Read Falling for Hope for Free Online Page B

sort my thoughts,
after everything with…”   Hope paused for
a moment, and the word stood clearly between them: Chris .   “I’ll be gone really early.   I’ll be gone when you wake,” said Hope,
tugging at Amy’s shirt again, dislodging it from the waistband of her jeans.   “But I’ll return around noon.   If the storm’s over, we can have a
picnic.   It’ll be romantic,” Hope
whispered, as Amy shivered again beneath her kisses.
    “You’d hike in the storm?” asked
Amy, gasping as cool air washed over her skin when Hope at last pulled her
shirt over her head.
    “I hike in the rain.   I hike in the sunshine…   Hiking’s good for my soul,” said Hope,
grinning, pausing and gazing into Amy’s eyes.   “I’ll be back at noon.   I
promise.”
    “Okay,” Amy whispered, almost
forgetting what they were talking about as Hope’s mouth closed over her own
again.
    There was no more need for words
that night.
     
    ---
     
    When Amy woke, Hope wasn’t beside
her in the bed.   For a long moment, she
struggled to remember the conversation of the previous night and sat up,
holding the sheet against her chest as she stared at the space Hope had kept
warm.   Amy placed her palm against the
sheet now; it was cold.  
    Maybe it was the grayness of the
morning—at least it was no longer raining, Amy reflected dimly—coupled with the
fact that Hope wasn’t there, but Amy’s mood was somber as she rose and dressed
before standing in front of the tall windows in Hope’s bedroom and gazing out
at the mountains that loomed around the cabin.  
    “Hey, Hope?” came a voice from the
other side of the door, followed by a short knock.   Lindsey.   Amy crossed the
room and opened the door, trying to summon a smile.
    “Hope’s not here.   She went for a hike, said she’d be back
around noon,” said Amy, crossing her arms against the chill of the rest of the
cabin.   It was a cool day, odd for the
summertime.  
    Lindsey nodded, hitching her purse
up higher on her shoulder as she grinned at Amy.   “She does love her hikes.   Listen, I was heading into town to get some more marshmallows.   We finished them off last night.   Want to tag along?”
    Amy nodded, grabbing her jacket
from the peg behind the door.   “I’d love
that.”
    The little gravel lot that the
women parked in was flooded.   Amy and
Lindsey sloshed through the puddles toward Irene’s truck.   Lindsey unlocked the cab, and both women
climbed up and in, the early morning mist making the woods surrounding them
seem, to Amy, strange and ominous.   Perhaps, if Amy had been in a better mood, she might have described the
effect as magical, instead.   But now she
stared out at the trees, worrying at the hem of her jacket.
    “Did Chris come out of the bedroom
yet?” asked Amy.
    Lindsey shook her head as she
started the truck.   “But it’s nothing to
fret over,” she said quickly, backing the truck up.   “You know how she likes to sleep in…”
    “Yeah.”   Amy’s stomach turned as they began to make a very slow descent
over the gravel road circling down the mountain.   “But…   You know, this is
ridiculous,” Amy spluttered, running her hands through her hair.   She’d swept her hair into a messy bun, but
it had fallen loose.   She smoothed a
stray lock behind her ear.   “Hope and I
haven’t done anything wrong!”
    “You haven’t,” agreed Lindsey,
pressing down on the brakes as a deer bounded in front of the truck.   They’d been coasting at twenty miles an hour
or so, but Lindsey slowed down even more to watch as the doe paused on the
other side of the road, glancing over her shoulder and staring at the invasive
vehicle, nose twitching.   Then, in the
next instant, she leapt to the side, white tail flashing as she dove into the
underbrush.   “Chris has a lot of
feelings about all of this, and they’re just not resolved yet,” said Lindsey
with a shrug, easing the truck around a bend.