HOLY SMOKES

three. outbreak

He was nice enough, Magnolia supposed.

His hair was short and sandy blonde and quaffed to the left. His eyes were a bright green, a beautiful color really but she couldn’t find herself getting lost in them what-so-ever. His smile was charming but a bit too perfect like he had practiced it in the mirror. His face was clean shaven, which gave him a boyish look. And the three-piece suit he wore was entirely too nice for a blind date.

She assumed he had also been thrown into this at the last minute by his friends, like she had. Maybe he had just left work, and he worked for a corporate office. He sure looked the part. Everything about him oozed lawyer, so she assumed he was.

She might have known what he did for a living if she had been paying an ounce of attention.

But the second they sat down at the table, her thoughts were plagued by a set of brown eyes she hadn’t shaken from her mind for nearly ten years. It always happened when she went out on dates, not that she ever really wanted to go. But her friends always told her she needed to get out more, so she did.

She went on blind dates with men that she couldn’t tell you a single thing about. And the whole time she toyed with the ring that hung from a silver chain around her neck, which she never took off.

“So, what do you do?”

“Huh?” She mumbled, then she smiled, “sorry, what was that?”

He simply chuckled, “I asked what you do.”

“Oh,” she nodded, reaching for her water then she took a sip. “I run a non-profit.”

She watched as his face contorted a little, just enough to notice. It always happened when she was set up with a corporate type. It was like they saw her work as less than what they were doing.

“Non-profit,” he repeated, taking a sip of his wine. “For what? What’s your cause?”

She maintained her smile despite his condescending tone, she’d gotten used to it by now.

“All sorts of things. We’ve got branches all over the world working to feed starving kids, building housing for veterans and the homeless. We have a few branches dedicated to saving endangered animals in remote countries…” she went on and she watched as he nodded, but she knew he wasn’t really listening.

Was that what she looked like when they were talking and all she did was nod?

After they had finished their dinner, he walked her to the subway, they bid each other goodnight and Magnolia made a note to kill Kelly for setting her up with yet another lawyer.

>>>>> • <<<<<

The next morning, Magnolia made her way into work with a smile, like she did every morning. She waved and stopped to chat with a few of her co-workers – they were technically her employees but she didn’t like to differentiate between herself and them. They were all working to better the world, they all believed in the work they did and though she made the final decisions, they all had a say.

She had just reached her office when Kelly nearly bounced in with a wide smile tugging at her painted red lips, “so, how was your date?”

“I told you to stop setting me up on dates. Especially with lawyers.”

“But he was so cute.”

“Then you date him.”

Kelly hummed, plopping down in the chair in front of Magnolia’s desk. “I’ll give him a call.”

Magnolia chuckled as she shook her head and opened her laptop, “okay, let’s get to it.”

Kelly nodded and even if a few times she would try to slip in small bites of information about another guy that she knew – that was definitely not a lawyer, they covered everything they needed to for the day.

They doled out assignments, always keeping in mind which causes some people were more passionate about. They had a few meetings with a few local businesses that wanted to help out by hosting open-mic nights, karaoke, and even game nights to raise money. They managed the budget, making sure they had enough to cover salaries. It was a never ending cycle, but Magnolia loved it… well, mostly. She would prefer to be out in the field, actually helping people, getting her hands dirty.

“Last thing,” Kelly informed as everyone sat around the oval table in the conference room. “Saw it on the news, there’s a once-in-a-generation outbreak in Oklahoma. Towns are being wiped out, people are losing loved ones and their homes. The team we sent at the beginning of storm season, they need more hands on deck. There’s too many storms happening in such a small window.”

Magnolia nodded, ignoring the pang in her chest. She grew up in Arkansas and saw plenty of tornadoes and the damage they could cause. “I’ll be forming a team, volunteer based. It can be rough work, tornadoes are chaos. The damage they cause can take a toll, even just seeing it. I’m not tryin’ to scare you, just want you to be prepared.”

Only a few people volunteered, which Magnolia saw coming. Most of them had never even seen a tornado, others had seen too many. But she knew that numbers weren’t what they needed, it was heart. And with the six volunteers and herself, plus the group that was already there, they could at least try to make a difference.

“Alright,” the blonde smiled as she pushed herself to her feet. “We need to get links up on all our socials, make a push for the tornado relief fund. I appreciate each and every one of you. For those joinin' me in Oklahoma, I’ll drive out in a couple of days. And y'all'll be joinin' me by the end of the week. Kelly and I will have all your flight information ready for you, you just have to pack and show up.”

“Goodnight, everyone.” Kelly smiled, and everyone waved their goodbyes before leaving and Kelly looked over at the blonde, who was focused on her laptop as she toyed with her necklace. “Hey, you good?”

“Oh, yeah, just wanna get a jump on this. Get out there as soon as possible.”

Kelly just nodded, giving her a smile before she left her alone adding a “don’t work too late,” before she left for the night.

>>>>> • <<<<<

It was late, but after a day of chasing storms, Boone was more than happy to share a few beers with the rest of the Tornado Wranglers. They had music playing from the speakers in the truck as they all talked, recounting the day and laughing. And it had been a great day, they’d gotten great footage for the channel and the comments were already rolling in almost non-stop.

But the best part of the day had been after all the storms had passed for the day. When they were all just hanging out at the bar.

“Did you see Ty’s face!” Dani laughed, slapping her knee a little as she and Lily nearly cackled.

“Alright, enough,” Tyler huffed, shaking his head a little as his ear tinged pink in embarrassment. “Everyone saw it, don’t gotta keep talkin’ ‘bout it.”

“‘Course we do.” Boone added, clapping his best friend on the back with a laugh of his own. “Not every day a fan lays one on ya.”

Tyler shook his head, wanting to forget all about how a random girl had pounced on him at the bar, her lips smacking against his messily. And he hadn’t even had time to react before she jumped down with a squeal and ran away.

“He looked like a deer in headlights,” Lily added.

“Woulda been nice if she asked first, that’s all I’m sayin’.” He huffed, tipping his beer can back, and they ceased laughing. They hadn’t really thought about that, but they knew that if a random guy had jumped on Lily or Dani things would’ve gone down a lot differently.

“Oh, yeah.” Boone mumbled, patting Tyler’s shoulder. “Sorry, buddy.”

“Like I said, let’s just drop it.”

Boone nodded, “I kicked your ass at darts though.”

“You did not.” Tyler shook his head and they all laughed as they started arguing… again.

Boone stopped in the middle of explaining how he had won when a head of blonde hair caught his eyes. His words trailed off and his brows pinched a little, he couldn’t help it. He had done the same thing for years, every time he saw a blonde.

He just wanted it to be a certain blonde, and it never was.

Tyler went on, ranting about his win as they others laughed, but Boone was focused on the girl as she climbed the stairs. His hand moved up and gripped the cross that hung around his neck, and just as she reached the second floor he caught a glimpse of her face when she turned just a little.

“Maggie,” the name left him on a breath as he pushed himself off the tailgate.

“Oh, Boone, where ya going?!” Tyler called after him, but he was already making his way up the stairs, taking them two at a time, but by the time he reached the second floor she was already gone, tucked away in her room.

“Boone, you alright?” Dani asked, the worry clear in her tone.

“Yeah,” he nodded, eyeing the door for a moment as he toyed with the cross. “Yeah,” he looked over the rail at where they all sat looking up at him. “Thought I saw someone is all.”

Tyler gave him a knowing look, it had happened before. Boone would see a blonde and for a moment or two he swore it was Magnolia only for it not to be. It hadn’t happened in a while, though. Not in the last year, because he had given up any hope of seeing her again.

But he was so sure it had been her. He couldn’t get her out of his head. He just kept picturing the last time he saw her.

The tears that filled her blue eyes, the way her bottom lip wobbled and the way she held onto him like she never wanted to let go until she absolutely had to.

He hadn't cried. At least not until she had disappeared behind TSA and he could no longer see her. It was the day she left for college, the day he knew she was gonna do great things and forget all about him. The day they had broken up, mutually and only because he didn’t want to hold her back and she didn’t think it was right for her to ask him to wait.

“Um, Imma head to-to bed.” He told them, motioning to his room. And when he turned, his eyes lingered on the door the girl had disappeared into, but he shook his head because it hadn’t been Magnolia. It couldn’t be. The last he had heard from her, she was moving to New York, and that had been over seven years ago.

NOVA SPEAKS

ahhh! this book is my everything! i am struggling with the next chapter though