Forty-eight hours had passed since Adeline asked to meet with me. To say I wasn’t exhilarated was a gross understatement. With every minute passing, the blocks of anticipation kept building sturdier than the last.

Crisp Chicago air fogged up my glasses as I sat on metallic bleachers, its cold adding on to my sudden attentiveness. It was February—therefore, close to Valentine’s Day—and that ...