David couldn't deny he was nervous as he prepared to dial the phone. No, actually that wasn't true. He was scared to death. He had to be a bit sneaky in order to make this plan a reality. Obviously, he couldn't ask Mary for the names and addresses of her old friends, so he had to get them without her knowledge. That part was surprisingly simple. He knew his wife well enough that he was able to guess the password to her computer within a few tries. From there, he quickly found her online address book. That left only one hurdle: actually making the calls.

He'd decided to start with the hardest one first. Lou Grant. Besides Rhoda, there was no one from WJM that Mary spoke of more frequently. David had met the man once, at their wedding. From what Mary had told him, he knew that Lou had been much more than a boss to her. They were never romantic, at least not seriously. Mary had been explicit on that point. David remembered vividly the way Lou had stared at him, as if sizing him up. He definitely got the sense that Mary's former boss didn't approve. But Mary had pulled Lou aside, and after that, he was polite, if not overly friendly.

As the phone rang, David felt his heart pound.

"Hello?" The gruff voice on the other end of the phone exactly matched the man David remembered.

"Um, Mr. Grant?" David couldn't help smiling, knowing how Mary had always addressed him formally. "I'm Dr. David Ford. You know, Mary's husband?"

Lou sighed. "Yeah, I remember. Did something happen to her?" His first instinct was to panic. What other possible reason could there be for Mary's husband to contact him?

"No. She's fine, I assure you. But, you know, her birthday's coming up, and I wondered if you could make it out here for her birthday party."

"A party?" Lou asked, hesitantly. "I don't think I can. Tell Mary I'm sorry, but I just don't think I can go to another one of her parties. Her parties are the reason I drink!" That was somewhat of an exaggeration, but there was more than a little truth to it.

At first, David didn't understand. Mary didn't often entertain, but the rare times she invited colleagues over for dinner, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. But then he remembered the stories. The time Rhoda's date threw off the seating plan for Mary's dinner party, resulting in a shortage of food. Or the time that Georgette chose to go into labor at another party. He laughed when he realized what Lou meant. "No, it's not like that. This is a surprise party. Mary has no idea."

The rush of relief Lou felt was immediate. "Oh, thank God. I've missed her, you know." It wasn't easy for him to admit it, but he couldn't deny it, either. For so many years, he'd watched, time and again, as Mary searched for a man to share her life with. More often than not, he found himself consoling her when things inevitably didn't work out. At one point, Lou had wondered if he could be that man, but ultimately, he realized that he didn't love Mary "that way." He had come to believe that there simply was no man special enough to deserve her. Even though David had seemed polite, Lou didn't trust him. But Mary had understood. She told him that she loved David more than she'd loved any of the men she'd dated back then. She said that she would not have planned this wedding, and invited everyone here that she loved, if she weren't sure of what she was doing. In that moment, Lou knew he had to let her go. They visited only briefly after that. But Lou kept an eye on her career, and he never stopped loving her, or being proud of all that she'd accomplished.

"She misses you, too," David said, when the silence became unbearable.

Lou swallowed hard. So many times over the years, he'd almost picked up the phone to call her, but he figured she didn't need his advice anymore. Not the way she used to. The thought hurt, but he understood. "I'll be there. By the way, have you invited anyone else yet?" Suddenly, Lou was filled with a desire not only to see Mary, but the rest of his friends.

"No," David replied. "I wanted to get you out of the way first. But, um, if you'd like to help me get in touch with everyone, that would be great."

Lou nodded. "I'll call Murray. He wouldn't miss this for anything. What about Rhoda?" Because he and Mary had spoken so infrequently, he had no idea if she and Rhoda were still close. It was hard to imagine them ever separating, but time could easily have changed things.

"She's going to be my next call. Even if nobody else comes, I know Mary will be thrilled to see you and Rhoda."

David's words confirmed what Lou had suspected. After all, if Rhoda was still around, she would likely have been the one arranging this. "Well, if you can find her, I'm sure she'll come," Lou said. It was hard to imagine what would've separated her from Mary. Even though time had changed things for all of them, he knew some things were still certain. One of those things was the importance of a best friend.