Page 66 of Final Approach

“That’s fine.”

Andrew patted his father on the back, stepped back, then turned to Kristine. “You ready?”

She smiled. “Whenever you are.”

She walked to the door, and Andrew’s father met her there to take her hand in a light squeeze. “It was wonderful to meet you, Kristine. I hope I get to see more of you in the future.”

“That would be lovely.”

Andrew joined her. “Sorry to pop in and run, Dad, but we’ve got to go.”

“We’ll still see you on Friday, yes?”

“I’ll be here.” He hugged the man and patted his shoulder. “Give Mom a hug for me.”

“Happy to do so.”

And then Andrew was ushering her out the door.

Back in the car, she turned to him. “Your dad is great.”

“He really is.” He tilted his head. “Dinner at Mike’s?”

“Mike’s? Sure, I’ll never turn down one of their burgers. They have awesome cheesecake too.”

“I figured the cheesecake would come into play. And how is it I seem to be the only person in town who didn’t know about that place?”

“You don’t live here, Andrew. It’s okay.”

“Still...”

She laughed and he pulled away from the curb.

The restaurant was just two blocks away, and soon they were seated at the table, lemonades in front of them. His gaze swept the room.

“You looking for something?” she asked.

“Someone.”

“Who?”

“Chey.”

“Oh, Jacob’s friend.”

“Yep.”

“Still no word about him, huh?”

“No. Unfortunately. His mother went home from the hospital yesterday morning. I’ve been wanting to go by and see her but have been a little busy trying to stay alive and keep Hank that way too.”

Kristine groaned. “I should have gone by to see her. She probably feels like we’ve abandoned her.”

He grimaced. “I know. I’ll see if someone can stop by her house and check on her.”

“No,” she said. “How about you and I do that. Let’s take some food from here and go see them.”

“Seriously?”