Blue Skies, Season 2, Episode 8 (Rising Storm) Read online

  Blue Skies

  By Dee Davis

  Rising Storm

  Season 2

  Episode 8

  Story created by Julie Kenner and Dee Davis

  Blue Skies, Episode 8

  Rising Storm, Season 2

  Copyright 2016 Julie Kenner and Dee Davis Oberwetter

  ISBN: 978-1-945920-05-9

  Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  Book Description

  Blue Skies

  By Dee Davis

  Rising Storm, Season 2, Episode 8

  Secrets, Sex and Scandals …

  Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.

  As Celeste Salt struggles to pull herself and her family together, Dillon is called to the scene of a domestic dispute where Dakota is forced to face the truth about her father. While the Johnson’s celebrate a big announcement, Ginny is rushed to the hospital where her baby’s father is finally revealed…

  About Dee Davis

  Bestselling author Dee Davis has a masters degree in public administration. Prior to writing, she served as the director of two associations, wrote award winning PSAs, did television and radio commercials, starred in the Seven Year Itch, taught college classes, and lobbied both the Texas Legislature and the US Congress.

  Her highly acclaimed first novel, Everything In Its Time, was published in July 2000. Since then, among others, she’s won the Booksellers Best, Golden Leaf, Texas Gold and Prism awards, and been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award, the Holt and two RT Reviewers Choice Awards.

  Recently she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Romance Writers and has also been nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award for romantic suspense from Romantic Times. In addition, she is a Hall of Fame member of the New Jersey Romance Writers and was awarded an Odyssey Medal from Hendrix College.

  To date, she has written over thirty romantic suspense, time travel, and women’s fiction novels and novellas. Among her latest books you’ll find her A-Tac, Liar’s Game, and Last Chance series.

  She’s lived in Austria and traveled in Europe extensively. And although she now resides in an 1802 farmhouse in Connecticut, she still calls Texas home.

  Connect with Dee online:

  Website: http://www.deedavis.com

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/deedavisbooks

  Twitter: http://twitter.com/deesdavis @deeSdavis

  Also from Dee Davis

  Click to purchase

  Random Heroes Collection

  Dark Of The Night

  Dancing In The Dark

  Midnight Rain

  Just Breathe

  After Twilight

  Liars' Game Series

  Lethal Intent (short story)

  Eye Of The Storm

  Chain Reaction

  Still of the Night (Novella)

  Last Chance Series

  Endgame

  Enigma

  Exposure

  Escape (Novella)

  A-Tac Series

  Dark Deceptions

  Dangerous Desires

  Desperate Deeds

  Daring (Novella)

  Deep Disclosure

  Deadly Dance

  Double Danger

  Dire Distraction

  Matchmaker Chronicles

  A Match Made on Madison

  Setup In SoHo

  Time After Time Series

  Everything In Its Time

  The Promise

  Wild Highland Rose

  Cottage in the Mist

  Devil May Care Series

  (with Julie Kenner)

  Raising Hell (Julie Kenner)

  Hell Fire (Dee Davis)

  Sure As Hell (Julie Kenner)

  Hell’s Fury (Dee Davis)

  Rising Storm

  Ginny and Jacob: the prequel—Free to newsletter subscribers!

  Thunder Rolls: Season 1, Episode 8

  Blue Skies: Season 2, Episode 8

  Acknowledgments from the Author

  I’ve always believed in dreaming big. But I’ve learned over my lifetime that dreaming big isn’t the same as making it so. And when Julie and I first started discussing the idea of creating Storm, Texas, while I fell in love with our creation, I wasn’t certain we’d be able to bring it fully to fruition. I was wrong. Taking the reins from our initial imaginings for the series, the wonderful writers who make up the first season episodes have breathed amazing life into every character. And these imaginary people who have become so close to my heart have become real, not just to me but to readers as well.

  For that I have to thank the amazing Julie Kenner, the best friend and business partner a girl could ever have! Without her, none of this would exist! And both Liz Berry and MJ Rose for their belief in this project and the tireless hours they have spent making sure everything is just right. And of course the first and second season authors: Lexi Blake, Elisabeth Naughton, Jennifer Probst, Larissa Ione, Rebecca Zanetti, RK Lilley, and Lisa Mondelo.

  Foreword

  Dear reader –

  We have wanted to do a project together for over a decade, but nothing really jelled until we started to toy with a kernel of an idea that sprouted way back in 2012 … and ultimately grew into Rising Storm.

  We are both excited about and proud of this project—not only of the story itself, but also the incredible authors who have helped bring the world and characters we created to life.

  We hope you enjoy visiting Storm, Texas. Settle in and stay a while!

  Happy reading!

  Julie Kenner & Dee Davis

  Sign up for the Rising Storm/1001 Dark Nights Newsletter

  and be entered to win an exclusive lightning bolt necklace specially designed for Rising Storm by Janet Cadsawan of Cadsawan.com.

  Click here to subscribe.

  As a bonus, all subscribers will receive a free

  Rising Storm story

  Storm Season: Ginny & Jacob – the Prequel

  by Dee Davis

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  About Dee Davis

  Also from Dee Davis

  Acknowledgments from the Author

  Foreword

  Family Trees

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Rising Storm

  1001 Dark Nights

  Special Thanks

  Family Trees

  Allen Family

  Alvarez Family

  Douglas Family

  Grossman Family

  Johnson Family

  Moreno Family

  Murphy Family

  Prager Family

  Rush Family

  Salt Family

  Chapter 1

  Celeste Salt sucked in a fortifying breath and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was passable, her make-up concealing the worst of the dark circles beneath her eyes. Unfortunatel
y, there was nothing to be done for the gauntness in her cheeks or the deep lines now etched around her mouth and eyes.

  Grief was an insidious thing. Digging in and holding you down, even when you knew in your heart that you needed to push forward. Celeste had always been a fighter. It was something her children had admired. And then somewhere along the way she’d lost her path, Jacob’s death seemingly sealing her fate.

  But no more. There was still life ahead of her. Maybe it wouldn’t be the stellar ride into the sunset she and Travis had planned all those years ago. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t something left to be salvaged. To be lived.

  Her daughter Lacey was right. It was time to move on. Step by cautious step. She forced a smile, the face in the mirror shifting with the motion, looking almost pretty. Almost. Squaring her shoulders, Celeste walked from the bathroom into the bedroom. And after pulling a manila envelope from deep inside her lingerie drawer, she made her way downstairs.

  It was early, most of the house’s residents still sleeping. It was comforting somehow to know that her daughter was safe and sound in her room. And that her sister and her children also slept nearby. Payton had always been her rock. And now it was time to return the favor. But first up she needed to clean house. If she was going to survive, she had to get rid of the garbage. No matter how much it hurt.

  “I wasn’t expecting you up this morning.” Her husband looked up from the kitchen table where he was reading the paper. Some things at least were predictable. Travis never went anywhere without a cup of coffee. Once, long ago, in what now seemed like another life, she’d been up with the sun, making sure his coffee was hot and waiting when he’d come downstairs fresh from a shower.

  But those days were gone.

  And finally…finally she understood that nothing was going to bring them back.

  “I wanted to talk to you.” She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat across from him at the table, laying the manila envelope on the tabletop.

  Travis frowned. “Is something wrong?” He paused, the frown deepening. “I mean, something more than usual.”

  “No. Nothing’s changed.” Except me, she wanted to scream. But instead she met his gaze, willing her courage to hold. This wasn’t going to be easy. Travis was part of her. He’d given her a life. A home. Children. But then maybe she had it wrong. Maybe she’d given him those things. Maybe he’d been lucky to have her.

  Or maybe they’d been lucky to have each other. At least in the beginning.

  “Then what?” he asked, sounding impatient. He always sounded impatient these days. Sadly, Celeste knew why. And it had nothing to do with their son’s death; his impatience with her, with their life, it had started long before that. And if Jacob had lived, they’d already have had this conversation.

  But her son was dead and Celeste had lost herself in grief. Only now it was time to push the pain aside and face things head on. Jacob would want that. Lacey did want that. And Payton had done just that. There were no two ways about it—it was long past time for Celeste to stand on her own two feet.

  She swallowed, looking down at the envelope, drawing strength from what she knew it contained. “I know about Kristin, Travis.”

  He dropped the newspaper, the color leeching out of his face, his mouth working as he tried to find words. “Oh God, Celeste, I’m so sorry.”

  She shook her head, holding up her hand to cut him off. “Save it. I don’t want to hear it. There’s nothing you can say that is going to fix this. And you know that as well as I do.” Her hands were shaking, and she pulled them down to her lap, interlacing her fingers to try and hold onto her control.

  “Darling, you’re not well. We don’t need to do this now.”

  She pulled in a deep breath, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “Yes, Travis. We do.”

  He shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable. Travis always liked things neat and tidy. Everything in its proper place. It’s why she’d spent practically her entire marriage making sure that everything was always perfect, reasoning that if he was happy, she was happy.

  What a load of crap.

  “How did you find out?” he asked, still frowning.

  “It doesn’t matter. It just matters that I know.”

  “How long then? How long have you known? Is that why you’ve been so…so…” He trailed off, clearly unwilling to finish the sentence.

  “Crazy? Drunk? Lost?” She bit out the words. “No. That was because of Jacob. Because he was important to my life. I’ve known about Kristin since before he died. And had the car accident never happened, then maybe this whole thing would have played out differently. Maybe we would have found a way to work things thorough, but Jacob is gone and anything left I had to give, he took with him. So here we are, sitting in our kitchen, pretending like there’s still something to talk about.”

  “But, Celeste,” he protested, “no matter what I’ve done, you have to know that I love you.”

  “No, you don’t.” She shook her head, feeling the tears prick the back of her eyes. “Maybe you did once upon a time, but not anymore. Not for a long time. And while I can’t pretend that it doesn’t hurt, I can at least return the favor.” She stared at him, some tiny part of her wishing that there were a way to stop this. To turn back the clock. To fix whatever it was they’d broken so long ago. But deep in her heart she knew it wasn’t possible. That moment, if it had ever existed, was long past. “Travis, I don’t love you anymore either.”

  Silence stretched through the kitchen, memories playing like a movie inside Celeste’s head. She and Travis laughing as they’d sat down for their first breakfast in the new house. Holding hands across the table while baby Sara Jane cried and cried. Jacob running into the room, flushed with pride over a Little League victory. Lacey, covered in flour, proud of the very first, albeit lopsided, cake she’d ever baked. This had been a family kitchen. Still was a family kitchen.

  But whatever connection had existed between the two of them—it was now severed beyond hope.

  “You don’t mean that.” He actually looked hurt. The thought surprised Celeste.

  “I do. You’ve always thought you could have everything your way. Keep your life compartmentalized so that you could have it all. But it doesn’t work like that, Travis. Life is messy and things happen. And people change. I don’t know why we let it go. But we did, and there’s no going back. And even if there were, I don’t want to.” She pushed the envelope across the table. “I had these drawn up a couple weeks before Jacob died.”

  Travis took the envelope and opened the clasp holding it closed. He slid out the papers and scanned the contents. “You’re divorcing me?” Again she was amazed at his shock.

  “Surely you’re not surprised? I mean, to be honest, if Jacob had lived, it’s entirely possible that you’d have beaten me to the draw. Or were you planning to live your double life forever?” The idea was repugnant, but she suddenly realized that this was exactly what Travis had been planning to do. She could see it in his eyes.

  “What about the girls?” he asked. “Are you sure you want to do this to them?”

  “They’re strong. They’ll be fine.”

  “But with everything that’s happened. Jacob…”

  “Don’t you dare throw our son’s death at me like that. We’ve all been through hell. But like Lacey said, it’s time to come out the other side. And I can’t do that if you’re still here—living in this house, carrying on with her.”

  “It’s not like that, Celeste. I mean I truly care about her.”

  “Good. Then you’ll have someone in your life. I don’t want you to be miserable, Travis. I just don’t want you here anymore. I need to focus on the people who love me. On Sara Jane and Lacey.”

  “This is because of Payton, isn’t it? She left Sebastian so now you’re leaving me.”

  “No. This is about your infidelity and the fact that we don’t love each other. I’m not even angry at you anymore. I’m just tired. And I’m drowning in grief. A
nd the only way I can survive is if I clean up my life. And to do that, I need you gone. I need you to sign these papers and walk out the door. Go to Kristin. Go with my blessing. Just go.”

  She picked up a pen and handed it to him.

  “Sign it, Travis. Set us free.”

  For a moment his eyes softened, and she saw a hint of the man she’d fallen in love with all those years ago, and then his jaw tightened and he flipped the papers to the signature page, signing his name with a flourish.

  “There,” he said, pushing the papers back to her. “It’s done.”

  She nodded, not certain she trusted herself to speak.

  “I’ll send for my things.” He stood up and took his jacket from the back of the chair and slipped it on. “Do you want to tell the girls together?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’d prefer to do it separately. I promise I won’t malign you. I won’t lie, but I don’t want your relationship with your daughters to suffer because of our failings.”

  He nodded, grabbed his keys from the bowl beside the refrigerator, and then pulled open the back door.

  This is it, she thought, her fingers tightening together. The end of her marriage.

  “Celeste,” Travis said, turning to face her one last time. “I never meant to hurt you. I truly did love you, you know.”

  “Maybe so,” she sighed, her eyes surprisingly dry. “But it wasn’t enough.”

  * * * *

  Marisol Moreno pulled a pan of muffins from the oven, her mind turning over the events of last night’s dinner with Patrick Murphy. They’d finally been truly honest with each other. After over a year of dancing around the idea of becoming closer, they’d finally accepted the fact that it just wasn’t meant to be. She’d been so afraid she’d hurt him. That he’d not understand her inability to commit one way or the other. But as usual he’d been insightful and thoughtful and well…totally Patrick.