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“Good, because she’s arriving tonight.”
“Really?” Surprised, Violet leaned forward on the counter, her eyes wide.
Eli knocked her chin up. “Yeah. She and her girlfriend are coming up for the end of spring break.”
“Does that mean the other guests have left?” Diane stepped in.
Lando eyed her suspiciously. How much of that week had been planned if Diane didn’t even know they were gone? It had her second-guessing everything she’d thought the last few days.
“They were only supposed to stay through this morning, so they left while you were gone. Wanted to beat the storm that you were chasing.” Eli’s eyes were light with joy. “We’ve got a new couple and their son in some of those rooms, and then Azalea and Jewel will be here shortly.”
“Well, I look forward to meeting them,” Violet answered.
Lando felt Diane’s tension without even needing to see it lining her face. Eli cast her a quick look too, but stopped. “Dinner should be ready in about thirty minutes.”
“Good,” Diane answered. “I’m going to go get changed.”
“We should, too,” Violet murmured, placing her hand on top of Lando’s, the one that was still somehow on Violet’s arm. “We’re covered in dirt.”
“Worth it.” Lando grinned and was glad to see Violet’s echoing smile. Violet was a truly different person on storm days when they were successful. Lando loved seeing her like that.
While Diane went upstairs, Lando and Violet went back to the Hummer and pulled out the computer and cameras and other tech they didn’t want to leave overnight. Bringing the stuff inside and up to their room, Lando grimaced. Diane had taken the shower, meaning Violet and she were going to have to wait.
“How are those bruises?” Lando asked off-handedly as Violet set the computer onto the mattress and rummaged through her suitcase.
“Not bad. Healing well. Yours?”
“Didn’t bruise.” Lando gave her a broad smile.
Violet rolled her eyes. “Oh to be young again.”
“With the way you were running around today? You’re not the least bit old.”
With her brow furrowed, Violet stood up straight. “Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?”
“Uh…” Lando eyed her carefully. “Yes.”
“You don’t sound too confident in that answer.”
“I was until you questioned it,” Lando mumbled, knowing it was loud enough for Violet to hear her.
Chuckling, Violet bent back over her suitcase. “I’ll feel it in the morning, I promise you that. My bones are old.”
Lando still vehemently disagreed, but she wasn’t about to continue the awkward teasing. She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the laptop closer to her, plugging it in to charge before pulling up the raw data they had collected.
“Want me to start going through this?”
“Sure,” Violet said. “I’ll give it a good run tomorrow. Tonight, I want food, a hot shower, and some time to revel in what we witnessed today.”
“In that order?” Lando fired back.
“No.” Violet winked. “Not in that order.”
“You take the first shower. Then you can help me wrap up my arm.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
The water turned off across the hall, and in a minute, Violet was out of the room. Lando lost herself in skimming through the data they had collected, finding all the assumptions they had made about the storm while in the field were mostly correct. Wind speeds were higher than they had guessed, though. The reality of what could have happened out there hit her hard, but she tried her best to push it to the side, fighting the urge to close in on it and let it take over.
