At five o’clock, Gabe opens the door to Glory’s Place. Linda called earlier in the day to let the staff know that Gabe would be picking Maddie up today. Several children and Maddie are playing a game when Gloria informs her that Gabe is taking her home, and she jumps up from her place, grabbing her backpack and jacket.
Amy is helping two children sound out words at the reading circle and glances up to see Gabe waiting. She wonders if he’s here to talk to her but notices that he’s not craning his neck, as if looking for her. He’s just standing there with his hands in his pockets. He never catches her eye but perks up when he sees Maddie walking over to him, and Amy watches as they leave together.
* * *
Maddie finds the perfect booth for them inside Betty’s Bakery, and she slides into one opposite the pastry displays. “I still can’t believe you picked me up for dinner today,” she says, beaming.
“I just assumed that you ate dinner and since I eat dinner too, I thought why not eat it together? I told Linda that I would have you home by the time she gets home from work, and that we would bring her dinner tonight.” He looks over the menu. “What do you think we should get her?”
“She loves casseroles. We eat a lot of casseroles,” she says, kind of chewing on the words, which makes Gabe laugh.
“So I take it you won’t be ordering any casserole?”
She shakes her head with her eyes wide, studying the menu. “No, I will not! I will be ordering this hamburger with fries and lemonade.” She points to it, smiling.
The waitress walks to their table, bringing two waters, and takes Maddie’s order first. “And I will have the same thing because I love hamburgers, but no lemonade with mine,” Gabe says, handing the menu to her before she walks away.
Maddie slaps her hand down on the table. “We have a lot in common! We both liked the movie. We both like the park. We both love hamburgers. We both like Grandon Elementary School and Mrs. Kurtz. We both like Lauren and Travis and Miss Glory and Miriam and Linda and Dalton and Heddy and Amy.” She thinks for a moment. “We like all the same people!” She slaps the table. “I almost forgot! All the kids are invited to Lauren and Travis’s wedding. Are you?”
“Am I? I’m actually in the wedding!”
“You are? How?”
He laughs. “How? Travis is my cousin. He asked me to be his best man and I said yes.”
She shakes her head, looking at him. “How did I not know that you were his cousin?” Her face looks vacant as she ponders this. “I’ve never really thought about it before but I don’t have any cousins. That’s weird.”
“Plenty of people don’t have cousins.”
“How’s that possible?”
He leans both arms on the table. “Because if you’re an only child and you marry an only child, that means you don’t have a brother or sister who has any children, and the man that you marry doesn’t have a brother or sister, which means no children on either side. Or … you could have a brother or sister but they don’t have any kids. Maybe your husband has a brother or sister but neither one of them has any kids either. Without any kids, you don’t have any cousins. So it’s not that weird.”
She furrows her brow, trying to follow what he just said. “Okay. But I wish I had cousins.”
“Travis and Lauren would definitely call themselves your cousins.”
She points her finger at him. “But they’re grown-ups and those aren’t fun cousins. And anyway, how can they do that if they’re not my family?”
He raises his arms in exasperation. “Do I have to explain everything?” he says, teasing her. “Families come in all shapes and sizes and colors. You know Stacy at Glory’s Place?” She nods. “I don’t know her, except for meeting her and Ben at Betty’s Bakery after the fund-raiser, which, as you know, was way, way, way awkward!” She giggles listening to him. “But anyway! Lauren thinks of Stacy as an older sister and she thinks of Stacy’s kids as a younger brother and sister. When Lauren moved here last year, she became part of their family.”
“She told me that she didn’t have a mom and dad either.”
Gabe nods. “They were out there in the world somewhere, but they didn’t take care of Lauren. She lived with a lot of families but she finally felt like she was part of a family with Stacy and her husband and kids. And Miss Glory and all the others are extended family for her. Just like they are for you.”
Maddie smiles. “I wish you were my family too.”
“I’d like being part of your family because you make me laugh and you’re so smart about stuff that I don’t know anything about!” She grins at him but there’s an underlying sadness in her face.
“Have you ever wanted to be a dad?”
He feels self-conscious and looks over his shoulder for the food, but knows it’s too soon for it to arrive, forcing him to answer. “When Amy and I were married, I didn’t want to be a dad.”
“Why not?”
“Well, first of all, I was very selfish. And, I didn’t think I would be any good with kids.”
“But you are good with kids,” she says, reaching for the lemonade the waitress has brought.
He lifts his shoulders in a shrug, nodding. “I like kids. I think they’re awesome.”
“So maybe one day you’ll have your own.”
“Maybe.” He cocks his head, looking at her. “And maybe someday you’ll have your own. Someday you’ll look at a guy and think he’s pretty cute and you’ll want to marry him.”
She recoils, her eyes opening in horror at the thought of it. “Yuck!”
“You say yuck now but one day, you never know, you might meet a boy and fall in love. Or, you might remain single and have a full, awesome life.”
She raises her hand to stop him from talking. “I’m going single all the way.” Gabe laughs out loud as the food arrives. “Is your life full and awesome?” He spreads mayonnaise on the top bun, looking at her. “You’re single. Is your life full and awesome?”
He presses the bun back down onto his hamburger. “I heard you the first time. I’m just wondering when you became a talk show host.”
She bites into her burger. “What’s a talk show host?”
“It’s a person on TV who gets all up in people’s business, asking them questions.”
“Do they get paid?”
He nods, chewing. “Yes! Way too much money.”
“I’m in!”
He pounds the table, laughing. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“You are relentless. Yes. I think my life is awesome. But it could be fuller. How’s that for an answer, Dr. Maddie?”
“It’s good. One day you’ll have to work on the fuller part.”
He stares at her. “Hmm. That’s deep. Too bad I can’t take you seriously with that blob of ketchup on your chin.”
She reaches for her napkin and swipes at it. He knows what would make his life full, but he doesn’t dare think about it.