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I laughed, my heart beating a little fast for some reason.

Mike wouldn’t have been caught dead in a fanny pack. His whole outfit for this hike would be carefully picked out. All brand names, a tank top to show off his arms.

Chris was a lot less image conscious. He was the kind of guy who’d wear a goofy Halloween costume to work. It wasn’t a shortcoming of Mike’s that he wasn’t like that. More like it was noteworthy that Chris was.

I liked the fanny pack.

My phone rang and I wrestled it out of my bag. It was Mike. I swiped to answer. “Hey, where are you?”

“Babe, I am so sorry I’m not gonna make it. I’ve got another headache.”

My face fell. “Oh no. Do you want me to bring you something?”

“No, no. You guys walk. Go without me.”

I shook my head. “I don’t feel right going if you’re sick—”

“You guys are already down there.”

“Mike…”

“Babe, go. I’ll be fine. Seriously.” He didn’t sound fine. He sounded out of it. He was talking slow.

“It’s another migraine?” I asked.

“Yeah. I get ’em sometimes. You guys walk, okay? Don’t leave my boy hanging.”

I let out a sigh. “Well, we don’t know where we’re going.”

“It’s easy,” he said. “Take the paved path off the playground, go right. It’s a loop. Took me an hour and a half. It’s nice,” he said, his voice a little raspy. “You’ll have a good time.”

Chris was watching me.

“Okay,” I said. “You really don’t want me to come?”

“Definitely not.”

“All right. I’ll text you when we’re done. I’ll come over after.”

“No, don’t. I need to take it easy. I’ll probably just sleep today and see you tomorrow.”

“Saturday? Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay…” I said a little hesitantly.

“Call me later.”

We hung up.

“He’s got another migraine,” I said, looking at Chris. “It’s just us. Do you still want to go? Or we can just go home.”

He seemed to think about it a second. “Let’s go if you’re up for it. It’s a nice day. We’re already here, and Woofarine wants to walk,” he said, talking to the dog, who tilted his head at the W-word.

I didn’t really feel right going. Part of me wanted to check on Mike even though he told me not to. Honestly, if Jesse had come so Chris wouldn’t have to walk alone, I probably would have left. But I did want to see the park. I spent so much time working, I barely got time to be in nature, and this was my only day off where I wasn’t planning on side hustling. I’d actually passed on babysitting for this and if I left now, I’d have lost the income for nothing. Plus, I’d driven all the way over here.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s walk.”