Joshua Blackburn is middle-aged, balding software project manager with a problem. Twenty-nine years ago, the love of his life broke his teenage heart, and now he wants to find her. That's only part of his problem. The other part is that he's married. His twenty-five year marriage to Susan has grown stale and lackluster, much like the rest of Josh's life. His escape from his midlife crisis are the memories of Emmie, his ninth-grade sweetheart-his first love and his first kiss. While a red convertible might be a more reasonable outlet for his boredom, feelings for Emmie keep surfacing until he delves into the distraction head and heart first.
The memories of Josh's old flame are fanned by the unresolved mystery of why she broke up with him in the first place. After thirty years, he still hasn't figured it out. The puzzle consumes him until finding Emmie becomes an obsession.
Three decades of no contact makes for a very cold trail to follow. While Josh searches for Emmie down myriad online blind alleys, his memories of their relationship come alive. Ninth grade was a pivotal year for Josh not only in romance but in other kinds of love. Seemingly permanent friendships faltered, and new people came into Josh's circle, taking him in a whole new direction. It was at this crucial moment that God entered young Josh's life.
What shy, introverted Josh lacks in emotional quotient, he makes up for in dogged persistence. His computer sleuthing skills finally pay off with a lead that he is sure will take him to Emmie. Unable to get her attention with cards, emails, texts, and voice messages, he is ready to give up when an unexpected opportunity falls in his lap to travel to Washington, D.C., just a few miles from the town where he suspects Emmie lives. If his hunch is right, he is about to reunite with his first love face to face. Will he be able to say the words she didn't give him the chance to say twenty-nine years ago?
