[ shorter kind of filler chapter. sorry. but I had a job interview today and it went really well! ]
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WHAT'S THAT GOT TO DO WITH TORNADOES?
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THE NEXT DAY, Rio was back at the gas station with the Storm PAR team. She was sitting with Boone in the bed of Tyler's truck, eating a bacon biscuit from the diner and listening as he told her what he'd learned about tornadoes over the years. He was patient any time she had questions.
"So, what do you all mean when you say wind shear?" she questioned.
"See," he said, looking at the mostly-clear sky, "it's when winds blow in all different directions at different heights and stuff. And it can increase the updrafts created by unstable air masses."
Rio stared at him, a little smile on her face. "I don't have any idea what you just said, but you looked pretty saying it."
She was lying, of course, as he'd said it in simple terms. But she wanted to see how he'd react.
Boone rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, avoiding eye contact as his cheeks burned. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night."
"You didn't," she assured him. "It was sweet."
"Good," he breathed out. "'S what I was going for."
She chuckled and shook her head before nodding to the light-colored clouds in the distance. Currently, Kate was staring at them. "Think it'll give us anything?"
"Maybe in an hour or two. Let it develop some more," he shrugged. "Like I said, Tyler does all the major tracking. I like being behind the camera. Documenting it all."
"That'll be real neat in a few years — having all these memories to look back on," she said, smiling at him. "Your channel's like a little scrapbook. Wish I had something like that."
"Well, I'm sure you got some good pictures and videos from being in college."
Rio's smile fell. She did have pictures and videos. Ones of Jeb and Praveen. Sweet ones of her with Addy, wrapped in each other's arms. She knew Javi even still had the video that Jeb took the very day he died. But she couldn't stomach looking at them.
As for her time after her freshman year, there was hardly any proof she existed aside from educational articles.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Don't really have anyone to take pictures with."
"Well, let's change that, Darlin'," he said, reaching for the camera he used to film for the channel.
"No way," she said as he turned it on. "You don't want me on your show."
