That Rainy Day: A Novel

As Veronica Adamo grows up motherless in an Italian neighborhood in East Baltimore, she passes her time listening to her jazz musician father play the piano, hanging with the neighbor boys, crabbing at the dock, and swimming in the dark harbor waters. With her poor and broken best friend, Dalton Braskey, always by her side, Veronica eventually matures into a woman who attends college. But when she captures the eye of Karl Jasinski, a fast-talking, handsome musician, everything changes for Veronica. Without a mother to guide her, Veronica throws caution to the wind and soon falls prey to the dark world that surrounds Karl. Lured away from common sense and her friendship with Dalton by drugs, good times, and easy money, Veronica struggles to escape her father’s despair about his failing career and fear of losing her. But when he finally reveals the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of her mother at the same time Karl shows his true colors, a now emotionally fragile Veronica asks Dalton to do the unthinkable as her life comes full circle in one life-changing moment. That Rainy Day shares the poignant tale of a young woman’s coming-of-age journey as she strives to deal with loss and life’s unfortunate twists and turns.