Hope Falls Season 2 - Eagle Valley Read Online Free Page A

in one intense flash; all of a sudden, she remembered. And she knew what she had to do.
    She had to find them.
    Sophie didn't know why she had waited so long, what had held her back. She started looking. She didn't know where to find them. She searched when she wasn't working, trying to find traces of them and snippets of information that could be gleamed from listening well.
    She had tracked them, tried to hunt them down. In the process, she learned a few vital skills. She became the hunter and they became the prey. It was a simple game, really. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it before.
    She would wait until they least suspected it.
    And than they would be the ones with the shocked faces.

     

     

     
    * * *

     

     
    There was a glow still on Susan's face when she entered the kitchen.
    Slowly, without turning on a light, she went about making a small pot of coffee. Her heart was racing and there was no way she was going to sleep anyway. She figured she'd start the day off on the right foot.
    She was startled when she heard a voice behind her. "I hope you're planning on sharing that coffee."
    Susan winced and turned. Her mother was sitting nestled in the shadows of the kitchen. A small, red ember glowed in front of her and moved as she bent her arm down and flicked ash into the tray in front of her.
    Susan put a hand to her throat. "Mother! You scared me half to death!"
    “Oh, darling girl, I'm sorry." Though from the sound of her voice, she sounded amused. "Come, sit with me. We haven't had the chance to talk about a few things, you and I."
    “Mother, why are you smoking?"
    “Why not?" Cleo said with a smile.
    “You know it's not good for you."
    “Yet you indulge as well?" Cleo said with a smile.
    “What did you want to talk about?" Susan said, reaching for a cigarette.
    “A few things."
    “I have something to tell you too." Susan said.
    “Oh, yes? What is that?"
    “Derrick and I are getting married!" Susan whispered.
    The silence in the kitchen was deafening. The clock on the wall tick tocked for exactly ninety-eight seconds. "I see." Cleo said.
    “Mother, are you not happy for us?" Susan said. "Don't tell me you're gonna rain on my parade here."
    “Do you really think it's wise?"
    “Wise? How can love not be wise?"
    “But we're in hiding, you could draw attention to yourself." Cleo began. "And than there's Sophie returning, and what about Miriam?"
    Susan looked at Cleo with a steely glare. "How dare you bring her in to this."
    “She is already involved."
    “On the happiest day of my life, you bring her in to this. You have no right."
    “I have just as much right as you."
    Susan stood and approached her mother who still sat, smoking her cigarette. "This is the happiest day of my life. I will not let you ruin it for me."
    “Oh, darling girl." Cleo said, "I am not trying to ruin it for you. I am merely trying to point out the practicalities. What is the point of doing otherwise? You know that something is coming, just as well as I do."
    “I don't want to talk about that."
    “Than what will you talk about?" Cleo asked. "Before, when you came in here, I wanted to talk to you about your father, about what happened. But you won't want to talk about that will you?

     

     

     

     

Chapter Eight

     
    "Why would you want to talk about my father? Why now?" Susan said. She went to the fridge, pulled out a large jug filled with an orange liquid.
    “I thought you were having coffee." Cleo said.
    “I changed my mind." Susan said.
    “It's two o'clock in the morning Susan. You can't drink booze now."
    “Mai Tai's are healthy for you." Susan said vaguely, pouring a glass.
    “Healthy for you?" Cleo replied with a soft smile.
    “Yeah." Susan felt her mother's eyes on the back of her head. She took out another glass and poured another one full to the brim. She brought them back to the table and sat them down in front of them. Susan sat down and the clinked glasses. "Cheers." Susan said.
    “Cheers."