AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They ended the conversation with a few more pleasantries, and Lando leaned back into the driver’s seat of the old car. She drank her coffee, knowing it’d likely be the last treat she got herself for a while. She needed to save up, pay back Aunt T, who would no doubt tell Uncle Kyle to go stock the house full of food while she was at work that day, and figure out what she was going to do for the next six months. Maybe she could start back at school in the fall if she could qualify for some loans—though she really didn’t want to take those out.
Her day was already looking up from where it had started. Perhaps she was finally on the right track. Even if it wasn’t the dream she had set out to accomplish, it was something, and she was comfortable with the decisions she was making. The tension from the last few weeks was gone, and she was back to her old self—or at least, getting closer to it. With a smile on her lips, Lando stared at the store in front of her. She had a job, she had a house, a car, and she had family. What more could she ask for?
CHAPTER18
Violet couldn’t sleep.She’d spent the night tossing and turning until the wee hours of the morning and well before sunrise when she just couldn’t handle it anymore. The room was cold without Lando there, and she missed her, although she didn’t really want to admit it and wouldn’t to anyone but herself.
Sitting up and leaning against the headboard, Violet pulled her computer up and turned it on, bringing it to life. She searched through the weather radar and maps, finding nothing of particular interest that morning. The small storm yesterday had been worth it, although she had a gut feeling from the start they’d never manage to catch the tornado, mostly because her heart hadn’t been in it.
She rubbed her hands over her cheeks and her eyes, closing them. She was exhausted. The last two weeks had been hell, but now she had no light to brighten up her days. That had truly been what Lando was for her. She hadn’t realized it at the time, but Lando had brought something new, something interesting to chasing, a distraction from everything Violet didn’t want to think about or deal with.
She sighed and bent over the side of the bed to grab the camera. She wasn’t ready to go downstairs yet and deal with people. She didn’t want to run into anyone she didn’t want to talk to. Flipping through the pictures on Eli’s old camera, Violet stopped at some of the ones with the huge storm they’d followed for hours. Some of the shots were worth some money for sure. She’d have to doll them up a bit, but it wouldn’t be too much work.
She hit the next button again, gasping when she saw the one she’d taken immediately after Lando had taken off running toward it. She was fearless. Lando’s strength and energy flowed through the photo and right into Violet’s chest. She had run full force toward that tornado without a second thought, and the power in her legs as she moved showed it.
Violet zoomed in on Lando, looking the image over for any flaws. This could very easily be a money shot if she sold it. She’d have to get Lando’s permission, but that shouldn’t be too hard, especially if she was trying to make a name for herself in the chasing world. Moving the focus of the photo to the tornado, Violet eyed it.
The satellite tornados bursting off the storm cell were just in the beginning of their offshoot, funneling down toward the ground. Violet shuddered. That truly had been a storm of a lifetime for a lot of people. Finding one that powerful didn’t happen every year, and finding one they could follow and chase and be in the right place was even more rare.
Turning on her side, Violet lay down in the bed. She moved to the image of Lando. It was her from the back, running straight toward the heart of the storm like she had no care in the world. Violet knew that wasn’t true, but that was the sense the photo gave off and she wasn’t about to argue with it.
They dared death every day they went out, and they did it so much without allowing fear or anxiety to get through. If they did, it would certainly be the end of all of them. They couldn’t fake confidence either. It was something they had to go into each storm with, as if they could wrangle the tornado with their own bare hands even though everyone knew they couldn’t, and wouldn’t even try.
Violet brushed her fingers over her lips, remembering the way Lando had pressed against her. She’d almost given in to it, almost pushed back and kissed her, taken what Lando offered. Yet, she hadn’t. Violet hadn’t expected it, hadn’t been ready. Still, there she was, days later, still thinking about the warmth of Lando’s mouth, the softness of her full lips, the calm and comfort she exuded.
It was all wrong.
Lando should be there with her, should be the one to be chasing storms with her, not Diane. Not someone who didn’t seem to care about what they were doing. Sitting up in bed, Violet listened carefully to see if Eli was awake yet. If she closed her eyes, she could hear rustling downstairs.
Grabbing a sweatshirt, Violet pulled it over her head as she made her way as quietly as possible down the stairs. Eli stood in the kitchen, coffee pot in her hand as she filled it with water. Violet’s lips quirked up.
“Hey,” she said.
Eli jumped before turning around. “Scared me.”
“Sorry.” Violet shrugged. “I was hoping it was late enough that you’d be awake.”
“Late enough?” Eli raised one of her busy eyebrows. “Did you not sleep?”
“Struggled with it. I’ve been…” Violet paused as she searched for the right word. “…unsettled since you told me Lando flew home.”
“Ah.” Eli poured the water into the coffee pot and hit the button for it to start. “She was upset.”
“I have no doubt of that,” Violet murmured. “I would be, too.”
Eli cocked her head to the side. “Why?”
“Because it was an unfair termination.”
Crossing her arms, Eli leaned against the counter and eyed Violet up and down cautiously. Violet held her ground, waiting her out. She wanted to know what was going on behind those beautiful brown eyes because there was definitely something swirling in there.
“Did you know Diane was going to do it?” Eli finally asked.
Violet shook her head, pushing away the disgust that wanted to blow up. “I didn’t know until we were leaving for the storm yesterday, after you’d already taken her to the airport.”
Eli nodded sharply. “You should call Lando.”
“Why?” Violet raised an eyebrow, not sure how that would make any difference. “I’m not sure she’d want to hear from me.”
