One By One by Freida McFadden(13)

Warner tugs at the collar of his shirt. “Interesting coincidence. What’s his name?”

She winks at him. “I can’t share that information, unfortunately. Where do you work?”

“St. Mary’s.”

Jack leans forward and his knee brushes against mine. “St. Mary’s… hey, my friend, Buddy Levine, is the medical director there. You must know Buddy.”

Warner nods vigorously. “Of course I do. Good man.”

“Say hi for me when you get back to work, will you?”

Warner smiles. “Will do, Jack.”

When he smiles like that, he’s so handsome, you almost have to look away. Lindsay is almost slobbering over him, which unsettles me. I’ve never seen her so infatuated—she’s usually fairly cool around the opposite sex—and I’m not convinced it’s a good thing.

Warner turns his vivid blue eyes in my direction. “Lindsay tells me you’re a teacher, Claire.”

Despite my reservations, I have to smile. I’m pleased Lindsay was talking to her new boyfriend about my work, and I’m even more pleased he’s considerate enough to remember details about her friends. This is a clear point in Warner’s favor.

“That’s right,” I say. “I teach special ed.”

Warner takes a swig from his water glass. “I really admire people like you. Honestly. I could never be a teacher.”

“Oh?” I say.

“The salary is…” He shakes his head. “For such an important job, it’s a crime how badly they pay you guys.”

“Well…” I feel my smile falter—he’s not wrong. “It would be nice if they paid us what we deserve.”

“And it’s so repetitive.” He shudders. “I think you teachers deserve an award for what they put you through. Really—bravo, Claire.”

I take a moment to absorb his words. He’s paying me a compliment, so I suppose I should be flattered. But I don’t appreciate being told how much my job sucks. Especially because I do love it so much. “It can be a little repetitive at times,” I admit. “But it’s really rewarding. And every job eventually gets to be repetitive after a number of years.”

He nods thoughtfully. “Yes, that’s true. I feel rather fortunate to be in a field that never gets repetitive.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You mean you don’t get sick of doing boob jobs after a while?”

He flashes his straight, white teeth at me. I hope he had braces when he was a kid, or else life really isn’t fair. “I definitely never get sick of doing boob jobs. I could do them all day long.” He tightens his grip around Lindsay’s shoulders. “You hear that, Lindsay?”

I flinch. Is he suggesting Lindsay needs a boob job? She absolutely does not. I wait for Lindsay to roll her eyes or elbow him in the chest, but she doesn’t. Her cheeks grow pink and she folds her arms self-consciously across her chest.

This guy might be great looking, but I’m beginning to wonder if Lindsay is trying to be someone she’s not just to impress him.

When the food arrives, I pick up my burger and start eating practically before my plate touches the table. There’s something about long car rides that makes you desperately hungry. I glance at Lindsay with her sad little side salad. We really need to have a talk later. I know she says she likes Warner, but I have to dig deeper. We can go on a hike together and she’ll tell me the whole story.

I wonder what she wanted to tell me in the bathroom before Michelle interrupted us.

“Excuse me, Miss,” Michelle speaks up as the waitress is getting ready to walk away.

The waitress brushes a stray strand of hair from her face and flashes Michelle a tired smile. “Yes, hon?”

Michelle pushes her plate away from her with the tip of her index finger. “I asked for my burger to be medium well, but this is really more medium. And the fries are burned.”

I look over at Michelle’s fries. They don’t look burned to me. Maybe a little crispy, but still delicious.

“I’m so sorry,” the waitress says quickly. She takes Michelle’s plate. “I’ll get you some new food right away.”

Jack rolls his eyes at me so quickly, I’m sure nobody else at the table sees it. He can’t stand it when Michelle sends back her food. Can’t we have one goddamn meal where she doesn’t find fault in her order?

My phone buzzes with a text. I pull it out of my purse and see a message from Penny:

Emma settled down. I’ve got everybody watching cartoons, and I’m making mac & cheese for lunch.

I smile at the text. Emma’s favorite food is macaroni and cheese. She would probably eat it for every meal including breakfast if I let her.

“Emma’s okay,” I tell Noah.

He grunts with a mouth full of burger.

“What’s wrong with Emma?” Lindsay asks. She’s Emma’s godmother, and the kids think of her as family.

“She had this dream that a monster was going to eat us,” I say.

Lindsay clasps a hand over her mouth. “Oh no! Poor thing…”

“It’s Claire’s fault,” Noah announces to the table. “She fills her head with nonsense and this is what happens.”

My mouth falls open. “It’s my fault? I filled her head with nonsense?”