Sparks Fly

Chapter Thirty-Six: Thanksgiving and Cinnamon Rolls

I'm back after a very satisfying bout of inspiration. If all goes according to plan, I have two chapters left, one of which is a bonus. Wish me luck!

Also, thank you so much for coming along on this wild ride that is Teagan and Rain's story. It means so much to see the support and love this book has gotten.

Enjoy, and if you like it, don't forget to hit that star (vote) if you can!

-VIVKELLER23
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Rain

Gray's College looked like a ghost town on the last day of classes before Thanksgiving Break. The only people still present were those who had things to finish in time for finals week which took place two weeks after the holiday.

Rain sighed as she watched a pair of squirrels scurry through the nearly bare tree branches.

If she was being honest, she hadn't really needed to come to the campus today.

Professors knew not to expect all students to attend class on the day before break. It was when everyone left town to spend time with family. That was what Thanksgiving was all about.

But since Rain had left the Sullivan Estate four days ago with a very formal goodbye letter to her father, there was no practical reason for her to skip class. She didn't have a family to spend Thanksgiving with. She only had Isa, but Isa was visiting her sister down in San Diego.

That left Rain all alone to situate herself in Isa's quaint two-bedroom apartment.

The irony in relocating to a smaller place with a woman who'd loved her for years was that she'd come to feel lonelier in the past two days than she ever had in the two years she'd put up with Randolf Sullivan's endless business meetings. Because Isa made any room feel like home, and in her absence, Rain felt an emptiness she couldn't shake.

That was why Rain had spent the better part of two hours strolling through campus. She hadn't gone to the library like she wanted to because she figured the scene she'd caused the last time she was in there was still fresh in certain people's minds.

She hadn't bothered going to French either. Mademoiselle Lockley had the uncanny ability to pick apart the holes in Rain's facade to find the brewing emotions beneath. It was almost like she had a radar that caught whenever something was off. But Rain wasn't looking to be analyzed and poked at. She just didn't want to be left alone to dwell on all the changes she was facing in light of what she'd discovered about her father and his selfish plans.

And just in time for Thanksgiving.

Rain had thought leaving the letter for Randolf on his desk had been a little too formal. She'd known him all her life after all. But it seemed she shouldn't have worried. Her father had found it all too easy to feed her to the wolves in return.

It was common knowledge in Granite Woods that Rain Sullivan was an ungrateful, foolish girl who'd ruined the only chance she had at finding a man who would have her. She had to admit, she'd been stupid to think Randolf would let her leave without a fight. The Woods' Newspaper wasn't much for journalism anyway. All they needed was a story that would get them readers.

Fallout in Paradise: Sullivan Princess turns Real Life Ice Queen?

Rain glared at the bold print on the front page. They weren't very subtle in naming their stories, were they?

According to the words her father had fed the writers to print, she had lost her mind. The person responsible for her sudden act of rebellion: Teagan Miller.