Tony Partly Cloudy (35 page)

Tony was very, very good at the puppy dog pout.

“I HAVE
NEVER
FLOWN ON A PLANE THAT SMALL,” Sarah said. She was still recovering, her face pale, her eyes wide.

“Me, I thought it was fun,” Tony said. “Like a roller coaster. Kinda reminded me of the Cyclone at Coney Island.”

“Note to self,” Sarah said, holding a hand to her mouth and speaking into an imaginary tape recorder, “never under any circumstances go to Coney Island.”

Tony laughed. “Come on – let’s go see if our luggage made it here, too. That suitcase of yours was probably too big for our plane, so they might have sent it on a barge or something.”

“Very funny. You’re the one who said
pack for a week, maybe longer
. So that’s what I did.”

“Yeah, well by
longer
, I meant like maybe two weeks, not two years.”

This earned Tony a smack on the arm. But they were both smiling as they walked through the terminal.

“So where’s this hurricane you’ve been telling me about?” Sarah asked. “I thought it would be all stormy here.”

“Nah, sometimes the weather right before a hurricane is totally clear, like today. It’s like the wimpier weather wants to get the hell out of the way of that big-ass hurricane.”

“Very scientific.”

“Yeah, well, I am a highly trained professional meteorologist, and all.”

Tony stopped. It had just hit him. The Gift. He felt the tingling sense of foreboding that told him something was coming. Something big.

“What is it?” Sarah asked.

“It’s nothing,” Tony said. Sure, he’d told her his family was involved in organized crime. That was easy enough to make somebody understand. But he’d never found a way to talk about the Gift that didn’t sound, well, just plain silly. Taking Sarah’s hand, he started walking again, willing himself to stay calm.

“I can’t believe how warm it is,” Sarah said. “I felt like somebody was pointing a giant hairdryer at me when I stepped off the plane.”

“Yeah, but you get used to it. The tough thing is going anywhere that’s cold after you’ve been down here for a while.”

“Yeah, I remember you whining about that when you first came to WEFQ. And hey, I just realized something.” Sarah pouted dramatically. “I never got to see you in those long johns, with the trapdoor in the back.”

Tony grinned. “Well, I hate to tell you, but if it turns out that you like it down here, you may never get that chance. ‘Cause I definitely won’t need them here!”

“I guess you’ll just have to find other ways to entice me, then. Let’s see, we’re in the tropics... a grass skirt, perhaps?”

“Careful what you wish for,” Tony said with a shudder. “Down here, sometimes guys do wear skirts.” He pondered telling her about his Fantasy Fest encounter with Debbie, then thought better of it.

“Well, okay,” Sarah said, still pouting. “Scratch the grass skirt idea.”

“I think it’s for the best,” Tony said. “Trust me on that.”

Sarah’s face grew serious. “Do you think I’ll like it here? I mean, really?”

“I don’t know, baby. But that’s one of the things we’re here to find out. I’ll tell you this, it’s going to be a major change from living in Rockford.”

Sarah kissed him. “After what we’ve been going through, a major change sounds pretty good to me right about now. Oh look, there’s my bag.”

“Great,” said Tony, “let me see if I can find a guy with a forklift to pick it up.”

Another smack on the arm. “Jeez,” Tony said, “it’s a good thing I don’t bruise easily.”

“With your smart mouth, it’s a
very
good thing.”

After Tony wrestled Sarah’s case off the conveyor belt, they stood watching for Tony’s bag.

“Like I was telling you,” Tony continued, “if it turns out you do like it here, my boss offered to put out some feelers for you at the local TV station. She knows pretty much everybody down here, and could put in a good word for you.”

“I know,” Sarah said, “and that’s unbelievably nice of her. I’m just not sure I even want to stay in TV after all this. I keep thinking I might go back to print journalism. Or maybe even freelance writing.”

“Whatever you want, baby. I got enough saved up to get us set up here, and I’ll have steady work. Admittedly, I’ll only be making a fraction of what I was making on TV, but I never really got into that whole high-roller thing, anyway. Most of what I made I either put in savings, or sent home to my family. Well, to my mama. There’s no way my old man would ever take money from me, but he did love that Grand Marquis I got him.”

“I can’t wait to meet them.”

“They’re a trip,” Tony warned. “But they’re good people. And my Nona Maria – you know, my grandmother – she’s totally cool. Oh, finally, there’s my suitcase.” Tony leaned down to pick it up, unintentionally grunting with the effort.

“What was all that you were saying about packing light?” Sarah said. “That’s not exactly a small suitcase.”

“Yeah, but it’s still not as big as your
U.S.S. Behemoth
over there.” Holding up a hand, he said, “No, wait – let me turn around, so that the other arm gets smacked for a change.”

♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

“Sue, I gotta tell you, this is pretty freakin’ nice.”

The Meteorologist In Charge smiled at Tony’s pronouncement. “It’s a big improvement over where we were back when you left,” she agreed. “No termites, and the roof only leaks occasionally.”

They had just completed a tour of the new NWS facility, which was housed in a building next to the airport terminal.

Sue continued, “But we’ve already outgrown it. Now they’re building an entirely new facility for us over on White Street that’s going to be all ours. Not like now, where we’re just sharing a building with Customs and Greyhound.”

Sarah laughed. “Yeah, when Tony started walking me over here from the terminal, I saw the Greyhound sign and wondered if this new job he’d been talking about was as a bus driver.”

Tony laughed. “Not me. I’m just a simple weatherman.”

Sarah extended her hand to Sue. “Anyway, thanks for taking the time to give us the tour. It’s great to finally meet you.” Turning to Tony, she said, “Honey, we should probably get checked into the hotel before it gets too late, then you can come back here and get to work.”

Sue frowned. “That may not be so easy, Sarah. You two probably caught one of the last planes in. They issued an evacuation order this morning. Garrett’s heading right toward us, so they’re telling people to get out of Dodge, so to speak. When an evacuation order is in place, I don’t think the hotels can accept any new guests.”

Sarah looked at Sue, then at Tony. “But we have reservations,” she whined.

Tony shrugged. “Sue’s right. I think that government orders probably outweigh hotel reservations.”

“We’ve got some cots we can set up,” Sue offered. “Once the storm hits, whoever is working that shift is pretty much stuck here for the duration. I assume you’ll want to be here while Tony is working the storm.”

Tony’s eyes grew wide. “Jeez, I hadn’t even thought of that.” Turning to Sarah, he said, “There’s no way I’d want you sitting through the storm by yourself in some hotel while I’m here. I’d want us to be together, you know, in case things get bad.”

Sarah was speechless, the gravity of the situation finally beginning to set in.

Sue said, “It goes without saying that you’re both welcome to stay here.”

Sarah looked at Tony. “When you say
in case things get bad
, you mean at the hotel, right? I mean, nothing can happen to us here, can it?”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” said Tony.

Sue spoke up. “We’re rated to withstand both the winds and the storm surge of a Category 5 storm. Garrett is currently only a Category 3.”

Sarah sighed. “That’s a relief. For a second there, you guys had me worried.”

“Of course,” Sue continued, “there are a few trailers and small outbuildings nearby that could get blown into our building, or washed into it by the waves. So I’m not really wild about our chances in anything above a Category 3.”

Tony shot Sue his most dagger-filled look, while Sarah gaped.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Tony said again, hoping Sue would resist the urge to elaborate. To his relief, he saw that Sue was now smiling sympathetically at Sarah.

Sue said, “I don’t mean to scare you. It’s just my line of work – I make a living giving people warnings. But let’s get you settled in. With the evacuation, we’re going to be short-staffed, so I’ve got a couple empty offices. Let’s get one set up to be your room, okay?”

“Thanks, Sue,” Tony said. “That’s a great idea.”

Sarah smiled graciously at Sue, but gave Tony a
we’ll talk about this later
look. Then her expression softened into one of concern.

“What’s wrong, Tony? You look... well, kind of strange. Tony? Are you listening?”

Tony snapped his attention back to Sarah. “Sorry,” he said. “Just thinking about the hurricane, and all the work we gotta do.”

But that wasn’t it. It was the Gift. Tony was still struggling to get used to the constant strain of receiving that relentless, nerve-jangling alarm that the approaching hurricane was setting off. But there was something else. Something had changed. It was subtle, but it was there. Tony just couldn’t put his finger on how it had changed.

“Tell you what, Sarah. Why don’t you get set up in that office that we’re going to stay in. I want to step outside for a few seconds.”

Sue smiled. “Same old Tony. Everybody else here spends all day long looking at monitors and printouts. Tony’s one of the only meteorologists I know who still likes to actually go outside and see for himself what the weather is doing.”

Tony shrugged. “Call me old-fashioned,” he said with a smile.

“Go ahead, baby,” Sarah said. “I’ll be fine.” Tony saw that her smile was genuine, not forced. She was being a good sport, he had to admit. It was one of the things he loved about her.

Outside the weather was getting worse. While the western skies were still clear, to the east a wall of clouds was rapidly closing in over the island, as Garrett made his way west from the Atlantic.

The ocean was only about 150 yards from the building, and Tony quickly made the walk to where the water lapped up onto the shore. The usual blue-green of the water was darkened by the incoming clouds, so that it looked almost gray. Facing the water, Tony closed his eyes and inhaled, opening himself to any message the Gift might want to send him. As in previous hurricanes, what he felt was a constant wash of sensation, a tingling sense of unease that was unrelenting. Tony did his best to focus on what he was feeling, trying to get used to it. Trying to memorize it, so that he could sense any further changes in it.

“It’s beautiful.”

The voice behind him startled him from his reverie. He turned to find Sarah, staring past him into the ocean.

“Sarah! I didn’t hear you coming.”

She continued to look past him. “It’s beautiful,” she repeated. “I’ve never seen the ocean before.”

This caught Tony by surprise. “Really? Wow, I never even thought of that. I mean I grew up with the beach just a short drive away. Then I moved down here. So until I got to Illinois, I’ve always had an ocean right next to me. I forget sometimes how different you and me grew up.”

Sarah smiled. “That’s an understatement.” Then her face grew serious. “Are you okay? You started looking really strange back there. And when I came out here just now, you looked like you were – I don’t know – maybe praying or something.”

Tony blushed. “Not praying, exactly. But I do get...
feelings
about the weather sometimes. And they’re usually pretty accurate. That’s part of why I had such a decent ‘batting average’ back when I was on TV.” Tony winced at the memory.

Sarah smiled. “I know, Tony. I’ve seen you work. You definitely have a talent for this.”

“Thanks,” Tony said, deciding to take the opening Sarah had just given him. “My Nona Maria – you know, my grandmother – she says I got a gift. Like a special...
ability
or somethin’ that lets me sense changes in the weather.”

“Do you believe her?” Sarah asked.

There was nothing mocking in her tone, so Tony answered.

“Actually, I kinda do. I definitely get certain feelings when the weather changes. And I’ve gotten pretty good at understanding those feelings. Well, not so much understanding them, but
interpreting
them. I won’t claim to understand them.”

Sarah stepped closer. “I’d think that with something as big as a hurricane, those feelings would get pretty strong.”

Sometimes Sarah’s ability to understand him – to understand everything – just overwhelmed Tony. He reached out to take her in his arms.

“You just said a mouthful. This stuff can get really intense for me sometimes.”

Pulling back to look in her eyes, Tony said, “So, you believe in this stuff? In all this weird hocus-pocus that I’m trying to tell you about?”

Sarah returned his gaze, a calm smile on her lips. “I believe in
you
,” she said. “That’s good enough for me.”

They kissed briefly, then Tony pulled back, turning his head to survey their surroundings.

“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked. “Do you feel something about the weather?”