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Again, the sincerity with which he spoke, the urgency underlined with fear, told me all I needed to know. Whatever was comin’ was enough to put that edge of worry in his eyes.
I took out my phone, found the number I was after, and hit Call. “Tully,” Dad answered cheerfully. “Your mother and I were just talking about you. What’s up? Thought you’d be busy tonight with your new man. Gotta say, we were surprised to meet him. I know it was your brother’s doing, but still, we’ve never met any—”
“Ah, Dad,” I said. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m with Jeremiah right now. We called into his work before we went home. I know you have people who watch the weather and shit, but the bureau will be issuing an official cyclone watch. It’s being sent out now.”
“Is this that storm off the coast of Malaysia? Joseph’s already monitoring it, and we’ve already changed shipping routes. You know this.”
“Yeah, well, Jeremiah said it’s heading our way. And I’m lookin’ at a radar right now that’s tellin’ us Darwin will be a direct hit, Dad. And a possible Category 5 when it gets here.”
There was a beat of silence and then the quiet tapping on a keyboard. “A Category 5, you said?”
Jeremiah nodded.
“Yeah, Dad. It’s not good. We’ve got less than five days to get all the ships loaded and out of the harbour.”
There was a familiar beeping of an incoming call. “That’s Joseph calling me now. Christ almighty. Thanks for your call, Tull.”
The line went dead, and Jeremiah gave my arm a squeeze. But then another radar started to beep, and the data screens were rolling information so fast they almost blurred.
Jeremiah was flippin’ switches and reading screens like a madman. “Argh, why is everything so goddamned old?”
His phone rang again, and he was talking stats and data so fast to whoever that was, and about a minute later, a familiar motorbike came back into the yard. Doreen, with Bruce under her arm, came stomping back into the office. “I been gone for a hot minute and you issued a track map on a Cat 5? And I hear about it on the damn radio?”
He pointed to the radar screen and her face paled. “Fucking hell,” she mumbled. Then she growled. “It wasn’t that bad when I was in charge. What the hell are you doin’ to the world?”
He shot her a glare and ignored the person he was talking to on the phone. “Like I did this,” he said to her. “We need to run the CMXL.”
I didn’t know what that was, but she did what he asked, and then, like one single being with four arms, the two of them worked that panel together.
My hopes of takin’ Jeremiah home for a night of smoking hot sex were dashed, but I didn’t even mind too much. ’Cause it sure was amazing to see him at work.
Life-threatening Category 5 tropical cyclones, aside.
He was a pro. He was in charge, doing everything all at once. Takin’ phone calls, makin’ calls, directing information and data.
I helped where I could. I ordered them pizza for dinner. I played with Bruce. I took him out to see the storm roll in as the sun went down. And at about ten, everything had died down enough for them to stop.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“Now we wait,” Jeremiah said. “And we watch.”
Doreen stretched her back. “Now we go home. You ain’t gonna be sleeping much this week. Get some shuteye tonight. See ya back at six.”
“You don’t need to come back,” Jeremiah said, standing up. “I respect your decision to retire, and quite frankly you deserve a break. You’ve managed this place forever on your own, and I—”
“Son, you’ve gotta Cat 5 on your hands. I said I’ll be here at six.” She whacked him on the shoulder again and he fell onto the control panel. By the time he’d collected himself, Doreen and Bruce were gone out the door.
He rubbed his arm and made a face. “Right, then.”
Chuckling, I cupped his face. “Let’s get you home. You’ve had a big day.”
He nodded with a sigh. “Yes, okay.”
He did what he needed to do to the control panel, we locked everything up, and went home. He was quiet on the drive, though I noticed his blinks were getting longer and slower. “Almost home,” I said, taking his hand.
“Thank you for today. For the pizza. For staying with me.”
“You don’t need to thank me. It’s what boyfriends do.”
