Page 41 of Wild Texas Wind
The two women exchanged a high-five over the bar.
Hailey crossed to the pass-through bar as she spoke, and retrieved Javi’s dinner, packaged in a brown paper bag. She carried it over and set it in front of him.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” Hailey asked Espy.
Espy waved her hands in front of her. “I am full of popcorn right now, thanks.”
“Okay, well, I don’t know how you’re going to watch him eat that without wanting some. I’ll be open another hour if you change your mind.”
“Thanks,” Espy said, pushing to her feet as Javi did and walking out the door he held for her.
She half-expected him to ask what all the questions were about but he didn’t say anything. She also didn’t know where he planned to eat his meal. The lights were on in the yard of The Wheel House, but he didn’t linger there, instead continued toward the square.
“What is your usual, by the way?” she asked. “I’ve heard you order it twice, and never saw you eat it.”
“Oh, ah. It’s skinless wings with Korean barbecue sauce. Really delicious. Messy though.”
Her mouth may have been watering a little, though her stomach was protesting the idea. “I’ll have to try that next time.”
He gave her a look she couldn’t read.
“When is your next tour?”
“Um, It leaves Norman on Sunday.”
“You think everything will be done in time?”
“Tommy promised that the minute he gets the chain, he will drop everything and get to it so we can be on our way.”
He nodded again. “So you usually start your tours on Sunday?”
“Depends on the weather, and while most of our tours are five days, sometimes they’re only three. We cover a lot of states on those five-day ones. We never come down this far south on those trips.”
“But how far out can you really plan? You can’t know the weather that far in advance.”
“There’s always weather somewhere,” she said with a shrug. “We’ve gone as far as Michigan, but I don’t really like that. I prefer to stay on the plains. Where are you going to eat that?”
“Thought I’d take it home.”
“Ah.” She would not be disappointed by that. She didn’t want to miss out on the chance of more kisses. “Okay.”
“I mean, my mom taught me not to eat in front of people.”
“Sure, but I have already eaten so it’s not the same. The motel has tables in the courtyard. Do you want to come back?” Then she widened her eyes as she realized he might mistake her meaning. She didn’t intend for him to come to her room. “I mean, I’ll sit with you while you eat. And I think we have some bottled water still in the room, so I can get you one.”
“Yeah, that would be nice, actually. I haven’t been in the courtyard since Ginny’s birthday.”
They walked into the courtyard of the motel, well-lit, even though it was empty. Javi walked over to a metal table and scraped the chair across the cement floor. Espy continued walking over to one of the doors, unlocked it, left it open, then returned with two warm bottles of water. She set one in front of him as he unwrapped his meal and sat across from him.
“So how did the other towns look?” she asked. “Did they get hit, too?”
“No, but I did see some ranches who had some damage to fences and outbuildings. Lots of people out looking at damage, their own and other people’s.”
She nodded as she twisted the top of the bottle off. “I see that a lot, people sightseeing the aftermath. I try not to judge because how is that worse than us chasing the storms themselves?”
“It’s different,” he said loyally as he opened his container. “You help clean up.”
The scent of his wings hit her, both spicy and sweet, and she drew in an appreciative breath. “Not always. In fact, this is the first time we’ve stayed around long enough, and really just because we’re here waiting.” She almost said stranded but that sounded less heroic. “Oh my gosh, now I see you!”
