Page 22 of Fall With Me
Standing, I wait to greet Chloe.
“Hey,” she says, holding Finn’s hand as he drags her to our table.
“Hi. How are you?”
She smiles. “Tired, but good. You?”
I waffle my hand in the air. “About the same. Thank you for accommodating us by meeting here.”
She scoots into the booth next to Finn. “The food here is great. You can’t blame the kid for having good taste buds. And pizza is an option for the festival. We can ask about pricing and any discounts they might offer for catering for a hundred and fifty people.”
I flash her a smile. “I’m not a festival person, but I have to say taste testing is one part I don’t mind doing.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” She smiles back at me. “Have you guys ordered?” Chloe looks from me to Finn.
“We were waiting for you,” Finn says, grabbing her arm, like we’re in a haunted house and Chloe will save him from the scary chainsaw guy—except Finn’s not scared, he’s delighted.
Chloe taps her fingers on the back of Finn’s hand. In a friendly way, or aplease stop touching memanner, I’m not sure. “What do you want to eat?”
He shoots her a dry look. “Duh. Pepperoni pizza.”
She nods. “Right. I remember. What about you, Dawson?”
“I’ll eat anything. What do you want?”
“We’ll want to try out a salad, breadsticks, pizza, and dessert.” She looks over the menu. “I’ll have the deluxe salad and a small slice of pizza. I don’t care what kind. You can choose, Dawson. Let’s get the cheesy Pull-A-Part bread and the Cinn-A-Part for dessert. We can decide based on pricing if this is what we want to do.”
“One small pepperoni for the wise guy.” I reach over, tousling Finn’s hair. “A salad for the lady.” I refrain from touching Chloe. “And a buffalo chicken ranch for you and me, plus the bread and dessert. I’ll be right back.”
After ordering at the front register as quickly as possible, I head back to the table with water glasses in hand.
“I get to make a Me Poster, just likeJudy Moody!” Finn tells Chloe, bouncing in his seat. “What should I put on there? Dad says a football because I’m starting flag football.”
Setting the cups on the table, I take a seat across from Finn and Chloe.
“When is your poster due?” Chloe asks.
“The end of September. Right, Dad?” Finn looks at me.
“Correct. We have plenty of time to work on it.” Time I need, considering how stretched thin I am.
Chloe tears the wrapper off her straw. “When does flag football start?”
“Tomorrow.” Finn’s eyes go as wide as the silver pizza platters they serve the food on. “Chloe, will you come watch me?” He grabs onto her arm again. “Please?” he begs with his classic puppy dog eyes and jutted lip.
Chloe circles a finger around Finn’s face, then looks at me. “I don’t know how you say no to that face.”
“Some days are harder than others.”
“No kidding.” Turning back to Finn, she says, “Saturdays are tricky for me. I work in the morning and usually have plans with friends and family for the Utah football games in the afternoons. But your Dad and I have more things to figure out for this festival we’re throwing. Maybe we can chat while we watch you play?”
Dawson nods. “Actually, that would be great, if you’re willing to come to his game.”
“Really?” Finn asks, his hopeful gaze bounces between Chloe and me.
“Looks like I’ll be there,” Chloe confirms. “What’s your team name?”
“We’re the Broncos,” Finn says.
