Rich burst out laughing. “Ha! You don’t want to tell me how old you are. I am fifty-nine years old and proud of it.”

“All right, smarty, I am fifty-four and proud of it. Turning fifty was the best birthday of my life.”

He chuckled. “Well, how about us two old fogies going to the drive-in for milk shakes?”

“We could never afford milk shakes; we drank Cherry Cokes.”

“You suppose they still make those?”

She shrugged. “I guess. Did you ever drink a Green River?”

“Now, that’s a name I’ve not heard for a whole bunch of years.”

“That was my favorite, Cherry Coke second.”

He started the SUV. “Here we go down memory lane.” When they arrived at the drive-in and gave their order for two Green Rivers, the mike went silent.

“Ah, did I hear you right? Green Rivers?”

“Yes.” He grinned at Roxie, who was having a hard time keeping quiet.

“Ah, could you give me a bit more information? This is a fountain drink?”

“Yes.”

Roxie thumped him on the upper arm and mouthed, You are teasing him. He nodded back.

“You could Google it probably for the recipe. I’m not sure what it is made from, other than fizzy water.”

“I see. Give me a moment, please.” The mike clicked off.

Rich nudged her and whispered, “You started this.”

“I did not. I said a Cherry Coke.”

“They most likely have that.”

“And French fries,” she added. “You have to have French fries with a Cherry Coke.”

“Whatever.”

“Come on, where’s your party spirit?”

“Under the seat. It went into hiding when the kid didn’t know what a Green River is.”

The speaker clicked back on. “I—I’m sorry sir, but we do not have the proper ingredients for… for…”

“A Green River.” His tone oozed helpfulness.

“Yes. Can I get you something else?” Hope reddened his request.

“Well, I’m really disappointed you do not have the ingredients for our Green Rivers but I know you have at least part of a Cherry Coke.”

“Yes, sir, we do have that. What size?” Relief sounded a lot like pleading.

“I’d like two large Cherry Cokes and an order of fries.”

Roxie held up two fingers and pointed to herself. He nodded.

“Two orders of fries.”

“Ketchup?”

“Please.”

When the speaker clicked off again, he turned to Roxie. “I didn’t think to ask if you were hungry. I mean, we could order hamburgers or something.”

“Fries and a Cherry Coke are plenty.” She half turned and leaned against the door, one knee up on the seat. “So, how was your day?”

“Great, but then I have decided that every day I wake up breathing well, I have a roof over my head, a job to go to, friends and family, everything is all right with my world and I rejoice.” His voice deepened. “Roxie, I am so grateful, I can’t begin to verbalize it all and even more so now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, good, our order is here.” He rolled his window down and dug his wallet out of his pocket. “Thank you, this looks great. That’s how much?” He handed the server a bill and waved. “No change needed, thanks.”