“Sure you can and the results will be unbelievable. I’ll tell you why too.” He paused until she nodded. “You accepted this challenge, knowing full well that at times your personal comfort will be severely compromised, because the results you achieve are going to outweigh that beyond belief. You know that by seeing your photographs more than one inexperienced storm chaser wannabe will change their minds and stay home, thus remaining alive. What you do will make a difference, somewhere, somehow and you know it. That’s why you’re going to spend tomorrow packing and repacking, frantically obsessing and ending up with your original choices in your bag when you notice that you only have eight minutes before you’re supposed to meet me to take me home.”
“Shut up, smart ass.”
“Does that mean I’m right?”
“Close enough and if you tell anyone I’ll come back here and hurt you in ways you can’t begin to imagine.”
“I just love it when you get fierce, Pixie Queen. Don’t worry, this secret is safe with me too.”
“It better be or I’ll tell everyone you work with that you take bubble baths.”
He pretended to be horrified. “No! Please. I promise. Not one word about any of it.” He hesitated before continuing. “You probably don’t believe me but it means a lot that you trust me enough to tell me these things.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, well. I could say the same to you so I guess we’re even.” This was entirely too serious. She had to change the subject. “I like this, McKade.”
“You lost me again. What do you like?”
“The way you make it feel okay that I’m shorter than the rest of the world. Every time I changed schools the town kids teased me about being an army brat. They didn’t even know the difference between the army and the Marines most of the time, not that it mattered. I was always put in the position of needing to defend myself, even though I was a girl.”
“Ah. Another reason you always want to appear tougher than the rest of the world.”
“You got it. Kids can be so cruel. No wonder the world is so screwed up. All the natives who tormented me by saying that there was no way my dad could ever fight anyone when he couldn’t even make a normal-sized kid. It didn’t even change when I got older because I fought instead of putting out. I got the reputation of being so openly hostile that the other kids from the base avoided me most of the time too.”
“Campini,” Shane said, tightening his grip on her. “I don’t suppose you ever told anyone about this either.”
“I just told you, didn’t I? Anyway, what I was trying to say is that it’s nice that you cuddle me like this. It makes being short not so bad.”
“I’m honored that you feel that way but I should tell you something. I think, Pixie Queen, that you are the perfect size. Anyone who can’t see that is either incredibly dense or just plain jealous. I should also mention that it thrills me to hear you say that you like this because I love it. Face it. We fit together in more ways than I thought possible.”
“Watch it, McKade. You’re starting to sound like you really are going to miss me.”
“You know what? I am going to miss you and I don’t even mind admitting that to you.” Shane had to laugh at the stunned expression on her face. “Speechless, Campini? I never thought I’d see that.”
“Don’t wreck that admission you just made by turning back into a jerk. You’re making me forget that I was trying to make up for going ballistic earlier. Before you totally blow it why don’t we go eat?”
“Sure thing. How are you going to survive the next few months? On the specials I’ve seen, it never seemed that food was a high priority.”
“You should know the answer to that. Cookies, McKade, cookies. You can survive indefinitely as long as you have a couple of packs of cookies.”
“You’re right. I should have known. In that case, I’m going to have to insist on making sure you have something well balanced and nutritious tonight. For that matter, I’m going to feed you tomorrow too so don’t make any plans for dinner.”
“That’s awfully presumptuous of you. What if I want to say goodbye to some of my friends since it’s my last night in town for a little while?” She hopped off his lap and began pacing around the room.
“I’m your friend and I need to be said goodbye to so I’ll be happy to come with you.”
“Maybe that’s not the sort of friend I meant.”
Surprising her with his speed, Shane trapped her against the wall. “If you had that sort of friend at the moment we wouldn’t have spent the last three weekends indulging our bodies the way we have. We both know it so stop messing with me. I’m not going to let you provoke me again before you go so please, don’t waste our time trying.” He lowered his head and kissed her thoroughly. “If you want to spend time with your friends then do. You should have said something before. I didn’t mean to monopolize you.”
“You gotta stop being so agreeable. It’s just too weird. Besides, I wasn’t totally serious. I’d like to stop and see Max, if you have time. I have those pictures for his parents and I wanted to make sure they have them before I go just in case…”
“Good idea. I’m sure Max wants to see them too.”
“Actually, I made him an album just for him with things I thought he’d like to have. Do you think that’ll be okay?”
“I’m sure that’ll be fine. He’s going to love it. You know how proud he was, being Jordan’s best man. I bet he takes it with him to show all the nurses when he has his next doctor’s appointment.”
“McKade?” She frowned just before she rested her cheek against his chest. “If Max…” She took a deep breath. “If Max dies while I’m away, will you call me? I want to be here for the funeral if I can and his mom told me that he won’t last that much longer.” She tried to swallow the tears that welled from her question.
Shane tightened his arms. “I will. God, I wish this promise wasn’t necessary but I’m afraid I’ll have to make that call. Why can’t we all be as cool with this as Max is?”
“Because Max is truly the most spectacularly amazing individual that ever was. I know he told me that he’s had lots of fun and I shouldn’t be sad for him but I can’t help it.” She was almost sobbing. “Where did he hear that?”
“Jordan swears he came up with it on his own.” Shane didn’t hide his tears from her. “His parents are equally amazing too, with the way they accept the situation.”
“Maybe but I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like for them. And your buddy Penny too. It’s so obvious the way she worships her big brother.”
“No more than he worships her. Their dad was telling me how fascinated he was with her from the moment she was born. I wish all kids were like they are. I know their parents have a lot to do with that. They’re just great. They’ve always both worked but they still manage to spend time with those kids every day. It can’t have been easy when Max was diagnosed but they went ahead and had a second child anyway.”
“Kiley says they told her they’re positive that meeting Jordan extended his life. I can see why too. The first few times she mentioned Bear I expected some huge beast. The day she took me to the park to meet them I couldn’t believe he was just an oversized ball of fluff.”
“As you can guess, Jordan let Max name him. He does look a little like a bear cub.”
“I expected him at the wedding too.”
“Max’s parents overruled that idea. Jordan was willing and Kiley would have gone along with it but his dad explained how Max would be too busy with his best man duties to keep track of Bear.”
“Can you imagine how spoiled Kiley and Jordan’s kids are going to be?”
“Maybe not. I know Jordan always makes Max eat some fruit before he has cookies—a good idea that you may want to remember, by the way—so he hasn’t completely lost all his senses. He’d better not either. Spoiling their kids is our job.”
“Yeah.” She rolled her eyes at him. “I can see it now. Uncle Shane sneaking off with the k
ids for an ice cream before dinner. That’s too unrealistic to consider.”
“Hey! I almost resent that attitude of yours. I’ll have you know that I took cookies for Penny’s class when I went to visit them last week.”
“Really? You’re just full of surprises, McKade. Let’s go find dinner and we’ll see how indulgent you can be with me.”
“When it comes to food, Campini, you are plenty indulgent for both of us. I’m only thinking of you. And even you must admit that I’ve been very unstructured when it comes to everything else.”
“Yeah, yeah. Come on. We’ll eat and then we’ll see what you can come up with to compensate for the vegetables I just know you’re going to force me to eat.”
Chapter Eleven
Brett waited for the explosion that he saw brewing in Shane’s mind. The longer the silence stretched the more he wondered if he should have listened to Alyssa when she cautioned him against discussing her with Shane. She was right. This really was a bad idea that he’d had.
Shane finally unclenched his jaw. “Brett, I’m sure you think you know what you’re doing but I’m not going to discuss this with you.”
“Shane, listen, I don’t mean to pry and I’m certainly not fishing for details. I’m only suggesting that you consider the possibility that there might be something more going on between the two of you than merely fun.”
“You are so lucky that I think of you as my kid brother right now. That may be the only thing keeping you intact at the moment. Let me repeat, for the last time, my relationship with Campini is not open for debate. You may have seen us handcuffed that morning and you may know there’s a story behind her costume when she met you at the bar. That gives you the right to torment me the rest of my life but it does not give you free rein to interfere in anything else that may or may not be going on here. Do you understand?”
“I’d say you’ve made yourself perfectly clear.” Brett managed to hide his grin. Shane was protesting too vehemently for him not to have strong feelings for her. These next few months were going to be pure hell for him, since he was going to both worry about her and do everything he could to deny it to himself. He would need to go out of his way to keep Shane from brooding while she was gone without letting him figure it out. Maybe he’d enlist Jesse’s help since he and Shane seemed to connect so well. Man, they were all in for a rough couple of months. Hopefully, Alyssa would be back sooner than she anticipated. Brett was pulled from his thoughts by Shane’s phone.
“McKade.” He answered gruffly, still glaring at Brett.
“Hey. It’s me.” This time the voice wasn’t disguised.
“Hi, Kid. How’s it going?”
“Okay.”
Shane waited, silently willing the gang kid Alyssa had befriended to ask for his help. “You sure?”
“Yeah. I was just wondering something.”
“Wondering what?”
“You gonna see her before she goes?”
“I am. Dinner tonight and I’m driving her to the airport tomorrow. Want to come with us?”
“No way. You’re fucking with me.”
“I assure you that I’m not. My offer is real and there are no strings attached. She’s mentioned you and I know she wants to cross paths with you again. You’re more than welcome to come with us for either or both.”
His statements were met with silence. “I can’t do that.” The Kid sounded upset.
“You can if you choose to. You can still walk away. I’ll help you. Campini will help you. You can trust us.”
“She’s leaving.”
“She’ll be back. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’ll turn me in.”
“No. You have my word. I’ll find a way to make you safe. I’ll find you somewhere away from here where you can have a different life. The kind of life you should have had all along. The kind of life that Campini and I want you to have. Come with us. All you have to do is say you want to and I’ll get you out of there.”
“I gotta go. Just tell her to stay alive, okay?”
“I will but I know she’d rather hear you say it.”
“I can’t!”
“Then I’ll have to tell you what I know she would say if you gave her the chance. You want her to stay alive? Well she’d insist that you do the same.”
“You got a little sumpin’ sumpin’ goin’ on with her? You better not be playing her!”
“I’d never play her, Kid. That pixie is one very special lady and I only want the best for her.”
“You’re doin’ her.”
“You’re right. We are together, or should I say that we’re together for now. She’s leaving tomorrow and I honestly don’t know if she’ll want to hook up again when she gets back.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah, I do. She’s something, isn’t she? I sure hope I don’t get replaced while she’s gone.”
“You say that to her?”
“Not directly. You think I should?”
“You want her to come back, you gotta tell her.”
“All right, I will. You could call her and put in a good word for me. She likes you so she might listen.”
“She’s giving you a hard time.” He choked out a laugh. “She gave me one too. I figure that’s her way of liking us without going all mushy. Just tell her for me. I gotta go.”
Shane closed his phone and let the Kid’s words roll around in his head. “What the hell am I going to do now, Brett?” he asked morosely.
“I take it that call was from Alyssa’s gang kid. You going to try to deny that you meant what you said to him?”
“No.”
“Damn, I wish he’d called you half an hour ago. You might not have been so tough on me for saying basically the same things to you.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have overreacted on you like I did. I guess you’re both right. I don’t know if I can handle this.”
“I think it’s too late, Shane. I also think you should take the Kid’s advice and tell her you’ll be waiting when she gets back. Why didn’t he call her?”
“I’m not sure unless he’s afraid to get too close to her. She gave him my number and told him to call me if he ever needed help back when I was trying to get her to stay away from them.” Shane paused, looking steadily at him. “I’m going to tell you something that you can’t repeat. Two months ago, I started getting tips about upcoming activities. I had no idea who it was until Campini was talking about the Kid. Then I began to suspect it was him but today is the first time he didn’t try to hide it.”
“You exchanged words in person last week. Maybe he figures you already know he’s the one who called you. What are you going to tell Alyssa?”
“Just that he called and asked me to tell her to stay alive and that I was sure she’d ask the same of him. She doesn’t know he’s been feeding me information and I don’t want her to. I’m not going to mention that I tried to get him to ask for help either. I think it would upset her.”
“I think it would more than upset her and I don’t think she needs to know just yet. You can tell her when he gives in and lets you get him out of there. And now, as much as I hate to leave this conversation in the middle, I need to get back to work.”
“That’s fine since I’m sure we’ll have it again. Any chance of you dropping me back at the station? I let Campini use my truck today for last minute errands.” When Brett raised an eyebrow, Shane continued, “If you promise to keep your mouth shut, I’ll invite you over for dinner tonight. Jesse’s coming and I thought we could have a little good luck celebration for her.”
“Gee, Shane, that sounds suspiciously like you’re afraid to spend the entire evening saying goodbye to her.”
“This time you really are wrong. We’re dropping some pictures off with Max on the way home and I thought you guys could help cheer her up. This could very well be the last time she sees him and she’s already made me promise to call her if he dies while she’s away. Brett, I get the impression that Cam
pini doesn’t invite people to get close to her and I know she likes you guys. I feel like I should make her know that she will be missed while she’s gone. I mean missed by someone other than Kiley. We ate at Mr. Paul’s last night so she could see Dee and I know she called those friends that Kiley invited to the wedding but I think that’s it.”
“See? I knew you cared more than you were letting show.”
“Yeah and I’d like to remind you that we’re still not discussing this. Take me back to work and get to your meeting. I’m sure you have a lot to do so you can get everything here wrapped up as soon as possible. I know you don’t really have time to obsess about me like this.” This time, Brett let himself laugh and was rewarded when Shane joined in.
* * * * *
“You guys should have seen the look in Penny’s eyes when I gave her the picture of her and Shane.” Alyssa giggled. “I think she’s in love!”
“Too bad she’s only twenty years too young for him,” Brett teased. “Or maybe not. You’d have competition then, Lyssa.”
“Gee and I actually thought I was going to miss you, Brett.”
“Ouch, that hurt.” He tried to look wounded.
“Watch it. She bites when she gets really mad,” Shane added from across the room.
“McKade,” she growled.
“I think you should both shut up now,” Jesse advised seriously.
“Thank you, Jesse. It’s nice to know someone here isn’t a typical male.”
“I assure you that I’m all male and I’d be more than happy to prove it if you’d only get rid of Shane. But please, can you wait until after we eat? I’m hungry and whatever he’s cooking smells really good.”
They laughed as she glared at him. “You’re as bad as they are. McKade, why did you invite them to have dinner with us tonight? Is this some sort of weird attempt to make me see that there are worse things than being sucked up in a tornado?”
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