friend who cannot meet until next month?

I have two friends (that don't know each other) that live in the area (one is 20 miles away and the other 30 miles away). they both do not havw kids. one I haven't seen in years and the other in almost half a year bc of the pandemic. I wanted to reconnect but they say, "I can't meet until early/mid next month." is this the new thing to say when you really don't want to meet with someone? or are they really that busy? I've gotten this response twice from each of them because the first time I tried to ask and the date actually came, I forgot