“Which explains why she wants to come back here and you aren’t offering to move to Oklahoma for her,” Ginny said.
Javi blinked. “I have my mom here, and you guys. I wouldn’t want to leave you behind.”
“Not even for love?” Poppy asked, her voice carrying through the place when the song ended.
He dipped his head, embarrassed as gazes turned their direction. “No. I mean, yes, I want to fall in love, but it might never happen for me.”
“Let me tell you something,” Ginny said, leaning over like she was about to impart a huge secret. “Love is a risk, whether you go after it or wait for it to come to you. Look at us. Look at those two.” She motioned to Sofia and Caleb on the dance floor, plastered together, staring into each other’s eyes. Caleb had grown up here also, and come back when he was broke and desperate. He’d hurt Sofia when they were all in high school, and he’d had to work really hard for forgiveness when he returned. Sofia had taken a huge risk trusting him again. Javi didn’t need to take that kind of risk with Espy. She hadn’t hurt him.
So why did he hesitate?
“It’s not the same. They knew each other forever. We knew each other a few days.”
“I don’t know. I know what I’d do if Espy was a cute guy who fell for me instead of a cute girl who fell for you,” Poppy said.
She was a romantic, Javi knew, but he leaned forward to listen anyway.
“I wouldn’t wait for her to come back.” Poppy stirred her margarita vigorously, then took a sip then winced when the cold hit her brain. “I’d go to her, and invite her to come back.”
“Why? If she’s planning to, anyway?”
“She may be a risk taker but that doesn’t mean she’s not worried about taking the risk.” She pointed her dripping straw in his direction. “This will take some of that worry away, if she knows she’s welcome here.”
Javi didn’t want to admit that her words—her tequila-and-romance-inspired words—made sense. He wanted Espy to come back, and he needed to help her make that decision as easy as possible.
CHAPTER17
Javi shifted from one foot to the other when he stood outside Twisted Sisters office space in the Norman business park. He’d made the reservation under Austin’s name, so Espy would be surprised when she saw him.
Poppy had come up with that idea, too. Javi hoped it paid off.
And now he was committed to going on a tornado chasing tour with strangers who actuallywantedto drive into a storm. He was not looking forward to that aspect, but he would be with Esperanza, and she would make the risk worth it.
He was surprised at how professional their operation looked. He guessed he had thought maybe they worked out of a house, or maybe out of some metal barn somewhere. Instead, the office was at the end of a maybe thirty-year-old industrial park. The lobby and office were neat and welcoming, with enlarged weather-related photos on the wall, tornados and wall clouds taken by Esperanza, Javi knew without looking at the photo credit. A small glass-fronted refrigerator stocked with bottles of water sat next to the molded plastic chairs against one paneled wall that had been painted with a bucolic scene of rolling countryside under threatening storm clouds. The scene continued on the half-wall beneath the receptionist’s desk.
He wondered who had painted that.
Angelica strode into the office from the back, all business, holding a clipboard that she wobbled in her hand as she spoke to the woman behind the desk. Angelica smiled briefly at him before turning back to the receptionist.
“You’re early,” she told him after she finished her conversation. “Follow me and you can put your gear in the van.” She gestured with the clipboard for him to walk through the opening between the desk and the wall, and through a door that led to a garage where the two vans and shelves of gear were stored.
He didn’t know how to react to the idea that Angelica didn’t recognize him, but he supposed she hadn’t seen him as much as Esperanza, and she certainly wouldn’t be expecting him today, here in Oklahoma.
“The weather look promising?” he asked, his stomach jittering at how wrong he felt actually asking for storms. But Esperanza made her living this way, so he was going to have to learn to accept it. He’d done a lot of homework on weather since she’d left, because he wanted to understand just what she was interested in.
Angelica’s smile was bright as she indicated the van in which he would ride. “Oh, yes, you picked a good week. Several cold fronts coming down from Canada, hitting all that juicy air. We’ll probably head northeast, but you’ll get your money’s worth.”
“But probably won’t see anything today? The first day out? The website said the first day is usually spent traveling.”
“Well, it depends,” she said, rocking back on her heels. “Timing is everything, and if your fellow travelers get here in a timely manner, we can head out and try to intercept those storms in Missouri tonight. Otherwise we might have to get ahead of them in Tennessee.”
He nodded, hoping he could face this as soon as possible, impress Esperanza with the chance he was taking, and not stress about his decision for the next four days.
Angelica inspected her clipboard and frowned a bit. “You’re traveling alone?”
“Yes, I’m—“
“Javi!”
