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

fine.” Ginny swiped at her cheeks and tried to put on a tough-girl face, but Brittany knew her too well to buy it.
    “I’m not,” Brittany said with a sigh, figuring honesty was the only way to go at this point.
    Ginny turned concerned eyes her way. “I heard about your parents. I’m sorry. I hope...” She swallowed hard. “I hope that wasn’t about me.”
    “It wasn’t.”
    Ginny nodded and looked down at her hands, and the awkward silence settled between them once more. One Brittany didn’t know how to bridge. She thought about getting up, about leaving, but she hadn’t come here just to walk away. She pulled up her courage and decided if there was ever a time to lay it all on the line, now was that time.
    “So I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to understand or forget what you did with...my dad.” She closed her eyes because just saying the words brought up images she didn’t want to see. “I mean, my dad. Ew. I get that some women think he’s attractive but...he’s my dad.”
    “I know,” Ginny said in a quiet voice laced with guilt. “And I don’t have any kind of explanation except that I was vulnerable and stupid and not thinking.”
    “Yeah.” Brittany’s eyes shot open with a mixture of disgust and anger she couldn’t hold back. “You were.” But just as quickly as the anger hit, she looked at Ginny and realized being vindictive wasn’t going to change anything. All it would do was make them both continue to feel awful.
    Brittany sighed. “But I also know that it takes two to do...what you did, and I know my father isn’t innocent. I’ve seen him with girls our age before. I know how he is. If you were feeling vulnerable like you said, he would have used that to his advantage.”
    Ginny blinked several times and looked back down at her hands. And even though it was none of Brittany’s business, she couldn’t stop herself from asking, “What were you feeling vulnerable about? Was it Jacob?”
    Ginny released a sound that was half groan, half laugh and closed her eyes as she ran a hand through her hair. “About the fact I’d been in love with him forever and he had no idea? Yeah, you could say that.” She sighed. “I know it doesn’t mean much now, but if I could go back and change what I did, I would. It was the biggest regret of my life, and not just because of what people think of me now but because of the way I hurt you.” She looked up at Brittany, and tears shimmered in her eyes when she said, “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”
    Brittany’s heart contracted, and she wanted to reach out and hug her friend, but she wasn’t sure if she could. Or even if she should. “I know.”
    Blinking quickly, Ginny looked back down at her hands.
    Long seconds passed in silence, and Brittany knew it was still none of her business, but she had to ask. “Did you and Jacob really sleep together?”
    Ginny lifted a shaky hand and swiped at her cheeks with a nod. “After the Turbo Fruit concert. It just happened the one time, and after, I was afraid he wasn’t in love with me the way I was in love with him, but...that one night was perfect. He made me feel special. Like all the stuff I’d done wrong didn’t matter. That the only thing that mattered was...us.”
    Brittany studied Ginny, and in the dim light, she saw truth in Ginny’s expression. The rest of her anger slowly seeped out of her.
    “What are you going to do if this baby isn’t Jacob’s?” Brittany asked softly.
    Ginny drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t know.”
    “Now that my parents have split, my dad won’t have much to lose by admitting to the affair. If he can use your baby politically, he will.”
    Ginny drew another deep breath and lifted her gaze to Brittany’s. “I know,” she said softly.
    “What will you do if he does that? What if he tries to get custody?”
    Ginny placed a protective hand on her belly. “Then I’ll fight him.”
    The resolve Brittany heard in Ginny’s