When the Rain Ends

PRAISE FOR MARY ELLEN TAYLOR “Mary Ellen Taylor writes comfort reads packed with depth . . . If you’re looking for a fantastic vacation read, this is the book for you!” —Steph and Chris’s Book Review, on Spring House “A complex tale . . . grounded in fascinating history and emotional turmoil that is intense yet subtle. An intelligent, heartwarming exploration of the powers of forgiveness, compassion, and new beginnings.” —Kirkus Reviews, on The View from Prince Street “Absorbing characters, a hint of mystery, and touching self-discovery elevate this novel above many others in the genre.” —RT Book Reviews, on Sweet Expectations “Taylor serves up a great mix of vivid setting, history, drama, and everyday life.” —Herald Sun, on The Union Street Bakery “A charming and very engaging story about the nature of family and the meaning of love.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer, on Sweet Expectations THE WORDS WE WHISPER “Taylor expertly employs the parallel timelines to highlight the impact of the past on the present, exploring the complexities of familial relationships while peeling back the layers of her flawed, realistic characters. Readers are sure to be swept away.” —Publishers Weekly “A luscious interweaving of a spy thriller and a family saga.” —Historical Novels Review HONEYSUCKLE SEASON “This memorable story is sure to tug at readers’ heartstrings.” —Publishers Weekly WINTER COTTAGE “Offering a look into bygone days of the gentrified from the early 1900s up until the present time, this multifaceted tale of mystery and romance is sure to please.” —New York Journal of Books “There is mystery and intrigue as the author weaves a tale that pulls you in . . . this is a story of strong women who persevere . . . it’s a love story, the truest, deepest kind . . . and it’s the story of a woman who years later was able to right a wrong and give a home to the people who really needed it. It’s layered brilliantly, and hints are revealed subtly, allowing the reader to form conclusions and fall in love.” —Smexy Books OTHER TITLES BY MARY ELLEN TAYLOR Winter Cottage Spring House Honeysuckle Season The Words We Whisper The Brighter the Light Union Street Bakery Novels The Union Street Bakery Sweet Expectations Alexandria Series At the Corner of King Street The View from Prince Street This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Otherwise, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Text copyright © 2023 by Mary Burton All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. Published by Montlake, Seattle www.apub.com Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. ISBN-13: 9781542034531 (paperback) ISBN-13: 9781542034524 (digital) Cover design by Ploy Siripant Cover image: © Alliance Images / Shutterstock; © NikonShutterman / Getty CONTENTS START READING CHAPTER ONE DANI CHAPTER TWO BELLA CHAPTER THREE DANI CHAPTER FOUR JACKSON CHAPTER FIVE BELLA CHAPTER SIX DANI CHAPTER SEVEN BELLA CHAPTER EIGHT DANI CHAPTER NINE BELLA CHAPTER TEN DANI CHAPTER ELEVEN DANI CHAPTER TWELVE BELLA CHAPTER THIRTEEN DANI CHAPTER FOURTEEN DANI CHAPTER FIFTEEN BELLA CHAPTER SIXTEEN DANI CHAPTER SEVENTEEN BELLA CHAPTER EIGHTEEN DANI CHAPTER NINETEEN JACKSON CHAPTER TWENTY DANI CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE DANI CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO DANI CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE BELLA CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR DANI CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE BELLA CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX DANI CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN BELLA CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT DANI CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE DANI CHAPTER THIRTY JACKSON CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE BELLA CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO DANI CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE DANI CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR DANI CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE BELLA CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX DANI EPILOGUE DANI ABOUT THE AUTHOR Do not squander time. It is the stuff life is made of. —Benjamin Franklin CHAPTER ONE DANI Outer Banks, North Carolina Friday, June 2, 2023 11:00 a.m. Blue. Describing the colors of the Currituck Sound had once been a complicated business for Dani Manchester. On sunny days, she’d have spoken of navy hues streaked with teal bands. Or traces of cobalt mingling with indigo. Sapphire marbling ribbons of cerulean. On overcast mornings, she’d have searched the greens on her mental color wheel for olives, emeralds, and jades. And then there were the undertones. Black. Gray. Avocado. Blue was a fine color. Nothing wrong with blue. But as a descriptor of this body of water, it fell flat. Today as she drove across the Wright Memorial Bridge toward her new life on the mainland, she scrambled through her adjectives, hoping to translate the clear sky and calm waters into the familiar. But today, all the magical descriptors escaped her. And the only word that came to mind was “blue.” No vibrant displays, no heart-pounding bursts, no exotic tints. Just blue. Light. Clarity. Vision. They were her stock-in-trade as an artist and gallery owner. And they were all fading. Dani’s carefully curated future had been rewritten a year ago by a doctor in Norfolk, Virginia, who’d told her she was slowly losing her sight. Retinitis pigmentosa was what the doctor called it. A genetic disease that in her case had led to the slow narrowing and darkening of her vision. Her doctor had likened her field of vision to the interior of a pipe. For now, the cylinder was almost at full capacity, but it would narrow to the circumference of a straw. It could be years (number undetermined) before she lost her vision completely. Or it might all vanish next fall. She’d made it through the tourist season last year at her Duck, North Carolina, art gallery because she was so familiar with every turn in the road, all the street crossings and speed limit signs and parking lot entrances. During last winter’s lull, for the first time in her life, she’d dreaded the arrival of the spring and summer tourists. The season always brought vacationers who crossed Duck Road without looking, cycled a knife’s edge from traffic,