“How are things in Calgary, anyway? It’s a beautiful day here. Sun’s shining. About four degrees. Hockey tonight. Hockey tomorrow. Hockey next week.
“Things are great. Couldn’t be better.”
The last name. That persuasive, invasive, effervescent optimism pumping fresh oxygen into deflating lungs. Even the area code on the phone — 608, for Madison, Wisc. It’s all very much an H. G. Wells/Time Machine moment.