Free Storm Warning by Caisey Quinn, Elizabeth Lee Page B

knew the real reason her father wanted to run for school board was to make sure that the unoccupied lots surrounding the school were sold to Prescott Development Industries. She and Hayden had overheard their fathers’ scheme to procure the land.
    If the voters of Summit Bluffs had half a brain in their heads, they would have looked into Prescott Development. Not only was her dad best friends with Kevin Prescott, he was also one of the shareholders that was going to benefit richly off the acquisition. Not that she’d complain, despite how shady it was—and it was shady. Because there was now a Starbucks and Pinkberry within walking distance from her high school. And thanks to her dad’s push for the off-campus lunch period, she was able to walk her happy ass right on over there each day.
    And her mother. She was as transparent as glass. When she’d win a pageant title, her mother would be the first one to wrap her arms around her and shed a few happy tears of pride . Theresa Nickelson was living vicariously through her daughter. Her tour on the pageant circuit had been cut short, thanks to Cami’s untimely arrival. Though Cami would lie to the masses and tell anyone who listened that she loved being in pageants, it was really just her guilt of being born that kept her in them. She actually felt as if she owed it to her mother.
    Cami shut the door as she watched Sophie pull down the driveway and turned her attention to the full-length mirror in the foyer. She smoothed the wrinkles out of the sheer white tunic she was wearing over her swimsuit and ran her fingers through her dark hair. She looked at the clock. Thirty minutes. Just thirty more minutes and he’d be there.
    As she walked through her big, empty house, she looked up at the family photos the interior decorator had strategically placed around each room. She briefly contemplated ripping them all down. The one with her mother in all her pageant glory. The one of her father and Hayden’s dad’s crew breaking ground on the new Rec center. The one of Cami and Hayden at last year’s senior prom, which should have been a fun memory, but it only reminded her that her parents had pushed her into that relationship too.
    Then there was the obnoxiously large portrait centered above the fireplace. The one that pushed their charade to the extreme. The one with her father sitting in the center with his airbrushed wife and daughter on each side of him. The one that said “Look at us! We’re the perfect family! Feel free to be envious!” She rolled her eyes and pulled open the French doors that led out to the backyard. The cool blue water of the pool sparkled in the sunlight, and for just one second, she imagined what it would be like to dive in and never come up.
    As the thought flickered in her mind, the rationalization that her parents would probably spin her death into some sort of PR campaign to boost their social status outweighed her inclination to drown herself. She could see the headlines now: TRAGIC DEATH OF A BEAUTY QUEEN. Her father would hire the best obituary writer in the state of Oklahoma and probably announce his candidacy for State Senator in the closing paragraph while her mother would inevitably start some foundation in her name that gave pageant dresses to underprivileged children.
    She smirked sadly as she shook her head. Not going to give them that satisfaction.
    And then there was the fact that the one person who actually cared about her—Sophie—would be left to clean up the mess. She wouldn’t do that to her. It’d be days before Sophie returned, and Cami wouldn’t scar the one person who would actually miss her. She wouldn’t leave that sweet woman with the images of her floating in that water.
    Even though she knew she wouldn’t do it, not really, the water called to her. Promised to ease the clawing ache inside, the one that whispered, No one would really even care.
    “What I wouldn’t give to know what you’re thinking right