“Answer me this.” I look at her, and I suddenly want to step closer to her. “Had I called you and offered you one, would you have taken me up on my offer?”

She doesn’t hesitate for even a second. “No,” she says. “You had to go out of your way yesterday to drive me home, so I wasn’t going to let you do it again today.”

I’m about to argue with her when the back door opens. “Mom, I’m hungry.”

“What are you in the mood for, buddy?” I ask him.

Without missing a beat, he just blurts out, “Pancakes, waffles, eggs, and some bread.” I look at Caroline, and I want to put my hand on her neck and bring her close to me and kiss her, but instead, I just shake my head.

“I think we should get him fed before he adds lobster to that list.” I see the worry set into her eyes, and I know she’s probably thinking about paying the bill.

“I owe you breakfast,” I say. “It’s on me.”

“How do you figure you owe me breakfast?” she asks.

“You’re letting me take you, and you aren’t giving me a hard time about it,” I say. “So thank you.” I nod at her. “Now get in. I’m hungry, too.” I turn and walk to the driver’s side, and I don’t even realize that I’m holding my breath, waiting for her to get in the SUV. She gets in and then shakes her head. “Are we all ready?” I ask. Looking behind me, I see as Dylan nods his head to me.

Pulling away from the curb, I make my way to the arena, stopping at a diner halfway there. I get out, and when I walk around, Caroline is already getting Dylan out of the vehicle. It looks like she is telling him something, and he just nods his head at her. “Everything okay?”

“Yes,” she says, and I look at Dylan who just nods.

We walk up to the entrance, and the bells on the door ring as soon as I pull it open. “Sit where you want,” the older white-haired lady says, rushing from behind the counter to the back.

“Pick a seat,” I tell them, and Caroline walks in front of me to a booth along the window. She waits for Dylan to climb into the booth and then follows him in, and I sit in front of them. I grab the menus tucked behind the salt and pepper shakers, handing one to Dylan and then one to Caroline. Then I look down at my own.

The lady who told us to sit comes over with three glasses of water. “Hey there, what can I get for you?” I look at Caroline to go first.

“Um,” she starts to talk and then looks down at the menu, and I see her eyes roaming over the menu.