“You could call them and tell them you’ve changed your mind.”

“No, that would be worse. Part of me just wants to get it over with, meeting him and all.”

“What does the other part of you want?”

“The other part’s curious. I wonder if he’s as good-looking as I am.”

Azure laughed. “And humble?”

Brian smiled and poked at the fire. “Yeah.”

“Why did Courtney call you earlier?”

“She wanted to tell me about meeting him. She sounded kind of sad, to be honest. She wanted to come over here and join us, but I didn’t think that was a good idea.”

“This is a big shock for all of us,” Azure said. “But in the end, I think it’ll be good. Maybe meeting David will help you. You’re not hiding that part of your past anymore.”

Brian nodded. He heard a car pull up at the front of the house. Then a couple of doors slammed. He had texted Jimmy to just come around the back when they arrived.

Brian stood and walked a few steps away from the fire, and around the corner came a redheaded kid holding up a phone. And then Brian saw him. Almost as tall as he was. Brown hair like an ocean wave. And his walk—the amble was just like his own. It was like looking in a mirror.

Brian reached out a hand and David shook it and came closer, hugging him with his other arm.

“What’s up, Brian? Nice to meet you,” David said.

“Nice to meet you,” Brian said. He looked David in the face, then got sidetracked by the redheaded kid with the phone. Who was he and what was doing here?

“Don’t let the camera guy weird you out,” David said. “This is Nate, my best friend. He wanted to help us remember all of this.”

Nate held out a fist and Brian bumped it.

“Nice to meet you,” Nate said.

“Yeah, well, I’ll do my best to ignore you,” Brian said. “And the camera.” He gave a quick smile and Nate laughed. “Well, come on and sit.”

Azure shook hands with Jimmy and Susan. She was a lot better with this kind of thing than he was. When they were finally seated, David took the lead and Brian was glad of it.

“I just wanted to say thank you for letting us stop by. Very kind of you.”

Brian studied David’s face, his warm smile, the way he was able to communicate so easily. “Yeah, you’re welcome.”

There was an uneasy silence then, and Brian wasn’t sure if he should say something or stay quiet. Azure sat next to him and he could tell from the way she looked at the ground that she was going to let him do this on his own and not take over. With his mouth dry, he took a breath and started.