When We Were Friends

A chance meeting between former best friends Lainey Carson and Sydney Beaumont, who haven't seen each other since they left high school in Newport News, Va., 18 years earlier, leads to lies and deceptions aplenty in this less than satisfying psychological melodrama from Arnold (Pieces of My Sister's Life). Sydney, the proprietor of an occult shop, Six of Swords, where artist Lainey has interviewed to paint a mural, manages to persuade her childless old friend to hide her 12-month-old, Molly, to keep the baby safe from her abusive husband, whom Sydney plans to divorce. When Sydney and her hubby later announce on national TV that their baby has been kidnapped, Lainey must go on the run with Molly, to whom she grows increasingly attached. Unlikable main characters will make it tough for readers to root for this twisted tale's supposed heroes, Lainey and Alex, the solemn stranger who appears out of nowhere to try to save her from her fears. (Mar.)