After the Storm: Midseason Episode 1 (Rising Storm) Read Free Page A

the chaos of yesterday it seemed everyone had spread out and now they were hunkered down, trying to survive the storm Dakota had set off. So she’d woken up this morning and texted instead of calling, hoping for any news about how he was faring.
    I’m all right. I can’t talk now. I promise we’ll talk later.
    She waited a few minutes, hoping for more. It was all Jeffry Rush would say, it seemed. She wanted to go over to his place and force him to talk to her, but she wasn’t even sure where he was. He was the closest thing she had to a friend right now, and she hated the fact that she couldn’t talk to him.
    I’m here if you need me.
    The phone vibrated, a comforting sensation. It meant someone was out there.
    You okay?
    At least he cared. That made her feel a little better. Without Jeffry she might not have a friend in the world right now. Not after the way she’d screwed up. She typed back.
    No, but I’m fine if that makes sense. She was calm, collected. It was odd, actually. Yesterday had been horrible, but it had also freed her in a way. She didn’t have to think about her own misery.
    Perfectly. Talk later.
    She took a deep breath and sat back, looking out the window. The day was bright and sunny outside and that seemed so unfair. There should be clouds and storms. The sky shouldn’t be so blue when everything inside seemed dark.
    She heard the sound of a door swinging open and then the slight squeak of footsteps on the stairs. Lacey stood up, watching the hallway. Her mother walked out and Lacey nearly teared up. Her mother was always buttoned up. Always prim and proper. The woman would wear pearls to clean a floor. If she cleaned floors. It always annoyed her before and now her heart ached at the sight of her mother still dressed in her robe and gown, looking disheveled.
    “Can I get you some coffee, Momma?”
    Her mother stopped as though surprised to see her standing there. “I can do it.”
    Lacey moved into the kitchen. “Or you can sit down and let me take care of you.”
    A frown creased her mother’s face. “Why would you do that?”
    It was a valid question and one that usually would get her annoyed. She didn’t like to be questioned, but now she could see why. She’d never wanted to have to admit to her own motivations, which were almost always selfish. It was easier to deal with when all she wanted to do was comfort someone else. “Because I want to.”
    “You never wanted to before.”
    And her mother had never spoken to her quite so sharply before. Another gift from Ginny Moreno. Lacey sighed and got one of the coffee mugs down from the cabinet. She’d thought about it all night and couldn’t quite work up the will to hate Ginny. It had been easier to hate her when she’d been the perfect little daughter-in-law bearing the miracle child.
    Somehow she was easier to relate to now that she was only human. The trouble was Lacey had figured out her parents were only human, too.
    Adulting sucked. She kind of wished she could go back to being a real teenager—self-centered and unconcerned about anything or anyone around her. That had been her mere months before. Before she’d screwed up. Before she’d lost her best friend. Before she’d missed her brother so much it hurt.
    It had struck her deep in the middle of the night that she and Sara Jane were all her parents had left and Sara Jane wasn’t around much. They’d lost Jacob and then Ginny and her miracle baby. If she was all that was left, perhaps she should be a better daughter than the one she’d been before.
    She poured the coffee into the mug and walked across the tile. It was cool on her bare feet and expensive as hell. Everything in the house was expensive and selected with the greatest care. None of it protected her parents from heartache.
    “No, I didn’t,” she replied as she sat down across from her mother. “But I do now and I hope you’ll let me.”
    Her mother put her hands around the coffee mug as though she