Free Blinding Rain, Season 2, Episode 7 (Rising Storm) by Elisabeth Naughton Page A

from her house instead of toward it.
    That pressure in Brittany’s chest increased because she knew what betrayal looked like. And even though she knew she had nothing to feel guilty about, she did. Her heart sank.
    “Was that Ginny Moreno?” Delia asked. “I saw her the other day at the florist shop but didn’t realize it was her. I heard about her little scandal all the way in Dallas. Now there’s someone who’s a worse influence than I am.”
    Brittany ignored Delia’s comment and turned toward Marcus, an urgency she didn’t quite understand but needed to listen to pushing at her. “I’m sorry to do this, but do you mind if I cut our date short?”
    “I don’t mind at all.” Marcus smiled down at her and squeezed her hand again. “Do you want me to go with you?”
    She rose on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I think I need to do this on my own. Thank you for understanding.”
    “Call me after.”
    She smiled at him once more, then turned toward Delia and Logan. Delia looked confused. Logan looked...conflicted.
    “Sorry, guys. I gotta go. Dinner was fun.” Brittany glanced toward Logan and caught the uneasy look in his eyes, but she didn’t care what he thought. This wasn’t about him and Ginny. It was about her and Ginny. It was about that broken look she’d seen in her friend’s eyes just before she’d turned away. A look she knew well because she’d seen it in her mother’s eyes for years.
    With one last smile at Marcus, she let go of his hand and moved away from the group, following Ginny around the corner. She didn’t know where Ginny was heading, but she had a hunch, and considering how slow Ginny was these days, Brittany figured she should be able to catch up with her before she got too far ahead.
    The lights were on when she reached the park. It wasn’t dark yet, but it would be soon. She scanned the playground but didn’t see Ginny. Her heart sped up as she narrowed her gaze and looked across the grass and through the oak trees. And when she spotted Ginny sitting at the base of one, leaning against the large trunk, her feet moved forward all on their own.
    Ginny didn’t hear her as she approached, and Brittany wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She wasn’t sure about anything at the moment—not what she wanted to say or why she was here—she only knew it was time. Time to stop ignoring each other and talk.
    “Hey,” she said when she drew close.
    Startled, Ginny looked up and blinked damp lashes in the fading light. “Brittany. What...?” Her gaze skipped past Brittany, searching for the rest of the group she’d seen, Brittany realized.
    “I’m alone.” Brittany glanced down at the grass. “Mind if I sit?”
    “Um. I guess.”
    Brittany sank to the grass and folded her legs in front of her. As Ginny watched her with confusion and unease, Brittany’s nerves kicked in. Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure what to say. Biting her lip, she glanced up at the oak above them. “Remember all the times we sat in this park under these trees?”
    “Yeah.”
    Silence hung between them. Brittany cleared her throat. “Speaking of trees, did you hear that Lacey wants to put a bench under the Storm Oak? She’s starting a fundraising campaign to have one built in his honor.”
    “I know. That’s really great of her.”
    Yeah, it really was. Especially considering how off-kilter Lacey had been acting the last few months. Brittany knew a lot of that acting out had been a result of losing her brother. But Lacey was really pulling it together. Even Jeffry had told Brittany how impressed he was by Lacey’s maturity lately. People reacted to tragedy in very different ways. As Brittany looked back at her friend, she knew that wasn’t an excuse for any of the things Ginny had done—especially regarding her affair with Brittany’s father—but the lies after Jacob’s death...could Brittany really blame her for those?
    “Are you okay?” Brittany asked.
    “Me? Yeah, I’m