Elaina had expected to be in a comfortable lab, with her advisor nearby while she and Heath put the final touches on their paper. She’d expected to be speaking with Dr. Pierce about her role at the university.
She’d expected her mom to be there as she crossed the stage, but from her call with the doctor that morning, there’d been no change in Connie’s condition.
Expectations were great when they became reality.
Nothing hurt as much as when an expectation spiraled out of control, plummeting to the earth until the only thing left was a charred hole in the ground.
“All right, Nim, stay here and enjoy the a/c.” Elaina coated her eyelashes with mascara and rubbed some blush on her cheeks.
Tuck had given them the talk about how to maximize tips, but she wasn’t trying to win them over with charm and a pretty face. The makeup was for the bright blue Forecast Channel trucks parked in the nicer motel across the street.
Not that she wanted to run into Seth, but just in case she did, Elaina didn’t want to look like she’d spent the night in a room with walls so thin she could hear her neighbor binge-watching Wheel of Fortune.
“Should be a quiet day today. I’ll be back soon.”
Nimbus thumped his tail twice and gave her a quick glance over his shoulder before turning back to the blowing air, squeezing his eyes shut in doggie bliss.
The parking lot was filling up as more storm chasers descended on the bulls-eye of the next outbreak. TV weather vans, amateur ham radio operators, trucks lumbering with heavy equipment. This old motel hadn’t seen this much action in a long time.
She walked to the eastern edge of the asphalt and looked out over the field of growing corn. Their bright green stalks were nearly as tall as she was. Her feet shuffled, as if eager to walk into the field, to lose herself to the crop.
How long would it take before someone realized she was missing? Would Nim follow her scent and lead her out of the labyrinth, or was he too content sitting in front of spewing cold air?
The sun cast a soft glow on the plants, nurturing them as a mother tends to her young. Elaina took a deep breath and lifted her arms up to the sky. She dove down to the next step in the Sun Salutation, her arms reaching behind her calves. If she could’ve seen around the billowing T-shirt, she’d try to see if Seth was watching her, but lightning wouldn’t strike twice.
Unless she wanted it to.
Do I?
Obviously she had a rush of blood to the head. Why else would she hope to see the handsome TV reporter when she should be worrying about her failed career, her mother’s declining health, and the fact that she was about to meet up with a group of tornado tourists for access to equipment and money?
“I’m such a loser,” Elaina said as she kicked her legs out into a plank.
“Well, in my book I prefer losers over winners.”
She jerked to look over her shoulder. Tuck leaned against the back of his van.
“Is that why you agreed to work with us?” She hopped her legs forward and joined him at the van. The thinnest layer of sweat dotted her forehead. “You needed fresh meat in your merry band of losers?”
He laughed and tossed the toothpick to the ground. “The thing about getting to the top is you’re afraid to look around and admire the view. Winners are so worried about falling. But losers are fearless. Feral. They’ve survived the fall and aren’t afraid to dust themselves off and claw their way back up.”
Elaina studied the pot-bellied parking lot philosopher. He was right. Ever since Arkansas, ever since feeling the crushing pain of disappointment at herself for failing Heath, her mom, Pierce; she’d felt a primal urge for success. It was a need as deep as breathing. She didn’t have to think about it, she just needed it. Win. Win. Win. The mantra blew through her with each inhale.
“Plus,” he continued. “You remind me of someone I used to know.”
She propped against the van beside him, the dark maroon exterior warming her through her clothes. “Another chaser?”
“Nah.” The man squinted into sun instead of looking at her. “She was really afraid of storms. They’d send her into a panic.” His voice sounded hollow, as if he was speaking to her from far away.
“Clearly not a loser like us.” Elaina chuckled, but Tuck remained still.
He gazed out over the field. Or, was he looking into the past?
His face flushed red, then paled as the color washed away.
“I’m sorry,” she added.
“She was definitely not a loser. She reminded me that all the time.” His words were soft, barely loud enough to compete with the light wind blowing up from the south, but his words were hard and sharp. “Well, get your buddy rounded up, and let’s go meet our tour group. Get them strapped in for the ride of a lifetime.” He walked away, whistling an indeterminate tune.
She studied the sky. It was the deep blue of a newborn day, untainted by haze and moisture. While it was likely that clouds would start building, nothing more than a passing shower was in store for the group. “Yeah, like the merry-go-round.”
Elaina found Heath at the motel vending machine, staring at the meager options of off-brand junk food. “Buy you breakfast?” she asked.
“You mean the sticky bun with an expiration date of 2022, or the stale-to-perfection donuts?”
She lightly kicked the vending machine. “Tough choice there, but something tells me the beef jerky might be the safest bet.” She nibbled her bottom lip.
A silence heavy with anger, regret and remorse settled between them, something that’d become more of a regular occurrence since they joined Tuck’s Tours. “On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you at me?”
Money fell into the machine and her best friend stabbed at a couple of buttons. “Sometimes a negative two, sometimes a twelve.” He bent to retrieve a candy bar. “But mostly, I appreciate that you’re not giving up, no matter what gets thrown in our way.”
“Even Buicks?”
“A Buick doesn’t stand a chance against you. Know anything about the group today?”
They crossed the parking lot toward a cluster of several people at a Tuck’s Tours van.
The older man’s voice boomed as he told a fish tale of a storm story. He commanded the asphalt stage. A Shakespearean actor delivering a soliloquy. His sidekick, Biscuit, stood at the open passenger door, grumbling at a weather radar map.
“Nice days must be hell for business,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.
“And there I was, it was pitch black, but I kept seeing the flares in front of me. I knew she was there. I knew she was big. And, I knew she was coming after me.” Tuck paused, and glanced around the group until his gaze rested on Elaina. “There’s my interns.”
Interns?
“Please meet Elaina and Heathcliff. They’re here to cater to your every need.”
Cater? A white-hot chill crept up her spine. What had he meant by cater? Did he expect them to wipe noses and hand out peanuts?
Elaina had figured there’d be a certain amount of babysitting involved with working with Tuck, but not catering.
“All right folks, we’ll be pushing off in fifteen minutes, so any last bathroom or coffee breaks need to happen now.”
The crowd dispersed.
She stood still, arms crossed over her chest, her gaze zeroed in on Tuck, sending him every dirty look she had in her arsenal. “We are not your hired help,” she said once the customers were out of earshot.
“I hired you to help. So I guess that makes you hired help.” He looked over Biscuit’s shoulder at the radar.
“How’re we going to gather data, if we’re fetching sodas and taking people’s pictures?”
“We’ll tell you what you need to know.” Tuck spoke to the computer screen. “Dammit, the frontal boundary stalled, so even if we drove clear into Nebraska we’d still get nothing.”
Her heart thumped so hard it threatened to break her breast bone from the inside out. “This was not the deal.”
“Got anything in writing? I sure as hell don’t.”
“Come on Tuck, you agreed to give us access to your instruments.”
“And I also told you I’d pay you. I like you Moo-Moo, but not enough to pay you for nothing.”
“This is so unfair.” Elaina cringed as soon as the words came out. She hated the teenage fallback argument. “I’m the top doctoral student in the program. I can see the slightest shift in the barometer and know what’s coming. I can feel the wind change before it changes. I didn’t join your rubberneckers’ tour to put ice in the cooler and order box lunches. Don’t you dare demote me to the role of waitress, when I am so much better than that.” Her words echoed around the parking lot, bouncing off cars and the stucco hotel across the highway before it floated away over the cornfields.
Tuck narrowed his eyes and studied her. He unwrapped a toothpick, tossing the wrapper on the ground. “Well, Top Doctoral Student in the Program, I’m sure you can see that there won’t be anything to chase. Not today.”
“I could’ve told you as soon as I stepped outside.”
“So, seeing that there’s nothing to chase other than your runaway temper, then I’d say yes, your job today is waiting on these fine folks who paid their hard-earned money to get a glimpse into our lives. I’m doing something you weather geeks deem yourselves to be above.” His voice rose and spittle clung to his beard. “I’m educating the everyday man, woman and child about tornadoes. Giving them tools to stay safe and out of harm’s way. So if you’ve got a problem with that, then you and Heath can take your asses back to Oklahoma and figure out how to finish your research on your own.”
The air was still and quiet after the shouting stopped. Elaina tilted her chin up, trying to make herself taller, but she still only managed to come to the top of his chest.
“Don’t try to out-stubborn me, girl,” Tuck growled. “My don’t-give-a-fuck will beat your I’m-the-top-of-my-class every day. You need me more than I need you.” He brushed past her with Biscuit on his heels like an obedient dog.
Heath shook his head. “Really, Elaina?” Her partner trotted after Tuck, shouting at him to wait.
She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. Inhale. Hold, two, three. Exhale. Her heart still pounded, but the deep breathing forced her to calm down and not punch the side of the van.
A long, low whistle sliced through the wake of her tantrum.
Elaina opened her eyes and looked around the empty parking lot for the source. Then glanced at the nicer hotel.
Seth sat in the open passenger seat of the blue Forecast Channel vehicle. Even from across the highway, she could read the look in his eyes. Appreciation. Curiosity. Attraction.
Maybe just a little bit of fear, too.
32
If it weren’t for small town bars, the monotony of waiting for weather would’ve been insufferable. Seth parked the van at the back of the lot; not for advertising but it was so much easier to maneuver the big vehicle when he was away from others.
He passed a brown truck. The parking lot light glinted off the small figure of a dancer hanging from a chain off the rearview mirror.
Elaina was a comparison of contrasts. Tough, but gentle. Her intensity sometimes gave way to a flirtatious laugh. Now this, a tomboy who could challenge any heavyweight in a boxing ring had held on to a childhood dream of being a ballerina.
Seth shook his head and kept walking. A woman with that many contradictions had to be one step away from going off the deep end. Roadside distractions were a great place to visit, but he’d never want to set up permanent residence.
Right?
Judging from the odd mix of people inside, the place was filled with storm chasers waiting for whatever Mother Nature would dole out to her patient children once that system fired up again.
It was easy to spot Tuck. Find a gathering of people, and he was likely in the middle of it, telling some story that had a nugget of truth the size of a grain of salt.
Seth leaned against the bar, sipping his beer.
The crowd around the older man roared with laughter and broke up.
That was when he saw her.
Sitting in a corner on a barstool, scowling like a kid in timeout.
Tuck spoke in Elaina’s ear.
Her scowl hardened, but she nodded and left the stool, heading in his direction.
“Three more beers, please,” she said to the bartender.
“Triple fisting, I like it.”
“Save it, Maddux. I’m not in the mood.” She turned with the three cold ones and headed back to Tuck, handing him a bottle and passing the others to two men wearing matching leather motorcycle jackets.
Seth strained, trying to tell if the men were dentists who liked to dress up and pretend to be in a gang, or if they were actual members of a motorcycle gang.
Once the beers were delivered, she went back to her stool, as if awaiting her next orders.
“What the hell did you get yourself into?” he mumbled to himself. No matter how hard he stared in her direction, Elaina wouldn’t allow her gaze to meet his.
He wandered from the bar, circling around the tables to put himself in her line of sight, but she turned her head. He shifted to the left, and she craned her neck further.
One more step and she’d rival Linda Blair in the head-twisting contest. Finally, she pulled her cellphone from her back pocket and studied it.
As much as Seth wanted to get closer to her, Tuck guarded her with the protective hostility of a Rottweiler.
A dart board opened up, and the men left her behind in the corner.
He swooped in from behind them, hoping Tuck hadn’t erected an electric fence around Elaina. “Care for a twirl on the dance floor?” He held a hand out, but she ignored him. “Looks like your beer’s empty. Buy you another?”
A heavy sigh escaped her lips. “I thought I told you I wasn’t in the mood.”
“You did, but why do I get the feeling you’re a grounded teenager whose dad is punishing her by making her get his friends beer?”
“He’s not my dad and those are clients, not friends.”
“But you are being punished.”
Elaina didn’t disagree with him. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and the dimple in her chin quivered just a little before her jaw muscle flexed.
There it was again.
The vulnerable little girl just got tucked inside a tough outer shell.
“Shots,” she said, finally looking him square in the eyes. “Let’s do shots.”
Just one look in those forest green eyes made his stomach feel like he’d just gone over the first drop of a roller coaster.
Maybe he had.
“I’m pretty sure nothing good ever comes after those words.” Seth pulled one side of his mouth up, hoping that his half-smile told her the whole truth.
“That’s what I’m hoping for.” She hopped down from the stool and strode across the dance floor to the farthest corner of the bar.
“Alrighty then,” he said, easing into the chair next to her. “Pick your poison.”
“Two tequila shots,” Elaina said to the bartender.
Okay, so we’re doing tequila. Great.
The bartender filled two shot glasses and before Seth could offer his glass in a toast, Elaina downed hers and slammed the glass on the bar.
Her face flushed green and her cheeks puffed out, as if the liquor threatened to come back out, but instead she croaked, “Another.”
“I should tell you now, I’m not really the holding-your-hair-back-while-you-puke type. What’re you trying to forget?”
“The last two months.” This time she raised her glass to his.
His pointer finger twitched, as if it wanted to straighten and stroke the knuckles on her hand, but then the finger remembered, she threw a hell of a punch and tightened its grip on the glass.
“Aren’t there some things worth remembering? Some good storms, laughter, punching me on live TV?”
> She laughed, a musical sound he wanted to hear more. “Okay, to forgetting things that should be forgotten.”
“And remembering things … ah, I’m a shitty poet when I’m drinking.” They downed their shots. Seth watched her wall break down brick by brick. “So this is where you’re supposed to tell me what you’re doing with him.” He gestured to Tuck.
Elaina paused with the bottle of beer just inches from his lips.
What would it taste like to kiss her? Salt, bitter, sweet?
Knock if off, Maddux.
“Who?”
“You know who. Was that a maroon shirt I saw you wearing this morning?”
She cringed and called the bartended over. “Can you just leave us the bottle?”
“What’s going on?”
She threw back another shot and refilled her glass.
“Elaina.” Seth pulled her glass toward him. “Slow down. Shots like this will make you sick. Trust me, talking about it is much better than trying to drink it away.”
Elaina took a deep breath and glanced over his head.
He followed her gaze to the group Tuck was holding court over.
The man’s back was to them, but he couldn’t help but feel like the guy knew exactly where they were.
“You’re right,” she said, her voice was huskier, her words slower. The tequila must already be hitting her. “I need to run to the ladies’ room, and then can we get out of here maybe? Somewhere to talk?”
“Sure, we can go wherever you’d like … as long as I’m driving.” Seth motioned for the bartender.
Her full lips stretched into a smile. It was a relaxed one, completely honest, filled with relief and tequila.
He wanted to make her smile like that again.
And, again. And, again.
Once Elaina was gone, the crowded bar felt empty.
How could a woman so small take up so much room?
A relationship was not part of his career-salvaging plan. Seth couldn’t imagine a one-night stand with her. One night would leave him just wanting more.
His grandmother was right. Again.
Vortex Page 20
