Page 106 of Loving Kai

Abe locked the door behind Luke, then went to Maggie and hugged her. “Hell of a day.”

“Good thing we got that extra hour of sleep, or we never would’ve made it.”

He got two beers from the cooler and the pizza he’d made before they shut the oven down, and they sat down at a booth.

He picked up a slice and took a bite. “Heaven.”

Maggie took a slice of pizza for herself. “I can’t believe we’re not all sick of pizza.”

“It’s Rocco’s. The best pizza in Idaho.”

“That must be it. Will Kai still be awake when you get there?”

“Probably not. I think I might stay at Mom and Dad’s tonight instead of dragging him home and bringing him right back in the morning.”

“Is it hard for you?”

“Leaving him with Mom every day?”

“Yes.”

“At first, I thought it’d be great for him to have a place to go while I’m at work. Not having him twenty-four hours a day. But now…”

“You miss him.”

“I do. Is that crazy?”

“It’s not crazy, Abe. You love him.”

“Man, I really do.” He looked around the restaurant. “I love this place. I’m proud of what Gentry and I built. But now, it’s what’s keeping me away from Kai.”

“You’ll find a compromise. Something that you can live with.”

Abe smiled. “Yeah.” He took her hand. “Things will fall into place.”

She looked at him for a moment. “Things, huh?”

“Yeah.” He picked up another slice of pizza. “Especially with our new no plan rule.”

“You’re impossible.”

“Hmm. I’m just a man who has finally realized what love is all about.”

Chapter twenty-six

“Are you torturing the poor kid?”

On Monday morning, Abe packed Kai and everything he might need for a day out of the house, then headed for the park. The Memorial Day in the Park event had been held every year for the past forty years. It was a town favorite, and everyone local and from several surrounding counties attended.

Rocco’s was one of the ten vendors selling food this year. They’d participated every year they’d been open, and they made enough from slices of pizza to make up for closing the restaurant for the day.

Maggie and Abe were scheduled to work the first shift from ten to two. Luke and Gentry would work the afternoon shift and stay as long as they needed to. But most of the food booths stopped serving once the dance started at seven.

Abe met Gentry at the park at nine, and Kai was happy to hang out with his cousins in the grassy area in front of the small Rocco’s trailer. The trailer had an oven that could cook two large pizzas at a time, and it was in constant use throughout the day. At ten-thirty, they’d start making pizzas and put them under a warming lamp to give them a head start.

Some of the other vendors had started preparing food, and Abe could pick out the smell of cinnamon rolls and something wonderfully spicy coming from the Thai food booth. He was erecting the canopy that extended six feet out from the front of the trailer when Kai ran over to him and hugged his leg.

“Papa.”