She’s a well-known painter in New York, bought a million-dollar home overlooking the river. What absolutely never happened to him back in New York happens all the time here- running into patients on the street, in the grocery store, yesterday at the gym, where he ran three miles on the tread- mill while Alicia Chao, the newly divorced humanities professor with a history of anxiety, worked the elliptical-and it makes him feel off-balance every time. Statler.” A patient is standing in front of him, and he has to hunt for her name. The door to the Parlor opens as Sam approaches, releasing an air-conditioned gust into the humid evening air. Exactly nine minutes he waits, long enough for her to be nearing the end of her drink, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline as he loosens his tie an inch and turns around. She takes a book from her bag, her shoulder blades rising like the wings of a bird under a thin white tank top as he passes, stopping to look at the listings in the window of the realtor’s office next door. Sam pauses in front of it, watching her cross the room and sit at the bar. The restaurant took over the space once occupied by two generations of Finnerty dentists, the brick facade replaced by a sleek glass wall. A man on his way out behind his wife holds the door open for her, lingers to catch a glimpse of her from the back, no doubt praying his wife doesn’t see. He pretends to browse the table of American flags, half off at Hoyts Hardware, as she approaches the Parlor, the upscale small-plate restaurant that opened three months ago. It seems like she's the one keeping all the secrets, until one day Sam leaves with a mysterious visitor and does not return.Īn ass so perfect there’s no way Sam can pull his eyes away as he walks half a block behind her up the hill, past the cheese shop, the bookstore, the lauded new wine place with the bright red door.

Through an upstairs vent, though, she can hear everything uttered in his office. Annie is bored all day, while Sam, a psychiatrist, conducts his work from downstairs. Sam and Annie, newly married, are excited to leave New York City behind and move upstate to his sleepy hometown. The following is an exclusive excerpt from Goodnight Beautiful, by Aimee Molloy.

Goodnight beautiful