Page 55 of Out of the Storm

“Yeah.”

Jeff let out a long breath, and relief washed over him like cool summer rain. Maybe everything would be okay after all.

Soon, they were inside the National Severe Storms Laboratory, hanging back while folks who wererealresearchers, not just hobbyists, studied the Doppler radar and performed some calculations. Had Gary been more experienced, he’d have probably been excited to help with that too, but Jeff was only there to follow the team to wherever the storms were likely to form. Somehow, it seemed as though they had really lucked out. Not only were there storms forecasted within a couple hours of Norman that very afternoon, but it looked like there might be some storms in the area the following day too. Thank God. No fucking way Gary would be bored on the trip now.

Afterward, Jeff and Gary bought a couple of snacks from a convenience store, and then they left the city, heading east. According to the forecast, the storm would probably hit in Lincoln County, which wasn’t too far from Norman, and so the two of them needed to shoot for the general area, being careful not to wind upinsidethe fucking storm, of course. For the most part, Jeff felt confident in their safety. He knew how to spot where the storms were likely to form. And he knew how to stay out of their path while still being close enough to watch them.

As they cruised down the highway, though, Gary started to look nervous—chewing on his nails intermittently while bouncing one of his legs. Glancing up at the sky, which was still bright blue with white puffs of cauliflower above, even more of them in the distanceto the northwest, Jeff tried to work out how to put Gary’s mind at ease.

“Hey, Gare,” he said, before pointing out the window. “See those clouds there? Kind of like towers rising up into the sky?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, that’s where the storm’ll be.”

“How are you sure?”

“Just, look—” Jeff paused and pointed lower. “See that space there? Between the horizon and the clouds? It’s like a neat line, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I think... uh... shit, sorry, trying to remember what they call it. Doesn’t matter. But see how the mass of clouds is moving? Rotating, kinda?That’swhere we might see a funnel.”

“So, a tornado won’t form right on top of us?”

Jeff tried to offer a reassuring smile. “No.”

“Are yousure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Looking out the side window, Jeff pursed his lips. He really wanted this to be spectacular. “I think we ought to try to move closer, though. It’s moving northeast toward us—notoverus—but maybe we’re too far south to really see much.”

Not as much as he wanted to see, that was. He really wanted Gary to see—no, tofeel—the reason why he liked watching storms so much.

When Jeff took an exit to reroute them, Gary resumed bouncing his leg.

“Everyone else seems to—” he started to say, but Jeff cut him off.

“I know,” Jeff said. Everyone else was still heading southeast. They’d probably park soon, prepare to take pictures. “Just trust me.”

“Okay . . .”

“We’re okay. I promise.”

Over the next twenty minutes, the sky started to darken, and then rain started to hit the windshield, first only a few droplets here and there, but eventually a whole bunch of them. Jeff wasn’t too worried, though. While the sky to the west was now nearly black in color, the clouds above were only light gray. The spot he’d picked was fine.

But Gary continued to bounce his leg. Soon, he started wringing his hands, too. Fuck. Empathy crackled in Jeff’s chest, making his heart hurt. Even though he could see that the harshest part of the storm was still safely west of them, moving northeast, Gary looked terrified.

Jeff pulled over to the side of the road.

When he cut the engine, he tried to ease Gary’s worry with a smile.

“We’re still pretty far,” he said encouragingly before pointing toward the turning mass of clouds. “Look, I think we might see something out there. Can you see that the center is lowering a bit? It’s a funnel. Not sure if it’ll touch, though.”

Gary only stared wordlessly, one of his legs still bouncing. He’d resumed chewing on his fingernails too. Affection pulled at Jeff’s heart. For someone who often seemed like an endless optimist, Gary clearly had limits to his positivity.

“Hey,” Jeff said, reaching for Gary’s free hand.

And the moment their fingers touched, excitement shot through Jeff’s veins, his heart hammering wildly as he interlaced their fingers. Holy shit, they were finally holding hands.

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