“This place looks amazing,” Axel said, being overly dramatic as a way to tease the girls when she pulled in. He’d mentioned, once or twice, his desire to become a vegetarian, so Harper knew he wasn’t particularly excited about eating red meat, but she smiled at him because she appreciated the effort he was making on behalf of their children.

They went through the line and ordered cheeseburgers for the girls, a black bean vegetarian burger for Axel—it turned out that the restaurant had one, which was lucky—and a salad for her. They’d just decided on the shake flavors they’d each get afterward and were settling into a booth to wait for their food when Everly cried, “Look, Mommy! Over there! Isn’t that Tobias?”

Harper’s first thought was, There’s no way. Had the girls requested the Eatery, which she associated with Tobias, she would’ve done whatever she could to entice them to go elsewhere. She’d supported this place because she’d never heard Tobias mention it.

And his truck hadn’t been in the lot. She definitely would’ve noticed.

Harper’s blood ran cold as she turned and saw Tobias sitting in a nearby booth across from his brother, a burger on each of their plates.

“That’s him?” Axel said.

Harper didn’t get a chance to answer before Everly piped up with, “Yeah. He’s the one facing us,” she said, waving to get Tobias’s attention.

Harper saw Tobias’s jaw go slack when he realized she was there, too. Obviously, he hadn’t expected this coincidence any more than she had.

“Did you tell him we were coming here?” Axel growled.

“No!” Harper replied, her mind racing. What was she going to do? They’d just paid for their food, hadn’t even received it yet. It wasn’t as though she could suggest another place and hurry her family back out to the car. The girls had their hearts set on what they’d ordered.

And Tobias and Maddox had clearly just been served, so it wasn’t likely they’d be leaving anytime soon.

“What are the chances we’d both end up at the same restaurant?” Axel asked.

“There aren’t a lot of restaurants in town, and this one is popular.”

“Considering the situation, I think it’s pretty remarkable,” he retorted.

Harper felt her face flush when Axel shot Tobias a dirty look.

“He’d better not come over here, better not say anything to you, or there’s going to be trouble,” Axel warned.

“Daddy?” Piper’s face creased in concern. “Why don’t you like Tobias?”

“Because I don’t,” he snapped.

“Do you know him?” Everly asked, also confused.

Axel was too busy glaring at Tobias to answer that question.

“He’s nice,” Piper said. “He took us ice-skating.”