After a couple weeks of Todd being super polite yet changing the subject every time I brought up the date he’d agreed to go on, I didn’t know what to think. Had it really bothered him that much to meet Victoria? I mean, I hadn’t hidden the fact that I was bi, and I really hoped that wasn’t the problem. But then again, Todd didn’t strike me as a judgmental type. Surely he wasn’t jealous?

I bent to grab a flat rock, skipping it easily across the surface of the creek. When I heard giggles, I looked over my shoulder to see Luisa and her sisters had wandered up.

“That wasn’t bad, but I must admit to having seen people skip rocks all the way across to the other side. How are you on this fine day, Mr. Keller?” Luisa stood politely, her hands clasped behind her back while her sisters stood on either side stifling giggles.

“Hello, Miss Luisa. I’m good. I must say, it’s nice to see you girls again. I’ve been keeping an eye out for you but I haven’t seen you around. Do you live nearby?” I shoved my hands in my pockets, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet while I attempted to make polite conversation. At least this time we were in view of the restaurant so I didn’t feel quite as creepy to be talking privately with the young girls.

Luisa waved a hand dismissively. “We’re usually around, sometimes here and sometimes there.” She looked back in the direction of the old mill. “Where is your boyfriend? We were hoping to finally meet him.”

Boyfriend? Hmm, she must have seen me talking to Todd at some point, or maybe seen him getting in or out of my car the day we’d taken Simon to school. But still I couldn’t help but grin at her attempt to be nosy. I shook my head with a light chuckle. “Sorry, but somebody has given you the wrong information, Miss Luisa. I don’t have a boyfriend.” The way things were going, it didn’t look like I would anytime soon either—not that I was about to say that to these girls.

Luisa looked strangely disappointed. “I am sorry, Mr. Keller. I must’ve been mistaken. Maybe you should consider getting one then, you’d be surprised by how happy you might be with the right man in your life. Plus, it would be very good for your children.”

Okay, this conversation had just gone from the edge of prying and veered into the inappropriate. I shook my head. “I don’t have children, just the one son. I’m sure you’ll meet him at some point. In fact, I’m surprised you haven’t met him already. He is a bit younger than you, but he’s still been introduced to most of the children in town, I thought.”

She smiled politely. “Hmm. Just the one, huh? I can’t say we’ve met. We don’t really run in the same circles as the current crop of local children.”

I didn’t know what to make of her odd turn of phrase, so I turned the subject back to them. “You said you girls live nearby; does your family’s property border this one?”

The shortest of the three girls, a round-cheeked cherub with bright blue eyes, tugged at Luisa’s arm and flashed her a strange warning look. Luisa nodded at her sister then turned back to me. “I’m sorry, it appears as though our time here has ended for today. We shall see you another day.”

Without waiting for me to respond, they gave a quick wave and turned to leave. I heard a splash and turned just in time to see a large fish jump out of the water in a silvery arc before disappearing again into its depths. I looked back with a grin to see if the girls had seen it too, but they were gone.

“How was school today, kiddo?” I took Simon’s backpack from him while we walked to the car. “I missed you all day. I hope you had fun with your friends and learned lots of cool stuff.”

Simon was walking as fast as his feet could carry him. “School was good, Dad. But we need to hurry, okay? You parked close, right? Mommy is supposed to call, remember? You remember.”

I bit back a sigh. I hated when his entire day revolved around phone calls that might not come or even worse—the visits that probably wouldn’t. The entire way home, he was fretting over having forgotten his phone at home today and worrying about whether she’d already tried to call.

After we got home and he saw no missed calls, he finally relaxed enough to let me give him a snack while he sat there staring at his phone as though willing it to ring. I swear, times like this made me want to just grab that woman by the shoulders and shake some sense into her.

When dinnertime rolled around and she still hadn’t called, I decided that enough was enough. “Come on, kiddo. We’re eating out tonight. I’m not going to feed you something healthy. Tonight it’s all about hot dogs. What do you say?”

Simon brightened slightly at the mention of Todd’s restaurant, but still wasn’t his normal cheerful self. While we were waiting for someone to take our order, Todd slipped up behind Simon and slid his hands over his eyes. “Guess who?”

“Hi, Mr. Todd.” At the dejected sound of Simon’s voice, Todd dropped his hands and knelt beside his chair.

“You look serious, sweetie pie. I bet I can make that frown turn upside down. Guess what?” Todd brushed Simon’s hair off his forehead while he waited for an answer.

Simon gave a weak smile. “What?”

Todd looked quite serious as he replied. “Chicken butt.”

It took a second to register before Simon laughed politely. Todd leaned back on his heels, looking back and forth between me and Simon with dismay. “Oh, my. This is a much more severe case of the grumpies than I realized at first. Do I need to call in the tickle monster, or are you gonna tell Mr. Todd why you’ve got such a long face?”

Simon shrugged one little shoulder and shook his head. “Mommy forgot to say happy birthday. She was supposed to call me, but I think she’s working again.”

I could tell that Todd felt like crap for having asked but he turned pensive for a moment before ruffling Simon’s hair and standing. “Perhaps she just hasn’t had a chance yet, you know? In the meantime, let’s get some hot dogs for the birthday boy. What do you say? You think you can eat two or do I need to bring you three?”

Simon’s eyes bugged out. “I could never eat that many, Mr. Todd. Only Daddy can eat that much.”

Todd nodded reasonably. “I can see that. Your daddy is a big, strong alpha. He has to eat more than us mere mortals just to keep up his strength, I’d imagine. Okay, sweetie pie. Sit tight and I’ll have Cody bring you a feast that’s fit for a birthday king.”

When my son’s face lit with the first real smile I’d seen since I’d picked him up, I knew I owed Todd a huge thank you. Before I could say anything, he’d already turned and rushed off for the kitchen like he was a man on a mission. Simon and I were working the search-a-word puzzle on the paper placemat the restaurant provided for the kids when Cody appeared with a big tray of food.

“Happy birthday, Simon! Davis wanted you to know that he made the tater tots just for you, okay?” He smiled and began offloading the tray onto the table. My eyes widened as I took in the kid-friendly feast of hot dogs, fries, tater tots, baked beans, and macaroni and cheese. Definitely not the healthiest dinner, but perfect for a birthday boy turning five.

As if reading my mind, Cody flashed me a grin. “The meal was provided with Simon in mind, but I can slip you a salad if you’d like. If not, I have some Rolaids behind the bar if you want to hit me up before you leave.”

“Thanks, Cody. I’ll be fine.” I smiled my thanks as he turned to leave. One of the waitresses dropped by to set a pitcher of root beer in the middle of the table along with glasses and straws. I smiled at the gesture. It looked like Todd really had thought of everything.

Simon’s eyes were wide as he took it all in. “I think we’re going to have to eat extra vegetables tomorrow, aren’t we?”

I chuckled at the seriousness of his tone. “Don’t worry about it, kiddo. It’s your birthday, right? If you can’t eat the fun stuff on your birthday, when can you?”

He smiled happily as he reached for a hot dog. Even though we’d celebrated his birthday privately over the weekend, there was nothing better than enjoying the actual day. We’d barely finished our meal when I glanced up in time to see the entire kitchen and waitstaff heading our way. Davis was carrying a cake with lit candles on it while Todd held a large gift bag in his hands. They spread around the table in a wide circle and sang the birthday song while Davis set the cake in front of Simon.

Simon was beaming from ear to ear as he looked around at all of their familiar faces. At the end of the song, Todd knelt down beside him. “Close your eyes and make a super-secret wish, then blow out your candles, birthday boy.” Simon nodded happily and did as Todd directed. After the candles were out, everyone clapped before wandering off while Todd stayed behind. Cody set plates and cutlery down for cake then ruffled Simon’s hair before leaving too.

“Are you going to join us for dessert, Todd?” Not only was I grateful for his thoughtfulness, I kinda wanted an excuse to hang out with him—and I wasn’t afraid to use my kid’s birthday to do it. “After all, Simon doesn’t turn five every day.”

Todd shot me a knowing grin but got up and slid into the seat beside Simon before passing him the gift bag and pulling the cake over in front of himself. “Here, sweetie pie. This is for you; happy birthday from me. Why don’t I cut us each a slice of cake while you open your present?”

“You got me a present?” Simon looked at the big gift bag with awe.

“Let me think about that for a second.” Todd tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips for a moment. “It says Happy Birthday on it and you’re the only birthday boy at the table, so…” He let his voice trail off before reaching out to tweak Simon’s nose. “Yeah, I guess it must be for you. And I’m pretty sure that what’s inside won’t fit your dad, so you should probably keep it.”

I watched as Simon pulled out a kids’ size chef jacket and hat. His eyes grew wide when he held up a Sausage Shack name tag that had his name printed on it just above the title of Future Chef. Simon dropped everything back in the bag before jumping out of his seat and propelling himself at Todd for a big hug. With his arms wrapped tightly around Todd’s neck, he chanted “thank you, thank you, thank you” into Todd’s ear.

Todd gently hugged him back, his eyes closing as if he were savoring the moment. Before he released Simon, Todd gave my son a kiss on the cheek. “Hop back in your chair and I’ll tell you about the rest of your gift. If you think that’s cool, then wait until I tell you why you’ll need it.”

Simon got back in his chair, sitting on his knees as he leaned over the table on his elbows while Todd cut the cake. “What’s the rest of my gift, Mr. Todd? There can’t be anything cooler than what you already gave me.”

“Are you sure about that, sweetie pie? What if I told you that you needed that gear to wear once a week for an hour-long cooking lesson taught by yours truly? I figure we can do it after school on whatever day works best for you—as long as it’s okay with your dad, of course.” Todd glanced over at me expectantly.

Like I could say no to something so kind. I held my hands up and shook my head. “Todd, I’m amazed by your generosity. Honestly, I can’t even begin to figure out how you pulled this whole surprise off like you did. But won’t that interrupt your work hours?”

Todd shook his head and looked at me like I was crazy, obviously playing it up for Simon. “Are you kidding me, Hugo? Simon is way more important than silly old work.” He added in a more serious tone, addressing me personally for a moment, “Honestly, the afternoons are the perfect time and it’s no trouble. I’m happy to do it. I enjoy spending time with Simon and the only thing he’ll be interrupting is my slow time between the lunch or dinner rushes when I usually do paperwork. So really, I should be the one thanking Simon because he’ll be saving me from an hour of that nonsense every week.”

While he spoke, Todd was busy passing us each a slice of cake. As much as I hated to make the comparison, I couldn’t help but wish that Simon’s mother was half as giving as Todd. Sure, she had money and would probably send him some expensive gift to make up for not having called today, but she couldn’t give the priceless gift that Simon truly wanted, yet Todd easily shared—simply spending time with him.