Something of a Storm (All in Good Time Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

cup of coffee.
    Lexi was following me down the hall, and we shared a surprised expression when I glanced back at her.
    "I didn't think you'd be up," I said looking back at Mom. I used a quiet but cheerful tone, hoping to put everything behind us. She let out a scoff and glared at us through narrowed eyes. She looked especially rough. "You think I slept?" she asked sarcastically. She stared at us with the same angry expression she'd been wearing the last two days. "Do you actually think I can sleep when my only family in the whole world is deserting me?" Her expression was wild-eyed, almost murderous. "You girls must think you're hot stuff heading down to California and leaving your poor mother here to die!"
    "We're not leaving you here to die, Mom," I said calmly.
    Her eyes widened even further—it seemed as though they might just pop right out of her head. "Well did either of you ever ask if I wanted to go with you ?"
    Lexi and I both stared at her for a few seconds. Lexi inched closer to me, and I could tell she was scared.
    "No." I said quietly.
    "Well why not Delaney?" She stood and pointed an angry finger straight at me. "Why are you leaving your mother here to die?" she yelled desperately.
    "You're not going to die mom." I said quietly.
    She was between us and the door, and I wondered how we'd ever get out of there with her in this condition. I decided to try to be direct and honest. I spoke in a calm, measured tone as if she was a bomb that was about to explode, which she was.
    "Mom, we've had these plans for months. It's not like we're just randomly picking up and taking off. Kids leave home all the time—it's what happens when you grow up. Lexi and I are going to California for a while. It doesn't mean we'll never be back, and it certainly doesn't mean you're going to die here without us."
    She was quiet for a few seconds, and I wondered if she might just say something reasonable when she opened her mouth again. "You know I depend on you, Laney. You know you girls are all I have." She was speaking in a calm tone for that part, but then her eyes widened and she pointed that aggressive finger at me again. "You are leaving me here to die and you know it Delaney Rockwell. If I die when you go, my blood is on your hands. I just want you to know that."
    "You're going to be fine, Mom." I said trying, for Lexi's sake to remain calm.
    Our mom put her face in her hands and let out a long, defeated sigh. Silence filled the room for several long seconds. She sighed again before saying, "Five hundred."
    "What?" I asked, having no idea what she was talking about.
    "You heard me." She pointed her finger at the table and hit it a few times with a thump, thump, thump. "I know you have money stashed away in that little purse of yours." She hit her finger on the table again. "You probably have at least a thousand dollars in there."
    "And you're asking me for five hundred of it?" I asked in disbelief.
    She glared at me. "I think it's the least you can do since you're leaving me!" she screamed.
    "Just give it to her," Lexi whispered at my back. She nudged me forward.
    I dug in my wallet without pulling it out of my purse. I knew the hundred dollar bills were stacked in the back, so without even looking, I counted them out. I almost pulled three or four of them out instead of five and told her she could make do with less than she was requesting, but without much deliberation, I made the decision to go ahead and give her what she was asking for. I pulled five bills out of my wallet and placed them on the table in front of her.
    She stared up at me for a few heartbeats. "You can leave now," she finally said.
    Lexi and I walked out without another word.
    "She didn't mean any of that," I said after I started the truck and was backing out of the driveway.
    "I'm worried about her," Lexi said. "What if she does die?"
    "She's not going to die," I assured her. "She was just trying to make us feel bad so we'd stay."
    "I wish she wasn't so mean,"