“Yeah. It is. I even joined a gym.” He held up his right arm and flexed, even though there was no way to see anything beneath the shirt. “Bright-eyed. Bushy-tailed. That’s me.”

“A gym? You couldn’t run twenty feet in college.”

“Ten if I was lucky. And that was only if someone was giving away beer or pizza.”

I laughed. “True enough. Well, I’m happy for you.”

Cars passed on the street, their headlights making us squint. The air smelled like rain, and some thick clouds obscured the early-emerging stars. I wore a denim jacket but felt a shiver as the wind kicked up.

Blake pointed across the street to the coffee shop. “I was hoping we could talk. Just a few minutes. I know they don’t sell anything stronger than caffeine over there.”

I checked the time on my Apple watch. Amanda expected me. And I really wanted to get home before Henry went to sleep. Being home for his bedtime mattered to me. A great deal. Taking part in the bedtime ritual helped ease my sense of missing out during the long hours I was away at work.

“I can’t,” I said. “Really, I just can’t. Amanda’s been with Henry all day, and I already got delayed here. One of our servers is going through a breakup, and he wanted my advice. That took longer than I expected. You know how seriously college kids take breakups. How about lunch tomorrow? That would work a lot better.”

“I know, I know. You’ve got a family now. And you’re dedicated. And juggling a lot. I get it. And I know these kids who work here look at you like you’re their sensitive big brother. I’m sure they bring you their problems all the time.”

“It happens. They’re away from home. They have crises. . . .”

But he started shaking his head. “But I kind of need this. It’s an emergency.”

“An emergency? What are you talking about?”

But he simply pointed across the street. And smiled, a look I recognized and remembered well. The look said, Come on. You’re going to want to hear this.

It was certainly tough to say no to an old friend. And it was tough to say no to Blake. Sometimes it felt like he could convince anyone of anything. And while I’d learned over the years to recognize when he was stretching the truth or attempting to lead me down some path I shouldn’t take, a part of me always felt a little thrill at the thought of taking the ride.

Blake knew me so well. And he knew so much about me.

What emergency was he contending with tonight? Six months since we’d last talked and he looked like a man transformed?

“Ten minutes,” I said, pointing at the watch. “Talk fast when we get there.”