It was a Friday afternoon when James decided to take the kids to a small diner downtown. They had been cooped up all week due to a particularly wet spring, and he thought a casual lunch might lift their spirits. The diner was modest—a red-checkered cloth on each table, a bell above the door that jingled whenever a customer entered, and the faint aroma of freshly brewed coffee mingled with sizzling bacon.
Sophie, perched on her stool, leaned forward eagerly. “Dad, can I get pancakes?”
