Rachel looked at me. “Eric, look around you. This isn’t really the place for a scene.”
“And our son is five years old.”
April rushed over with towels. “Don’t worry. It happens all the time.”
Elliot murmured, “Sorry.”
April smiled at him. “I’ve seen adults do worse with soup.”
He almost laughed.
Rachel tensed up.
“Don’t worry. It happens all the time.”
I lifted Elliot from his chair. “Come on, buddy. Bathroom rescue mission.”
“Am I going to be punished?” he asked as we walked away.
“For fruit juice? No.”
“Am I going to be punished?”
***
In the bathroom, I wiped Elliot’s sweater.
“Will people look at me?”
” Probably. “
Her eyes widened.
“Because this dinosaur looks like it survived a breakfast accident,” I said.
He started laughing. “Can I still have some spaghetti?”
” Absolutely. “
I rinsed my hands, then I looked at myself in the mirror.
“Will people look at me?”
“Ready?” I asked.
Elliot nodded.
We went back into the dining room. A young waiter walked close enough that I had to move Elliot aside.
“Watch out, buddy.”
Elliot stopped walking.
” Dad. “
” What ? “
He pointed at the waiter. “That’s the man on Mom’s phone.”
The server also stopped working.
“Watch out, buddy.”
I forced a laugh. “Sorry. He thinks he knows everyone.”
But the waiter wasn’t looking at Elliot.
He was looking at Rachel.
And Rachel turned pale.
I crouched down next to my son. “What do you mean?”
Elliot leaned over very close. “Mom watches him after you go to bed. She thinks I’m asleep, but I’m not. Sometimes she calls him.”
“What do you mean?”
Rachel stood up so quickly that her chair scraped the floor.
“Eric, is it possible for us to do this somewhere other than here?”
“To do what?”
“Please. Let’s go outside.”
I turned to the waiter. “What is your name?”
“Chad.”
“Eric, is it possible for us to do this somewhere other than here?”
“Chad. Do you know my wife?”
