SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota — Science will warn you against believing that things happen for a reason. But things that happen make it hard to not believe there’s a reason.

I wasn’t looking for a story first thing when I got into Sioux Falls. I simply hadn’t eaten in 271 miles of state highways, county roads, and U.S. routes when I found Parker’s Bistro on Phillips Street. But when I sat down, the story found me.