Sugar And Spice (Main Street Merchants Book 7) Read online

  “Um, we shall.”

  Sloane had been to the lodge a couple of times before, but usually to ski, and this was the first time she’d be taking advantage of their five-star dining room. The maître d’ led them to a nice table, and the waiter brought them each a water with a slice of lemon. He handed them menus and promised to be right back.

  “It’s nice to eat out, isn’t it?” Chad asked as he picked up his menu. “And I promise to keep my opinions to myself. In fact, I’ll order something I don’t make personally so I won’t spend the afternoon comparing.”

  “That sounds like a good idea.” Sloane tried not to roll her eyes as she looked at the appetizers. This guy . . . how many second chances was she obligated to give him? Sure, he wasn’t firing people or throwing dishes on the floor, but he was boring. She might even prefer him when he acted like a Neanderthal—at least that was interesting.

  The waiter returned to the table, and Sloane was just about to tell him that she’d like to start with the spring pea bisque when her cell phone chimed with a text. She ignored it, but it chimed again immediately, and then a third time.

  “Someone’s being a little impatient,” she said with a chuckle. Intending to turn it off, she pulled her phone out of her purse, but a glance at the screen told her that all three texts were from Taci. She could hazard a quick peek.

  Sloane, I need you.

  Eddie just had a heart attack.

  Sorry, but can you come?

  Chills running up and down her arms, Sloane pushed back from the table, looking around almost wildly. “I’m sorry, but I need to go. I need to get back to the diner.”

  Chad rose as well, and the waiter took a step back as if confused. “What’s the matter?” Chad asked.

  “Um, it’s Eddie, my boss. He, uh, he had a heart attack.”

  “I’m sure everything will be fine,” Chad said soothingly. “Why don’t you sit down and we’ll eat, and then we can stop by the hospital on the way home?”

  “No, you don’t understand. He’s my family here. He’s . . .” Sloane reached out and balanced herself on the edge of the table, suddenly a little dizzy. “I need to get down there.”

  “All right.” Chad nodded to the waiter. “We’re sorry. We’ll come back another time.” Then he tucked his arm through Sloane’s and led her toward the exit.

  She fumbled with her coat as she put it on and barely had the buttons fastened by the time the car was brought around.

  “Where are we going?” Chad asked.

  “I . . . I don’t even know.” She sent Taci a quick text, and she replied almost immediately. “Denver.”

  Chad turned to her in surprise. “Denver?”

  “Yeah, I know, it’s crazy. We don’t have a real hospital in Aspen Ridge. It’s a small town . . . there’s just an InstaCare. For anything big, you have to go to Denver. It’s kind of a pain, especially if you break your leg while you’re skiing, but they have a medic station at the lodge, and they helicopter you out if you’re bad . . .” Her voice trailed off. Why was she telling him all this? He hadn’t asked.

  “All right. We’ll go to Denver.” He sounded resigned, but not upset.

  It was about forty minutes from the top of the mountain back to town, and then another hour to Denver. The whole way, Sloane stared out the window, feeling numb. She wondered if Taci had remembered to turn off the grill and lock the diner doors. What if the fridge went out—they’d just gotten in their shipment of fresh meat. It was ridiculous to worry like this, but she couldn’t help the thoughts as they churned through her head.

  She glanced up when Chad pulled up to the hospital doors. How had he known which one . . . oh, that’s right. She’d shown him Taci’s text, and he’d programmed it into his GPS. She was in such a cloud, she barely remembered that happening.

  “I’ll drop you off here and park the car,” he told her. “I’m not a friend or a relative, so they probably won’t let me in, so I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”

  “Okay.” She climbed out of the car. “Thanks,” she added as she closed the door, then turned and made her way to the information desk.

  When Taci saw her coming into the waiting room on the second floor, she burst into tears and ran into Sloane’s arms. “I was so scared,” she said. “I had just put in an order for two bacon cheeseburgers and onion rings, and I was getting the drinks, and I heard a crash, and I went in the kitchen and he’d dropped a tray and he was grabbing the counter and he looked so pale. So I called 911 and they sent someone over from InstaCare while they got an ambulance, and oh, my gosh, Sloane.” She sank down on the nearest chair and pressed her hands between her knees. “He was gasping, and Toby got him to sit down and turned off the stove, and it was so, so bad.”

  Sloane wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry. I bet that was terrifying.”

  “I don’t ever want to go through something like that again. And what if he dies? Oh, my gosh. What if he dies, Sloane?”

  “I . . . don’t know. I can’t even think about that.” Sloane wiped her eyes. He couldn’t die. He just couldn’t.

  Then something else Taci had said finally registered. “Toby was there?”

  “Yeah. He stopped by the diner to visit with Eddie, and he’s around here somewhere—I think he went to get me a sandwich or something. I can’t remember.”

  A moment later, the elevator doors opened, and Toby stepped out. He seemed relieved to find Sloane there. “Oh, good. You made it.”

  “Yeah, Chad drove me down from the lodge.”

  She watched as Taci fumbled with the wrapper on her sandwich, then reached over, unwrapped it for her, and handed it back. Then she tugged Toby over to the corner.

  “Has the doctor said anything yet?” she asked in a low voice.

  “No, but we just got here a little while ago. Taci texted you on our way here.”

  “Listen, thanks so much for your help. I’m so glad Taci didn’t have to go through that alone.”

  He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “I didn’t really do anything. I was just there, mostly.”

  “Well, I’m glad you were. Did the diner get locked up?”

  “Yeah, and I made sure Taci locked the register too.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Is she going to be all right? Is she usually so . . . I dunno. Pale? Wraithlike?”

  Sloane chuckled, unable to help herself even though her heart felt like it was shattering into a zillion pieces. “Yeah, she’s naturally wraithlike. She can’t even tan in the summer. She’ll be better after she gets something to eat—thanks for taking care of her.”

  Again, he waved it off. “No big. How about you?”

  “Um . . .” Well, now that he mentioned it, she never did get any lunch. She didn’t know if she could eat, though. Just the smell of a hospital was enough to stress her out, but knowing Eddie was the one behind those swinging doors . . . “I’m okay for now.”

  “Sure?”

  “Sure.”

  They walked back over to Taci and took a seat on either side of her. Sloane glanced at her watch. “Oh! I forgot. Chad’s downstairs. I should go tell him . . . well, I don’t really know what to tell him.”

  “Tell him that I’ll make sure you get home all right,” Toby said.

  Sloane gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

  When she got off the elevator on the first floor, Chad came to his feet. “Are you ready to go?”

  “No, I’m going to stick around for a bit and see what the doctor says. I have a ride home. I’m sorry—I know this is a really awful way to end a date.”

  He gave her a tight smile. “It’s especially awful when this date was supposed to make up for our last awful date.”

  She reached out and touched his arm. She wasn’t usually a touch-the-arm person, but it just felt like he needed something. “Thank you for trying, and I’ll let you know what happens.”

  He gave her a nod, then went through the revolving door and outside.
She felt a little bad, sending him home alone when they were supposed to be together, but that feeling evaporated pretty quickly as she went back up to find Toby and Taci waiting for her. That was definitely where she belonged.

  “Has anyone called Sal?” she asked, and Taci shook her head.

  “I don’t know how to get ahold of him.”

  “Eddie kept his important phone numbers in his wallet.” Sloane walked over to the nurses’ station. “Excuse me. I’m here with Eddie Marino. We need to call his brother, and that phone number is in Eddie’s wallet. Does he still have that with him, or has it been put somewhere . . .?”

  The nurse raised an eyebrow. “Are you a relative of Mr. Marino?”

  “No, but we’re trying to locate someone who is.”

  “I’m sure you understand that I can’t just tell you where to find his wallet. That would be . . . well, I’m not sure what policy to quote you on that one, but it would be wrong.”

  Sloane smiled. “I understand. But what if you were to locate the wallet, find the phone number, and then either you or I could call it? Sal is Eddie’s only living relative. He should be informed.”

  The nurse nodded. “Yes, I can do that. Why don’t you be seated, and I’ll let you know when I’ve found it.”

  “So, I don’t suppose you can give me an update on Eddie either, can you?”

  The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry. Privacy laws only allow us to talk to relatives.”

  “I’m sort of like his granddaughter. Does that count?”

  The nurse gave Sloane a kind smile. “I can tell that you really care about him, and I wish I could tell you more, but I’m afraid I can’t. Please take a seat and I’ll find you that number—it’s the best I can do right now.”

  Sloane walked back over to her friends and slumped into a chair. “They probably don’t want me to see their secret wallet-of-patients hiding place lest I break into it and steal everything,” she muttered.

  “But she’s going to help you find the phone number, and that’s the important thing, right?” Toby asked.

  “Yeah, I guess.” Sloane had just never liked being treated like she was up to something, even when she was up to something, which in this case, she certainly was not.

  Fifteen minutes later, the nurse came over to where Sloane was sitting. “I just got off the phone with Mr. Marino’s brother. He’ll be here as soon as he can.”

  “Thanks for your help,” Sloane told her. “Now I guess we just wait,” she said to Taci and Toby. “But Sal lives here in Denver, so it shouldn’t be too long.”

  “That’s good,” Toby replied, and Sloane looked at him in surprise.

  “I just realized—you’ve probably got work tonight. Don’t you need to get back?”

  He lifted one shoulder. “I called in.”

  “You called in? Really?”

  “Really. How could I leave the two of you here, like this, by yourselves with no car and Eddie . . . well, Eddie doing whatever he’s doing, but we don’t know, because they won’t tell us?”

  “But I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  Toby grinned. “This is Frank and Frannie we’re talking about. They’re not going to fire me for taking a friend to the hospital.”

  “You’re right . . . and thank you for sticking around. I really appreciate that.” She glanced over at Taci, who was pulling a face at her. “Okay, we both really appreciate that. Taci and I both. Together. Equally.”

  “That’s better,” Taci said, and Toby laughed.

  “You’re welcome. And hey, I’ve been wanting a day off for a while—it’s just too bad that Eddie had to go through this to get me one.”

  It wasn’t even fifteen minutes later when the elevator doors opened and a man who looked like a younger, slightly thinner version of Eddie stepped out. He looked from side to side, as if unsure where to go.

  Sloane stood up and walked over to him. “Are you Sal Marino?” she asked, even though there was no one else on earth he could possibly be.

  “Yes, I am. And you are?”

  “I’m Sloane, and that’s Taci. We’re waitresses at the diner. And this is Toby, a friend. Taci and Toby were with Eddie when he had his heart attack.”

  Sal ran a hand over his face. “How is he now?”

  “Well, that’s just it,” Sloane said. “They won’t tell us because we’re not family. We’re hoping you could find out and tell us.”

  “Sure, sure.” Sal walked over to the nurses’ station, and Sloane sat down. She didn’t want it to look like she was trying to eavesdrop or anything lest she incite the wrath of the nurses.

  After a few minutes. Sal walked over to where they were seated. “He’s definitely had a heart attack, and they’re doing some tests on him right now. They said they’d come get me when I can see him. Is there some coffee around here or something?”

  “I’ll show you where,” Toby said, coming to his feet. “I wandered all over this place earlier and scouted it out.”

  The two men walked away, and Sloane slumped in her chair again. It was just a very slumpy kind of day. “I don’t know what to do,” she said to Taci. “I mean, the diner’s locked up, but what about the meat in the fridge? It’s going to go bad—maybe we should freeze it.”

  “I think we should wait and see what Eddie wants us to do,” Taci replied. “I’d sure hate to do something that would upset him, considering that he just had a heart attack.”

  “That’s true. Do you think he’s awake? Sal didn’t really say.”

  “I think he’s more likely to have said if Eddie was in some kind of coma.” Taci nudged Sloane with her shoulder. “This has really got you worked up, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it does. I feel so useless. I mean, I’m a fixer. I like knowing what’s going on and what to do about it.”

  “And you’re not control freakish at all,” Taci teased.

  “No, not in the slightest.” Sloane shook her head. “I just need him to be okay, you know? He’s important to me.”

  “He’s important to me too, but I don’t know him as well as you do, so this has got to be killing you,” Taci said. “Can I get you anything? I mean, now that I’ve eaten, I’m ready for whatever.”

  “Yeah, you do look less wraithlike,” Sloane replied.

  “Um, what?”

  “Never mind. I’ll tell you later.”

  The rest of the afternoon dragged by. It seemed to take forever for Eddie to be finished with his tests, and then for Sal to be allowed to see him, and then for Sal to come out and report.

  When Sal did finally come down the hall toward the waiting room, he looked like he’d aged a dozen years.

  “It’s not good,” he said. “My brother’s lying there all poked full of tubes like he’s a moonshine still, and he looks like someone painted him white.”

  “He’s awake, though? Did he say how he’s feeling?” Taci asked.

  “He’s awake, and he’s as grumpy as ever. I’m going to have to take that as a good sign. There’s something, though . . .” Sal motioned toward Sloane with a crooked finger. “He wants to see the two of us together.”

  “You and me?” Sloane asked, confused at the unlikely pairing. Why would Eddie want to see the two of them?

  “That’s what he said.”

  “Okay.” She gave Taci and Toby a little shrug. “I’ll be right back.”

  She followed Sal down the hall. “Is it all right that I’m going in there? I mean, I’m not family, and the nurse was pretty insistent on keeping that rule.”

  “It’s different when you’re going in to visit, and when the patient has asked to see you,” Sal replied. “They can’t keep you out if you’ve been asked for.”

  “I guess not.” Sloane kept her eyes out anyway in case one of those white-uniformed bouncers came around the corner.

  They entered Eddie’s room, and just like Sal had said, Eddie was hooked up to a million different tubes and wires. He looked like a science experiment gone wrong. Sloane wa
lked over and stood by the side of the bed. She’d never seen Eddie in such a vulnerable way before. In fact, she’d never even seen him outside of the diner—she’d never been upstairs to his apartment or run into him at the grocery store or anything.

  “Hey there, stranger,” she said. “Sal told me you wanted to see me.”

  “That’s right. There’s something I need.”

  “What is it, Eddie? Whatever it is, you’ve got it.” Sal glanced at the monitor next to Eddie’s bed, worry written all over his face.

  “I don’t know about that, Sal,” Sloane said. “We don’t know what he’s about to ask for. What if he wants us to go bungee jumping off a bridge or something?”

  Sal looked confused, but the corners of Eddie’s mouth twitched. He’d always put up with Sloane’s quirky humor.

  “I need you two to run the diner.”

  Sal’s mouth dropped open. “What? Eddie, you know I’m no good in that kitchen. You’re the cook, not me.”

  “But you learned from our father. You learned same as I did.”

  Sal shook his head. “I was taught it, but I didn’t learn it. Some things are talents, Eddie. You got the talent, and I didn’t.”

  “It runs in our blood.”

  Sal turned to Sloane, who was pretty flabbergasted. Did Eddie think he wasn’t coming back? What did this mean?

  “Tell him,” Sal said, jerking his thumb toward his brother. “Tell him I can’t do it.”

  Sloane chuckled nervously. “How do I know what you can and can’t do? I’ve never met you before in my life.”

  “Well, take my word for it and tell him.”

  Sloane turned to Eddie. “Apparently, Sal thinks he can’t do it.”

  Eddie waved his hand impatiently. “Listen. I don’t know how long they’re keeping me here. They might want to do heart surgery.”

  Sloane opened her mouth to speak, but Eddie kept talking. “When they get those tests back, they’ll know. But I need to turn my diner over to people I can trust. Sloane, will you help me?”

  “Yes,” she said. She’d known that would be her answer from the first moment. “Whatever you need.”

  “And you, Sal? You’re my brother. I need you.”