Falling for Hope by Natalie Vivien Read Free Book Online Page B

space) made her feel anxious.   She liked things the way they were.   But when she considered Hope, considered
sharing her life with Hope…   Then
her feelings changed.   It was strange, really.   Amy considered this realization as the
kitten curled up in her lap, made a tiny sigh, and fell fast asleep.
    The sky darkened further, and it
began to rain.
    The rainfall was slow, at first;
the big, fat drops splatting against the windshield were almost
rhythmic.   But as they hit the gravel
road and crunched beneath the trees, the rain began to come down harder,
falling through the leaves and obscuring the view out of the windshield.
    “Shit,” muttered Lindsey, slamming
on the breaks as the windshield wipers worried at the rain.   Amy peered through the mist and downpour and
saw what had made Lindsey stop: there was a fallen tree blocking the road that
led back up to the cabin.
    “What do we do?” Amy asked,
swallowing.   They had driven this way on
the trip down the mountain, and the tree had been standing then.   The wind buffeted against the side of the
truck with a whomp , making the hairs on Amy’s arms stand to
attention.   The storm was descending,
and it was much, much more powerful, more angry than yesterday’s storm.   Amy could feel it in her bones.
    “Well,” said Lindsey, letting the
truck idle for a moment, her hands stretched out on the steering wheel as she
thought.   “We could try to off-road it.”
    “You’re not serious,” said Amy,
mouth open as she looked at the dense underbrush that the truck would have to
cut through on either side of the downed tree.
    “I mean, it’s either that or walk,”
said Lindsey apologetically.   She thrust
the truck down into a lower gear and pressed on the gas.  
    Amy didn’t even have time to grab
onto anything, the seatbelt tightening painfully against her chest as the truck
launched off the road, careened down into the ditch and began to mow the small
trees and bushes.
    “It’s a tank,” said Lindsey with a
grin, patting the dashboard affectionately as the truck continued to barrel
through the mud and bracken, wheels turning and pulling around the downed
tree.   The rain came down in buckets,
and Amy wasn’t quite certain how Lindsey was able to see to steer, but as the
truck climbed through the ditch and back up onto the gravel road, both women
sighed with relief.  
    “Thanks for driving,” said Amy
weakly, and Lindsey smiled, pressing down on the gas.
    “I’m just glad we took the truck,”
Lindsey laughed.   She continued to
smile, even when there was a blinding flash of lightning, instantly followed by
a crash of thunder.   The afterimage of
the lightning streak burned behind Amy’s eyes, even after she blinked, and she
realized that the lightning had struck one of the trees right by the road.   She watched in horrified fascination as the
tree began to fall—thankfully in the opposite direction of the road and truck.
    “Let’s get back to that cabin,”
growled Lindsey, slamming the gas pedal to the floor.
    Amy tried, very, very hard, not to
think of Hope out in this terrible weather.   Surely she’d noticed the threatening clouds—even if they had appeared
suddenly—and surely she would have begun to make her way back down the
mountain, back toward safety.   But all
Amy could think about was the steep, treacherous trails that were dangerous
even on a good, dry day and could turn fatal after a rainstorm, making
everything underfoot too slippery to navigate.   Even though they were small-ish, there were still cliffs and gullies and
a million and one ways for someone to break their leg.   As Amy continued to fret, the kitten woke
up, yawned hugely, and stared up at her, pushing her little whiskers out.  
    Amy held tightly to the animal,
stroking her soft back, until Lindsey finally parked beside the cabin and the
two of them ran indoors.
    “Is Hope here?” Amy called,
dripping all over the kitchen tiles.   She and