After a bit, things began to die down and we walked out of the restaurant to get some air. Neither of us wanted to get back into the car. Instead, we took a walk to the local river and just talked.

"That was really something, wasn't it?" Steve asked.

"I don't think I want to eat tomorrow."

He chuckled. "Well when you feel like eating again, you should come by to my food truck for lunch."

"You have a food truck? We should have gone there."

He pulled out his phone to show me a picture of his food truck. "It closes at four. You'd have to come for lunch."

My eyes took another glance at the picture. The name of the food truck read "Waffle Sandwich" with pictures all over the truck of waffles and pancakes as sandwiches replacing regular bread.

"Do you own this food truck?"

"No. I partnered with this guy Tony. So, I guess I'm half owner."

We were getting closer to the lake when we realized there would be a bit of some hiking down to do, but neither of us minded.

"Do you like that job?"

"Eh, it's fine. It hasn't been the same without Savannah. She always inspired me to keep going. I applied to be the chef at this new restaurant opening in January. It's in Scottsdale." He sighed, "Papa Llama is the name. They serve Asian and Middle Eastern Cuisine. I'm hoping to get the job. I've always had this dream where I would one day be this great chef at a fancy restaurant and create all these new food ideas."

"I remember the first time you made Spaghetti for Savannah. It tasted like crap."

"Yeah it wasn't very good, but that was the first time I realized I enjoyed cooking and wanted more out of it."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Savannah who sat at the table in hunger.

"Babe, you said you were hungry and didn't like any of the restaurants I suggested we go to, so I'm going to make Spaghetti. Remind your parents to go shopping.

I was in the living room doing homework and noticed Steve searching on the house computer instructions to cook spaghetti. For whatever reason, he thought putting spicy salsa instead of spaghetti sauce in the spaghetti was a good idea. Once it was done, he got three bowls and split the spaghetti.

"Dinner is served," he said in a French Accent. He called me to the table in his regular voice.

When I got to the table, Steve said grace and took the first bite. It was obvious he was trying not to gag.

"Wow, this is great spaghetti. Come on girls, try it." He took another bite.

Savannah was brave and took a bite. She hated it and laughed. I took the next bite and spit it back into my bowl.

"Babe I love you, but this is pure crap."

Steve laughed at that memory as we arrived at the river and sat on logs.

"What about you Margo? How's your job?"

"It's fine. Marketing is not all that it's cracked up to be. I guess it pays the bills though."

"Sure, it pays the bills, but it this something you could see yourself doing in twenty years?"

For a few seconds, I thought about it. "I guess I always wanted to start my own business. I always had this silly dream where I would start my own book publishing company where we would sell books written by children. It sounds a lot better than trying to market medicine with a million side effects."

"Why don't you do it? Quit your job and start that business. Kids have the craziest ideas."

"It's not as easy as it sounds. In the back of my mind, the first book I would have gotten published would have been "The Dog that Never Died."

Steve hiccuped and choked a bit. "You mean the book Savannah wrote when she was a little girl? I remember when that dog died. She cried for weeks until she wrote that. I always thought it was interesting that you were never sad."

"I didn't have much of a connection to that dog like she did. She always ran with that dog every day after school and screamed at the top of her lungs while it barked."

"You know, she started reading part of that story to Zoey every night before bed. Zoey loved every moment of that book. Shame they died before they got to finish it."

He shared a specific memory with me.

"Ok honey, you ready for more of my story?"

"Yes, mommy" Zoey was tucked in bed.

Savannah opened the printed-out Microsoft Word Pages and started where she left off with silly voices.

"Other dogs are stupid. Max got ran over by a car. Spot died while he peed on the grass. Clifford's Skin was way too red. Of course, Freddo is the best dog ever. Running is good. Every day after school, Sava runs with him. Run, Freddo, Run."

"Mommy" she interrupted. "How come our dog just sleeps all the days? He never runs. Is he going to die?"

"Yes sweetie, he's old and sometimes old dogs die."

"Can me, you, and daddy go running tomorrow at the parks? We can invite all the dogs."

"Of course, my angel. We can go running."

That's when Steve walked in and sat on the bed.

"I hope you eat all your vegetables tomorrow. Otherwise, your feet won't run."

"What? Don't be silly daddy."

"I was in terrible shape to be running all over the park and from that day I started hitting the gym and lost fifteen lbs. within a month."

We sat and talked about old memories for the next hour until Steve wanted to get his feet into the river. I did the same and splashed them around. Eventually, he jumped in with his clothes on. There was no way I was going to do that, but he managed to push me in and I was glad he did. We splashed each other and laughed our heads off. After a while, we got out of the river. With it being a hot summer night, we were able to dry off a little, but not a whole lot. It was a cold drive home. I dropped him off at his house, but not before he had a final word.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow for lunch? I have something special I want to make for you."

"I wouldn't miss it."

He got into his house and I drove off. It really was a great and much needed night leading me to feel great on the drive home.

Another great chapter! Remember to comment and vote!

Should Margo publish Savannah's Story?

What do you think about the potential job opportunity for Steve?