Quiet Storm, Season 2, Episode 6 (Rising Storm) Read online

  For a second, Mallory’s expression softened and she looked—what?—almost hopeful? But then a cloud seemed to cross over her face, and she looked down at her feet. “I don’t know, Lace. I mean, you—”

  “Were a bitch. I know. Believe me, I know. And if this were just about me, I swear I’d just walk away if you aren’t ready. But it’s about Jeffry.”

  As she’d hoped, that got Mallory’s attention. “What? Has something happened to Jeffry?”

  Lacey glanced over her shoulder. “Can we go inside? I, um, don’t really want anyone to overhear.”

  “Oh.” Mallory’s eyes widened as she stepped aside, letting Lacey enter the familiar room.

  “You got some new posters. And I like the picture of you and Luis.”

  Mentioning Luis was probably a mistake, because Mallory suddenly went tense. Not that Lacey could blame her. After all, best friends weren’t supposed to steal each other’s boyfriends. But Lacey had gone completely off the rails. If Mallory never forgave her, Lacey figured that was fair.

  But she hoped for the best anyway.

  “What about Jeffry?” Mallory asked, apparently not in a forgiving mood.

  “I saw something,” she said. “But Mal, can I say I’m sorry again? I just—I just miss you and Luis so much, and I know I screwed up, and I’ve been wanting to tell you that and apologize, but I’ve been so afraid that you’d just tell me to go to hell.”

  Mallory sat on the edge of her bed. “I might. You’d deserve it.”

  “I know.” She looked around and then sat on Mallory’s vanity stool. When Mallory didn’t immediately tell her to get her ass off her furniture, Lacey chalked up one tiny victory.

  “So why now?”

  “I told you. I’m worried about Jeffry.”

  Mallory sucked her cheeks in and nodded. “Okay, then. Get on with it. Tell me why.”

  “I—I saw—oh, hell. Did you know that Jeffry’s gay?”

  From the way Mallory’s eyes went wide, Lacey guessed she hadn’t had a clue either.

  “How do you know?”

  “I saw something I wasn’t supposed to,” Lacey admitted, and then told Mallory the whole story, starting with how she’d gone to Jeffry’s because she felt so crappy after bumping into the three of them on the square yesterday.

  “He doesn’t know I saw anything,” she added, after she’d finished the story. “And it’s not like I care. I don’t. But Uncle Sebastian and Marylee—”

  “Yeah,” Mallory agreed. “No wonder Jeffry never said anything. His father gets wind of this, and it’s gonna be hell.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “We’ll go get Luis, and then we’ll go see Jeffry together.” Mal met Lacey’s eyes. “He needs to know his friends have his back. All his friends.”

  “Oh. Okay,” Lacey said, trying not to burst into tears like a baby.

  “And Lacey?” Mallory added with a tentative smile, “I really do like the shirt.”

  Chapter 8

  As far as Brittany was concerned, enough was enough.

  They’d just finished an amazing dinner at Farm to Table, and while it had been wonderful to just spend time with Marcus, she couldn’t help but resent the distance that still lingered between them. Not physical distance—on that score they were as close as two people could be.

  No, what Brit hated was the emotional distance. Not because they’d had a fight. Not because they didn’t care about each other.

  But because their arms didn’t reach far enough around the elephant in the room to let them truly come together.

  They had some sort of weird tacit agreement not to talk about where their relationship was going or what they wanted or how they were going to get together, and this irritating silence had popped up after that scene with Marcus’s mom and dad on the square—and, of course, with her father and grandmother’s constant, vocal disapproval.

  And so instead of being truly close, lately they’d been romantically polite.

  She even knew exactly what the agenda was for after dinner. They’d go someplace private, like maybe the lake, maybe into the hills. They’d make love, and it would be incredible and wonderful and Brit would feel lighter than air and safe in Marcus’s arms.

  And then she’d go home and feel like she had to walk on glass because god forbid she made a big deal out of dating Marcus.

  Well, she was tired of it.

  Tonight, things were going to change.

  “Give me your keys,” she said, holding her hand out to an amused Marcus.

  “What? You think I’m going to let you drive? That car’s my baby.”

  She put her free hand on her hip, snapped the fingers of her outstretched hand, and waited.

  He grinned and passed her the keys. “A woman on a mission. I like that.”

  “You have no idea,” she said, tossing her hair as he opened the driver’s door for her.

  “So where are we going?”

  “Guess you’ll find out, won’t you, mister?”

  She saw the amusement in his eyes. But it was heat that flared when she pulled up outside a room at a small motel, right on the outskirts of town. It was a ramshackle old place, but clean enough on the inside. And it was a true motel, where you could park right in front of your room.

  She’d checked in before dinner, and now she pulled the room key from her purse and waved it in the air.

  Marcus’s brows shot up. “Oh, really?”

  “Yup.” She opened the door. “Come on, stud.”

  His laugh filled the car, and he followed. “All right,” he said, once she’d closed the door behind them. “Now that you have me here, whatever are you going to do with me?”

  She tossed the key onto the bed. “Talk,” she said.

  Marcus frowned, looking like a little boy who’d just had Christmas canceled.

  She laughed and slid into his arms. “Talk first,” she said. “Because we really do need to.”

  He sighed, then kissed the top of her head. “Sometimes it feels like we’re in a real-life production of Romeo & Juliet. My family dragging you down. Your family pulling you away.”

  “No.” She shook her head violently. “One time I went with them because it seemed like the thing to do at the time, but that wasn’t a reflection of how I felt, Marcus, or what I want. I want you. Dammit, I love you.”

  “Brit—” She could hear the passion in his voice.

  “No, wait. Let me finish. Because I mean it. I. Love. You. And I don’t give a damn about your asshole of a father. No,” she corrected herself, “that’s not true. I do care. I care that he’s hurting your mother. I care that him being back is ripping you apart inside. But that doesn’t change anything between us. And neither does the fact that my father and grandmother are idiots. Do you think I care what they think? Do you think I’m like them?”

  “Baby, no. God no.”

  “Then trust me when I tell you it doesn’t matter what they think about you. About us. They’ll make it hard, maybe, but you’ve survived hard before.”

  “You haven’t. You don’t know what you’re stepping into. Not just your family’s wrath—which can hurt more than you think it will—but into my kind of life. I’m never going to wear a suit and sit behind a desk. My office is a fence post, and my commute is through the brush and the scrub on a well-polished saddle.”

  “Is that supposed to scare me off? Who do you think I fell in love with? I know you, Marcus Alvarez. I know all of you. And I know me, too. And here’s the thing—you think I don’t know hard, well, you’re only partially right. Maybe I haven’t had it hard in the same way you have. But I do know what it’s like not to get to be me. I’ve spent my whole life being a prop for my father’s political ambitions. Doing what’s good for the family. Rearranging my life in order to support my dad. Pretending not to care that he was never around when I was a kid. Never there for birthdays or walks in the park or any of it.

  “But I’m done with that. I know what I want, Marcus Alvare
z. And that’s you.”

  She licked her lips, studying his face, unable to read his expression. “So I guess the only question I have is, do you want me, too?”

  For a moment he said nothing. Then he pulled her close, his arms going tight around her as he pressed his face to her hair. Then he pushed her back just enough that he could ravage her mouth, his kisses hard and hot and needy.

  “Don’t you know you’re what makes me whole? I love you, Brit. God, I love you so much.”

  “Then we’re together on this? United no matter what our parents do or say?”

  “Together,” he promised.

  “Good.” She bit her lip mischievously as she looked around the room. “Well, that didn’t take long at all. And we have the room for the whole entire night. What on earth are we going to do now?”

  Roughly he pulled her to him, then kissed her until her legs went weak and he had to carry her to the bed. “I don’t know about you, Ms. Rush,” he said in the kind of voice that made her melt in his arms. “But I can think of one or two ways to pass the time.”

  * * * *

  Lacey watched as Luis Alvarez shook his head, looking more than a little shell-shocked at what Lacey and Mallory had just told him about Jeffry. “Wow,” he said. “That’s unexpected.”

  “We know,” Lacey said, nodding. “But we talked about it on the way over, and even though neither one of us realized anything, now that we think about it, it’s not hard to believe.”

  “We?”

  Mallory frowned. “What?”

  “Lacey keeps saying we.”

  Lacey’s stomach twisted. He was right. She wanted so much to be a “we” again that it just sort of slipped out naturally.

  Luis looked between the two of them. “Did you two kiss and make up, or what?”

  “No kissing,” Lacey said. “But I apologized.” She hung her head, then looked back up at him. “And I need to apologize to you, too. I was horrible.”

  “Yeah, you were.”

  “I know. And I could lay out a whole bunch of reasons why, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. The bottom line is that I’m really sorry. And I miss you. I miss Mallory. And I miss Jeffry. I miss us, you know?”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. They were in the gazebo by the courthouse, and for the moment at least, they were alone.

  “Luis?”

  “I miss us, too. I do. But, shit, Lacey, you expect me to just get past everything you did? I mean, you broke me and Mal up, remember? And what was that other thing you did? Let’s think—oh, yeah. You tried to get me to fuck you, and when I wouldn’t, you spread rumors about me. So, what? I’m just supposed to forget all that and jump on the Forgive Lacey train? Seriously?”

  “I know I was terrible.” Lacey’s voice shook as she tried to speak past the tears clogging her throat. “But Mal’s forgiven me. And Jeffry needs us.”

  “That’s it? Because I’m not Mal. Unless I missed a memo, you didn’t try to seduce her. And as for Jeffry, remind me why Mal and I need to have you along when we talk to him?”

  Tears streamed down Lacey’s cheeks.

  “Luis,” Mallory said gently. “Don’t.”

  “No,” Lacey said. “He’s right. I screwed up. I messed everything up. And now I miss you guys and Jeffry so much and it’s my own damn fault.”

  Luis’s brow scrunched at the mention of Jeffry’s name.

  “I’m sorry. And I’ll let you guys talk to him alone about all this. Maybe he’ll want to talk to me, too. I mean, I’m gonna reach out to him because I want him to know that I love him and miss him and don’t care if he’s gay, but we don’t have to go together. I get it.” She drew in a deep breath. “I get it,” she repeated. “And I’m really sorry.”

  “Oh, hell,” Luis said. His shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath. “Look, you really did a number on me. But I guess I kind of get it. And, honestly, a big part of me is saying that I’ll never forgive you.”

  “I know.” Lacey leaned against the side of the gazebo, suddenly queasy.

  “Luis, do you really have to—”

  “Hang on, Mal, and let me finish.”

  Mallory screwed up her mouth, clearly irritated, but crossed her arms over her chest and didn’t say another word.

  “But there’s another part of me, too.”

  Lacey lifted her head, trying not to be hopeful. “What do you mean?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Just that I understand.”

  Lacey glanced at Mallory, who looked as baffled as she felt. “What?”

  “The friendship thing, Lace. ’Cause you’re right. We do have to be there for each other. When it counts, friends stick together. And—and even though you messed up big time, I guess I did, too. I just saw the bitch, but I didn’t really look for why. So I’m sorry for that.”

  Lacey tried to speak, but couldn’t seem to manage.

  Beside her, Mallory nodded, looking miserable. “He’s right,” she said to Lacey. “I knew you were hurting, but I just let you push away. I didn’t come after you. I didn’t stick by you.”

  “You tried,” Lacey finally managed to say. “I was toxic, but you really did try. Both of you did, but I didn’t let you get close, and I’m so, so sorry.” They’d been over this ground already, but as far as Lacey was concerned, she couldn’t say it enough.

  “But that’s what I mean. I should have tried harder. I mean, we’re not going to give up on Jeffry if he tells us to get lost, are we?”

  “Hell, no,” Lacey said. “And since I’m standing right here, I guess that proves that you didn’t give up on me either.”

  “But—”

  “You didn’t,” Lacey said firmly. “And I love you both so much, and I’m so sorry, and I miss you something awful. Please, please, can we start over?”

  Mallory stared at her for a second and then shook her head. “No.”

  Lacey swallowed.

  “We have too much history for that,” Mallory continued. “But I think we can put all this behind us and move on. Or at least I can.”

  “I can, too,” Luis said.

  Lacey closed her eyes, relief flowing over her. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “We love you,” Mallory said. “And all best friends are supposed to have one really intense fight. So this is ours, okay? I mean, we’re done now.”

  Lacey actually laughed, and it felt good. “Agreed.” She held out her arms to embrace both Lacey and Luis. “Love you guys,” she said, as she squeezed them both tight.

  When they stepped back, they were all grinning, and Lacey felt lighter than she had in months.

  “So what now?”

  “Now we go see Jeffry,” Luis said.

  “We tell him that we love him and couldn’t care less if he’s gay,” Mallory added.

  “And we hope to hell my uncle isn’t home. Or if he is, that he doesn’t overhear that conversation.”

  Chapter 9

  “I’m glad we’re doing this,” Jeffry said to Lacey as they sat at one of the picnic tables at the campsite near Monarch Lake. “I’ve missed you, and I wanted to talk to you when I saw you on Saturday, but, well, I got sidetracked and everything got weird. So I guess it’s kind of serendipity that you called.”

  She’d visited him Monday afternoon and said that she wanted to get together with him and Mallory and Luis. That she wanted to apologize for being a bitch these last few months, and that she hoped he’d forgive her.

  “Are you kidding, Lace?” he’d said. “You’re my friend and my cousin. Of course I’ll forgive you. Do you think I don’t get how hard everything’s been on you?”

  “Yeah, well, you’re you. And you happen to be one of the nicest people on the planet. But I was even worse to Mallory. And I was completely off the rails with Luis. Will you tell them I want to talk? Maybe we could all get together?”

  And so that’s how they’d ended up at the lake. It seemed like a good place to Jeffry—someplace they’d all enjoyed hanging out before. A
nd a place where it wouldn’t be easy to storm off.

  “Here they are,” Lacey said, nodding as Luis’s Jeep pulled up the dusty drive.

  “It’s going to be fine,” Jeffry said when he saw Lacey bite her lip. He understood her being nervous. He just hoped everything went well. When he’d called Mallory and Luis, they’d both seemed keen on coming to mend fences, so fingers-crossed it went smoothly and they could all be tight again.

  “Hey,” Luis said, as he and Mallory approached the table.

  “So, I was thinking we should let Lacey talk first, okay?”

  “Sure,” Mallory said, glancing at Lacey, who caught her eye and nodded.

  Jeffry frowned. Something didn’t feel quite right, but before he could ask, Lacey started talking.

  “Well, the thing is, we kinda already made up.”

  “You already made up?” Jeffry looked between his friends. “Then why are we here? I mean, I want to hang out again, but why the big production?”

  Lacey swallowed, looking distinctly nervous. “You know how I came over and apologized yesterday?”

  “Um, duh. That’s why we’re here.”

  “Yeah, well, I tried to do that on Sunday. I went to your house, and I wanted to avoid Uncle Sebastian, so I went to the backyard figuring I’d go to the door by the media room, but you weren’t there.”

  Jeffry could feel his face start to burn and his heart start to pound in his chest.

  “And then I heard someone in the pool house and so I—”

  Jeffry held up his hands, stopping her. He opened his mouth to say something, but what? That she mistook what she saw? That he wasn’t gay?

  No way.

  He was gay, and he’d been burying that part of himself for too long. No more.

  Well, not to his friends, anyway. He was still scared to death about his parents finding out.

  “Jeffry,” Mallory said gently. “It’s okay. That’s why we’re here. To tell you we know and we’re cool with it.”

  “With what?” Jeffry asked, because he just had to be certain.

  “Come on, man,” Luis said. “Lacey saw you kissing Scott.” Jeffry breathed a sigh of relief that Lacey had showed up earlier rather than later, when she’d have seen more than just kissing. “You’re gay. That’s cool.” He lifted a shoulder. “Half the girls in school are gonna be damn disappointed, but it’s cool with us. Honestly.”