Dan was there, as was Theo Perkins, both dressed in dark suits but there the similarity ended. Dan looked like a blond surfer guy while Theo had the dark hair and eyes passed down from his Greek grandmother.
Liza and her husband Mike were there too, of course. Liza was talking to Daphne Eastman and Isla Norton. On her other side was Trent Garfield, tapping something out on his phone and barely giving the group any of his attention.
Trent had a love-hate thing going with Brad all those years ago. They were friends but deeply competitive with one another. They competed about anything and everything. Cars, grades, women, or something as stupid as who could eat the most cheeseburgers. They'd constantly tried to one up each other and most of the time it had been a friendly sort of thing. But a few days before Brad's disappearance they'd argued - loudly. Trent had stomped off and Mariah had no idea if they'd ever made up. Trent hadn't been at the bar the night Brad had disappeared.
"Where is–"
Mariah didn't finish her question. The answer had just walked into the room. The one person she hadn't seen yet.
Caroline - red-faced and crying. Her eyes were swollen from tears. She and Brad had dated on and off for years, although she'd married Dan about eight years ago. From what Mariah had heard, Dan and Caroline had two kids and were very happy together.
"Oh my God, Mariah! I'm so glad to see you!"
Caroline rushed forward and wrapped Mariah in a hug before stepping back, her gaze darting back and forth between Ryan and her friend.
"Are you two back together? That's wonderful," she gushed. "Finally, some good news. I always knew you two were meant for each other. You look amazing together. Like it was meant to be. True love."
Well...dammit.
Mariah didn't want to rain on Caroline's parade, especially on a day like today, but she didn't want everyone thinking that she and Ryan were back together. They weren't. The friends thing was hard enough.
"Um, we're just here as friends," Mariah replied, stumbling a little over the words. "It's not like...that."
"Just friends," Ryan piped up, his hand squeezing her elbow slightly as if he was nervous. "But good friends."
She'd been promoted to good friend today. That was fast.
"Oh." Caroline's face fell. "That's okay, I guess."
Dan had stood when his wife entered the room and came up beside Caroline, sliding his arm around her waist. "Honey, if you need to go home I can call you–"
"No," the other woman said with a firm shake of her head. "I want to be here with all of my friends. I'm not going home."
Pivoting on her high heel, Caroline strode to the table and sat down in an empty chair, signaling the waitress. Dan watched and then turned back to Ryan and Mariah, his expression concerned.
"I'm worried about her. She keeps saying that she's fine but she's been crying on and off since we got the news. I think she's afraid that I'll be angry if she reveals just how upset she is about all of this. Hell, we're all upset. Why shouldn't she be, too? She and Brad were together for a long time. I wouldn't expect anything less."
"That's a good attitude to have," Ryan said. "Just let her know that you're there for her. It'll be alright eventually."
Dan nodded, his solemn gaze resting on Mariah. "I heard about your divorce. I'm sorry we didn't get in touch. We've been terrible friends."
She shook her head. "No, it's fine. Really."
"Still–" Dan broke off and then shrugged. "No excuses. We should have done better."
The three of them stood there awkwardly for a moment before Dan nodded toward the group. It was weird to be with people that knew each other so well but now didn't have much to say to one another. A wall of tension had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, making it even stranger than Mariah had expected.
"Come and sit down. Order a drink. We're going to toast Brad."
To her surprise, Ryan took her hand and she relaxed almost immediately. It felt warm and reassuring, strong when she felt weak and unsure. That was one good thing about Ryan Beck. He rarely felt unsure about anything. He was always completely confident that he was right. She'd loved that about him. And hated it, too.
"Are you ready?" he asked softly as they made their way to the table. "Give me the signal if you need to get out of here."
He'd remembered. They had a "signal" that they'd use when she'd had enough of people and parties. He was far more extroverted than she was, although as she'd grown older she'd learned how to pretend.
"I'm fine. It's all fine."
It would be. These were her friends - or at least they had been. They'd catch up and pretend that they'd stay in touch more. Hug and exchange phone numbers and social media. In the end, probably not much would change. Everyone was busy living their life.
Everyone but Brad, and that's why they were there.
11
Ryan's friend group had changed quite a bit since they were in college, but in some ways, nothing had changed at all. Carl was still quiet, only speaking when he had something to say; Trent was boisterous and loud, even though this wasn't a party. He kept answering his phone and speaking loudly to someone that clearly worked for him. Ryan would have quit his job if his boss talked to him that way.
Dan was reminiscing about Brad, seemingly unaware of Caroline crying softly next to him. Every story only served to make his wife more upset. She was currently finding solace with Daphne, who was the softest touch of their group. Daphne had always been the "den mother" that reminded the more irresponsible ones that they needed to get some sleep or study.
Isla was a talker as well and she liked to hear the sound of her own voice, apparently, because she'd barely taken a breath since she'd started on her second cocktail. She was telling Mariah about her husband, kids, and the chain of day spas she owned.
Theo, as usual, was more focused on the pretty waitresses than on the conversation. His head had whipped around several times already to catch a glimpse of a retreating server's shapely rear end.
Liza and Mike were talking to Carl about their trip to Europe last year. Carl had visited Prague just a few weeks ago and was talking about the incredible food.
And Mariah? She was listening to Isla politely, nodding and responding in all the right places which surprised Ryan. Isla and Mariah had never gotten on back in the day. Isla had often made fun of Mariah, calling her old-fashioned and a prude because she'd stuck with Ryan while Isla wanted to sow her wild oats while she was young. She didn't think it was healthy for a young woman to commit herself to one man before she was thirty. It appeared she hadn't taken her own advice.
To be honest, Ryan hadn't liked to be around Isla either. She was often difficult to be with as she was quite opinionated and liked to argue. Then when she'd pissed you off thoroughly and frustrated the hell out of you, she would simply laugh and say she was just playing devil's advocate and that you shouldn't take things so seriously.
"Dude, you've barely said a word." Carl elbowed Ryan to get his attention. Isla had turned her attention to Liza and Mike. "Earth to Ryan."