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Violet tensed but kept her finger where it needed to be. “Willing to bet there will be a storm.”
“That’s two hours from here.”
Humming her agreement, Violet switched to a temperature map. “Here and here.”
“Cold and hot,” Lando murmured.
Pleased with her student, Violet held back from showing her pride. The bad grade on the last paper truly had been because of personal issues and not lack of knowledge. Violet stared at the map, watching the temperature lines move and then flash back to where they started. She was well-practiced in reading these after years of studying them. Lando had quite a bit to catch up on, but she was smart enough that Violet was sure it wouldn’t take too long to manage.
“I’m betting there will be at least one or two tornados there. A nasty storm at least.”
“Are we going?” Lando looked as though she was about to vomit, though Violet recognized the hint of excitement underneath it all.
“No. It’s too far for today. You’re not up to it.”
“I can be.”
Diane clucked her tongue. “No, not today. We can take today off.”
Anger surged into Lando’s countenance. Violet wasn’t surprised. She would feel the same way if it were her, had felt that way before.
“We can go if it’s important.”
“Not as important as you.” Diane leaned over Violet and placed a hand on Lando’s good arm.
Violet’s chest constricted, and she moved just enough to break the contact between them. She couldn’t stomach Diane’s fake concern. She was only doing it for Violet’s benefit, she knew. If it had been Erik who was injured, Diane wouldn’t have batted an eye.
Watching the screen with more determination than before, Violet caught sight of another storm coming in. It’d take a day to get to them, but they could wait it out, and that would be the perfect one to take Lando to next. She’d have more time to recover and wouldn’t be in as much pain when they did travel.
“Look here,” Violet murmured and pointed to the screen.
Lando’s eyes lit up like she’d won the prize. “Think it’ll hit tomorrow evening?”
“I bet it’ll be the next morning, honestly. Look how slow it’s moving.” Violet shivered as Lando shifted in closer to see the screen better. “See this?”
“Yeah, I see it.” Lando’s breath was hot on her arm. “It is slow.”
“Not sure if it’ll kick up anything for us, but it’ll be pretty to watch nonetheless.”
“Should we head out there?” Diane asked.
“It’ll get to us in enough time, I think. I want to see if it’s going to gain momentum or lose it.”
“What do you think, Lando?”
Lando looked surprised at the direct question. Her gaze flickered from Diane to Violet before she nodded. “I think it’s good to wait.”
“Then we wait.” Diane stood up and walked around the room, picking up things here and there and putting them someplace else. It always irked Violet when she did that. Doing her best to ignore Diane, Violet focused on the maps, teaching Lando more about each one and how to predict the storms better than a regular meteorologist.
* * *
Lando sat in the back seat of the vehicle as usual. They’d packed up all their bags and shoved them into the car, moving west into Colorado to follow the eye of the storm that was coming. Her arm still ached, but it was at least manageable so long as she didn’t hit it on anything. If they stayed on the highway ,that would be fine.
Violet’s profile looked calm, for the first time in a while. Lando wasn’t sure if calling her out had been the right course of action, but ever since the morning after the accident, Violet hadn’t made any harsh comments in her direction. She’d also tried to stay as much to herself as possible. Diane, however, had been fussing over her ever since, and it had been nice to have Diane’s attention on her, something she missed from being home and surrounded by her family.
Her grandmother would have fussed in much the same way. She relaxed into her seat and was just about to close her eyes when Diane caught her attention. “Where did you grow up, Lando?”
“Oh…just outside of Kansas City. Near the school, actually.”
