Rushing Waters Read Online Free PDF Page A

apartment, which was on the ground floor with a spectacular view of the Hudson River and the lights on the other side. It had taken a hit during Sandy, but she had staunchly refused to move afterward, even if there was a risk of it happening again. This was her home. She had had all the post-Sandy damage repaired.
    Blanche hopped up on the couch next to Grace, as the two women held hands, and Grace asked Ellen about the flight.
    “It was bumpy but fine. I guess the hurricane is coming,” Ellen commented, but her mother looked unconcerned.
    “It will wear itself out before it gets here. They always do.”
    After they’d been talking for two hours, Grace asked, “Do you want something to eat?” They wandered out to the kitchen, which was as beautiful as the rest of the apartment, and they nibbled from the fridge, but Ellen wasn’t really hungry. It was one in the morning for her by then, and she’d eaten enough on the plane. But she kept Grace company while she ate a salad. And as they sat talking for another half hour, Ellen forgot all about Charles Williams and how terrified he had been on the flight. Talking to him had helped pass the time during the bumpy end to the flight, but now she was home with her mother, and thoroughly enjoying her company.
    They were still catching up when Grace left her in the guest bedroom. Grace could hardly wait to spend ten days with her, and share a few easy, relaxed dinners. She kissed Ellen goodnight, and as soon as Ellen brushed her teeth and put on her nightgown, she climbed into bed, sent George a text telling him she had arrived safely, and she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
    —
    And at the Soho Grand, Charles sent his ex-wife Gina one last text before he went to bed, and hoped she would respond in the morning. This was not a scheduled visit, and he had come at the last minute. He knew she didn’t have to answer him if she didn’t want to, but all he wanted to do was see his girls and spend some time with them. He felt, as he always did, that he had gotten a new lease on life when the plane didn’t crash, and now he wanted to see them more than ever. It was like being resurrected, after he had been so sure he would die on the flight. In his mind, they had been spared. And all he had to do now was get hold of Gina, and see his girls. He missed them constantly now that they were living in New York. Charles always felt as though Nigel had stolen not only his wife from him but his children and his life. And despite being exhausted and the time difference, it took him hours to fall asleep, worried that Gina wouldn’t call.

Chapter 2
    It was pouring rain outside when Ellen woke up in the comfortable bed the next morning, in her mother’s guest room. Her mother had sold the apartment on Park Avenue that Ellen had grown up in when she moved to London and married George. Grace had moved downtown then, and loved the unusual two-level apartment she had found and reconfigured, in an old warehouse in Tribeca that had been turned into co-op apartments. There were twenty in the building, each one different, and Grace’s was the most unusual of all. The building was fully staffed, and like most of the apartments in Tribeca and the highly desirable areas downtown, units sold for a fortune. Grace felt totally at home in the lively atmosphere of the neighborhood, with families and young people living there, and she enjoyed the views along the river. She considered the Upper East Side too stuffy now, and went there as seldom as she could, except for her office, which was on Fifty-seventh Street and Park Avenue. Everything she needed and wanted to do socially or to relax was downtown, and Ellen always loved staying with her.
    Her mother was at her desk, checking her computer and paying some bills, when Ellen walked into the study her mother used when she occasionally worked at home. Since it was Saturday, Grace was wearing jeans and a red V-neck sweater with black ballet flats. She