Page 19 of Quinton's Quest

I shook my head.

“Cool. You live in Mission City, right?”

Did I tell him that?Three nights ago felt like a lifetime. “Uh, yes. Newly moved there.”

“Have you been to Fifties?”

I cocked my head.

“Diner. On the main highway. Mostly food that’s not good for you.” He gave me another once-over. “Even you deserve a cheat day—especially when you just saved a young mother’s life.”

I wasn’t going to take the bait on thecheat daycomment. He was obviously remembering my physique and thinking I must eat crazy healthy. He wasn’t wrong—I kept myself in tiptop shape so I could get through the long and complicated surgeries. I took care of myself because I had two young children who depended on me.

They have their other father as well. Don’t forget that. And a soon-to-be new stepfather.

As much as I wanted to hate Archer Chamberlain, he was good for both Gideon and our children.

“A cheat day would be fine. Can you give me the address?” I gestured to him, still wearing his scrubs.

“Yeah.” He rattled off an intersection.

I put it into my maps app and soon a route appeared. “That seems pretty straightforward.”

“It is. I’ll be right behind you.” With that, he sauntered away.

Ensuring his ass jiggled in justthatway.

Damn. I’m going to have to watch myself with him.Because I really liked the sass. The bite, though, I could do without.

Within a few minutes, I was headed north across the Mission-Abby bridge, heading toward home. I had a lovely three-bedroom home north of Mission City downtown, but I wasn’t headed there.Would’ve been lonely anyway.Being just a few klicks from Gideon and Archer wasn’t quite as hard as I envisioned. Basically, it took me three minutes to drive to see my kids. That was worth any discomfort I might endure.

Fifties was literally pulled from the 1950s. The standalone diner sat on the highway—a testament to a bygone era.

I parked my SUV, debated for about ten seconds whether to sit in it and wait, then headed into the restaurant.

A lovely blonde woman with piercing blue eyes approached. “You by yourself?”

“Uh, no. I have a friend joining me. He should be here shortly.” The place wasn’t completely full, but I didn’t want to take up a booth if she was worried.

“Last booth on the left is available. Will I recognize your friend?”

“Uh.” I scratched my chin. “Quinton?”I’m blanking on his last name. What was it?No, wait, I did. I was just fucking tired. “Li.”

She grinned. “Sure, I know Quinton. Everyone knows Quinton. Well, and his mom. I’m Sarabeth, by the way. Can I grab you something to drink?”

I blinked. So much information in just a couple of sentences. “Decaf?”

“Coming right up.” She headed toward the counter and I made my way to the back of the restaurant where a two-seater booth was located. I sat on the bench facing the door so I could wave Quinton over—in case Sarabeth was busy. The place was pretty full for late on a Wednesday night. But then, what did I know? Maybe they were busy every night.

I perused the menu, noting the sheer number of milkshake flavors.

I bet Gideon and Archer bring the kids here. In fact, Gideon probably came here with his grandparents, since it’s been here that long.I tried to guess which flavors the kids might like.Maybe you can bring them here on a day off.

A somewhat comforting thought. My schedule was Monday to Friday with every fourth weekend on call. If I still had a nanny, I could’ve kept the kids with me. That didn’t make sense since Gideon was home all day and, after I’d kept the kids away from him for more than a year—with good reason—he was desperate for time with them.

I owed them all that much.

“One decaf coffee. Do you want to order or wait?” Sarabeth placed the cup before me and included a couple of creamers.