"Can we go to a movie instead?"
"Yeah!" Kristen said. "Let's go to a movie."
Parenting, Alex thought, could be exasperating.
"It's a beautiful day and we're not going to spend it sitting inside. We're going butterfly hunting. And not only that, you're going to enjoy it, okay?"
After lunch, Alex drove them to a field on the outskirts of town that was filled with wildflowers. He handed them their nets and sent them on their way, watching as Josh sort of dragged his net while Kristen held hers tucked against her, in much the same way she held her dolls.
Alex took matters into his own hands and jogged ahead of both of them, his net at the ready. Up ahead, fluttering among the wildflowers, he spotted dozens of butterflies. When he got close enough, he swung his net, capturing one. Squatting down, he carefully began to shift the net, allowing the orange and brown colors to show through.
"Wow!" he shouted, trying to sound as enthusiastic as he could. "I got one!"
The next thing he knew, Josh and Kristen were peering over his shoulder.
"Be careful with it, Daddy!" Kristen cried.
"I will, baby. Look at how pretty the colors are."
They leaned in even closer.
"Cool!" Josh shouted, and a moment later, he was off and running, swinging the net with abandon.
Kristen continued to study the butterfly. "What kind is it?"
"It's a skipper," Alex said. "But I don't know exactly what kind."
"I think he's scared," Kristen said.
"I'm sure he's fine. But I'll let him go, okay?"
She nodded as Alex carefully pulled the net inside out. In the open air, the butterfly clung to the net before taking off in flight. Kristen's eyes went wide with wonder.
"Can you help me catch one?" she asked.
"I'd love to."
They spent a little more than an hour running among the flowers. They caught about eight different kinds of butterflies, including a buckeye, though the vast majority were skippers like the first. By the time they finished, the kids' faces were red and shiny, so Alex drove them to get ice cream cones before heading to the creek behind the house. The three of them jumped off the dock together-Josh and Kristen wearing life preservers-and floated downstream in the slow-moving water. It was the kind of day he'd spent as a kid. By the time they got out of the water, he was contented by the thought that, aside from going to the beach, it was the best weekend they'd had in a while.
But it was tiring, too. Afterward, once the kids had showered, they wanted to watch a movie, and Alex popped in Homeward Bound, a movie they'd seen a dozen times but were always willing to watch again. From the kitchen, he could see them on the couch, neither one moving in the slightest, staring at the television in that dazed way particular to exhausted children.
He wiped the kitchen counters and loaded the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, started a load of laundry, straightened up the living room, and gave the kids' bathroom a good scrubbing before finally sitting beside them on the couch for a while. Josh curled up on one side, Kristen on the other. By the time the movie ended, Alex could feel his own eyelids beginning to droop. After working at the store and playing with the kids and cleaning the house, it felt good to simply relax for a while.
The sound of Josh's voice jarred him awake.
"Hey, Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"What's for dinner? I'm starved."
From the waitress stand, Katie peered out at the deck and then turned back again, staring as Alex and the kids followed the hostess to an open table near the railing. Kristen smiled and waved as soon as she saw Katie, and hesitated only a second before scooting between the tables and hurtling directly for her. Katie bent down as the little girl threw her arms around her.
"We wanted to surprise you!" Kristen said.
"Well, you did. What are you doing here?"
"My dad didn't want to cook for us tonight."
"He didn't?"
"He said he was too tired."
"There's more to the story," Alex announced. "Trust me."
Katie hadn't heard him come up, and she stood.
"Oh, hey," she said, blushing against her will.
"How are you?" Alex asked.
"Good." She nodded, feeling a bit flustered. "Busy, as you can tell."
"It seems like it. We had to wait before they could seat us in your section."
"It's been like that all day."
"Well, we won't keep you. C'mon, Kristen. Let's go to the table. We'll see you in a few minutes or whenever you're ready."
"Bye, Miss Katie." Kristen waved again.
Katie watched them walk to the table, strangely excited by their visit. She saw Alex open the menu and lean forward to help Kristen with hers, and for an instant, she wished she were sitting with them.
She retucked her shirt and glanced at her reflection in the stainless steel coffeepot. She couldn't make out much, only a blurry image, but it was enough to make her run a hand through her hair. Then, after a quick check to make sure her shirt hadn't been stained-nothing she could do about it, of course, but she still wanted to know-she walked over to the table.
"Hey, guys," she said, addressing the kids. "I hear your dad didn't want to cook dinner for you."
Kristen giggled but Josh simply nodded. "He said he was tired."
"That's what I heard," she said.
Alex rolled his eyes. "Thrown under the bus by my own kids. I just can't believe it."
"I wouldn't throw you under the bus, Daddy," Kristen said seriously.
"Thank you, sweetie."
Katie smiled. "Are you thirsty? Can I get you something to drink?"
They ordered sweet teas all around, along with a basket of hush puppies. Kristen brought the drinks to the table and as she walked away, she felt Alex's gaze on her. She fought the urge to peek over her shoulder, though she desperately wanted to.
For the next few minutes, she took orders and cleared plates from other tables, delivered a couple of meals, and finally returned with the basket of hush puppies.
"Be careful," she said. "They're still hot."
"That's when they're the best," Josh said, reaching into the basket. Kristen reached for one as well.
"We went butterfly hunting today," she said.
"You did?"
"Yep. But we didn't hurt them. We let them go."
"That sounds like fun. Did you have a good time?"
"It was awesome!" Josh said. "I caught, like, a hundred of them! And then we went swimming."
"What a great day," Katie said sincerely. "No wonder your dad is tired."
"I'm not tired," both Josh and Kristen said, almost simultaneously.
"Maybe not," Alex said, "but you're both still going to bed early. Because your poor old dad needs to go to sleep."
Katie shook her head. "Don't be so hard on yourself," she said. "You're not poor."
It took him a moment to realize she was teasing, and he laughed. It was loud enough for the people at the next table to notice, though he didn't seem to care.
"I come in here to relax and enjoy my dinner, and I end up getting picked on by the waitress."
"It's a tough life."
"You're telling me. Next thing I know, you'll be telling me that I might want to order from the kids' menu, seeing as how I'm gaining weight."
"Well, I wasn't going to say anything," she said with a pointed glance at his midsection. He laughed again, and when he looked at her she saw an appreciative gleam in his eye, reminding her that he found her attractive.
"I think we're ready to order now," he said.
"What can I get you?"
Alex ordered for them and Katie jotted it down. She held his gaze for a moment before leaving the table and dropping the order off in the kitchen. As she continued to work the tables in her station-as quickly as people left, they were replaced-she found excuses to swing by Alex's table. She refilled their waters and their teas, she removed the basket when they were done with the hush puppies, and she brought Josh a new fork after his had dropped on the floor. She chatted easily with Alex and the kids, enjoying every moment, and eventually brought them their dinners.
Later, when they were through, she cleared the table and dropped off the check. By then, the sun was getting lower and Kristen had begun to yawn, and if anything, the restaurant had gotten busier. She had time for only a quick good-bye as the kids scrambled down the stairs, but when Alex hesitated, she had the sense that he was about to ask her out. She wasn't sure how she was going to handle it, but before he could get the words out, one of her customers spilled a beer. The customer stood quickly from the table, bumping it, and two more glasses toppled over. Alex stepped back, the moment broken, knowing she had to go.