Page 81 of Peach Tree Family

Chapter 21

Home from work, Theo was looking at what to make for dinner, when he heard Ace complaining to Butter. "Seth didn't come over."

"He can't come over all the time," Theo told him.

"When is he going to?" Ace whined.

"I don't know. We'll see," Theo said, not wanting to promise too much. But the deepening frown on Ace's face got him to close the fridge and give up on making dinner. "We don't have to wait for Seth to come by. We can go into town, go to the laundromat and grab some dinner."

Ace didn't get too excited about it yet though. "With Seth?" he asked.

"Yes, if he's free. I'll text him," Theo said.

They agreed to meet at the Peach Tree Café. When Theo and Ace arrived, Seth had already snagged a table for them. Before going to join him, Theo went over to Mrs. Del Rio to introduce Ace to her.

"I heard so much about you, and I'm thrilled to meet you," Mrs. Del Rio said. Then she leaned in to whisper to Theo. "Don't you worry about that Seth getting away from you, sweet cheeks. Wherever he is, he's still your man."

Theo gaped at her but she just winked at him and then gave Seth a little wave.

Going over to their table, Theo was still in a state of disbelief at Mrs. Del Rio's words of encouragement. Then before they could even sit, Seth jumped in to say, "Dinner is on me."

"I invited you," Theo reminded him.

"I used to work here. I want to treat you for old time's sake," Seth said.

Theo didn't find that convincing, but he decided to go along with him. "Alright." Taking a seat, he looked around and wondered if Hannah was there. He didn't see her. A waitress named Magda brought them menus and told them about the special.

"I've got to try that special, pork chops in sticky gravy," Seth said but Ace was still looking at the menu.

They didn't get to go out to eat often so Theo let him take his time. Seth told them their waitress was the one he was filling in for. "She's a go getter. That's what Hannah called her."

Since he brought her up, Theo couldn't help asking, "Have you been spending a lot of time with Hannah?"

"A little bit," Seth said and Theo felt jealous paranoia creeping up on him. Why the hell couldn't he be satisfied to just be friends with Seth?

Even after they put in their orders and were waiting for their food to arrive, Theo was still obsessing about Seth and Hannah, and Ace was looking at the dessert menu.

"They have hummingbird cake. Mom used to make that for your birthday, Theo," Ace said and pushed the menu toward him.

"I loved hummingbirds when I was a kid," Theo told them. "But at first I was afraid they went in the cake. Once Mom told me there were no hummingbirds in the cake, I stopped crying."

Seth cracked up. "Did you really cry?"

"I was four. Cut me some slack," Theo said but Ace looked like he might have lost a little respect for him.

The food was really good, and Ace got to try Theo's ravioli but Seth's sticky gravy was the bigger hit. He was getting hummingbird cake too, but when Mrs. Del Rio delivered it herself, she invited Ace to eat it while touring the kitchen.

"I never got to eat anywhere as nice as this before," Seth said.

"It's a fun place," Theo said as he thought to himself that it worked pretty well for a date night, which this wasn't. This was laundry night and a simple dinner.

"Did you get to go to cool, trendy places with your friends or dates or...?" Seth trailed off like he didn't really want to talk about Theo dating, but he had to wonder if he was thinking about dating because they were alone now.

"I did," Theo told him. "But I had to watch what I ordered. Saving money for me and Ace was always a priority."

"You're doing good now," Seth said, and Theo nodded but not having custody of Ace was always on his mind.

"I got lucky and came across this guy who helped us out a lot," Theo said. From Seth's look, he could tell he didn't know Theo was talking about him. "I was talking about this trespasser who refused to leave. Does that ring a bell?"

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