Page 19 of Missing

Doug got in and looked to make sure I was buckled in as he clicked his seat belt in place. It was a sweet gesture; one I didn’t think any of my previous dates would have done.Not that I’d let them pick me up. John had made me promise not to give my address to any of my dates when I joined the dating site, so I’d driven myself.

John was the big brother I’d never had, but always wanted. He was more than a tad over-protective, a trait he’d passed on to his two oldest sons, but I appreciated it.

I hadn’t even considered telling Doug I’d meet him at the restaurant when he asked what time to pick me up. Not even John could fault me for that since he trusted Doug enough to hire him.I’m surprised John didn’t do background checks on my other dates. I chuckled at the absurdity of it.

“What’s so funny?” Doug asked as he started the car.

“Just thinking about how protective John can be.”

He looked at me and laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure he ran a background check on me before he agreed to let me take you out.”

Didhe read my mind?I couldn’t help laughing at the idea of John running a background check on him.

“I was literally just thinking I’m surprised John didn’t do that to my previous dates.”

“What makes you think he didn’t?” he asked.

His grin made my insides melt. “I was smart enough to not give him their names,” I paused before adding, “or tell Mary anything except their first names.”

“Can’t say I blame you.” He laughed.

Once the pleasantries were out of the way, Doug asked if Chase’s cup situation had been resolved.

“It has.” I chuckled. “I could have helped him but understand why he wanted John’s help.”

“Is this his first year playing?”

“It is. I’m lucky my schedule allows me to go to his practices and games. I’m not sure what I’d do otherwise.” I hated the idea of someone else taking him, especially since Phil would never get to see his son play sports. Or graduate from school, or go on his first date, or give him fatherly advice when he needed it.

At least I can be there.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, I changed the subject. “Did you play sports as a kid?”

“I did, like Chase I started with tee ball. My dad wanted me to play hockey, he’s a huge Blackhawks fan, but I hated it. I played little league for a while but gave it up after I discovered computers and gaming.” He chuckled. “I was a total geek by the time I started high school.”

He was a geek.Looking at him now, I never would have guessed he wasn’t a jock. “Do you like sports?”

“I like watching them, especially baseball and football. How about you? Did you play sports?”

I hadn’t. And as an adult I’d only watched them with Phil—so I could spend time with him. Now I’d have to become a fan of whatever sports Chase decided to play.

#

When we got to The Breakfast Joint, Doug parked and told me to wait a second before hopping out and running around to open my door for me. It had been a long time since someone had acted like such a gentleman on a date. I’d denied my dates the opportunity to open my car door, but they’d missed other opportunities to act gentlemanly.

The restaurant was cute, with flags and pictures of foods from all around the world hung on the walls and a bright colorful atmosphere. When the hostess showed us to our table, I made sure to let Doug have the seat with a line of sight to the front door. I figured he’d prefer to sit there. Phil said it was a cop thing. John told Mary the same thing, explaining he was never really off-duty.

“This place is really colorful,” said Doug as he looked around.

“I like it.”

This week’s specials were from Turkey and included: Menemen (a dish with eggs, tomatoes, green peppers, and spices such as ground black and red pepper cooked in olive oil), and Shakshouka (described as eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion, and garlic, spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper).

The Menemen sounded intriguing, so I ordered it without so much as a glance at the rest of the menu. Doug ordered the other special. We both ordered Turkish coffee.

“Do you come here a lot?” Doug asked after we placed our order.

“No, but now that Chase is a bit older, I’ll probably come more often.” It’d be a fun way to introduce him to different foods and hopefully expand his palate beyond hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. Though I didn’t have high hopes he’d order more than pancakes for the first few years.Maybe I can convince him to try my dishes.

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