Rainy Day Friends Read online

  “That’s incredibly generous of you,” Cora said and hugged her tight. “I knew I picked right when I found you,” she said softly. “You’re truly amazing, Lanie.”

  Lanie did her best not to stiffen, instead patting her boss awkwardly on the arm. When Cora pulled back, still looking unbearably touched, Lanie smiled a smile that she hoped reached her eyes.

  “It is incredibly generous,” River said, looking floored. “But I can’t take it. I can’t take a penny from you.”

  “Then think of it as coming from Kyle.”

  River was still shaking her head, her eyes lit with pride and a sheen of tears. “You’re a good person,” she said. “But it’s more than I deserve. You were his first wife, Lanie. You’re entitled to the money. I’m not.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous—”

  River’s chin came up. “I’m a lot of things,” she said. “Pregnant. Too trusting. Maybe not as smart as I should be. But one thing I’m not is ridiculous.”

  Lanie nodded and then shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She headed to the door.

  Mark caught her. His hands came up to her arms and he cocked his head to see into her eyes.

  She’d been an actress exactly once. In her freshman year of high school she’d played the part of Rizzo in Grease. Her entire repertoire was fake smiling. She’d sucked balls in that play, but she’d gone for Oscar gold anyway.

  And she did so now too, doing the fake smile, including teeth and everything.

  Mark studied her for a beat and she knew by the look in his eyes that her acting was still bad, that he could tell she was full of crap, not forgiveness, that she wasn’t being nice at all, but self-serving. And he was going to have to be okay with that because this is all she had to work with. “Excuse me,” she whispered and hightailed it out of there.

  MARK STARTED TO follow Lanie out, but his mom stopped him. When he looked at her, he knew he wasn’t going to like what she had to say.

  “I’m worried about Lanie,” she said softly when she’d pulled him aside so neither River nor Holden could hear her. “I had no idea. No idea what she’d been through.”

  That made two of them. Mark had known her marriage had been rough but he hadn’t known how rough.

  “I’m afraid tonight will be the excuse Lanie needs to seal the deal on her not taking the contract extension.” His mom shook her head. “I figured I had time to persuade her, but now . . .”

  Lanie was a lot of things—caring, loyal, sweet, kind, smart as hell, and amazing.

  And also incredibly private.

  She’d hate that they all knew what she most likely considered to be her deepest, most humiliating secret. He just hoped she wasn’t packing her bags even as he thought it. “I’m going to go talk to her. You got this?” he asked, meaning River.

  His mom nodded. “Of course.”

  In the hallway, Mark came across his favorite heathens and scooped them up. “What are you two doing? Thought you were with your great-grandma baking.”

  Which they clearly had been, given the twin smears of chocolate across both of their mouths.

  “Daddy! Great-Grandma made chocolate chip banana muffins,” Samantha said. “They’re for tomorrow.”

  “So why are you wearing them tonight?”

  They laughed and Sam explained. “See, Sierra here hadn’t ever tasted chocolate chip banana muffins and she wanted to know what they tasted like.”

  Mark looked at Sierra, who shook her head.

  “Okay,” Samantha said. “So I wanted to know.”

  Sierra nodded her head.

  “So we sneaked back into the kitchen for a taste, even though they were still cooling off. But it was a good thing,” Sam said. “Because Lanie has a sad. She needed a muffin too.”

  “You saw her?”

  “Yep. We just gave her a muffin. It’ll make her feel better.”

  Sierra nodded.

  “Did she tell you why she was sad?” Mark asked.

  “No, she said she just needed hugs from her two favorite little girls in the whole wide world,” Samantha said. “So we gave her lots of hugs.”

  Sierra tugged on Samantha’s hand.

  “And kisses too,” Samantha added for Sierra.

  Another nod from Sierra.

  Mark brought the girls to their room and supervised a round of face-washing and teeth-brushing, trying not to get impatient, but the only thing slower than these two would’ve been a herd of elephants wading through peanut butter. When they were finally cleaned of all signs of chocolate, he set them up coloring in their favorite coloring books.

  “Are you going to go give Lanie hugs and kisses too?” Sam asked. “’Cuz I think she needs ’em.”

  Sierra nodded.

  He stared down at the two sweetest, most loving beings in his life and wondered how the hell he’d gotten so lucky as to have them. “I was on my way to see her when I found two munchkins wandering the hallway.”

  This caused some giggling, but then Samantha got serious. “She said she was fine, but Daddy, I think it was a fib. You know, the kind that you tell Nana sometimes when she wants to know if you’re okay and you’re not but you say you are anyway?”

  “Samantha,” he said on a soft exhale. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re too smart for your own good?”

  “You, Daddy. You tell me that all the time.”

  He went to leave, but stopped when he saw a pink sparkly keychain on the nightstand. “What’s this?”

  “It’s Lanie’s extra key.”

  “I know that,” he said. “What I don’t know is why you have it.”

  “She gave it to us a few days ago. Said as long as we weren’t running from doing something we were supposed to do, and as long as someone knew where we were, we could come in anytime.”

  Mark’s chest tightened. Lanie’s protective layer was thick, but it was no match for his girls, who were like windows into her soul. It was through their eyes that he was slowly discovering just how deep he’d fallen for her. “Why?”

  “Because everyone needs a place to hide sometimes, Daddy. And sometimes, Lanie says, it’s not a place you run to, but a person. She said that she knew we had you and Nana and everyone else, but that she’s also our person. If we ever need her.”

  He nodded, and speechless, he kissed them both on the forehead and left, pocketing Lanie’s key.

  Everyone needed a place to hide sometimes. Lanie knew that better than anyone. Only . . . where did she go to hide when she needed to?

  And who did she talk to?

  He wanted to be that person. He hadn’t seen it coming—he hadn’t seen her coming—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize a good thing when he saw it. A great thing. They were amazing together, and instead of complicating his life, she’d added to it. Improved it.

  Already he couldn’t imagine what it was going to be like when she left.

  The night was noisy. A light wind rustling the trees. Insects buzzed. Something howling in the distance. But luckily he ran into no other Capriottis between the big house and the cottages.

  Lanie’s lights were off and the shade drawn, but that didn’t deter him. He knocked and when she didn’t answer, he let himself in. The bathroom light was on and the shower was running. He stood there a moment, taking in the pulse of the place, and knew without a single doubt in his heart that she was in trouble.

  He shut and locked the door behind him and moved to the bathroom door, where he again knocked.

  Nothing.

  “Lanie.” He put a palm on the wood. “You okay?”

  More nothing.

  Shit. “I’m coming in.” He opened the door to a room shrouded in steam. He found Lanie in a ball in her shower, sobbing as if her heart had been broken all over again.

  The dam had burst.

  He stepped into the shower fully dressed and picked her up. “I’ve got you,” he said gruffly, feeling her sorrow to the depths of his soul as he wrapped her in his arms. He sat on the tub’s edge with he