The Corner Booth (Diner on Main Street #4)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

It took three attempts to start the Jeep, which was odd given that Lucy’s rental car had been running perfectly before that night. If she had been more alert, she might’ve seen this as a warning, but she was too overwhelmed to concentrate on anything except getting to New York City.

Her ex-husband, and once the love of her life, Brendan, had been in some kind of accident, and the person who called from the hospital wouldn’t even tell her what was going on.

For all she knew, she might be showing up to identify a body.

No.

She pushed that thought out of her mind as quickly as possible.

She couldn’t afford to dwell on it if she wanted to make it to the City in one piece.

Just because she asked Brendan for a divorce didn’t mean she wished him harm, far from it.

She still cared for him and had never hoped for anything but the best for him.

She would be heartbroken if the last time they spoke, she had basically hung up on him while he begged her to take him back.

A shiver ran down her spine from the memory of that conversation, but now that her car seemed to be running, she peeled out of the driveway and turned right.

It would be a few hours before she reached the City, and she knew those hours would crawl by if she didn’t find a way to distract herself from the upsetting things that kept coming to mind.

She turned on the radio and found a pop station she could blast at full volume, which thankfully drowned out her more intense worries.

Because it was the middle of the night, the roads were almost empty, and she reached the hospital in just under three hours, using only one tank of gas.

She paid a hefty amount to park in the closest lot, but since she had no idea how long she’d be there, she wanted the freedom to leave her car somewhere safe all day.

On her way into the lobby, she caught sight of her reflection in the sliding glass doors and stopped in her tracks.

She looked terrible.

Wearing dirty sweatpants and a white T-shirt stained with salsa, Lucy almost rushed back to her car and made a quick trip to Target to find a cuter outfit. This was not how she wanted to look when seeing her ex-husband for the first time since they’d finalized the divorce.

But then she realized how silly she was being. How could she be so vain? Brendan was, at most, lying in pain in a hospital bed right now, and at worst…

She didn’t want to think about worst-case scenarios, but she still scolded herself for that moment of pettiness. She strode through the doors and directly to the check-in desk, where a young man with a red face and matching hair smiled up at her.

“Hi, how can I help you?”

“I’m looking for a patient,” she said. “I was listed as the emergency contact for Brendan Malby, and they told me to get here as soon as I could.”

“Brendan Malby, let’s see.” He typed something on the keyboard and nodded. “Ah, yes. He’s been moved upstairs. Visiting hours don’t start for another twenty minutes, but you’ll be able to see him after that.”

“But I’m family.” That wasn’t technically a lie. Her last name was still Malby after all.

“For patients who are awake and in stable condition, even family members must follow the visitation rules,” he explained. “But if you’d like to have a seat, I will call you over when you’re allowed to see him.”

She frowned, but she felt she wouldn’t get anywhere if she continued to argue.

This was a hospital; they had rules, and since he’d used the word “stable,” she realized this might be less of an emergency than she initially thought.

Turning toward the sitting area, Lucy caught the eye of a woman who looked familiar.

She had short brown hair and was wearing sweats with a pajama top.

Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and Lucy wondered how long this woman had been waiting to see her loved one.

But why did she look so familiar?

In the end, it was the other woman who put two and two together. “Lucy?” she said. “Lucy Malby?”

“Uh, yeah.” Lucy walked over, and once she was a bit closer, it clicked. “Joan?”

The woman laughed, but without a matching smile, it sounded very depressing. “Yeah, it’s me. I’m sure I look pretty different from the last time you saw me.”

It had been years. Lucy vaguely remembered a drunken company Christmas party at Brendan’s workplace.

She and Joan, whose husband Dane worked with Brendan, ended up in the bathroom at the same time and chose to hide there, sipping wine and gossiping about the dull corporate men outside.

Back then, Joan was this glamorous, elegant goddess that Lucy envied deeply.

That wasn’t to say she had lost her looks—she hadn’t—but she certainly didn’t look all that glamorous at that moment.

“What are you doing here?” Lucy took a seat in the chair next to her. “Are you okay? Are your kids okay?”

“I’m fine, and the kids are fine.” She smirked. “Well, I’m sure they’re giving my parents quite a rough morning, since I woke them up at five and dropped them off with their grandparents without any warning, but other than that, it’s all okay.”

Lucy stared at her for a few seconds, her first question not needing to be repeated.

“Dane was brought here and had to get his stomach pumped.”

“Really?” Lucy gawked. “Oh my God. That’s awful. Did he eat something weird, or…?”

Joan gave her a strange look. “No… At least, that’s not the explanation that makes the most sense to me. He’s passed out right now, and they won’t let me see him until visiting hours start, but I’m guessing he drank too much, just like all the guys did last night.”

All the guys?

“Wait, is Brendan here because he drank too much?”

Joan shrugged. “That’s what I assumed. Do you know something I don’t?”

“It sounds like you know more than me at this point.”

She sighed and pulled her phone out of her sweatpants.

“Let’s see. Maybe we can piece things together.

Dane texted me about five hours ago, saying they had to send Brendan away in an ambulance but that he would probably be fine.

After that, he stopped answering my calls and texts.

I only knew the guys dropped him off here because one of his coworkers—a new guy I’ve never met—called on Dane’s phone to tell me he ended up in the hospital, too.

That was just after four thirty this morning. ”

Lucy shook her head, clearly confused. “So… Brendan was brought in by ambulance, but Dane was driven here by the other guys, possibly hours after Brendan had already been taken away on a stretcher?”

“I think so?”

“That means they continued to stay out and drink after someone in the group had an emergency?” Her eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Are you really that surprised?” Joan asked. “This is the kind of nonsense they’ve been up to since they were teenagers.”

“Yeah, but…” Lucy scoffed. She could hardly believe this was what forty-something-year-old men were doing.

It was one thing to have a few extra drinks and go out with friends, but would Brendan really throw his life and health away like this?

Would he continue hanging out with people who cared so little about him that they didn’t even ride in an ambulance with him?

“Look, I’m not saying I’m okay with it,” Joan added. “I’m not okay with any of this. I’ve been asking Dane to quit his job and stop hanging out with that group for years. Maybe now he’ll finally listen to me.”

Lucy was distracted, but nodded anyway.

“I hope you’re not offended by that,” Joan continued.

“I know Brendan’s your husband, and I’m sure he’s a good guy one-on-one.

It’s just that when this group gets together, they always end up doing something stupid.

Now that we’ve got three kids, I’m tired of trying to keep Dane on a tight leash. That shouldn’t be my job, you know?”

“Of course not,” Lucy agreed. “You shouldn’t have to babysit him and take care of your children on your own while he goes out and drinks too much. That’s absurd. And as for offending me, you don’t have to worry about that. Brendan and I have been separated for over a year.”

“You have?” Joan made a face. “I didn’t know that!”

“Maybe he didn’t tell the guys at work?”

“Maybe. Or he could’ve told Dane, and Dane just didn’t think it was worth mentioning to me.

He hates gossip and never tells me anything about the people he works with.

” She sighed and rubbed her sleepy face.

“I’m glad I didn’t upset you, though. May I ask why you and Brendan decided to separate?

I’m sorry if that’s too forward. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. ”

“Oh, no. It’s all right.” Lucy chewed on the inside of her lip, trying to decide how truthful she wanted to be. Did she want to try to salvage Brendan’s reputation for any reason? It was hard to know, since she still had no idea what had brought him to the hospital that morning.

If he had just been drinking and done something stupid, she would feel no loyalty to him.

But what if there had been a really bad accident?

Then she’d feel terrible talking badly about him in the hospital lobby while he was in pain somewhere, hooked up to a bunch of machines.

In the end, she decided to be honest, but not provide as much detail as she might’ve otherwise.

“It was my idea,” she said. “I just realized that we were heading in different directions, and it wouldn’t be fair for either of us to expect the other to try to get on board with a life plan they didn’t truly want.”

Joan looked down at her hands and fell into a contemplative silence.

They sat like that for a while, but Lucy grew increasingly uncomfortable.

She couldn’t help but draw parallels between Brendan’s behavior and Dane’s, and she sensed Joan might’ve been doing the same.

Both of them sat in the hospital after receiving upsetting calls early in the morning, but the difference was that Lucy didn’t have to go home with Brendan that night.

Joan, however, would have to return home to her three children and face another day with her husband.

Maybe this would be the last time Dane put her through something like this, and they would come out the other side stronger.

Or maybe not.

Lucy honestly had no reason to believe either possibility was more likely, but she thought it was safe to assume Joan was weighing her options at that moment.

“I’m going to get some coffee,” Lucy said, standing up abruptly. “Do you want anything?”

“No, that’s okay,” Joan said, not even looking up from her hands. “I’m good. I’m just going to wait for them to call me.”

“All right.” Lucy smiled sadly, but still, the woman kept her gaze trained downward and didn’t say another word.