders.”
After Darla walked away, Libby noticed that Noah was propping his menu on the table and apparently studying it closely. “Everything looks good, doesn’t it?” she asked, looking at her own.
“Yeah.”
Darla returned within minutes and took their orders. “Was that okay?” he asked when she was gone.
“Perfectly okay.” Libby glanced at her watch, making certain they still had plenty of time before she had to take Noah to his day care provider and get herself to work.
She asked about school and listened as Noah gave her a rundown of his day. Getting him to talk about school had always been easy. All he needed was a nudge, and he was ready to share. He was explaining something that had happened in gym class when Darla arrived with their order.
“It looks great,” Noah said, looking up at Darla with a grin.
“Then we’ll hope it tastes as good as it looks, won’t we?” she asked, winking at his mom.
“Oh, I know it will.”
Darla laughed and patted his shoulder. “He’s a keeper.”
They were well into enjoying their meal when Libby looked up to see Garrett entering the café with Sophie, who still held tight to her teddy bear. She smiled when he looked her way and was surprised when dad and daughter headed toward them.
Garrett stopped at their booth, with Sophie beside him. “If I’d known you were going to be here, we could have planned to have dinner together,” he said.
Libby noticed that the panic hadn’t completely left his eyes. “Last-minute plans,” she explained.
He glanced around the room, and then shifted from one foot to the other. “Well, we’d better let you both finish eating.”
Before he could move away, she touched his arm. “I don’t think you’ve met my son. Noah, this is Garrett Miles.”
“Hi,” Noah greeted him with a small smile.
“And that’s his daughter, Sophie,” she added.
“Hi, Sophie.”
Sophie grinned at Noah, but said nothing.
“She’s … uh … a little shy,” Garrett said, with a glance at Libby. “We stopped to see Paige.”
Libby hoped his sister had found the girl in good physical condition. “How did that go?”
