daughter. “Wouldn’t you rather wear something nicer for the Mitchells?”
Carrie looked at her clothes again. “No.”
Patrick stepped out of the bathroom (giving his wife a subtle pat on the bottom as he passed), and approached his son. “Whatcha got there, bud? More rocks for skipping?”
Caleb nodded eagerly and handed them to his father.
“Whoa, take a look at these beauties.”
Caleb beamed.
“Come on,” Patrick said. “Let’s go out to the lake and skip them before your mom and I take you over to the Mitchell’s.”
Father and son raced outside. Amy put the eyeliner down and tilted her torso out the bathroom door. “Don’t get dirty!”
19
The silver Highlander glided along the main road, north of Crescent Lake. As promised, Amy had blown her hair out in the style Patrick liked so much, and he found it damn difficult to concentrate on the wheel.
“Edible, baby,” he said, stealing his umpteenth glance. “You are looking absolutely edible.”
She leaned over and kissed his cheek while he looked out onto the road. “You’re not lookin’ too bad yourself there, sexy.” She ran her fingers down the buttons of his collared shirt.
Patrick’s white button-down was covered with a jet-black sport coat that accentuated his broad shoulders. His top two buttons were undone (a tie was simply out of the question for Patrick Lambert), and his slacks and polished shoes were the exact color of his sport coat. Even his hair, which usually had the uncanny ability to face all four directions of the globe, was gelled and parted in a neat, trendy fashion, making him look the equal of his wife’s thirty-three years instead of his own thirty-eight.
“I’m thinking we might stand out once we get to the restaurant, we look so good,” Amy added.
“We’d stand out anywhere we went, hotness,” he said. “However, both Norm and Lorraine insisted this place was pretty snazzy. Of course that won’t change anything. We’ll still be the sexiest couple there.”
She smirked, kissed his cheek again, then sat back in her seat. “How far?”
“Twenty minutes, give or take. It shouldn’t be too bad. It’s more than likely we’ll be back before the kids are,” he said.
Amy instantly leaned back over and squeezed her husband’s shoulder, excited. “Ooh, then you know what we should do? We should take a moon-lit stroll around the lake as soon as we get back.”
“In these clothes? They’d get filthy,” he said.
“Since when do you care about something like that?”
“Thought I’d try and earn some points.”
“Nice try. We can stop by the cabin first and change.”
Patrick put a hand over his mouth and gasped. “You mean…get naked?”
Amy shook her head. “My poor horny husband—so desperately guided by his rampant hormones.”
“I know all about hormones, you know,” he said.
“Stop.”
“I even know how they’re made.”
“Stop.”
“Do you know how to make a hormone, honey?”
She took her hand off his shoulder and sat back in her seat. “You’ve told me this one a million times.”
“You refuse to pay her.” Patrick grinned at his wife like a schoolboy, always pleased with himself after delivering one of the classics.
Amy turned away, but smirked out her passenger window. She loved every inch of him.
20
Carrie wanted chicken fingers. Caleb wanted a cheeseburger. Lorraine and Norman would eat anything put in front of them if it meant appeasing the Babysitting Gods and keeping the children happy. So the primary goal was as straightforward as straightforward gets: locate a restaurant that serves both chicken fingers and cheeseburgers.
“I think Charlie’s will have chicken fingers and burgers,” Norman said.
Lorraine nodded. “I’d bet on it.”
Norman clapped his hands together. “Alright then. Charlie’s it is.”
“Who’s Charlie?” Caleb asked.
Carrie turned to her brother. “He’s the one who makes our food, stupid.”
“Hey, hey—no name-calling when you’re with us,” Norman said. “Charlie is the owner. The restaurant is named after him.”
“So then who’s going to cook our food?” Carrie asked.
“I’m not sure,” Norman said.
“So it could be Charlie,” Carrie said.
“I doubt that, sweetheart. I’m sure Charlie hires people to cook for him.”
“But it could be.”
Norman chuckled and waved the white flag. “Yes, I suppose it’s possible.”
Lorraine sipped the remainder of her tea then placed the empty cup on the coffee table. “Are you two excited for the movie?”
Only Caleb nodded. Carrie decided it wiser to test the pocketbooks of their temporary guardians first. “Can we get popcorn?”
“Of course,” Norman said. “Can’t have a movie without popcorn.”
Carrie smiled, tested a bit more. “Can we get candy too?”
“No candy,” Lorraine said, settling back into the sofa. “It’s bad for your teeth.”
“That’s what Mom always says.”
“Well Mom is