“What do you mean?”
“C’mon, Rae. Sally’s and Katherine’s daughters have been close since they were little . . . and Lark was on the outside. The friend they let tag along. They never fully brought her into their private circle. As if she wasn’t good enough.”
The baldly honest remark was delivered with affection. It was meant to enlighten—not injure Rae with a reminder of how the other girls had treated Lark as second-best. Besides, Yuna spoke the truth: Jackie and Stella never considered Lark an equal.
“The way they treated my daughter was never right,” she agreed. “But, honestly, I’ve never liked Katherine. She’s catty and superficial. You must achieve a certain net worth before she’ll consider adding you to her posse. Haven’t you ever noticed? All she does is shop and primp.”
“She’s bored, Rae. She didn’t take her divorce well.”
The remark stirred the pity Rae didn’t want to feel. Two years ago, Katherine’s husband, a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, ran off with one of his nurses. He’d been a lousy father before that. Rae couldn’t recall a time when he’d shown up for a school activity. Not once. Stella hadn’t been a true-blue friend to Lark, but the kid had deserved better. The ink was barely dry on Katherine’s divorce before the fortyish divorcée was back on the hunt for a new husband. There were women convinced they couldn’t function without a man. They viewed single life as a demotion in status.
In balance, however, the family’s personal issues didn’t matter.
“Can we get something straight?” Rae folded her arms. “On the night of the slumber party, Katherine shouldn’t have left the house. Not even for an errand.”
“I agree.”
“I’ll always wonder if Lark would be alive. If Katherine had stayed home, Lark wouldn’t have gone outside and slipped on ice.”
“I get it. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Leaping up from her chair, Yuna wrapped her arms around Rae. “I love you. I only want you to—”
“Put my life back together.”
“Because you deserve happiness.”
“Whatever.”
“Cheer up. You’ll get there.” Hugging tighter, Yuna rested her head against the lapels of Rae’s coat. “Do you love me?”
“Not when you lay on this much sugar.” Grinning, Rae struggled out of her arms. She shook the tension from her neck as Yuna returned to her chair. Reconsidering, she added, “I do like your kooky side. You’re never boring.”
“Spontaneity is my secret sauce.”
Yuna opened her carton of Thai. It seemed odd when she took a hesitant sniff. She was crazy for the stuff. Rae was about to ask if there was a problem with the carryout when Yuna spoke again.
“Don’t keep me in suspense. Who did you see this morning?”
“I had two seconds of face time with the deplorable Mr. Cox.” Rae chuckled. “The best two seconds of my day, so far.”
“The man you paid to free Quinn’s dog?”
“The one and only. Cox strolled into the drugstore. I was picking up a scrip for my dad on my way to work.”
“Rae, you won the battle. The dog is safe. There’s no reason to pick a fight with Mr. Cox.”
“I didn’t! He took one look at me and darted into the shampoo aisle. Knocked over a display case and kept on moving. There were bottles of shampoo rolling across the floor, but he never looked back.” She chortled. “He couldn’t escape fast enough.”
Yuna picked up her fork. “Putting the fear of God into the average man. You must be proud.”
“Watching him hightail it did feel good.”
“I’m sure.” Yuna gestured at Rae’s briefcase. “You have the quotes?”
In between training the new employees at the Witt Agency, Rae was making progress for the June event, Night on the Square.
“All done. Quotes for brochures, posters, flyers—you name it. Three of the quotes are from printers here in the county. One is from Mentor. A larger outfit, and their prices are competitive.” She handed over a sheaf of papers. “The final decision is yours.”
“One task down, but we have a million other considerations. We still need a theme for the event. So far, no one on the committee has come up with a compelling idea. I’m tired of themes around moonlight and flowers.”
“Older couples like the traditional fare. Anything that stinks of romance. It draws them like flies.”