Storm Warning (16 page)

Tears were building behind her closed lids
,
but Tory plunged ahead. “I had to watch my Dad’s face when he realized it got him. Seconds later, I couldn’t see his face anymore. I heard
my Mama scream for him and
she
ra
n
into the tornado. And I waite
d for it to take me with them.
It didn’t have the courtesy to take me
,
too. So don’t talk to me about blame and chance and and
—and acts of God—
because I already know.”

Gabe didn’t speak for a moment and she was grateful. She needed to get a hold on herself. Sighing, she wiped her cheeks, but the tears kept coming.

“So you’re punishing y
ourself for what? For living?”

“So to speak.” She
exhaled a shaky breath
. “Gabe, I can’t get over it
. I can’t let them rest. I
t wasn’t fair.”

“No, it wasn’t fair. But what is chasing storms going to change about it?”

She thought of all the seminars she spoke at, the articles she’d written, the fundraisers she’d conducted. She was doing
something
.

“Absolutely nothing,
”
she
admitted. “I’ve always known that. But if I can help people like Phil and Ashley and possibly even save their lives with storm cellars, or if I can teach one person and give them the knowledge of tornado safety procedures, it makes it easier.”

“So, it’s not about the chase? It’s about what oppor
tunities the chase gives you?”

“More or less.
I use
chasing
to open doors for me to get information out to people. It’s important to me. I like chasing, don’t get me wrong. But it’s hard for me to face down something that took so much away from me.”

He was quiet again and she almost thought he had finished talking. She wiped her eyes again and was relieved when no more tears came.

“You’re an incredible woman, Tory.”

She
looked up to see his gre
y eyes watching
her in the rear view mirror. Feeling better,
she
smiled at him.
“You’re a pretty good guy, yourself.”

The storm rolled through Ada with a vengeance. No tornado
es were
pro
duced, but Gabe considered it a
photographic success. As he packed away his equipment, Gabe wondered how Tory would feel about going out for the evening.

Adam strolled up to Gabe as he
slid his tripod in the back of
the truck.

“Get some good footage?”
he
asked.

Gabe secured the tailgate and turned around
,
resting his back up against it.
He studied Adam through hooded lids. His hands weren’t
still,
his feet shuffled the dirt beneath them.

“Yes.”

“I
’ve been meaning to ask you…” He
scratched his head. “How many megapixels are you working with?”

Gabe crossed his arms over his chest, amused that he was about to receive his first lecture about breaking a woman’s heart. “Fourteen.”

He nodded. “Mine’s a twelve. I’ve been thinking about upgrading.”

“I’ll let you use mine sometime. See how you like it.”

“Great. That’d be great.”

Painfully silent seconds ticked by. Adam cleared his throat and concentrated on his shoes. Gabe bit the inside of his cheek. “Was there something else, then?”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you when my sister isn’t around.” Adam shuffled his feet and sucked in a breath. “I don’t have any practice with these sorts of things. I tried once
,
but it was lame.”

“I’m not going to hurt Tory,
” Gabe told him as they climbed into the truck. “Where is she by the way?”

“She’s s
taying behind with Billy. They—ah—
have something to talk about
,
too.”

Gabe nodded. “Well, go ahead. I’m listening.”

Adam scratched his head
again.
“I know Tory’s an adult. And I know she can d
amn well take care of herself… b
ut I’m worried.”

“About?”

“Vance—”

A muscle worked in his jaw.
“This
conversation’s going to end before it starts if you’re going to start comparing me to that asshole.”

“That isn’t what I’m doing.” Adam waved a hand, then replaced it on the steering wheel. “It’s just that going into the relationship, Tory was a bright-eyed innocent. The first time she found out Vance cheated, she was crushed. He kindly informed her
that
he’d never made her any promises and that was how it was going to be.”

Adam narrowed his eyes. “Have you made any promises?”

“We
are
exclusive.” Gabe told him.

“All right. I guess that’s good to know.”

“I’m also in love with her.”

Adam choked on the water
he
was drinking
. After clearing his throat a couple times, he patted his chest with his fist and grinned hugely.

“That is good to know. Does she know?”

“No.”

“Oh, well are you going to tell her?”

“Eventually,
” Gabe shrugged.
She wasn’t exactly wearing her heart on her sleeve. And he’d be damned if he got down on his knees to confess his undying love for her when he wasn’t sure
if she’d appreciate it. Hell, she might even laugh in his face.

Adam laughed. “Don
’t tell her you told me first. W
hen I saw you haul her ass over your shoulder and take her to her room, I knew then you’d be almost good enough for her.”

“Almost good enough is as good as it gets, right?”

“Just about.”

“Stupid.” Tory muttered
to herself as she walked
down the side of the hill to retrieve a camera the crew had planted in the path of the storm that had just passed. “Who does he think he is?” She kicked a rock bad
temperedly
since it failed to move out of her way.

Billy Small had no concept of proper timing, Tory realized.

A last minute decision, he had said. All they needed was a booth to set up and a speech prepared
for the convention—only a few days away. All traces of the recent storm gone,
Tor
y squinted against the sun
and scowled.

Speeches and articles were nothing new for her. Sh
e wrote them habitually through
out the year, more so in the off months of the chase. So what was she complaining about?

“I really hate my own self pity.” She bent to the ground to disassemble the camera and place
d
it in a black case.

So, Tory mused rising, she would put together a couple articles, ask Gabe to print some pictures,
and
mission accomplished.
She’d planned to
do something
—on a smaller scale—
like
that anyway.

When she arrived back to the trucks, Frankie and the twins
were busy packing up equipment. Billy was conveniently busy and one of the trucks was done.

“Where’d Gabe and my brother go?” she asked.

Kary looked up from the chart she’d been writing on. “They went on to the house.
We’ve got the rest of that,” she gestured to the covered equipment, “to load, then we’ll head that way. Do you need anything? A bottle of water?”

“No, thanks.” Tory put the camera in the bed of the truck. “Let’s hurry ‘
cause
I’m starving.”

Chapter Ten

The field was an open mass of wheat and beauty. The golden stems danced gaily in the light breeze. In the distance, a pond of glittering sapphire sparkled under the sun
. It was serene, peaceful.
Content.
S
he felt as if nothing could go wrong. And that’s
how
she
knew she was in the middle of a dream.

Colors and shapes sud
denly swam in a mist of ugly gre
y.
It was a storm, she was sure.
She could hear the
howling of the wind—
feel the pelting of the rain begin as her perfect scene was invaded by the ugliness. She could see the blinding flash of lightning. The thunder clapped
,
then
boomed
from the distance and Tory shivered.
It seemed to rumble her name.

It was coming for her.
Tory
.

“Tory. Wake up, baby.”

Disoriented, Tory
moaned and blinked her eyes open.
The room was almost completely dark and that alone would have added to her terror, but a strong, naked chest loomed over her. His big hands were on her, holding her to him as he murmured to her. She felt safe.

“
I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

“No, I was awake. Are you all right?”

She was now.
“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Do you want some water or something?”

“No
. I need to just…” she trailed off
when he pulled her tighter to him. He turned to his side and
cradled
her head on his shoulder
.
She just needed him to hold her, but he seemed to already know that.
He saw everything
, she thought, not for the first time.

Gabe settled them back down in the sheets and pulled the comforter over
her
shoulders. “Want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know if that would help.”

“Try.”

“I have nightmares sometimes about storms. It’s to be expected after everything that’s happened.” She sighed and snuggled closer to
his incredible
warmth.
She felt herself relax little by little.
“And they aren’t as bad as they were when I was a child.”

She made a small sound in her throat. It scared her even to talk about it. “There’
re a couple different themes.
In one, I’m
a kid
again. I’m p
laying in the backyard. I see it happen just the way it did. Over and over. In another, it’s beautiful out. I’m not in the dream, or I can’t see myself like I do in the other
, but it’s beautiful—
then the storm comes and it chokes me.”

Gabe absently ran his fingers through her loose hair and laid his lips on her brow. “How often do you have them?”

“A lot during the season. Not so often on down time
. I don’t know, we’ve been here at the house
for
a few
days
and this is the first night I’ve had
one
. This is where everything happened.”

Sh
e wanted to believe he was the reason she hadn’t had the nightmares
. Sh
e wanted to believe the safety of his arms around her each nigh
t was the reason for her peace. Yet she was afraid to hope for that because she would eventually be sleeping alone again.

“Maybe they’ll stop.”

“I hope so,” s
he murmured absently.

E
very night
since
they
’d
arrived at the house
, she’d anticipated a nightmare
. But each night, they made love until neither of them could move and drifted off to sleep wrapped around each other.

It was
another reason she shouldn’t be in love with
him. He’d be leaving soon and she would be left with nothing. If she were smart, she’d pull back now. She’d end things slowly and part as friends.

But she feared it was already too late for that.

Humming softly
to herself, Tory stuffed her notes
in
a black three ring binder and started tidying up her desk. After three cups of coffee,
she
had managed to finalize her articles and dress up her speech on Tornado Precautions before anyone else
woke.

She glanced over at the bed
where Gabe was sleeping soundly, his forearm thrown over his eyes and the cream colored hotel sheets riding low on his hip. She’d awoken there
an
hour before and couldn’t help but feel contented—like the cat
who’d
gotten into the cream. It had unnerved her a little
how comfortable she felt turning to him—waking up to him.