“I haven’t seen the man in ten years,” I said. “I never expected to see him again. So why do I feel so sad?”

“Because you’re a good person.”

“Am I?”

“Indeed you are.”

I couldn’t fight it; my heart swelled. This was part of Arch’s great gift: he could not only make anyone believe in him, but he could also make anyone believe in themselves.

“What about you?” Arch said. “Are you married? Kids?”

“No,” I said.

“Girlfriend?”

“Not at the moment.”

“So you’re alone?”

“Not exactly,” I said. “I have a roommate.”

“I thought you lived with your manager.”

“I did, for a few years, until the work picked up and I could afford my own place,” I said. “Say, what’s with the interrogation?”

“Just curious, that’s all,” Arch said.

An awkward silence fell over us. I can’t speak for Arch, but the feelings stirred in me by the sight of him after what seemed then to me a very long time made the small talk feel hollow. Yet I couldn’t find my way beyond it to what I really felt or wanted to say.

“Would you like to see where I work?” I said. “It’s not far from here. About five minutes in a cab.”

“I’m ready when you are.”

My work space was a barren room in a repurposed textile mill. There were a few easels, a cheap clock radio on a shelf in the corner, a desk with a phone, a lone lightbulb hanging from a wire in an iron safety cage, and a single picture window in an unpainted cinder-block wall, delivering a dusty shaft of light to the paint-strewn floor.

“So you’re making a living at this?” he asked.

“I do all right.”

A voice called to me from outside. Teddy stepped through the door gingerly, but prattling in rapid Spanish. She was wearing a pair of old jeans and a paint-spattered hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves pushed up, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know anyone else was here.”

“Teddy, you remember Arch,” I said.

She frowned for a moment before smiling.

“Hello there, Arch Creigh,” she said.

“Miss Whitten,” Arch said. “You look well.”

“And you also,” she said. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

It was an odd moment.

“Where are you staying?” Teddy asked.

“The Sierra Nevada,” Arch said.

“That’s a great hotel,” she said. “And how long are you planning to stay?”

“Did you need something?” I interrupted.

“Mariela called this morning,” Teddy said. “Lupita fell last night. They think she broke her hip.”

“That’s terrible news,” I said.

“Mariela called me because Lupita was supposed to clean the Aldama house today. So we’re going over there to do it for her.”

She glanced at her watch.

“I should go,” she said. “I have the car. I might be a little late.”