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“Yes, but not like I was. See, Charlie was always really intense, focused. He didn’t exactly ‘play’ the way lots of boys do. I mean, he did, but you had to drag him out to do it. Erik was focused, too. My mom always called him the closest thing to a prodigy she’d ever seen, probably because he did everything well. School, sports, you name it, Erik was kind of a natural. He was a happy medium between Charlie and me. He might have actually helped me understand Charlie better, because he liked to explain what he found interesting while Charlie just got immersed in what he found interesting. It was the three of us a lot growing up, but there were times Charlie wanted to do his own thing, so Erik and I would stick together.”
“That’s great you two have stayed close friends all this time.”
“Do you have close friends from childhood?” Chris sips his wine.
“Yes, but not here.”
“Where?”
“One is in New York and one is in London.” I spear a piece of broccoli and pop it in my mouth.
“No one stayed here?” he asks between bites.
“They weren’t from here. I grew up in Iowa, and most of us didn’t want to stay there after having grown up there.”
“Was it a bad place to grow up?” His tone is gentle, curious.
I think back to my childhood and smile. “Not at all. It’s just that we all knew there was more to see and experience, but we had to leave Iowa to find it.”
“What made you pick Denver?”
I push my dinner around my plate with the fork, collecting my thoughts. “I followed a guy. He wanted to come here, and I wasn’t sure where else to go, so I followed.”
“What happened to the guy?” Christ takes a bite of chicken.
“He wanted to explore everything about Denver. When it came to the outdoors, I was fully on board. But the clubs and the whole nightlife scene wasn’t really my thing. We drifted, but by that point, I’d really started to like it here, so I stayed.”
“What do you like about being here?”
“Well, you can’t beat the weather. And I like that there are so many places to explore outdoors. I don’t think I’ve done the same hike twice, and Jen and I try to get out whenever we can during the summer.”
“She’s your closest friend?” Chris finishes his plate and leans back in his chair, focusing all his attention on me.
“Yes. She’s single with a teenage daughter so she doesn’t have a busy social life, not in the evenings anyway, so we mostly hang out during the day when she’s not having to play chauffer.”
“She seems young to have a teenager.”
“She got pregnant young, married young, and divorced young. I think that’s why she and I get along so well. She was forced to grow up quickly, and I’ve been accused of being more sensible than my age would suggest, so I was happy playing the role of aunt instead of social coordinator.”
“Is that how you got interested in kids’ books?”
I study him, wondering how he made a connection that, until now, I hadn’t even contemplated. Huh, maybe that did have something to do with it.
“That’s not the reason?” Chris asks.
“What makes you say that?”
“You cocked your head.”
“Did I? Hmm,” I wonder aloud. “I’ve always thought my interest in kids’ books came from my writing courses and memories of reading as a kid, but maybe being around Jen’s daughter did play a role. She was eleven when I met her, but I was there when she was learning some good moral lessons about how to treat others and how to believe in yourself, and some of my stories do have lessons like that in them.” I take a sip of wine, momentarily distracted by the notion that playing auntie might have put me on this path. When I catch Chris staring at me, I start. “Tell me about this fishing trip.” I change the subject.
Chris studies me a moment longer before answering. “It started about eight years ago, after we’d fished pretty much everywhere in Colorado. We wanted to try something different, and Erik came up with the idea to charter a boat and fish in the ocean for a change.”
“You guys must be pretty committed fishermen to have exhausted everywhere in Colorado.”
Chris chuckles. “We sound more intense than we are. Fishing is just something to do while we disconnect from everything. Sort of like camping. You’re off the grid, so to speak, so there’s no interruptions. No distractions. It’s getting harder and harder to find a remote spot here, unless you trek pretty far into the mountains, so that’s when we decided to try the ocean. We can really get away from everything there.”
“Do you need to get away from things a lot?” I ask.
