by Tl Reeve
Seeing him in the diner and being able to walk away with her heart and mind intact was one thing. Being in his home was another. It made everything real again. It drudged up the past. It made her think about her life and, well, she wasn't ready for it. Going through it once had been more than enough. Reliving it, even the little bits she had when they had lunch, brought back all the pain of feeling alone. Sure, she had her friends with her, but the people who counted the most—her mom and dad, well, some hurts never heal.
Nevertheless, there she stood. Putting away her clothes in an empty drawer in her room, in his house. Because she said she’d try.
Brittney didn't know what to expect when she pulled up to the little housing community in the middle of Nowhere, Texas. Somehow though, she realized it fit Dexter. It gave him the comfort of the community while also giving him the freedom of country living. From the little bit they talked over lunch, he appeared happier doing his own thing, not out partying or whatever, which surprised her since they'd met in a bar after all. Then again, they were both older now, and he probably wanted to set down roots, have a family, and enjoy life. But, did it include her? Did Brittney want it to include her?
She sat on the bed and scrubbed her face. She didn't have time to contemplate life for her and Rai with Dexter. She had other things to think about as well. Like Sander's and his storm chasing team on the Adventure Channel. The offer to join forces had been on the table for a few weeks, and she'd yet to give him an answer. Brittney hoped with a little downtime to think, she'd be able to come up with an answer for him. Unfortunately, every time she took a moment to think about it, images of Dexter filled her mind instead.
It wasn't that it didn't have potential, it did. However, having a film crew or a production crew following them day after day—month after month didn't sit well with her. She had her team’s trust and their lives in the palm of her hand every time they chased a storm and every time they set up near a tornado. She could keep them safe because no one deviated from the plan. All it would take was one unpredictable camera person trying to get the “shot,” and it all be over for them and her. Sometimes, the risks outweighed the rewards, and this might be one of those times.
Then there’d been the insurance aspect and the people who gave her the grants she used to chase the storms; the Adventure Channel wanted to film. She didn't believe either one would allow her to not only put others at risk but also make money off of their names. With all the cons she added to her pro/con list, Brittney also didn't want to pass on a chance to also make a difference in the lives of so many people. After being in Clark, it was more apparent to her, meteorology people, NOAA and NWS needed to do more for their communities, especially when severe weather hits. If towns could build the shelters needed to protect their community, why couldn't she and others like her make sure every person made it to those shelters? Would doing the show make the difference needed? She didn't know, but it was worth a shot, right?
Damn it. Why is this so hard?
Brittney put away the rest of her things away then headed back out to the dining room where her team had taken over. Because the rest of her team had agreed to stay at a local B&B, they decided to work from Dexter’s house, with his permission of course. It made it easier than trying to cram into one room and hover over each other. Of course, when he saw how much stuff they brought with them, he’d probably blow a gasket or three.
Though they were supposed to take a couple of days off to recharge, the weather didn't sleep and didn't take a day off. There were already storms forming and, knowing her team, they'd want to give chase. Brittney couldn't blame them. It'd been ingrained into them to run headlong into danger, not stay put. As she entered the dining room, the normal chatter she'd come to love from the group hadn't been there. It was silent. The only thing she heard had been the tapping of keys as they worked.
“What’s going on?” She asked, crossing to them.
Lars appeared relieved when she came up behind them, but also stressed out as well. “We have a problem.” He stood then and brought over the data he’d already printed out.
Brittney accepted the printouts and went through them. The values were off the chart. She went back through them again and frowned. “When did this happen?”
“With in the last hour, maybe an hour and a half. It's the five-day forecast for Texas and pretty much all of the southwest.” Lars frowned. “I ran it three times to be sure there wasn't a glitch in the system or something wrong with the satellites.”
“And the Euro model is showing the same?” She quirked a brow.
“Worse,” he said, motioning her to follow him. “This is the five-day radar. Watch what happens.” He hit the spacebar on his laptop and the loop began. Lars had slowed it down, showing her twelve-hour increments so she could see the development and the outbreak. A small, what the west coast would call a Catalina Eddy, formed over the Gulf of California, near Hermosa, Mexico. The small circulation pushed into New Mexico and joined up with a storm coming out of the north.
Once it hit Oklahoma it blew up. The storm cells were catastrophic. On a scale of one to ten, those storms were a hundred. Then she noticed the little hook at the bottom of the storms moving out of Mexico into Texas. The bulk of energy was centered in two places as far as she could gather. North through Oklahoma City and Tulsa and South through Dallas, Ft. Worth and... Fuck, Tarpley, Bandera and on to San Antonio and Austin.
“Are any of the weather people reporting this storm?” Brittney’s stomach sank and her heart hammered as the loop continued to play. If the models were lining up, even though some saw the storms being more severe than the others, and no one was talking about it, lives would be lost. It had the potential of being 2011 and 2013 combined. Tendrils of anxious energy spread through her body.
“I saw one report,” Lars said. “One. Everyone is convinced it won’t form.”
“This isn’t good.” Brittney crossed her arms. “Everyone; gather what you can and let’s meet in the living room in five. We should go over the current data and the forecasted data. We need to bring this to the attention of NWS and NOAA, stat. Remember to triple check your numbers and if you’re not sure, run them again. If it’s as bad as we think it’ll be, then we can’t dally. We have to get this information to the big three NWS’s in Texas and NWS-Tulsa as well. They need to take this more seriously. We—they need this time to prepare.”
Britney left her team's side to go in search of Rai. Since they'd been at Dexter's home, the boy had decided to go exploring. She couldn't blame him the area was beautiful. As Brittney stepped outside the sliding glass door, she spotted Rai sitting at the community pond just off the back of Dexter’s property. Rai appeared so at ease there. Relaxed and unfazed by his new surroundings.
When they arrived at the house, Dexter introduced them to a few of his friends. Most had small children, but there was a smattering of older kids, perfect for Rai to make friends with. It appeared he had too. There was a small group of teens surrounding Rai, while others were in the water playing a game of chicken. A part of her didn't want to bother him and allow him to stay with his newfound friends, but he'd also be mad at her if she didn't include him on their meeting. Rai, since he left home with Brittney all those months ago, had become another vital piece of the team. As she raised her hand to call him in, so he could get ready for the meeting, her phone rang.
Brittney glanced down at the screen. Dexter. It was as if he knew she was thinking about him. She slid her finger across the screen. “Hey. What’s going on?”
“Not much, how are you and Rai settling in?” She'd downplayed or at least tried to downplay what the sexy tone of his voice did to her, but, in some ways, he made her feel like the bright-eyed twenty-year-old girl who'd gotten in way over her head all those years ago.
“We’re good. I thought we’d get a few days off...” She rubbed the back of her neck, hating the fact she was dropping her son off while one of the worst storms possible bared down on them.”
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“Another storm.”
She searched his tone for any signs of disappointment or anger but found none there. “Yeah. I was just thinking about you when you called me.”
“Do you need to go now? I think I can get Marcus there to watch over Rai until I get off at five,” Dexter said.
“No, you’re misunderstanding.” She gave a sheepish chuckle. “Or I’m not explaining it properly. Let’s start over. Yes, there is a really bad storm and no, I don’t have to go anywhere for it.”
Dexter cursed under his breath. “How bad?”
“On a scale of one to a bear attack, a T-Rex is about to eat me,” she answered.
“Fuck,” he grunted.
“I’ll have more information for you soon. I have everyone running the numbers and values for this monster, and I’ll be triple checking it with NOAA as well. But, I thought you might want to know, because of your job.”
“Which one?”
“Both,” she answered. “I would assume more so the fire department since you’ll have to be out in the aftermath if I’m correct.”
“Well, I did call for a reason besides checking on both of you. I thought we could barbecue tonight with the VFD at my house. You can tell everyone what you found.”
“Perfect, then we’re not explaining too many times.” She caught Rai’s attention while she made final arrangements with Dexter. “Sure, we’ll see you in a couple of hours then. Talk soon.” She hung up the phone then gave her son her full attention. “Hey, I need your help.”
“Sure, what’s going on? Rai stared out over the property, his eyes squinting due to the glare.
“I need you to document this new storm for the vlog. It’s bad and no one is talking about it,” she said as they headed for the house.
“Where is it? Or, where is it going to be?”
“Here.”
“Wait.” Rai grabbed her arm. “Like here, here?” His grey eyes grew round with fear and nervousness.
“Yes.” They stepped back into the house and Shiro greeted her in the kitchen. The look on his face worried her. Something had happened in the few minutes she’d been outside with Rai and talking to Dexter.
“Is it worse now?”
Shiro blinked then frowned. “What? Oh, no. I, sorry. I didn’t mean to give the impression something happened. I was coming to get you is all. We’re ready to present everything we’ve found.”
“Good,” Brittney said. “Do you think we can Skype with Tulsa, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin?”
“Wylder was already way ahead of you. She’s patching them in as we speak. I also went ahead and transferred all of the information to them vis Dropbox.” Shiro backtracked through the kitchen then entered the living room. When they stepped into the space Wylder had finished hooking an HDMI cord to Dexter's flat-screen TV, turning it into a monitor for their call.
“Thank you.” She smiled up at Shiro. He'd been the one to help her the most during everything and even though their relationship didn't work, he remained the one she could count on and vice versa.
Oz and Lars sat on the couch with Spike between them on the floor. On the small coffee table was all the information she requested when she left the room. She grabbed one of the stacks of paper and frowned. None of the values changed since she’d seen the original loop. It wasn’t going to be pretty. Lars clicked the green phone button on the screen and the faces of the NWS directors greeted her.
“You’re in,” Wylder said. “They can see you now and hear you.”
“Thank you.” She turned to Rai who had his phone up in front of his face. “You ready?”
“When you are,” he answered.
Brittney nodded. “Thank you for joining me on such short notice. You should have received the most up-to-date intel we have on the coming storm.”
The NWS director from Tulsa held up his hand. “We’ve seen the values and the models. Some are beginning to say this won’t drop. Others of us, myself included, believe this is a glitch.”
“You're right,” Brittney said. “Not many cut off lows form over the Gulf of California. Sometimes they form directly over land and move eastward. This one decided to get some gulf water involved, making it a very conducive storm. I can understand your hesitation, but do you want to take a chance after everything the state of Oklahoma has been through the last few years?”
“I'm looking at it now and plugging your number into our system here in Dallas-Ft Worth,” the other man said. “Where I might not be as pessimistic as our friend from Tulsa is, you do happen to rely on the Euro model more than our own.”
“I’m doing the same,” the female director from Austin added.
“While you’re doing that, I thought I would share a screen with you and allow the radar to fill you in on what you might be worried about.” Brittney picked up the laptop and shared a group screen with everyone then played the new loop Lars had showed her minutes before. “This is going to make 2011 look like child’s play.”
“Say your material is correct and these storms do form, and this does happen, have you calculated the ratios yet?” the Tulsa NWS director asked.
She frowned. Ratios? Did he mean lives lost? “There were sixty-five deaths from the 2011 outbreak. These, if we don't start building a plan on how to keep everyone safe, could go as high as the triple digits. Injured could be more and because this is all rural area, finding them in time might be hard as well.”
The director from Dallas-Ft. Worth nodded. “Cities will be worse due to density and the structures. I agree. After watching the model you presented, Brittney, I believe we need to start getting the word out. We only have three days.”
Brittney breathed out a sigh of relief. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
“I am of the like mind,” San Antonio's director added. “It's the summer now, there are concerts, fairs, nightlife, you name it going on in all of our areas. If we don't warn people and city leaders of how this could be a potentially dangerous storm, how will we be able to look at our weather colleagues and say oops, I'm sorry?”
“We’ll have to send all of this out for the evening news.” The director of Dallas-Ft. Worth looked at Brittney. “Can we depend on you to send up updates as they come available?”
“You can,” Brittney said. “We’re not going anywhere for this storm. We’ll be right here in our backyard waiting.”
After Dexter hung up with Brittney, he shot a text to the guys. The idea of a hell storm hitting their neck of the woods worried him. They didn’t have the resources to protect their little community, much less the surrounding area. The task would be daunting; however, it wouldn’t stop them from doing their job. They were going to be on the front line. The first faces those who were injured or scared would see. No matter what happened, they’d have to be ready.
Before leaving work, Dexter stopped at the nurse's station and found Angie answering a few last-minute questions from Nadia, one of their nurses. When they were finished talking, Dexter walked with Angie out of the hospital. As much as he wanted to take a moment to enjoy the fact he was leaving before sunset, he had other things to take care of.
“What’s going on?” Angie looked up at him, curiosity filling her hazel eyes. “You never walk me out to my car.”
“Can you come by the house tonight?”
“You’re not my type, Dexter,” she teased.
He laughed. “You’re not mine either.”
“Well, since we have that cleared up, what’s going on?” She touched his arm, slowing their forward progression. “It’s not like you to be this... Determined.”
“I have some information we're going to need in the coming days. I would rather Brittney explains it than doing it myself,” he said. “Plus, free food.”
Angie came to a complete stop. “You mean the Brittney Hart who was in Clark, Nebraska a while back?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“Wait, she only shows up when something bad is going to happen. Why
is she here, Dexter?” The hint of worry in Angie’s tone gave him pause.
“It’s bad,” he answered. “I can’t tell you all the specifics of the storm, but Brittney can. Tonight. At my place. We’re having a small barbecue so we can make a plan with the VFD.”
“Because nothing says fun and games like a tornado ripping through our community,” Angie quipped.
“So, you’ll come? I thought we could work on a strategy for the hospital as well.”
Angie nodded. “Yeah, I’ll come.”
“Great. I’ll see you at seven. Might want to get there a little early though. The whole VFD will be there.”
“Oh joy.”
By six-thirty, Dexter had the grill going. Brittney and her team were still pulling data and updating the respective weather services around the area. Rai had gone back down to the pond to the group of teens he'd befriended. The realization of Rai being his son, still struck Dexter dumb. It'd been one of the reasons he hadn't wanted anyone to know the truth, however, he couldn't hide it from Jackie and she, in turn, didn't hold back from his parents, ever. He meant to give them confirmation when he learned the truth, but he'd decided to do it with Rai by his side, so they could meet him.
With Dexter's parents, Rai would never know the pain of rejection, like Brittney experienced with her mother. He knew if his mother ever found out what Mitsy Hart had done to not only her daughter but their grandbaby, Cecilia Walsh would give the woman a tongue lashing she'd never forget.
“So, what’s this all about?” Pops sat the platter filled with steak, chicken, burgers and hot dogs on the counter next to the grill. “Your text was a bit, lacking.”
