AS MUCH AS John didn’t understand the desire to ever leave New York City, he had to admit, all that cement sure seemed to trap the heat. As soon as they left the city limits, the sizzling temperatures just sort of sedated themselves, tumbling down into the manageable eighties range. That was nice.

John and Mary rode the Metro-North with Tyler, Fin, Kylie, Via, Sebastian, Matty and his dog, Crabby. Sebastian’s truck was apparently in the shop, otherwise some of them would have driven with him, but John, a native New Yorker to his bones, was infinitely more comfortable on a train than he was in someone else’s pickup truck.

They hadn’t all been able to get seats together, but they were scattered in twos and threes up and down the train car, and John had to admit, that just like other times he’d spent with this group, he felt like he was part of a scrum of chattering middle schoolers on a field trip. They were laughing at one another’s jokes, giddy at fleeing the hot city, at traveling in a flock. It was fun.

Matty was pretty much the mayor of the train car. He walked up and down the aisle, checking on all the members of his group, even talking with some people he’d never met before. He obviously considered himself to be Crabby’s ambassador, explaining to anyone within earshot that Crabby was a good dog who’d never bite anyone and they’d had to pay extra for him to get a ticket on the train car. Also, that no matter how good a dog he was, his dad had insisted that Crabby had to stay parked between his feet the entire time, otherwise Matty would have brought him around to meet people.

John was just as charmed as the rest of the train car, and he finally fully understood why this trip had been so important to Mary. As much as each couple was separate from one another, they were also all meshed and bonded in a hundred different ways. Seb and Tyler had grown up best friends. Same with Via and Fin. Kylie was closest to her brother, but now that he and Fin were together, they seemed to be a real family unit. Kylie and Matty both loved Mary to distraction, obviously as comfortable with her as they were with their guardians. The most obvious part was how much each and every person in this group loved Mary. They were protective and indulgent, lighting up when she was near. She did that to people. Lit them up.

Of course they would want Mary near at a time like this. Who wouldn’t?