He looked around. "Well then, where is mine?" He studied the parfait. "This is too big for a little thing like you. I think it must be mine."
Natalie giggled and pulled the parfait in front of her possessively. "It's mine."
"You can have mine," Destiny said, sliding her parfait glass around Carmen to Alex. She barely had anything but scrapings left, but she was willing to share that with him."
Alex leaned forward, dodging Natalie's head to look around Carmen at Destiny. "You ate it all."
Destiny grinned. "Karinda will get you another one."
Carmen looked at Señor Medena. "Where are Jonathan and Matthew?"
"Right here," Jonathan said as he stepped through the door, Matthew riding on his shoulders.
Señor Medena waved a hand. "All of you children follow me to the kitchen. It gets crowded in here." He looked at Karinda. "Parfaits for all of them, please."
Karinda looked at Carmen. "Would you like one too?"
"Yes, that sounds delicious."
Carmen sat in silence beside Alex while she finished her breakfast. Karinda brought two parfaits and looked at each of them. She probably wondered if they were fighting. She couldn't blame her. She wasn't all that sure at the moment either.
Karinda picked up her plate and left them alone.
Carmen poked at her parfait with the spoon, wondering when Alex was going to tell her what was on his mind. She finally lifted her gaze to his.
He wasn't angry and that was about all she could discern from his expression.
He looked down at his parfait. "I talked to the insurance company and they are going to pay for the camper and van. The rental company even offered to rent us another vehicle. I told them we needed a van for a week or so."
Carmen frowned. "But you said you had to get back to work."
He shrugged, his attention still on the parfait. "You told the children that you were going to take them on a real vacation after all this." His gaze lifted to hers. "Did you plan to do that alone?"
So that was what he was upset about. She shook her head. "I don't know what I planned. I felt bad about what they had endured. They deserved better."
Alex slowly nodded, his gaze fixed on hers. His voice was gentle when he spoke. "You deserved better, Carmen. You were right. I was too wrapped up in work to notice my family was missing me. I had to nearly lose them before I noticed, and even then I tried to blame those men."
He reached out and brushed a curl back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you, Carmen. You deserve more than one night a month." He glanced around the room. "You deserve something like this. Katie was right. I…."