“No, he’s not,” Lucy agreed.
Tanya, sensing that we were getting into delicate territory, interjected and broke the tension. “Are you seeing him again?”
I looked at her and nodded. “Yes. He’s coming over later today.”
Once again, all the ladies at the table were grinning and I found myself returning their smiles.
The conversation about my love life ended abruptly when Adam returned to take our orders.
The rest of the brunch was filled with chatter about the wedding Yancy was currently planning, Tanya’s impending motherhood, and Lucy’s honeymoon. As we talked, I noticed that Grier seemed preoccupied and looked almost…sad. It worried me more than a little.
While Grier wasn’t insanely cheerful, she was usually the most positive, thoughtful person in our group. And she rarely ever looked upset or depressed.
I knew I wasn’t the only who noticed when Tanya’s eyes met mine and then shifted to Grier. I nodded, telling her silently that I saw it too.
When Grier got up to go to the ladies room, Tanya leaned over to me. “Will you talk to her this week? See if you can figure out what’s bothering her? I’ve already tried and she’s being close-lipped.”
I nodded. “Yeah. We’re planning to go for a walk after work tomorrow. I’ll talk to her then.”
Normally, I wouldn’t stage a chat with one of my friends just to talk about it with the others. I didn’t like to gossip. Well, at least not about my friends, but I was worried about Grier. She didn’t seem like herself and she was preoccupied a lot lately. If she appeared happier, I would have thought there was a man in the picture, but she wasn’t. She seemed almost…lonely.
Tanya’s gaze was worried when Grier returned to the table, then she blinked and her expression cleared.
An hour later, we all exited the restaurant holding our stomachs and groaning about how full we were. Even Tanya.
“I can’t believe how much I ate,” she moaned, rubbing her little pregnancy belly. “What’s sad is that I’ll be hungry again in a couple of hours.”
I laughed. “At least Jordan is a good cook. He’ll feed you well.”
“Yeah, until I’m as big as a whale,” Tanya muttered beneath her breath. “It’s almost like he wants me to get as fat as possible.”
“He wants you to be healthy,” Grier replied.
“As healthy as a horse and twice as big,” Tanya joked.
“You look beautiful,” I stated. “And you’ve barely gained any weight.”
“Thank you for lying,” she said with a good-natured smirk.
Everyone hugged and said their goodbyes, with promises to call each other soon. When I climbed into the Uber I’d ordered, I texted Landen.
On my way home.
He replied within a few minutes.
I’ll meet you there.
And I smiled the entire drive back to my apartment.
