It was mid-afternoon by the time they left the zoo. “We could hit up the botanical gardens,” Mark said once they were on the street.
“I’ve been outside long enough. My toes are half frozen,” Austin replied. “I opt for hot coffee and a sandwich.”
“Your place or mine?”
“I was thinking a coffee shop, but I’m fine with my place. I’ve got plenty of sandwich makings.”
“Sure.” Mark made the turn toward where they lived, then had a thought. “Is this keeping you from your editing?”
“Nope. The nice thing about being freelance is I can do it when the spirit moves, as long as I don’t miss deadlines. Right now, I don’t have one coming up for a couple of days.”
“Okay.”
As he drove onto their street, Mark found he was checking for any sign, like a rental car, which said Todd was around. There were
