“Late.” I knew she was with Jared, but I couldn’t exactly share that with Beth. She was the last bit of normal I had left, and I wasn’t going to share her with the crazy part of my life—even if that meant lying.

“Was Jared just pissed beyond belief?”

“Um…kind of. I guess. But not about that.”

“What about, then?”

“That he pulled us over for no reason, I suppose.” I lied again. For a moment I silently counted how many non-truths I had told her in the span of just a few minutes, and wondered how many more I would have to tell. Beth was my best friend, but it was for her own good. If there was a lesson to be learned in the chaos of my life, ignorance was bliss.

Beth and I chatted about upcoming papers to write, meetings at work, the upcoming Christmas party that Sasha had been obsessing over, and of course, Ryan.

“We’d better get going,” Beth said, glancing at her watch.

“The wind is terrible today,” I said, pulling on my coat, hat and scarf. The snow was falling in large chunks, and the street had already turned into a gray, slushy mess.

“I know, it sucks,” Beth said. “Fall is non-existent here.”

“Oh. Right. You don’t get much snow in Oklahoma, do you?”

Beth laughed once in disbelief. “Yes we get snow. Sometimes a foot or so. It’s just on top of an inch of ice.”

“But…it’s a southern state.”

“So?” Beth said, waiting for more crazy to come out of my mouth.

“Never mind.”

We walked to the Beemer together, trying to navigate the patches of snow that hadn’t been cleared.

“Hi,” a deep voice said, greeting us.

“Ryan!” Beth said, throwing her arms around our friend.

He was in plain clothes, leaning against my car nonchalantly. He didn’t seem nervous or out of place at all, until Beth smacked him, hard, on the back of the head.

“Hey!” Ryan said, defending his head with his hands from another blow.

“What is wrong with you? Taking off on all of us like that, going off to war, and not letting us know you’re okay, or that you’re back in town? We’ve all been worried sick! Chad is gonna be pissed!

“Okay, okay!” Ryan said, bracing for another assault. “I’m sorry.”

Beth relaxed. “If you haven’t called him by the time I get home tonight, I’m telling him. And you are so going to get it.”

“I’ll call him. I’ll call everyone, I’ve just been kinda…I don’t know what to say.”

“Say, ‘I’m home.’” Beth crossed her arms, unimpressed with his wounded expression.

“Take it easy, Beth,” I said. “He just needed to come back on his own terms.”