Dry Spell, page 6
“I need someone to wash everywhere. For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be finding grit in places I don’t want to think about.”
Jake tipped his head back and laughed. “I’ll help you with those places, too.”
“I’ll bet.” A volleyball smacked into the back of her head. “Ow! Watch where you’re….” Quinn whipped around to see the bimbo on the court, hands on her hips, staring. “That bitch didn’t just do that.”
“Let it go, Quinn.”
Yeah, she should let it go, walk away, be the bigger woman. And she would. For him. “Let’s go shower.”
“You’re a novelty! He’ll be bored with you in a week,” Gina yelled. She adjusted her top, drawing all the male eyes but Jake’s. His arm tightened around her body.
“Don’t listen to her.”
“You’re lucky I like you so much, Sheriff,” Quinn said.
“I am.” He reached up, brushed a strand of hair off her cheek, and tucked the wayward hank behind her ear. “I hoped perhaps we could move past like, and maybe I could call you my girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend? I might be able….”
He leaned in and kissed her, pulling her tight to her body, obviously not concerned with the public display of affection, or the whistling and hooting from his brothers and friends.
“Get a room,” one of the good ole boys hollered.
Jake lifted his mouth and grinned. “Is that a yes? You’re my girl?”
“Does this mean you want me to stay longer?”
“Indefinitely.” He grabbed her hands and walked backward, pulling her toward the outdoor showers. “But there are some secrets about our community I need to tell you about before you accept my offer.”
“What would that be?”
“Something tells me a storm chaser will fit right in. We could use someone with your skills.”
“My skill for finding trouble?” Quinn raised a brow.
“You can’t see a problem coming if you don’t know what to look for. We’re a community of preppers.”
“Preppers?” Like the people in the big cities who perched on crates, calling out warnings of the Apocalypse? That kind of preppers? General consensus said they were a bunch of whack-jobs, but she hadn’t seen evidence of town-wide insanity in Evans Point. “You all seem pretty normal to me. You’re not about to ask me to join a cult, shave my head, and sell lollipops at the airport?”
Jake barked out a laugh. “I assure you, there will be no head shaving or lollipops in your future. We prepare for natural and economic disasters. About three years ago, several twisters tore our town apart and left a lot of good people dead. Those who survived were left homeless or jobless. Then the railroad pulled out and put the final nail in the coffin of our economy. We had to do something, so the elders held a town meeting and we made a collective decision.”
“Oh, a disaster-preparedness group.” She smiled. “In that case, sign me up.”
“Hang on. We have to get the town elders’ approval first, but I’m fairly certain they won’t say no.”
***
Jake shifted his gaze from Maggie to Will and back again, standing in front of the staging area where the town band would play later. The pinched expression on Maggie’s face gave him some warning. He braced, knowing there was an objection coming.
The town mothers and fathers were so sensitive about their bomb shelter and sometimes they took the secrecy too far. Jake doubted the CIA had tighter controls. He reached up and rubbed the scruff along his jaw. He didn’t need this, not when he’d finally convinced Quinn to stay.
“No. You know nothing about this woman. I hope you didn’t tell her about the shelter, or our supplies.”
“I didn’t tell her about any of that.” Good thing he hadn’t told Quinn about the under-town. Maggie would have blown a gasket. The locals affectionately called it downtown, even if the aboveground commercial area took up about a block of the old five-block area it had before the storms and didn’t appear to be anything more than a roadside stop for tourists who were passing through to Jackson Hole, to eat, drink, and crash for the night.
“Good. We don’t need outsiders knowing what we’re doing here in Evans Point. If word got out, everyone in our community could be in jeopardy after a national disaster,” Maggie said.
“Something tells me we can trust her.”
“Gut instinct isn’t enough.”
“I feel like I’ve known her all my life.” He knew what Maggie was getting at—hop on his computer and do a background check. He’d explained to them a thousand times he couldn’t just pull up information on someone who hadn’t broken the law. “I’m not running a check for warrants and arrests, so don’t even ask.” Jake ran his hand through his hair and glared at Maggie, who stood next to Will Evans. “I’ve relied on gut instinct with my job, and it’s never been wrong. Quinn knows the weather, is a meteorologist and you above all others know how helpful an eye on the skies could be. We sit in a major storm corridor.” Perhaps reminding her of her brother’s death wasn’t fair, but desperation drove him to argue, even if he couldn’t win.
“Not now. Maybe after she’s been here a while—if you won’t check her out. If you did, it might speed the process up.”
“I think she deserves to know everything, if she’s going to be part of our town. That we have a shelter, that we have operations on the farms that pay for a lot of it. You can’t keep her out of this community and you can’t shut her out if she needs to take shelter. I’m not sneaking behind her back to see if she has any kind of a record.” This wasn’t a fly-by-night relationship, and the sooner they got it through their heads she was staying, the better. She. Was. The. One. No other woman would do. Why couldn’t they understand that love could happen in the span of a week? “Give her a chance. You were willing to give Redway a chance, and he was an outsider.
“He lived here for months, working on Will’s ranch, before we brought him into the group. We had a chance to get to know him, and he is marrying Will’s granddaughter. That’s different.”
“How so?”
“Are you marrying this girl? Can you guarantee she’ll never leave, or talk about what we do here? With people on the outside?”
“Jesus, Maggie. I feel like everyone expects me to find a local woman because it would be easier for folks here to like her, and I’m sorry to say this, but the selection isn’t to my liking. She’s going to stick around. Tell me how I keep the shelter a secret?”
“You’ll find a way. Until we’re one hundred percent certain she’s in for good, she’s not in, and you’ve already told her too much.”
“Maybe I should move on. I can’t have the town elders dictate who I see and share my life with. She’s the one. I’m telling you.”
“I’m glad you think you’ve finally found someone you can settle down with, but we have to protect the people in the co-op.” Maggie reached out and patted Jake’s hand. “If she is the one, we’ll accept her with open arms. Until then, our secret has to stay a secret.”
“What? I have to have a ring on her finger first?” Jake snorted. Now this was nitpicking. What did it matter if they were married or not? “How about we also put up our firstborn as collateral?”
“If it will ensure silence. Look, we have to look out for everyone. You knew the rules when you entered into this relationship.”
Jake growled. “All right, I’ll do as you ask, but if she discovers our secret on her own, I’m not holding back.”
“For your sake, I hope you’re right and she’s the one.” Will clapped him on the shoulder. “I believe you. Sometimes you just know when you’ve met the person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with. I did.”
“Thanks, Will.” Jake headed back for where Quinn waited for him beside the court. She had her head tilted back, studying the sky. Seconds later, she reached down, grabbed a handful of dry dirt, and released it, watching the direction the dust traveled.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t like this weather. The wind is blowing away from us, but there’s a lot of rotation in those clouds, and they’re low.”
Jake glanced up. “You said it’s blowing away from us.”
“I know, but I don’t feel good about that sky. Storms have a mind of their own, can change course. We are on the dryline. I’ve been watching this front for a couple days. Did you notice when we made the trip into Jackson Hole last night, how humid it was there and how dry the climate is around Evans Point? Except today. The wind is more like something blowing off the ocean. There’s moisture in it. Has anyone been listening to the weather?”
“No advisories for our county. Bad weather is traveling southeast, headed for Sweetwater County. I’ve seen skies like that a hundred times before. Besides, there are no breasts up there or anvil shapes.” He smiled at her, loving her description from the first time they met, even if their encounter had resulted in his Charger being retired to the boneyard. “What’s a dryline?”
“It’s a boundary, where hot, dry winds collide with moist wind from the Pacific. Storm chasers obsess about them—they’re a good way to track and predict where severe storms might form. As for the appearance of the sky, you don’t always see hail pockets and sometimes not even a thunderhead. The clouds can stack.” She pointed. See that over there, on the horizon, next to the line moving toward the southeast? That group seems to be independent. The clouds, they almost touch the ground. The wind could shift in our direction. I think this event needs to be packed up and finished on another day.”
“We have one game left. That sky is nothing. I’ve seen similar ones before, and we got a little rain, but nothing more.”
“Storm systems like that take people by surprise and kill them. Please, I think everyone needs to seek shelter. Now.” She grabbed his arm. “Please.”
“You feel strongly about this?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Okay.” Jake motioned to Maggie and a group of the elders who strolled over to them.
“What’s going on?”
“We need to pack up and get to shelter.”
Maggie tipped her head back. “It’s fine. A few clouds here. Maybe little bit of rain in the distance. The radio stations haven’t reported any warnings for Fremont, only watches.”
“It’s headed this way.” Quinn sighed. “I know the storm front in the distance doesn’t seem like much, but that system isn’t good. It could be on top of us and too late for us to get out of the path if we stay here to finish this tournament.”
“You’re one hundred percent certain?”
“No, not one hundred percent. You can’t predict what a storm will do. That’s what makes them dangerous.”
“I know dangerous. We’ve lived through a lot of bad weather in this area, and this is nothing close to what I’ve witnessed in the past. I think I know a funnel cloud when I see one, and that formation isn’t something a tornado comes from.” She pointed at the darkening sky. “This fund-raiser happens once a year and is very important to our community. We can’t shut down because you think those clouds might cause a problem. Might and will, are two different things.”
Quinn nodded. “Then I guess I have to bow out of the game because I’m going to find a basement or root cellar to hang out in.”
“That makes two of us.” Jake nodded to Will and Maggie. “I think you should stop being so stubborn and listen to her.”
“Jake, this isn’t going to change our minds. Our decision stands.”
“This isn’t about that.”
“Are you sure?” Maggie scowled.
Will studied the clouds in the distance. He grabbed Maggie’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I think you should listen to the young lady,” he said. “If she’s wrong, we finish this on another day. If she’s right, we stay safe. Do you really want to take the chance?”
The wind picked up, blowing Quinn’s hair in her face, and as she’d feared, it shifted. She glanced at the sky. “If you don’t get these people under cover, they could become casualties of that storm.”
“Fine.” Maggie stalked toward the stands where trophies were laid out, next to a barbeque ready to go. Will walked beside her, hands in his pockets, the voice of reason in the county, and even he didn’t sound convinced.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s a protective mother hen. Once she sees you’re right, she’ll come around.”
The innkeeper as she grabbed the microphone. “Attention everyone.”
All heads swiveled in her direction.
“We need to pack this party up. Got some weather moving in and don’t want anyone to get hit by lightning.”
Gina made her way to the front of the crowd. “And just where did you get your information? I still see sunshine and those clouds will go around us. They always do when they come over that mountain range.” She crossed her arms and stared at Quinn.
The crowd collectively mumbled.
Quinn shook her head. “I’m a trained meteorologist. And I’m the one they got their information from.”
“What? Seriously, people. Are you going to trust what an outsider from California says? They don’t even know what tornadoes are.”
“Yes, I’m from California, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lived there my entire life, or I don’t know bad weather when I see it.”
“Well, I’m not packing up and going anywhere. I stayed up all night cooking that pig for the barbeque, and I’m not letting all my hard work go to waste, all because someone who isn’t from here thinks we should hide in our basements.” Gina glared.
“You do what you think is right. I’m going to find some shelter, and you’d be smart to do the same.” Without further comment, Quinn stalked toward Jake’s pickup, threw the door open, and climbed in. Jake shrugged and jogged after her, jumping behind the wheel. Half the crowd began to pack up their things and move for their vehicles, the rest stood in place, as though they weren’t certain if they should go. “Stubborn. Stupid. I can’t stand her. I can’t believe she’d let her ego make decisions for her.”
“I know, but you can’t convince her unless she wants to be.”
“It’s shifted, Jake. That storm is coming for us.”
“I noticed.” Jake reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “Come on, let’s help Maggie with the barbeque grill. She has tables and stuff to pack up.”
“Okay.”
Together they hopped out and began to clean the tables off. Quinn glanced over to the left. Jake followed her gaze to see where Tyler and his friends, including Gina, had cranked up the tunes and broken out the beer. They were singing, dancing, and carrying on.
“You need to make them listen. Tell them the wind has shifted.” Quinn handed him a box. Jake loaded it into the back of Maggie’s SUV.
“They’re not going to listen. Tyler is stubborn, but he’s also smart. If it starts to get ugly, he’ll head for cover. Nothing will probably come of it anyway.”
She eyed the approaching weather, skeptical. “I hope you’re right.”
Fifteen minutes later, Quinn watched in the mirror as they pulled out of the airport and headed toward town. Gina lifted the first place trophy in the air, taking a parting jab.
“Bitch.”
Jake grinned. “We’d have won that.”
“I know.”
***
The clouds grew darker the closer to town they got. A long string of vehicles followed them. It hadn’t taken long for the sky to show teeth and form hail pockets. Tyler would take one look up and head for cover. He knew better than to risk his life and that of his friends. Jake reached over and flicked his headlights on. Only minutes since they’d pulled out of the fairgrounds, but already he needed light to illuminate the road. He tuned into a radio station out of Jackson Hole.
Buzz. Buzz. Beep. Beep. Beep. The national weather service has issued a severe storm warning for the eastern parts of Sublette, and western and middle Fremont counties, until seven p.m. Central Standard Time. Doppler radar has picked up a line of thunderstorms with rotation in eastern Sublette County. These storms are capable of producing tornadoes, ping-pong ball-sized hail, and winds ranging from seventy-five to one-hundred-sixty miles per hour. The front is moving northeast at fifteen miles per hour. Strong winds, lightning, and hail have been associated with this storm. Take cover now. Move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If in a mobile home, a vehicle, or outdoors, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris. Once again, the National Weather Service has issued a severe storm warning for….
“Shit,” Quinn said. “I hate being right.”
Jake’s phone rang. “Three guesses who, and I bet he heard the same warning we did. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his cell out and tossed it to her. “Can you answer that for me, please?”
“Hello, this is Quinn, I’m putting you on speaker.”
“Jake. Our truck is stuck.”
“How the heck did you do that?” The hair on the back of his neck stood up. So much for his brother and friends getting to cover.
“Well, we didn’t want the mud to go to waste and started screwing around and…we just heard the weather warnings and can’t get out of here.”
“Hang on. I’m on my way. How many?”
“Seven of us.”
“Sit tight. I’ll be there in five.”
“Okay.” Tyler disconnected.
Jake gripped the wheel tighter and prayed he had five minutes. Jane Parker owned the closest spread to the airport, although reaching it would take an additional three minutes. She had a basement they could take cover in, but her place also housed some of the community’s commercial operation, where they freeze-dried and packaged emergency food supplies sold online by the co-op. There would be no way to keep the shelter, or the co-op’s enterprise a secret once Quinn saw it. Not that it mattered. Lives were more important than secrets.
Jake did a U-turn and headed back for the airport. “We need to get them out of there before the storm hits.” As he said it, rain began to pound onto the pickup’s hood. “Shit. Here we go again.” He pressed down on the gas, going as fast as he could without hydroplaning off the highway.
