One Perfect Summer

by Brenda Novak

  She was so much more decisive and confident with everyone else...

  But quitting her job without a clear plan seemed foolish. She could see why her mother would view it that way, too, which left her on unsteady ground.

  “Maybe I’ll stay for just a month,” she mused. By then she’d know if she was pregnant. She planned to buy a test as soon as she could get to a store.

  Lorelei came down the stairs.

  “Lucy all set for the night?” Serenity asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Reagan scooted over so that Lorelei could join them on the couch. There were other chairs in the room, but Serenity shared her lap blanket with the two of them, and they sat side by side, staring out at the stars, which shone far more brightly away from city lights than any Reagan had ever seen. She loved New York, but she was going to enjoy being here for a while longer. “When are you telling Mark that you’re not coming home on Friday?” she asked Lorelei.

  “Maybe tomorrow,” Lorelei said.

  “He hasn’t tried to call you tonight?” Serenity asked.

  “He’s tried. Many times.”

  Reagan couldn’t remember ever seeing her step out of the room or talk on her phone. “You didn’t pick up?”

  Lorelei combed her fingers through her hair but never shifted her gaze from the large windows that showcased such a spectacular chunk of sky. “We were having too much fun.”

  Because of Finn. Reagan hid a smile. Lorelei liked him, all right. Reagan didn’t expect that to go anywhere. But she couldn’t help taking a little joy in the fact that being ignored must’ve come as a terrible shock to Mark.

  12

  serenity

  EVERYONE ELSE IN the cabin was asleep as Serenity tried to compose a text to her mother. Despite Charlotte’s concerns about Serenity “closeting herself away” and not getting right back into the dating scene, she doubted her mother would mind if she spent the entire summer at the cabin. Her parents had made it clear the cabin was hers to use as often as she wanted. And if that didn’t make her feel free enough—if she wanted even more of her mother’s support—all she had to do was mention Finn and his brothers staying next door. Charlotte had such a soft heart—she would sympathize with what had happened to Davis and be all for Serenity staying to befriend him.

  Of course, she’d also hope that something romantic might spring up between Serenity and one of the Hatch brothers. Her mother wouldn’t be able to relax until Serenity found another mate.

  But secretly meeting her new half sisters already smacked of deceit. Would entertaining Reagan and Lorelei at the cabin all summer be going too far?

  Serenity preferred to tell the truth and get her mother’s blessing. They’d always been honest with each other, which was why she still couldn’t believe that Charlotte had hidden such a big secret for so long.

  Mom, I need to talk to you about something. It’s a touchy subject, one that might upset you, which is why I haven’t said anything so far. To be honest, I’m sort of confused and upset myself. I couldn’t believe it when...

  Puffing out her cheeks, she deleted all of that before blowing her breath out and starting over.

  Mom, you know that a lot of people are getting their DNA tested these days, right? Well, they’re finding family members they never knew existed. The police are even using ancestry sites to locate suspects about whom they’ve been storing biological evidence. You heard about The Golden State killer and how they finally captured him. Anyway, I decided to get my profile done, to see how it all works so I could depict it accurately in my writing and...

  She stopped, read it over and deleted it again. That wasn’t what she wanted to say. What she really wanted to say, from her heart, was simply, Mom, why didn’t you tell me?

  She typed that but knew she couldn’t send it, either. If she could’ve gone to her mother, she would’ve done it already. She couldn’t have Charlotte working to cover up what she was hoping to find—which Charlotte might do, if having Serenity learn the truth really scared her.

  And what if Charlotte freaked out and didn’t want her to have anything to do with Lorelei and Reagan? They had just decided to prolong their trip, possibly for the whole summer. She couldn’t suddenly kick them out after encouraging them to stay.

  She went to delete that text—and her heart jumped into her throat. Instead of selecting all the content to delete it, her thumb accidentally hit the Send button.

  Shit!

  She covered her mouth for several minutes as she stared at her phone, eyes wide, to see if her mother was going to respond. She’d still been a little tipsy, which was why her errant thumb hit the wrong spot in the first place, but she was feeling completely sober now.

  No response.

  She hadn’t awakened her mother, but that text would be there, waiting for Charlotte in the morning. There was no way to un-send it.

  Damn it! What have I done?

  She climbed out of bed and began to pace in her room. What was she going to say when her mother called to ask about it?

  She couldn’t think of an appropriate response. She couldn’t tell her mother the truth, not yet.

  Her pulse raced as she struggled to come up with some way to neutralize what she’d just done.

  Another text?

  Forget that...

  Never mind...

  That was intended for someone else...

  None of those things would be believable. She’d obviously known who she was texting. She’d started the text with, “Mom.”

  She was still pacing, trying to come up with something that would appease her mother when she heard crying.

  Stopping, she held her breath so she could listen more carefully.

  Sure enough, someone was awake.

  Taking her phone with her, just in case Charlotte called, she left the room to find Lucy in the hall, frightened and disoriented in the unfamiliar, dark house. “I don’t know where my mom is,” she said in a distressed whimper.

  The wine had probably put Lorelei into a deeper sleep than usual. There was no need to disturb her. After sending that text, Serenity was afraid she’d be up for the rest of the night, anyway.

  “Her room is right here next to yours.” Serenity walked her to the door to show her just how close. “This one,” she said, pointing. “But she’s very tired and sleeping. Would it be okay if I lie down with you and we read a few books until you’re ready to go back to sleep?”

  Lucy seemed skeptical as she wiped her cheeks. “I have to go potty.”

  Serenity glanced at her phone. Still no response from Charlotte. “Okay. I can take you. Come on.”

  She led her new niece to the bathroom and helped her pull up her panties and straighten her pajamas when she was finished. “Feel better?”

  Although her face was still streaked with tears, Lucy nodded. “What books do you have?” she asked, sounding more amenable to Serenity’s suggestion.

  “I got some Dr. Seuss books out of storage.” Serenity snapped on the lamp in Lucy’s room. “Some others, as well.” She gestured at the stack on the nightstand. “Let’s have a look.”

  With a sniff, Lucy wiped her face again and chose Where the Wild Things Are before allowing Serenity to lift her into bed.

  Serenity climbed beneath the covers, too, and read one book after another—all while keeping a frequent, worried eye on her phone.

  “Is someone going to call you?” Lucy asked with a yawn.

  The question alone caused the knots in Serenity’s stomach to tighten.

  “I’m thinking I might hear from my mother,” she said ruefully.

  “You have a mother, too?”

  The question surprised Serenity. Everyone had a mother—except Lorelei, she realized. Lucy was so young. Maybe she thought that once you became an adult you no longer had one. “I do. Your mother had a mot
her, too. But we don’t know what happened to her.”

  “Will I ever get to see her?”

  Serenity wasn’t sure how to answer that. “I don’t know. Does your father have a mom?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you ever get to see your grandma and grandpa?”

  “We go there sometimes.”

  “Do you also have aunts and uncles?”

  She nodded. “Lots.”

  All of that was on her father’s side. Her mother had had no parents or siblings, until recently. No wonder Lorelei wanted to stay in Tahoe, wanted to connect with her past and the people who shared her DNA.

  Once again, Serenity considered just how difficult it would be to grow up as Lorelei had. And hearing that Mark still had his parents, as well as many brothers and sisters, only made her more upset with him for letting Lorelei down.

  For their next book, Serenity chose Are You My Mother? and couldn’t help wondering if Lorelei had ever read this book—it would likely have a sad echo for her. But it seemed to be Lucy’s favorite. Serenity had to read it three times before her niece finally nodded off.

  Once Lucy had fallen asleep, Serenity slipped out from under the covers, trying not to jiggle the mattress. But she paused to look back at the sleeping little girl before turning off the light. “Good night,” she whispered and checked her phone once again.

  Still nothing from Charlotte, but Serenity went back to her room determined to come up with something to correct the mistake she’d made by sending that text—even if her explanation was a lie. She had to make her mother believe that her simple, heartfelt question meant something completely innocuous, had to protect Lorelei and Reagan long enough to get the answers they sought.

  * * *

  lorelei

  It was bright and early, before even Lucy got up, when banging on the door woke Lorelei. She gazed at the ceiling for a few seconds, trying to orient herself, then jumped out of bed. She’d been hoping to sleep in, didn’t want whoever was so rudely interrupting the household to disturb Lucy before she woke up on her own.

  “Damn it,” she muttered, and yanked on a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt.

  She flew down the stairs as Reagan and Serenity both appeared on the landing looking as disheveled from sleep and irritated by the noise as she was.

  “What’s going on?” Reagan asked. “We’ve only been in bed for, what, four hours?”

  “I can’t imagine it’s Finn,” Lorelei said. “He went to bed late, too.”

  “Who else could it be?” Reagan asked.

  Lorelei reached for the knob, but the mystery was solved before she could even turn it. After the door rattled with another solid knock, a deep voice called out, “Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.”

  Lorelei whipped around to look up at Serenity.

  “Go ahead and open it,” Serenity said, clearly concerned as she started to descend.

  Lorelei did as she was told and soon found herself facing a stocky deputy, about six feet tall, in a dark green uniform. “What can I do for you, Officer?”

  He glanced down at a paper he held in his hands. “Are you Lorelei Cipriano?”

  “I am,” she said in confusion. “How—”

  “And do you have your daughter with you?” he broke in.

  “Of course.” She gestured behind her. “She’s upstairs sleeping. Is there a problem?” She craned her neck to see what was on the paper he held. “Why do you have a picture of me?”

  “Your husband emailed it to us. He’s been worried about you. Said he hasn’t been able to reach you for more than twenty-four hours.”

  Reagan’s footsteps sounded on the stairs as she hurried to join them. “Mark called the cops?”

  “Apparently,” Lorelei muttered.

  “He wanted us to do a wellness check, said you’re away from home for the first time and haven’t been answering your phone,” the officer explained. “We’re just making sure you’re safe.”

  “Yes, I’m fine,” she assured him. “Lucy is, too. We were out to dinner last night, so I had my phone turned off—that’s all. I’ll contact my husband today.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear from you.”

  “Thanks for going to the trouble of...of coming out here, especially so early on a Sunday morning,” she said.

  The deputy must’ve been satisfied with what he saw, because he angled his head to acknowledge her comment, wished them a good day and left.

  After closing the door, Lorelei leaned against it. “What was Mark thinking? It’s three hours later in Florida, almost nine, but still. It’s not as if I’ve been out of touch for days.”

  “If you typically respond right away, I could see where he’d worry.”

  She got the impression Serenity was trying to be diplomatic. “Enough to bother the cops?”

  Reagan covered a yawn. “He’s not used to being ignored.”

  “True. I’ve let him be the center of my universe for too long. He’s gotten a little too comfortable there.”

  “Are you going to call him?” Serenity asked.

  “I’ll text him,” she said. “Then I’m going back to bed.”

  She shoved away from the door and shuffled wearily to the stairs when she heard her daughter’s small voice.

  “Mommy, is it morning time?”

  Lorelei’s heart sank as she looked up to see Lucy peeking through the bars of the banister. She’d been awakened, after all. Because of Mark, Lorelei wasn’t going to get the chance to sleep any more this morning.

  She wanted to tell her daughter to go back to bed, but she knew that wouldn’t be easy for Lucy, who was wide-awake and ready for the day.

  “Yes, it’s morning,” she said with a sigh. “Are you hungry?”

  Lucy clung tightly to the railing as she started down. “Yes. Can I have eggs?”

  “You bet.” Lorelei waited for her daughter to reach the bottom of the stairs before leading her into the kitchen. She assumed her sisters would both go back to bed. They were tired, too. But Reagan joined her and put on a pot of coffee.

  “You’re not going to get some sleep?” Lorelei asked.

  “I’ll hang out with you,” she replied. “Or why don’t you grab a few more hours? I’ll make Lucy’s eggs. Having breakfast together will give us a chance to get to know each other better, won’t it, Lucy?”

  “I want them sunny-side up,” Lucy said.

  Reagan cringed. “What about some good old-fashioned scrambled eggs? I don’t think I could go wrong with those.”

  Lorelei chuckled. It was obvious that Reagan had never had kids. “She likes them with a soft yolk and a piece of toast for dipping.”

  Reagan wrinkled her nose as if she didn’t quite know where to start. “I’m not much of a cook. But I should be able to manage that. Or a bowl of cold cereal. Or a bagel.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll do it,” Lorelei said. But after she slid the eggs onto Lucy’s plate, Reagan prevailed on her to go back to bed.

  “I’ve got it now,” she said. “Once I’m awake, I can’t go back to sleep, anyway. So Lucy and I will play a game. Everything will be fine. Go! Sleep!”

  Lorelei walked toward the stairs, but before she got there, she doubled back to give Reagan an impulsive hug for her thoughtfulness. “Thank you.”

  “That’s what sisters are for,” Reagan said with a smile.

  * * *

  reagan

  “Aunt Reagan?”

  Reagan’s stomach was a ball of nerves, and she had a tinny taste in her mouth from having drunk too much coffee without eating. She’d just finished typing her resignation, had been staring at her computer screen for the last five minutes, trying to work up the nerve to send it. But the impatience in Lucy’s voice told her this wasn’t the first time the little girl had tried to get her attention.

&
nbsp; “What?” She spoke mildly, despite the angst inside her. She had too many memories of her mother responding in a harsh, irritated voice when she’d been interrupted to want to perpetuate that behavior with another child.

  Lorelei’s daughter held up a sheet of the paper Reagan had given her. “Do you like it?”

  After rubbing her eyes to help ease her tiredness, Reagan made a show of studying the picture Lucy had drawn with some colored markers Reagan had found in a kitchen “catch-all” drawer. “I love it,” she said. “It’s very pretty. What is it?”

  “It’s you!” She sounded slightly offended that Reagan couldn’t immediately see the likeness.

  “Oh, right,” Reagan said. “Of course. The big head. The pointy nose. The purple mouth.” She noted the stick figure body Lucy had given her. “At least you made me skinny.”

  “Yeah,” Lucy said as if she understood what that meant and had done it intentionally.

  “Who are you going to draw next? Aunt Serenity?” Reagan imagined posting their humbling portraits on the fridge so they could joke about them throughout the summer.

  Lucy pushed the picture of Reagan out of the way so she could start on her next masterpiece. “No, Mommy.”

  Resting her chin on her fist, Reagan watched as Lucy drew another giant circle for the head. “Hmm. I get the feeling Mommy and I will look a lot alike.”

  “Yeah,” she said again, without glancing up.

  “What’s that?” Reagan pointed at some squiggly lines around Lorelei’s mouth. It appeared as though Lucy was giving Lorelei a beard.

  “That’s ice cream,” Lucy explained.

  Reagan hid a smile. The fact that she could feel like cracking up at this particular moment surprised her. She’d been on the verge of tears a few seconds ago. But this little girl’s innocence and honesty, and her wide-open heart, were endearing.

  “Hey, how are you two doing?”