“Well, I’d like to formally cast my vote and say that I’m with Sam. If Ryan is your inspiration, then you need to go with it. It’s about time you mixed a little business with pleasure.”

A nervous kind of nausea sweeps through my abdomen at Maggie’s suggestion. I snatch the folded napkin in front of me from off the table and drape it across my lap. “Okay, I’m done talking about me. What’s going on with you? How’s Grandma Noreen?”

Maggie smiles, as she does when I mention her grandmother. “She’s amazing. I just saw her yesterday.”

Grandma Noreen is Maggie’s mother in everything but name. The matriarch of the family through and through, Grandma Noreen raised Maggie and her younger sister, Hannah, since they were kids. Maggie goes up to visit her in her small town in Connecticut every week and talks to her on the phone twice a day without fail. Noreen just turned ninety-three but looks decades younger. Maggie swears it’s because she uses a ton of moisturizers and sleeps under a heated electric blanket year-round.

“Hannah seems to be settling in, so that’s good, and it’s a relief to know that Grandma is getting consistent social interaction. It helps keep her sharp.”

I was selfishly so relieved when Maggie’s sister moved in with Grandma Noreen last month. After a bad fall last year, I could tell that her living alone was weighing on Maggie, so much so that I half expected her to move up there herself. Needless to say, Hannah received one of my famous gift baskets upon move-in day.

“I’m starving,” Maggie then says. “I strategically wore these pants so I could binge-eat to my full potential.”

I look under the table to take note of her clothes. “You’re wearing jeans. No one can eat to their full potential in jeans.”

“These are not jeans, they’re jeggings. Fancy jeggings, but jeggings nonetheless. And I am completely ready to put these bad boys to good use.”

“I applaud your commitment.”

Maggie smiles and begins to scan the space for our waitress or waiter when she suddenly sits up at full attention. I follow her eyes and turn my head to see two guys now standing beside our table.

“Hi, Kyle!” Maggie says, her singsong voice as soft as a bell.

“Maggie. It’s good to see you again.” Kyle is tall, dark and very handsome.

I give my friend a speculative glance as she touches her hair, finding it still kept up perfectly. “You, too. We’re just having a quick bite. Kara, this is Kyle.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say, shaking his offered hand.

Kyle then pats his friend on the shoulder. “And this is Adam.”