Page 108 of Loving Kai

“Um…” She looked at Abe, and he shrugged. Maggie put a hand on her chest. “Maggie.”

Kai wrinkled his brow for a moment, then reached for Abe. Abe took Kai from Maggie. “Let’s go get some lemonade.” He looked at the boys. “Frozen lemonade?” He got three affirmative responses. “Milo?”

“No, thanks.”

“We’ll be back in a few.”

They returned to the booth fifteen minutes later, with Maggie holding Kai and Abe balancing five frozen lemonades in two cardboard holders. He passed them out to the boys, then offered Kai the straw from his. Kai took a tentative sip, then scowled. Abe laughed. “Sorry, buddy. Too tart for you? Or too cold?”

Kai turned his head and rested it against Maggie’s shoulder. She patted his back. “I guess he doesn’t like lemonade.”

Milo came over to them. “Are you torturing the poor kid?” Kai held his arms out to Milo. “Come on, nephew. I’ve got you.”

Abe patted Kai’s back. “Have fun with Uncle Milo and your cousins. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Milo wandered off with the four boys, and Abe and Maggie went into the booth. Gentry was preparing three more pizzas for the oven. Abe laid a hand on Gentry’s back. “We’ve got this, brother. Go spend some time with Marti.”

“Okay. I think you’re pretty set.”

“Go.”

Gentry nodded. “Call me if you need help.”

“We’ll be fine.”

Business started out slow, but it picked up as the noon hour approached and more people began arriving at the park. Abe kept a steady stream of pizza slices coming while Maggie worked the window. There was always a line of five to ten people, but their customers knew the wait was worth it for a slice of Rocco’s pizza. Two o’clock came quickly, and Abe was surprised when Gentry and Luke showed up to take over.

“It’s two already?” He checked his watch to confirm. “Damn.”

Gentry patted his shoulder. “Get out of here, Luke and I have it.”

Maggie served two more customers, then Luke took over at the window. He nudged her out of the way. “Go enjoy the rest of the day.”

She blew out a breath. “First on the list, food.”

“Take some pizza with you.”

“I think I need to get away from pizza for a while.”

She joined Abe while he was on the phone with his mother to arrange a meeting somewhere in order to get Kai.

He ended the call and smiled at Maggie. “What are you hungry for?”

“I saw a lot of people walking by with corn on the cob. It looked so good.”

“That’s a start. What else?”

“Hmm. The Thai food smells really good, but is the street taco guy here?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Let’s go find him.”

Thirty minutes later, they had picked up Kai and were sitting on a bench under a big oak tree, eating tacos and corn on the cob. Kai was asleep in the stroller, having fought off sleep as long as he could.

They watched the people wandering by, mostly in couples or family units. The overall atmosphere was light, with everyone seeming to be in high spirits. In a town like Bridgeport, you were bound to run into several people you knew.

Maggie leaned against Abe, then kissed him. “So, the beginning of our third date?”