Break the Sky (Spiral of Bliss Spin Off) (35 page)

I stepped aside. David Peterson came forward to explain the Explorer Channel’s plan to film several episodes of a documentary reality show. He then showed a five-minute video of a storm chase that we’d put together with my grad students. Tess had gotten video of a rotating wall cloud, and, for entertainment reasons, we’d included a few seconds of a van almost skidding off the road during a hailstorm.

“We believe Edison Power would be an excellent partner for both the Explorer Channel and the Spiral Project,” I said. “However, as I explained, my contractual duties to King’s University and my recent tenureship make it almost impossible for me to direct the project from the field, much less participate in a television program.”

“And that,” Harold said, rising to stand beside me, “is where Edison Power comes in. If the Spiral Project and Professor March are the focus of an educational and entertaining program that would appeal to viewers of all ages, I would ask the Edison board to strongly consider funding such a venture.”

“Why on earth would you do that?” Stan asked.

“By aligning ourselves with weather forecasting and entertainment, we can rebrand Edison Power as a company dedicated to the community. We can sponsor educational science programs related to the show, and help people understand the importance of early storm predictions and responses. Frankly, it would also just be good for our public image.”

“With this proposal, Edison Power would be at the forefront of merging weather prediction and utilities management,” I added. “King’s University, the Explorer Channel, and Edison Power… all working together for a better tomorrow.”

Harold coughed. A hum of conversation started.

“Too corny?” I asked Harold under my breath.

“Yeah, but it’s okay. You can make power with corn. Alcohol, anyway.”

I suppressed a laugh.

“Professor March, you’re neglecting a major issue,” Chancellor Radcliffe said, eyeing me narrowly. “You have contractual duties to King’s. You really think the administration will let you run off to do a reality show?”

“I think King’s University wants to remain one of the top-rated private universities in the country,” I said, glad my voice was still steady despite my racing heart. “We all know the Meteorology department is easily among the best. However, in recent years due to budget cuts, our lab equipment has become significantly outdated, and our department has suffered. In order to stay on the cutting edge of meteorological research, we need the most advanced forecast and modeling technology available.”

“That’s where Edison Power comes in,” Harold said. “Professor March and I have come to a compromise that will benefit us all.”

I cleared my throat.
Here we go.

“If Edison Power is willing to supply the funds to modernize the Meteorology department’s synoptic lab, including the extra equipment needed for the Spiral Project’s home base,” I said, “then King’s University will allow me to join the Spiral Project’s field team for the five months of the tornado season. The Explorer Channel is welcome to join us to film. Of course, I will participate fully.”

Dead silence fell over the room. The executives, professors, and trustees exchanged glances. Harold shuffled his feet. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest.

“Supply the funds to modernize the synoptic lab,” one of the Edison executives repeated slowly, as if he hadn’t heard that correctly.

“Yes.” I nodded, as if such a request were made every day. “Our department needs more terminals, high-resolution monitors and projectors, and two state-of-the-art supercomputers for our data assimilation studies. We also hope to have enough equipment to establish a second lab. All the details and projected costs are in the information binders.”

The executives opened the binders. Frowns, mutters, and shuffling ensued. I couldn’t look at Harold. My palms were sweating.

One of the Edison guys frowned at me. “This is a tall request, Professor March.”

“I’m aware of that. However, if Edison Power agreed to initially fund only the second phase of the Spiral Project in addition to providing us with the upgraded lab, your financial commitment and risk would be lessened. And if the second phase is successful, which I have no reason to doubt that it will be, we can renegotiate the contract and hopefully extend it into phase three.”

Silence again.

“That still doesn’t solve the problem of your contractual duties to King’s, Professor March,” Chancellor Radcliffe said.

“I have no intention of reneging on any of my duties.” I picked up another stack of papers and passed them around the table. “I’ve written a new proposal explaining the value of fieldwork and ways to incorporate teaching and investigations for the benefit of my students. I would just take my teaching out of the classroom for a few months a year, mostly during the summer.

“Students could apply for internships and grants, sponsored by Edison Power, to participate in the Spiral Project. I guarantee you, Chancellor Radcliffe, that we’ll have a huge influx of application and students once word spreads about the program.”

“And your contract?” Radcliffe asked.

“My hope is that the board of trustees will approve certain amendments to allow me to direct the Spiral Project from the field.”

I looked at Stan, adding, “If they do and Edison Power agrees, the Meteorology department will have a much bigger and fully upgraded synoptic lab.”

Conversation rose again, papers shuffling. I met Stan’s gaze. His eyebrows rose, as if he were impressed. As well he should be, I thought. I’d be a hero in the Meteorology department, if I could pull this off.

“Edison funds the Spiral Project and the lab, and becomes the primary sponsor of the Explorer Channel program,” I said. “And in return, King’s agrees to let me direct from the field during tornado season and participate in the filming.”

“It’s an interesting proposition, Professor March,” Chancellor Radcliffe admitted. “Unorthodox, but interesting.”

“And both expensive and risky,” added one of the Edison executives.

“No risk, no reward,” Harold remarked.

“I’m sure you’d like to discuss this amongst yourselves,” I said, gathering up my notes. “Thank you again for the opportunity to present the proposal to you.”

I left the room and went toward the elevators.

“Now we wait.” Harold Clement fell into step beside me, looking as relieved as I was to be out of that room. “It could take quite a—”

“Professor March?”

We turned to where Chancellor Radcliffe and Stan stood at the boardroom door. Radcliffe stepped aside and held the door open.

“Would you please come back in?” he asked. “We’d like to discuss this in more detail.”

Harold and I exchanged glances. We returned to the boardroom. As I passed Stan, he reached out to stop me. He shook his head with both disbelief and admiration.

“Excellent work rocking the boat, Kelsey,” he said. “I think you just got everything you wanted.”

A wave of relief and exhilaration flooded me so fast that I grabbed the doorjamb to steady myself. I took a breath and closed my eyes.

Not everything I wanted,
I thought.
Not yet.

CHAPTER THIRTY

ARCHER

THE DESERT SUN BURNED A HOLE
in the sky. Cacti and yucca plants peppered the sand dunes past the two-lane, black-ribbon highway stretching all the way to California. A mustard-yellow cloud streaked across the horizon.

I wiped my hands on a greasy rag, pushing away from the old sedan. I shoved the rag into my back pocket and grabbed a can of soda resting on the car roof. An eighteen-wheeler rumbled past on the highway.

I took a drink of soda, which had gotten warm and flat in the heat. I glanced at my watch. My shift was over.

The station owner, Mick, was letting me stay in the room over the garage, though I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting there alone all evening. The other option, of course, was to hit the bars in town. Either option would lead to the same thing—a cold, tight feeling that not even the desert heat could melt.

“You done?” Mick called, his bulky frame filling the doorway of the store.

“Yeah. I can take the next shift, though, if you’ve got stuff to do.”

“No, go on. I’ll close up.” He went back inside.

I tossed the can into the trash. The smell of gas and oil hung in the dry air. A car appeared through the sunbaked haze and pulled up to the pumps.

For lack of anything else to do, I approached the driver and offered to wash the windows while he filled the tank. A couple of college kids returning to LA after a weekend in Vegas.

After getting gas, they stocked up on junk food and hit the road again. I walked toward the store. The sound of another engine drew closer. Must be rush hour with all the traffic.

I turned. A heavy, dark blue VW XXL Amarok truck swerved into the lot, the tires kicking up clouds of dust and sand. The driver pulled into a space in front of the store and braked hard. Only when the door opened did I see the streak of bright blue that had wound around my heart like a ribbon.

For a second, I couldn’t breathe.

Kelsey jumped out of the truck, one hand closed around a brown paper bag. She walked toward me, beautiful as all hell in cargo pants and a white T-shirt, her blonde hair shining. Her expression was guarded, but her blue eyes were unwavering behind her glasses.

She stopped in front of me, her hands on her hips, and tilted her head to look me in the eye. This close, I could see her uncertainty. I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to grab her and haul her against me, to kiss her senseless.

“Hi,” I finally said.

“Hi, yourself.”

I couldn’t stop staring at her. “How… uh, how did you know where I was?”

“Dean told me.”

I blinked. Though Dean and I had exchanged emails and a few phone calls over the past couple of weeks, he’d never said anything about Kelsey. I hadn’t asked, either.

Kelsey extended the wrinkled bag. “He also asked me to give you this.”

I opened the bag and took out a manufacturer’s box. A Sega Genesis portable game player.

“I didn’t know you were into video games,” Kelsey said.

“I’m not.” I slipped the game back into the bag and set it on the ground. “Well, except for this one.”

“Oh.” She looked confused.

I reached out with my thumb to smooth away the crease between her eyebrows. I wanted to explain it to her, and I couldn’t help hoping that maybe later I’d have a chance to.

“You look great,” I said. She looked more than great. She looked like heaven.

She smiled. My heart slammed against my chest.

“So do you,” she said, her gaze sliding over my grease-streaked T-shirt and jeans. “I missed you.”

Something flared to life in me, though I tried to ignore it. I’d gotten used to the cold. My defenses were all back in place.

I jerked my head toward the truck. “New wheels?”

“Just got it last week,” she said. “I’m going to talk with some people at a weather research center in Texas. They’re interested in sending along a Doppler on Wheels when the Spiral Project goes out into the field next season.”

“You got funding for it?”

Kelsey nodded. “Edison Power Company is supporting the next phase.”

I couldn’t stop a smile from breaking over my face. Though I had no right to be proud of her, I was. This woman could move mountains. I knew it.

“En route to Houston, I’m meeting Colton and Tess in Amarillo,” Kelsey continued. “There’s a convergence of activity heading into northwest Texas that looks like it might become a supercell cluster.”

She extended her fist toward me, her fingers wrapped around something. I held out my hand. She dropped a set of car keys into it.

The spark of hope grew stronger. I tightened my hand around the keys.

“I figured you would insist on driving,” Kelsey said.

I looked at her. Though her gaze was steady, it still contained a hint of uncertainty. I opened my mouth to respond, but she held up her hand.

“Wait,” she said. “I love you, Archer. Like… well, like crazy, okay? You’re beautiful, intense, and so perfect for me, and only when you left did I realize how desperately I need you. I feel like… like I’d spent my whole life waiting for you and didn’t even know it until you were actually
there
.”

Her voice cracked. I grabbed her shoulders and crushed her against me as the spark flared into a full, raging wildfire. Her gasp was lost against the pressure of my mouth.

I kissed her so hard. The almond-and-honey scent of her filled my head. I drove my tongue into her mouth, drinking in her sweet heat, wanting to possess her. She breathed my name, sliding her arms around my waist, her breasts pressing against my chest.

“Never again,” I said, taking her face in my hands as I lifted my head. “I will never leave you again.”

“Please don’t.” She rested her hand against my jaw, and her gaze searched mine. “Will you come with me? I… I need to stay in Mirror Lake and teach at King’s during the fall and winter, but for the rest of the year, I’m going to travel with the Spiral Project.

“We’ll have different units, at least fifty investigators and grad students involved, and we need someone to coordinate the equipment and vehicles, and work on repairs, not to mention all that driving…”

Worry darkened her blue eyes. “I know it might be tough for you to live in Mirror Lake, but it’s only for part of the year and I was so hoping you—”

I stopped her words with the pressure of my mouth. She leaned right into me, like we were two magnets pulled together by an invisible force. She was mine.

“I love you, storm girl,” I said. “I’d love to live in Mirror Lake with you. I’d love to work on the Spiral Project with you. I’d love to chase storms, outrun tornados, fix trucks, drive all over the country. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. As long as I’m with you.”

Her smile made my heart stop and start all over again. She eased away to look at her watch.

“You have ten minutes to grab some clothes.”

I did it in five. When I came down the stairs from the room above the garage, Mick stepped out of the store. He slanted his gaze to where Kelsey stood beside the truck. Then he looked back at me.

I shrugged. “She’s my
kotyenok
.”

Mick grinned. We shook hands. I went to toss my duffel in the truck.

I approached Kelsey and slid my hand to the back of her neck. I pulled her in for another kiss. I couldn’t get enough of her. I never would.

“One rule,” she whispered, her eyes darkening as she ran her hand down my chest.

“What’s that?”

“Your body belongs to me,” she said.

“Pinkie swear.”

She smiled and hooked her pinkie finger around mine. I pulled open the passenger-side door for her and climbed into the driver’s seat.

In seconds, I reversed out of the lot and turned on to the highway heading east. We drove toward the storm, toward thunder, lightning, rain and dark clouds boiling up over the horizon. And we drove with the unbreakable knowledge that under it all, the sky would always be blue.