“Can you ever just be quiet?” Ezra said, a little too sharply. He pulled out the linings of his pockets. Frankie already knew what he’d find because he’d done as much not an hour ago at the coffee shop. “Anything you say can and will be used against you.”

“Oh, so now you’re the lawyer,” Frankie said.

“Now you, ma’am.” The older officer nodded at her.

Frankie started to protest—she was debating mentioning something about a warrant, which she thought sounded official and she suspected was far above campus security’s station—when she felt Ezra level her with his gaze.

“Just. Do. It,” he hissed, as a gust of wind kicked up and blew the snow sideways. They all steeled themselves until it passed.

“The more you protest, ma’am, the likelier we’re going to have to call in reinforcement,” the older one said. He adjusted his pants, which were both too tight and too loose. Frankie wondered if his wife nagged him to be less slovenly. Maybe his wife didn’t care about things like that. Maybe he didn’t have a wife. Maybe he sat home each night drinking Budweiser and flipping through basic cable. She wondered if he couldn’t inspire a song for Paxton Sunshine. She wished she had a pencil and paper to take notes, to write down a riff or a lyric, an instinct that hadn’t tugged at her for years. She felt herself inhale, a short little hiccup, at the notion: that she could write again, that she should play again.

“Forgive my wife,” Ezra replied, turning his swollen, stony face into a sincere one. “She had her heart set on revisiting the place where we first met.” His hand landed on her arm like a clamp. “Empty your pockets, darling. Then I’m sure they’ll see that this was just a harmless trip down memory lane.” He smiled at the officers. “Hopeless romantic, you know? You should see her on our anniversary. Balloons, wine, Barry Manilow on the stereo.”

Frankie tutted. Barry Manilow? She had a lot to say about that. Still, it wasn’t lost on her that Ezra remembered what she remembered: that Lemonhead had been where they’d met, where it all started.

“Darling?” he said, releasing his grip. “Come on. I’m sure they have other places to be. It’s New Year’s Eve, after all. Let’s not make them wait all day.”

Frankie sighed and fished out her pockets, which proved to be as mundane as she knew they’d be. She didn’t know why she had made such a fuss in the first place. They could have wrapped this up ten minutes ago if she’d just acquiesced.

“Step aside, then. We’ll take a look inside. Do not leave the premises. Understood?” The older guard looked from one to the other. “Even a trip down memory lane can constitute trespassing.”

Frankie started to protest, but Ezra bugged his eyes at her, so she nodded.

“Yes, fine. We’ll be here.”

As soon as they disappeared inside, Ezra turned to Frankie. Or she turned to him. It didn’t really matter. The pretense was gone.