After the Storm: Midseason Episode 1 (Rising Storm) Read Online Free PDF Page B

doing?”
    Luis Moreno was important to Mallory. She hadn’t really thought about how her announcement would affect Luis. Or Marisol.
    Mallory sighed and sat back. “I don’t know. I’ve talked to him briefly but I haven’t seen him. It’s kind of hard when you have two guards dedicated to keeping you apart.”
    “Marcus is still being rough on you, huh?”
    A groan told Dakota everything she needed to know. “He’s devoted himself to ensuring my purity.”
    Sometimes Dakota wished Marcus had been so devoted to her. Of course, she was likely one of the reasons Marcus was so focused on making sure Mallory stayed away from Luis. He’d seen how poorly it could go when he didn’t become involved. Still, she felt for her sister. “He’ll let up after a while. He’ll see that you make good choices.”
    Her sister blushed, the pink creeping up her skin. “Do I? I’m not so sure about that. God, it was so embarrassing.”
    Her sister’s attempt to seduce Luis had apparently not gone as well as she would have liked. “Hey, at least your almost affair was age appropriate. Marcus has to understand that. Especially now that he’s involved with…oh god. He’s all into Brittany Rush now. I didn’t even think about that.” Her stomach hurt. “He’s going to hate me.”
    She definitely hadn’t thought about what it would mean to Marcus. Or Brittany. She supposed Brittany really should know that her best friend was boinking her dad, but Marcus would likely get all protective. And not of Dakota.
    Maybe her mom was right and this wasn’t going to go the way she thought it would.
    “I don’t think he’ll hate you, but he probably wishes you’d handled it another way. You need sensitivity training, sister.”
    It was said with a little affection so Dakota didn’t bristle. “That sounds horrible. Mom thinks everyone in town is going to hate me.”
    “I don’t know about everyone. There’s definitely a contingent that is going to thank you.”
    Dakota brightened. “I know, right? They’ll be glad I brought it all out into the open. Don’t shrinks say that all the time? You have to be honest before you can start healing?”
    Mallory’s eyes widened. “I don’t think they meant it quite like that and I wasn’t talking about the actual people involved in the scandal. No. I was talking about the gossips. They’ll be thrilled. You’ve given them something to talk about for years to come.”
    At least someone would be happy. “I really am sorry if it hurt Luis. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
    “We all do things wrong, Dakota. No one’s perfect. That’s why I want you to think about apologizing to Ginny. Not for telling the truth, but for the way you did it. For not giving her the chance to come forward herself.”
    “She hadn’t come forward.” It still rankled that Ginny had taken the place Dakota had always wanted for herself. Jacob Salt was supposed to be hers. He was supposed to be the man who got her out of this godforsaken town and treated her like she should be treated. She’d been the one who loved Jacob, not Ginny. “She wasn’t going to. She was going to use the Salts and let them think her baby was Jacob’s when it couldn’t have been.”
    She wouldn’t have turned Jacob away because he couldn’t have kids. Hell, it might have been a plus. It could have been just the two of them. She could have made him happy. And if he really wanted a couple of kids, they could have adopted.
    “We’ll never know now, but that’s not important. What is important is how we all get through this,” Mallory said with a long sigh. “I just want you to know that I’m here if you need to talk. Whatever happens we’re still a family and we’ll get through this.”
    Dakota glanced at the clock. She was anxious to get to work and get back to some kind of normalcy. “Thanks. I’m here if you need anything, too. I can always distract Marcus if you and Luis ever want to try again. I’m really good at