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“But then, which flavors?” Caitlin tilted her head to the side. “Dark chocolate…”
“Definitely,” Michael murmured. “Strawberry? Mango?”
“What if we just asked them to surprise us with their favorites?” Caitlin asked. “A little adventure?”
“Sure, why not?” He was already trying new things with Caitlin, and an ice cream date was no different. Michael moved the menu closer to Pearl. “What are you interested in, Pearl?”
“I want the rainbow with rainbow sprinkles,” Pearl declared before getting distracted by a passing dog and his owner. “Look at the dog!”
Michael found the dog adorable too—he had one floppy ear and one ear pricked up, a white spot around one of his eyes. His fur was fluffy and his pink tongue lolled out of his mouth, his tail wagging when he noticed Pearl.
“Do you want to pet him?” the owner asked.
“Yes, please!” Pearl approached the dog, tentative despite her excitement, and patted his head. The dog sniffed her, licking her hand and making her laugh. “He’s so cute.”
“He is.” Michael petted the dog as well. “What kind of dog is he?”
“No idea. Maybe a collie? Maybe a German shepherd in there too?” The owner shrugged. “I got him at the shelter in town.”
“Cute.” Pearl sighed. Michael noticed the twitch of Caitlin’s mouth, like she was holding back.
The owner and dog walked on and Pearl turned to Caitlin, her brown eyes big and pleading.
“We can’t get a pet right now,” Caitlin said before Pearl said anything.
“But I didn’t even ask for one!” Pearl pouted, but Caitlin smiled, resting her hand on Pearl’s head.
“We’ve been through this situation before. But we can talk about it later, okay?” Caitlin asked, her voice gentle.
Pearl was still pouting, but her expression softened. “Okay.”
Michael’s chest warmed. Caitlin’s love for Pearl came out in every action. Even though he had been a bachelor up until today, he still had some friends with kids. Most of them wouldn’t have been this patient, and most of their kids wouldn’t have readily accepted this answer.
“You like animals?” Michael asked.
“Yeah. Cats and dogs and dolphins and whales. And squirrels sometimes if they aren’t mean.” Pearl skipped forward as the line moved, a big group coming out of the shop.
“When did you meet a mean squirrel?” Michael couldn’t imagine one being mean. All of the squirrels around Blueberry Bay seemed perfectly friendly to him.
“A bunch of times.” Pearl sighed.
“The ones in the parks back in the city were very used to humans and loved to eat,” Caitlin explained. “They weren’t afraid to take advantage of a situation with a snack.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” Michael nodded.
“Oh, I saw some fish when I was surfing! Do you see them sometimes?” Pearl asked.
“Yeah, all the time.” Michael held the door open for Pearl and Caitlin. “I’ve been surfing in other places too where I saw some dolphins and sting rays. Even a shark, but it wasn’t a big, scary one.”
“A shark?” Pearl’s eyes widened. “I thought they were all big and scary.”
“Some of them are really small or they’re afraid of people. But some of them are really big and won’t hurt anyone either.” Michael dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He found a picture of a whale shark. “I saw one like this once when I was diving. It swam right next to me.”
Pearl’s eyes got as big as saucers. “That’s so big.”
“Yeah.” He scrolled down and found a picture of a whale shark next to a human. He showed Caitlin too. “That’s how big it is compared to a human.”
Pearl’s eyes somehow got wider. “It doesn’t hurt people?”
