It was true that Rachel had found out about one of the girlfriends, and that seemed to be a bone of contention. A few summers ago both families rented a house for a week on Put-in-Bay. They arrived on Saturday; then, on Monday afternoon, after Danny and Rachael returned from the supermarket, Danny announced that he had a problem at work and had to head back to Akron that night. Rachel didn’t seem pleased, and on Wednesday she decided to return. There seemed to be a problem, but neither of them talked about it.

Thinking back, Mitch could see the invisible moat drawn around his friend that was intended to keep people at bay. Rachel and Carolyn seemed to be able to explore their most personal matters, and their bond was immovable. Yet Carolyn hadn’t a hint from Rachel that there were any serious problems, or at least nothing she had shared with Mitch.

Now he felt guilty because he had to admit he had allowed his relationship with Danny to drift apart after they moved to Akron. The last time they’d spent any real time together was when Danny came over and helped Mitch build a deck. That was the sort of guy Danny was. He would never turn you down even for something as unappealing as deck building. In that respect he was a true friend. If you were in a foxhole, Danny was the guy you would want next to you.

But thinking back on that hot summer day, after they had finished the deck, and were sitting on it having a few beers, he remembered a comment Danny made in passing.

“You know, Mitch, sometimes I wish I had it all to do over again.”

“What do you mean? Your life has gone pretty well.” Mitch presumed Danny was making an oblique reference to his time in jail, but knew enough never to specifically refer to that topic.

“It’s just about freedom, man. You know, being able to do what you want when you want to, not being tied down all the time.”

“Whoa, dude, do I hear a midlife crisis coming on?”

“I don’t know, maybe. I guess I should just go buy a convertible, but some days …”

“Some days what?”

“Some days I just feel like pointing my car west and driving off to a place where no one can find me.”

“Yeah, but you’d turn around at some point and go back to Rachel and the kids. You love them too much.”

“Ya, think so, don’t ya? Maybe yes, maybe no, but there’s no doubt I’d land somewhere where at least the team in town had one decent starting pitcher!”

And that was how most serious conversations went with Danny. If you peeked under the hood a bit, it usually got slammed shut as soon as you veered too close to the truth.