The Storm You Chase (Hell Yeah!)

by Sable Hunter

  “Fine. Just talking to you is no chore, I find you endlessly fascinating. What is your dream? Your goals? I know you are working on a medical miracle for CTE, but – what else? What’s your heart’s desire?”

  To live, she wanted to scream. “My mother always told me to maintain an air of mystery with a man. Once a woman is fully understood, there goes the excitement factor.” As soon as she finished the thought, a giggle erupted from her lips. “Oh, god – in our case, that was a bad joke wasn’t it?”

  Clint chose to overlook her last statement. Instead, he weighed his next words. “When I find my soulmate, I want her to be my best friend and I’ll be hers. The more I know about her, the more I’ll want to know.”

  “Oh? That doesn’t sound right.” She took a swig, tilting her head back with a hint of defiance. “You do realize you have a certain reputation.”

  Clint flipped the steaks. “I’ll admit my first couple of years after college were a bit…rambunctious. Money and notoriety are difficult things for a young man to handle.”

  “You aren’t that old or that far removed from those days, Clint.”

  “No.” He stirred the coals, his back to her. “But responsibilities quickly brought my head out of the clouds and planted my feet firmly on the ground.”

  “What responsibilities? You don’t have a wife or children.”

  Clint didn’t like to talk about things like this, but if he intended to get anywhere with this gorgeous woman, he needed to open up to her. “No, I haven’t been that fortunate – yet. I do have a family, however.”

  “You mean your mother, brothers, and sisters.” Having no siblings herself, Jensen couldn’t put herself in his shoes.

  “Right.” He picked up a knife and made a tiny slit to test the doneness of the steaks. Seeing they looked to be perfect, he held out his hand for Jensen to pass him the platter. “You have to understand we were raised by a single mother.”

  “I remember you saying that, yes.” She picked up the tongs and her drink to join him as they made their way back inside. “Is it okay to leave the fire?”

  “Yes, it’ll die down. I’ll check on it in a bit.” He held the platter high with one hand and placed the other at her lower back to guide her down the path. “Anyway, my mother didn’t have an easy time raising us.” Arriving at the back door, Clint opened it, allowing her to step in first. “My parents had an argument one day and my father just drove off. He worked on the pipeline in Alaska and we just assumed he returned to his job. And…you know the rest of the story.”

  “It’s so sad. I’m so sorry.”

  Hearing her heartfelt sympathy, he shook his head. “It was a long time ago, but his absence left us destitute. My mother did the best she could, but there were a lot of things we were forced to do without. When I grew old enough to make a living, I was fortunate enough to have a talent for football.”

  “And you stepped in to financially fill the gap left by your father.”

  “Education is expensive. I didn’t want them to be saddled with student loans.”

  Hell, that was admirable. “But at what danger to yourself? Is your family aware of the risks you’re taking?”

  “I think we’ve covered this territory before.” He pulled out Jensen’s chair for her to take a seat, then placed a glass of ice filled with sweet tea next to her plate. “I’ve assured them that I’m taking every precaution.”

  “Thank you.” She pressed her lips together, seeing no advantage to having this argument with him again. “In case I didn’t say so, I’m sorry to hear about your father. Mine wasn’t ideal, but at least he was around.”

  He forked a steak onto each of their plates and placed the potatoes and salad on the table between them. “Things were tough, but we survived. I’m sure those rough times could be considered character building.”

  “At least your mother had a houseful of children to love.”

  “True. I don’t mean to make it sound so dire. We had a great childhood. I have some wonderful memories.” While she filled her plate, he fetched a couple of bottles of salad dressing from the fridge to place in front of her. “And no matter that we’re all grown she’s still the rock we lean upon.”

  “Oh, I did too.” She took a potato from the platter and began to dress it with butter and chives. “There was a time when we were happy. I can remember my dad drawing a map on an old paper bag and telling me it was a pirate treasure map. I had a blast hunting for it”

  “Did you find anything?” Clint asked as he cut his meat.”

  “Chocolate filled gold doubloons and Mardi Gras beads.” She laughed and pointed her fork to her food. “This is all fabulous, by the way.”

  “Thanks.” He raised his glass to clink with hers. “I’m so glad we could do this.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. “I’m having a very good time. Thank you. Now, turnabout is fair play. Tell me something about yourself.”

  “Oh, okay. Now, let me see…”

  While they finished their food, he regaled her with stories about his sisters and brothers. Everything from helping Kyd build his first house, “We had the finest treehouse in the neighborhood.”, to the time Bethany tried to make corn-nuts in a deep fryer, “We picked greasy hominy kernels off the ceiling for weeks.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got a great relationship with your brothers and sisters.”

  “I do. When we go on our walk, I’ll introduce you to the horses I bought from Rowan. They’re rehomed, they’ve had a rough life.”

  “Oh, how terrible. Yes, I’d love to see them.”

  “Someday soon, I’ll have to take you to see his ranch.”

  To this, Jensen made no reply. Making future plans was not part of the equation.

  Seeing she was finished with her meal; Clint rose to clear the plates. “I’m ready for dessert. How about you?”

  “Sure. I’m anxious to see how that pie turned out. It’s a tried and true recipe, but I finagled with it a bit and used a different brand of chocolate and added some hazelnuts.” She clasped her hands in her lap to still their faint shaking. “Let me cut it for us.”

  “Okay. I’ll get plates and forks.” He gave her a warm glance. “This is nice. Doing things together.”

  “Yes.” A wave of regret swept over Jensen. Don’t buy into this. It isn’t real. With sheer force of will, she put a smile on her face. Taking the pie cutter he placed on the counter near her, she cut two slices, one bigger than the other. After sliding them onto the proffered dessert plates, she returned to the table to sit one at his spot and the other at hers. “This doesn’t look too bad, if I say so myself.”

  “I’m sure it’s wonderful.” Clint took his seat, then dug into the pie. “Dang, I was right. This is amazing.”

  Jensen wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. He was just being so damn cheerful about everything. But after taking a taste herself, she had to agree. “I think the Ghirardelli chocolate worked out well. Very rich.”

  “I could eat this for every meal,” Clint told her as he ate with gusto.

  Seeing him consume the dessert with such relish made Jensen wiggle in her chair. She knew for a fact he could display this same degree of enthusiasm for things other than food. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

  While they ate their pie, they discussed their recent trip and the prospect of being called out on other missions. Truthfully, Jensen hadn’t considered this. If today ended the way she expected it to, seeing him again would be awkward.

  “After reading your blog, I can understand why you were so good on the trail. You’ve had some experience rock climbing,” he told her.

  “Some. I’ve been trying to work my way through my bucket list.”

  Clint frowned. “Don’t call it that. You’re too young to have a bucket list.”

  “Age doesn’t really have anything to do with it.”

  “You’re right. Look at Bethany, she nearly died. Look at my father. Look at yours. Life’s a gamble. We’re all on borrowed
time.”

  Jensen was somewhat taken aback. She laid down her fork and picked up a napkin to crush it between her fingers. “I suppose you’re right. Although, some might have less time than others.”

  When they’d consumed every crumb of their piece of pie, Clint stood to clear the table.

  “Let me help you.” Jensen jumped up to take dishes to the sink. In short order, they’d filled the dishwasher and put leftovers in the fridge. “That was wonderful. Thank you for having me, Clint.”

  “The evening’s not over by any means.” He went to find her jacket. “Ready for a moonlight walk?”

  “Yea, I can walk off these calories.”

  He helped her to slip on her jacket. “Exercise is always good, but that’s not something you need to worry about.”

  Because her body was perfect. Right? “Thank you. Compliments make me nervous.”

  “You’ll have to get over that because you deserve all the compliments you can get.”

  “Clint…please don’t.”

  He pretended to not know what she meant. “Let’s go out the front, there’s something I want to show you.”

  “Okay. I need some fresh air.” As they moved to the outside, Clint again touched her back to guide her, but Jensen sidestepped away.

  “The horses are this way.”

  He led her to a pasture fence where she could see two horses were feeding nearby. “What are their names?”

  “Sun is the golden palomino and the silver grulla is called Moon.”

  “What’s grulla mean?”

  “It’s a variety of dun, which is a coat color of horses. Grulla is a Spanish word for crane and grullo means gray horse. Rowan says horse people use grulla for a mare and grullo for a stallion.”

  “That’s interesting. They’re lovely.” She held out her hand. “Will they come to me?”

  He reached into his pocket and brought out some sugar cubes. “Try this.”

  She took the cubes and held out her hand palm up. “Do you always carry treats in your pocket?”

  “Only when I’m trying to earn points with the ladies.”

  “I see.” She shook her head and smiled as the horses came to her slowly. “I don’t think you need sugar cubes to attract a woman.”

  “I didn’t exactly have a lot of luck with you.”

  “You had more luck than you realized.” She didn’t give him a chance to respond before she returned to the topic of the horses. “These were rescues?”

  “Yes They are both racetrack rejects, saved from the glue factory.”

  “Wow. I can’t believe that. How horrible.” She smiled when she felt Sun’s velvet nose tickle her palm as he accepted the sugar. “Give me more, they’re still hungry.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He pulled out three more cubes for Moon.

  Once the sweet tooths of the horses were pacified, Clint touched her shoulder. “Come on. One more stop.”

  “Okay. It can’t be any better than the horses.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Together they moved across the yard. He pointed out a few things along the way. “The log cabin is a rustic little guest house. The large metal building is my gym and behind it is an Olympic size pool, a hot tub, and a sauna.”

  “Wow. You’ve got your own resort here, Wilder.” Jensen hugged herself as they walked. The breeze was a little cool but not unbearable. She wished they’d just get the serious talk over with. The suspense was nearly killing her.

  “Over here.”

  Jensen slowed her steps as he did. They were on a path toward a small log cabin and several other outbuildings. “This property is extraordinary.” She noticed something in the distance. “Is that the old schoolhouse you told me about?”

  “It is.” The white clapboard building glowed eerily in the moonlight. “I ride over there sometimes at night. Once, the door was open and I went in. I sat down, closed my eyes, and I swear I could almost hear voices of the little children who used those old-fashioned desks.”

  “You’re a little on the spooky side, Clint.”

  This amused him. “No, not really. Not like Beau. He and Harley have a resident ghost in their old plantation house.” He pointed toward his workshop. “Let me show you something.”

  “All right.” She followed him up to the door.

  Leading her inside, he flipped on the light. “I’ve been working on this off and on since college. This is my fifth prototype and the most successful one, I might add.” Moving to the center of the room, he stood next to something that stood as tall as Jensen and was covered with a sheet of plastic.

  “This is what you wrote about in your book.” Her voice was full of wonder.

  “Yes, this is my own invention, a compact wind turbine.” He pulled off the plastic. “Strong enough to withstand the winds of a Category 5 hurricane.”

  “This doesn’t look like any wind turbine I’ve ever seen.”

  “It’s not. The material it’s made of is stronger, the components are made of a thicker type of steel, and instead of vulnerable exposed blades, the design is a unique egg-beater style, with vertical blades sandwiched between these upper and lower platforms.”

  “Wow. How would this be used?” She reached out to touch the turbine, running her fingers over the smooth steel.

  “My idea is to create wind farms off the coast of vulnerable cities. They would not only offer a round-the-clock electric generating system that could withstand a hurricane strike, but they could also utilize the power of the storm itself. More importantly, the turbines would disrupt the hurricane enough to reduce peak wind speeds by a 100 mph and decrease the storm surge by up to 80 percent.”

  “That sounds amazing. Too good to be true, frankly.”

  “There’s a Japanese firm interested in the design. We’re working on an idea for floating foundations for the turbines. If that concept works, the turbines could be portable and be moved to the best point to intercept the storm.”

  “How did you come up with this?”

  Clint shrugged. “I took engineering courses and I’ve always loved to tinker with machinery.”

  “This is way beyond tinkering.” She gave him a hard look. “Why are you wasting your talent on the football field?”

  “I already answered that question.”

  She barked out a laugh. “Money for your family. I remember. But this…this could generate as much money or more than you make playing professional football.”

  “Not in a timely manner. I needed the money sooner rather than later.” He saw the play of emotions on her face. “You don’t get it.”

  “No, I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand.”

  “Good.” He touched her arm. “Come on. Let’s go sit by the fireplace in the pavilion. I want to talk to you.”

  Jensen swallowed. The time had come. “Yea, we do need to talk.”

  Heading around the property to the rear of the house, they didn’t speak until they were seated on a padded limestone bench near the hearth. Before he sat down, Clint fed the fire, adding two or three logs. Taking a poker, he stirred the flames. “I need to apologize to you.”

  Watching the sparks dance and fly, Jensen whispered, “I don’t want your apology.”

  “You deserve one. I reacted…badly. I should’ve told you how sorry I am for what you’re going through.”

  “I don’t want your pity, Clint.”

  “You…don’t have my pity. I’m trying to give you my support.”

  “I…” She started to say she didn’t want that either, but there was no use sounding like a broken record. “I wasn’t fair to you. I enjoyed making love to you and I thought that night in Austin might be my last chance.”

  “I know. It’s okay. It’s not like I didn’t love every second of it. I just wanted more.”

  “I did too.” Jensen wiped her eyes. “You’re an amazing man, Clint. If things were different…”

  About that time the fire spit out a large spark which landed on his shirt. He ju
mped up and swatted at the spot, hissing at the searing pain as the singed material adhered to his skin.

  “Hold on.” Jensen quickly emptied her coffee and jumped up to dip a cupful of ice from the tub. Placing it on the hearth, she began to unbutton his shirt. “I got it. I got it.”

  Clint froze – not only from the pain, but from the nearness of Jensen as she pushed the material of his shirt out of the way to tend to the small wound. Taking a piece of the ice, she held it to his flesh, placing her other hand on his bare chest. He didn’t know what burned the most, the place where the spark landed, or the place where she touched him. “Jensen…”

  “I know it hurts. Just be still. Do you have aloe?”

  “I don’t know. Jensen…”

  She caressed his chest. “Burns are the worst. It’ll stop hurting in a second.”

  Clint barely felt the burn. All he could feel were Jensen’s hands on him, touching him with tender concern. Moving gently. Stroking. Petting. Turning him on.

  Closing his eyes, he tried to talk himself down. Damn, his cock. The pushy appendage had a mind of its own. Down, boy. Down. Not a good time. Clint didn’t know how he’d react. If he could… Oh, hell.

  When he stiffened and grew quiet, Jensen realized what she was doing. Freezing, she took a step back. “Dang, I’m sorry.” She shook her head, her whole body flush with self-consciousness. “I guess I’m making it worse.”

  “No.” He grabbed her hands and brought them back to his chest. He told himself it was to keep her from leaving, but deep inside he knew it was because he wanted to feel her hands on him. “You haven’t done anything wrong. I have. I’ve hurt you.”

  “I hurt you too. And I never intended to do that.”

  He could hear the tears in her voice. “Don’t cry. There’s nothing to cry about.”

  “There’s everything to cry about. Nothing is the same.”

  When she looked up at him with those big blue eyes, Clint thought his heart might explode. “I know one thing that’s hasn’t changed.” He wanted her more than ever.

  Jensen couldn’t believe what was happening. “Clint?” He was taking her in his arms, pulling her close. She didn’t know whether to push away and run or stay in the one place she most wanted to be. As he lowered his head to claim her lips, she put her palms on his chest. If she didn’t keep some distance between them, she’d lose the last bit of self-control she possessed. When he layered his mouth to hers, sweet and tantalizing, she tried to turn her head – but he followed her, framing her face so she couldn’t escape.