Page 27 of The New Year's Party

It was his choice. He’d made it. He was secure in it. But... could he really walk into the party and not say anything? Olivia had pried the lid off their nasty secret, and now it was out there, stinking things up. Undoubtedly, in the house right now, she was telling Phelps that Bennett knew. She’d forced Bennett’s hand, and now Bennett would have to talk to Phelps, man to man. Still, the party didn’t have to be ruined. He’d catch Phelps alone, Phelps would apologize, then Bennett would tell him all had been forgiven years ago. Done and done. Bennett had put this whole sorry business to bed once before, and he could put it to bed again.

“Bennett!” A car door slammed. Will had just exited his car and was crossing toward him, a backpack looped over his shoulder, a big smile on his face.

They hugged.

“All good with Jenn?” said Bennett. He couldn’t help but notice that Jenn was still sitting in the car.

“Oh... yeah, she’s just taking a minute.” Will lowered his voice. “We had a fight literally as we pulled up. Obviously, she doesn’t want to be here.”

“Olivia wasn’t thrilled about coming either,” admitted Bennett. “It’s hard to get away, you know? With the kids being so little. And she doesn’t like to use up favors with her parents.”

“Yeah,” said Will, but he looked disoriented, like he wasn’t tracking with Bennett, even though he had three kids of his own.

“Who’s watching your kids?” said Bennett. They were standing in the gravel that abutted Phelps’s front yard—no sidewalks out here in the county. The sleet wasn’t strong, but the crosswind really made it sting. Did Will want to wait here until Jenn exited the car?

“Jenn’s mom,” said Will.

“That’s great!” said Bennett. “The best kind of babysitting is free babysitting, am I right?”

“Yeah,” said Will, but his expression was unhappy.

Huh. Was everything okay with Will? Maybe his friends weren’t all as up-front and honest as Bennett had credited them a minute ago. Then again, the night was young.

“You’re going to have to give me the full recap,” said Bennett, slapping Will on the back. “It’s been ages since we’ve talked.” Had it been a year? Or—God—over a year?Life with small children, he thought. Seeing Will was making Bennett realize that, though he’d kept up with Phelps, the rest of them had drifted a little. He missed the rock-solid feeling of knowing the ins and outs of everyone’s life.

“It has been a while,” said Will, finally moving toward the house.

“I was just remembering when you and I drove up here, when the restaurant thing went down,” said Bennett as they headed for the front door, wanting to relish the unity of that moment. It had sucked for Phelps to lose Rock the Clock, of course. But he and Will had been a true team.

“When was that? 2013?”

“2014,” said Bennett. “Right before the last party, remember?”

“Crazy times,” said Will.

The building had been torn down. There was a Louisiana Kitchen there now. Bennett had even guiltily stopped there once, for their Cajun fries.

They’d all eaten at Rock the Clock. Phelps had even worked there as a server for a summer or two. It was their preferred high school spot, and those old vinyl booths had witnessed many an angsty philosophical debate about things like the existence of God or the ideal boob size—the last, more of a debate between Phelps and Doug, as Bennett begged them to be more enlightened. He hated that it was gone.

“Well, at least that happened before we invested, right?” said Bennett, wanting to find some silver lining. “Can you imagine, if we put all that money in, andthenit had gone poof?”

Will didn’t respond right away.

“What?” said Bennett. They were on the front stoop, but Will didn’t put his hand to the doorknob.

“Actually... I gave Phelps the earnest money.”

“What?” said Bennett. “I thought the bank loan... Wait, what?”

“I guess Eddie wanted some cash in hand, and it was the quickest way.”

“So when it burned down, Phelps gave your money back,” prompted Bennett. He said it confidently. But he had a bad feeling about this.

“Well... no.”

Bennett gaped. He couldn’t believe it. Or... could he? An old memory pulled itself up from the depths. Once upon a time, Bennett had lent Phelps two hundred bucks to help get Bunny’s engagement ring. Phelps had sworn up and downhe’d pay Bennett back within the month. Bennett had never seen a penny of it. But that was water under the bridge.

“How much was it, Will?” he said, casually. They’d go inside in a second. After they finished this conversation.