Read Purling Road - the Complete Second Season: Episodes 1-10 for Free Online Page A

after two drinks, seeing that Arianna would need someone to look after her. Ava stopped after four, and not having any sort of tolerance, that was plenty.
    Arianna scoffed and tossed the bottle aside. It crashed on the ground. She giggled as she turned.
    “I’m going with her,” Claire told Ava.
    The band was taking a break, sitting at the back of the stage, wiping sweat from their necks and foreheads, drinking copious amounts of water. The ballroom was abuzz with a more subdued chatter, the collective catching their breath.
    When they returned from the bar, Arianna was wearing a new accessory. He was very tall, standing several inches over her. Mysterious eyes were ringed with lashes so thick they bordered feminine. His smile was relaxed as he brushed a lock of dark hair from his forehead. That hair looked like it might have been styled well at the start of the night but had mostly fallen out of place. Arianna came strutting back to the table, a new friend on her arm with Claire behind her. The look on Claire’s face as she sat down said it all. She and Ava locked eyes. This evening had officially gotten out of control.
    “Girls, this is Josh. He works in Boston.”
    They struggled to smile and didn’t bother to introduce themselves. Neither did Arianna.
    She opened her newly purchased bottle and began pouring all around. Claire put her hand over her glass. “I think we should head home soon.”
    Arianna’s eyes became fierce. “We only just got here.”
    “It’s been a few hours and it’s getting late,” Claire countered.
    Arianna acted as if she didn’t hear her and stared coldly as she downed another drink.
    After several silent, tense moments that didn't seem to affect Josh’s good time in the least, the band started back up.
    “That’s my cue!” Arianna said and threw her chair back. Her new friend followed, taking her hand and off they went.
    Claire leaned over. “We have to get her out of here.”
    “But how? There’s music, endless alcohol, and…” she looked in Josh’s direction, “a new toy.”
    Claire’s eyes found them on the dance floor and she cringed. “This was a bad idea. Can you imagine if Caleb could see her right now?”
    “He’d go crazy. One of us should play sick. That can be our excuse to leave.”
    “You think she’ll care? In her head, it was five years ago, and this is all that matters. Not us, not Caleb, not responsibility. The party is all that matters.”
    Only this was worse, Ava said to herself. Because Caleb wasn’t here to temper her self-destruction.
    Claire tried to keep a close eye on her, and the more they danced, the more she groaned. She covered her eyes with her hand. “Look where he has his hands.”
    A half hour later, they, as well as everyone else in the room, were watching the show Arianna was putting on.
    “She was never happy until every eye was on her,” Claire said, sitting back with a huff. She was genuinely tired now and desperately wanted to go home and end this nightmare of an evening.
    The crowd burst into applause—at the band or Arianna, they weren’t sure, and they prepared what they would say to convince her to leave. They waited. And waited. And waited five minutes more. Desperate eyes searched the crowd.
    “She’s not out there anymore,” Claire said.
    “Well, where did she go?” The second bottle of bourbon was still half-full. “I don’t know, but we need to find her.”
    They searched the ballroom, squinting between throngs of people, checked the grand foyer and, just to be safe, the bar.
    Claire held her hands up. “She just disappeared!”
    “Let’s try the ballroom again,” Ava said.
    Their heads were on a swivel, dipping and stretching to see through the crowd.
    “There!” Ava pointed. “She just walked out!” They pushed their way to the door, and once they got to the grand parlor, there was no sign of her.
    “I can’t believe this. We’re supposed to be relaxing and having a good