“Diving, I guess,” she said. “Ironic, huh? I finally find something we both like and then I almost kill him doing it.”

Before Hudson could say anything, the waitress appeared with their plates. She set them down and, after being told that there was nothing else she could get them, walked back toward the kitchen. As she passed the table next to them, Hudson saw her steadfastly avoid looking at the boy calling for a refill on his soda, and he made a note to leave her a nice tip.

Caddie lifted the top bun from her garden burger and set it aside. Then she picked up her fork and cut a careful piece from the patty. “I don’t like buns,” she said when she noticed Hudson watching her. “And I don’t like picking it up with my hands.”

Hudson, who had just done the same thing to his bacon burger, nodded toward his discarded bun. “Great minds think alike,” he said.

“More like twisted minds,” Caddie replied, but she smiled.

The conversation died as they both ate. Hudson was surprised at how hungry he was, then realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast that morning. The burger was good, and after half of it, he felt much better. “Isn’t it funny how food makes things seem a little less dire?” he remarked.

“Is my dad really gay?”

Hudson, surprised at the unexpected response to his comment, looked at Caddie in astonishment. She bit the end off a french fry. “Is he really gay?” she repeated. “Or was this a one-time thing?”

Hudson set his fork down and wiped his hands on a napkin, stalling for time. He wasn’t sure how—or if—to answer the question. “I don’t know,” he said finally.

“But what do you think?” Caddie pressed. “Based on your years of gaiety, I mean.”

“My expert opinion?” said Hudson. Caddie paused, watching his face. “I think you should ask him,” Hudson finished.

“I think he left my mom because he knew,” Caddie said.

“Has she said that?”

“She’s never said much about it at all,” said Caddie. “I don’t think she really knows why he did it.”

“There could be a lot of reasons,” Hudson said. “His being gay—if he is—is just one possibility.”

Caddie cut another piece from her burger. “I just don’t see how he could get to be so old and not know it.”

“It happens,” Hudson said. “Not everyone knows who they are right away.”

“When did you know?”

“A long time ago. When I was pretty young.”

“But you didn’t realize he had a thing for you,” Caddie said. “I had to tell you.”

She’d make one hell of an attorney, Hudson thought. “No, I didn’t know,” he affirmed.

“But once you found out, you went for it,” Caddie continued.