Quiet Storm, Season 2, Episode 6 (Rising Storm) by Julie Kenner Read Free Book Online Page A

grabbed a breakfast smoothie from the fridge, and got in her car to drive to her aunt and uncle’s massive home. Jeffry’s car was in the driveway, so odds were good he was home. But she had no idea if Uncle Sebastian or Aunt Payton were there, too.
    She frowned as she headed up the walk toward the front door, because the truth was she really didn’t want to see her uncle. Being around Uncle Sebastian was so much worse than being around Ginny. Ginny had lied, and it hurt. All the more because Ginny had always felt like a sister, what with how close she and Jacob had been. But Uncle Sebastian was a grown-up. A married man. Honestly, it was just gross. And the fact that he was her relative made Lacey feel even worse.
    If she just waltzed up to the front door, the odds were good she’d come face to face with him. She considered texting Jeffry and telling him to meet her in the backyard, but if he ignored her text—or replied with a firm no —she’d feel even more miserable than she already did.
    But if she went to him instead of him coming to her...
    Smiling, she backtracked until she was off the walkway and heading instead around the side of the house. If Jeffry was home, he was either in his bedroom or in the media room. Considering how much he liked video games, she’d lay money on the second.
    And considering the media room had its own set of French doors that opened onto the back patio, that was the perfect way to get in to see Jeffry and entirely avoid her uncle.
    Of course, he could also be in his room, but that was easy, too. She and Mallory and Luis had spent years climbing the tangled oak tree with the limb that extended over the roof. If she had to, she could get right to Jeffry’s window. But she had to admit, she hoped she didn’t have to.
    The house was so quiet, by the time she reached the back patio she was feeling a little silly. The water in the pool was completely still. No leaves rustled. The house seemed as quiet as the garden around her. Most likely, Jeffry had gone somewhere with Brit and left his car behind. And now that she thought about it, hadn’t she read something in the local paper about the senator being in Austin today for some charity shindig?
    The blinds were closed in the media room—the better to keep it dark—but one of the wood slats was chipped, and Lacey pressed her eye to the glass and peered through.
    Nothing.
    Her shoulders drooped with disappointment. But at least she’d come. She’d tried. And she could try again tomorrow.
    She was just about to head back around the house to her car when she heard a muffled sound. She couldn’t tell what it was, but it sounded as if it was coming from the yard behind her.
    Curious, she glanced around, then rolled her eyes at herself when she saw the pool house. Of course that would be where Jeffry was. He probably had his iPod and a book and a beer and was hanging out on that ratty old couch that even Aunt Payton, who liked everything nice, wouldn’t replace since it would just get ruined again by all the dripping wet kids who plopped down on it after taking a dip.
    She hurried that way, thinking that a beer sounded like a pretty good idea. It was certainly one way to break the ice.
    As she got closer, she noticed that all the curtains were closed, which was odd since Jeffry usually liked the sun to stream in. She hoped she wasn’t interrupting a nap, but if she was, that was too damn bad. She was geared up for a heart-to-heart now, and nothing was going to make her back down.
    A second later, she realized that she was completely wrong about that.
    The moment she put her hand on the doorknob she saw that there was a gap in the curtains. And in that same moment, she realized she could see through the gap to the couch.
    It took a few more seconds for what she saw to actually process in her head. But when it did, she pulled her hand back slowly, and then quietly stepped away.
    Oh. My. God .
    Jeffry and that Scott guy from the florist,