Page 25 of Carver’s Craving

“Everyone here is. And yeah, I’m here usually at least once a week. We go to the Springs Brew Pub Fridays after work. Although my foreperson, Foster, usually heads straight home after work. He’s got two foster kids he and his husband are in the process of adopting. It’s a long and arduous process though—so it might be years. Still, he and Arnav are optimistic.”

“Wow, eh? How cool is that?” Styx tapped his finger on the Formica tabletop to the rhythm of a song I could barely hear. “Kids are neat. I can’t believe my brother hasn’t had any yet, but he’s still young.”

“How young? Or old?”

“I’m the youngest at twenty-three. Donnie’s the middle kid—he’s twenty-five. Barry’s the eldest, at twenty-eight. He’s been married to Jenny for five years now.”

“Twenty-eight is still young. Is this the daughter-in-law your mother hopes is pregnant?”

Styx’s eyes widened. “You remember me saying that?”

“I have a good memory for conversations. We talked a lot yesterday.” Actually, I remember almost everything you’ve ever said to me. Even if much of it had been when prepping for shows, when he’d always been a little manic. His words hadn’t always made sense. This calmer version of the rock star was much easier to follow.

“Well…yeah…that’s nice.”

“Two coffees.” Sarabeth put them on the table with plenty of cream. Because she remembered I drank it and Styx might. “Ready to order?”

“Yeah.” Styx patted the menu. “French toast platter.”

“Bacon, hash browns, and maple syrup? Anything else?”

He shook his head.

She pivoted to me.

It’s okay to treat yourself. “I’ll have a strawberry waffle.” You can just walk a little longer with the dogs. Not that I had to worry so much about gaining weight—my job kept me lean—more that I wanted to keep healthy.

“Bacon? Maple syrup?”

“Of course.” I snagged our menus and handed them to Sarabeth once she’d tucked her notepad into her apron.

“Great. I’ll get on that right away.” She headed off.

Styx cocked his head. “What made you change your mind?”

I shrugged. “Just…felt like it. I love strawberries.”

“Very healthy choice.”

“To go with the less-healthy waffle.”

He arched an eyebrow. “I’d say we ate super healthy yesterday. Something tells me, based on your pantry, that you’re pretty conscious of what you eat. Well, except the cookies-and-cream ice cream.”

“Which I’ll avoid today if I get a milkshake.”

“Sounds perfect.” He broke eye contact to gaze around. “The décor is so retro. I just love that.”

The posters and signs were all from the fifties. Plenty of memorabilia. “Ulysses did an in-depth retrospective in the paper for the seventy-fifth anniversary. At least I think that was the date they celebrated.”

“A damn long time.”

“Yep.”

“Hell, my parents aren’t even that old.”

And my mother wouldn’t be either. But that’s neither here nor there. Except that wasn’t true. Not everyone in their late thirties still had their parents—but plenty of people did. I just wasn’t one of them.

Styx yanked his phone out of his back pocket. He glanced at the screen.