One Perfect Summer - Brenda Novak Page 0,121

to decide if she could allow herself to splurge enough to go back and buy three—Lucy was too young for a keepsake like that—when she heard a commotion downstairs.

“What are you doing here?”

Reagan sat up. That was Lorelei’s shocked voice. But she had no idea who she was talking to until Lucy cried, “Daddy!”

26

lorelei

LORELEI COULDN’T BELIEVE IT. Mark was standing in the living room. Apparently, he’d taken off from work and flown to Reno, where he must’ve rented a car.

Her first thought was that she should never have given him the address of the cabin.

But she’d done that way back when she, Serenity and Reagan were first planning to meet, so he’d have the information and be able to reach her in case of emergencies.

Her second thought was, Where’s Francine?

She didn’t ask. She didn’t want Lucy to hear the jealousy and bitterness that was bound to accompany that question. She was feeling conflicted again, watching her daughter hug her daddy as though it had been forever since she’d seen him.

In a small child’s mind, five weeks was a very long time.

Had Lorelei been wrong to stay here?

Regardless, she’d had to stay. Having a safe place, a place where she could grapple with the loss of her marriage while enjoying the support of her two sisters, was what had kept her going.

“Look at you!” He pulled back to peer into Lucy’s face. “I hardly recognize you! Your hair has gold streaks from the sun, and you’re getting a few freckles.”

She gave him an affronted look. “What are freckles?”

He laughed. “The cute little dots on your nose.”

He kissed and hugged her before setting her down and returning his attention to Lorelei. “I’m sorry to show up out of nowhere, but you blocked me. Since I can’t call or text you, I had no way of notifying you.”

“The fact that I blocked you should’ve told you I...I didn’t want to do this.”

“We have to talk, Lorelei. We can’t let what we have slip away just because I was stupid enough to do what I did.”

She glanced at Reagan, who was standing barefoot in yoga pants and a T-shirt, hair mussed, on the stairs. Serenity was on the other side, by the kitchen, dressed in a short-sleeved wetsuit that had the legs cut off. Reagan had just gotten out of bed, but where had Serenity come from? Had she already been out on the lake?

“I decided to go kayaking,” Serenity explained, apparently responding to the confusion in her face. “I do that if I get up before you two.”

“You do.” Lorelei hadn’t realized she’d been leaving, but it was usually eight or so when she and Lucy rolled out of bed.

She was focusing on the mundane, on things that didn’t matter. She had to say something to Mark, but she had no idea what. Should she introduce him to her sisters?

No. That would be far too polite for this situation. She’d decided she had to end her marriage.

“Why don’t I get Lucy some breakfast?” Serenity offered. “Are you hungry, sweetheart?”

Lucy seemed reluctant to leave her father. “Will you stay?” she asked Mark.

“I’ll be here,” he promised and then looked at Lorelei. “Can we take a walk, though, just you and I?”

“Can’t I go with you?” Lucy’s little eyebrows gathered in worry.

“You have to eat, honey,” Lorelei said.

“But you’ll walk with me?” Mark asked.

“I have to get dressed,” Lorelei said dully.

He nodded. “I’ll wait for you.”

“What about me, Momma?” Lucy wasn’t convinced she should eat instead. But as much as Lorelei hated to disappoint her, if Lucy was with them, all the things that needed to be said wouldn’t get said.

She motioned her daughter over to her. “Come get dressed. You can eat with your aunts, and then after that, Daddy and I will take you down to the lake, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, obviously relieved that they weren’t going to disappear on her.

Reagan

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