Page 14 of Through the Storms
Asher waved at them from the front of the room where he stood between a mounted dry erase board on one side and a big-screen TV on the other. Oakley inwardly groaned as she walked toward him. No matter how many times she entered this room, her reaction was always the same. It looked as if a sixth-grade science class had thrown up all over the walls. Posters of tornadoes and weather events covered nearly every square inch of the whitespace. It was her reminder to never let Britt decorate again.
Oakley could do the orientation in her sleep and wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. No, she wouldn’t cut corners. The guests paid a hefty sum for the experience, so it wasn’t fair to shortchange them.
The enthusiasm of their guests always energized her, so she needed to draw from it now. She walked up beside Asher, who gave her a sideways glance. Oakley smiled and winked. Asher’s shoulders relaxed with the gesture.
“Ready to get this show on the road?” Asher asked.
“I’m ready.”
“Uh, do you want to switch roles? You can make the introductions, and I can do the rest.”
She smiled at him. She couldn’t ask for a better brother. They’d broken down the program to play to their strengths. Asher was a showman, but Oakley was the better teacher. Normally, he made the introductions and stepped aside; of course, he’d interject occasionally, but for the most part, she carried the show.
She leaned toward him. “I’m good. Besides, keeping me busy is for the best.”
He smiled, stepped to the podium, and tapped on the mic as he asked for quiet. It took him three attempts before the crowd hushed.
“Welcome.” He gave the group a broad smile. “I’m Asher Pierce.”
The crowd returned his greeting.
“I want to thank you for choosing Two Trees Storm Chasing Tours.” He smiled again. “I know there are several choices out there, so we appreciate you riding with us. I might be biased, but I think you picked the best.”
A few people in the crowd cheered.Lively group. It always made the trips more fun when the attendees had personalities. No two tours were ever the same, which was probably why Oakley never got bored with it.
“I’d like to introduce you to my baby sister,” he delivered the line he’d spoken many times.
“Twenty-six minutes.” Oakley called out her line. “Twenty-six minutes older.”
“Twenty-six minutes is twice the average length of time that people have to take cover once a tornado siren sounds,” he said.
“And if you struggle with math…” Oakley wrote the equation twenty-six divided by two on the dry erase board. “The average warning gives you thirteen minutes to take shelter.”
Some of the crowd whispered among themselves. Oakley discovered the murmurs were usually a mixed bag, with some believing the warning time was much longer and others thinking it was much shorter.
“She has many more astonishing tornado facts she’ll share with you,” Asher added. “So I’d like to turn the floor over to my sister and business partner, Oakley Pierce. Uh, and if you hadn’t figured it out, she’s the oak tree and I’m the ash tree in Two Trees.”
The crowd clapped as Oakley stepped to the podium. She looked out over the eager faces.Attentive. Other than the couple snuggling at the back table, everyone else’s attention was on her.
“Thank you,” she said. “I hope this will be an experience of a lifetime for you.” Oakley smirked. “I know you all carefully read over the entire packet of documents you signed earlier.”
The crowd chuckled.
“In case you forgot what you read, let me give you a few of the highlights.” She launched into a summary of the most important safety rules. She liked to get them out of the way, so they could get on to the more interesting parts of the trip. Besides, they’d reinforce them at every turn, so by the end of the week, the guests would be able to recite them back to her on command.
After she finished, she smiled. “There will be a quiz at the end of this meeting.” Lame joke, but it always got a laugh.
“A few more housekeeping items, and then we can start talking storms.” She glanced around the room before she continued. The two older women sitting at the front of the room were adorable. They sported matching shirts and huge grins. Were they lovers or sisters?
“I want to remind you that tornadoes are unpredictable. Weather conditions this week are shaping up to be quite active, yet there are no guarantees. In the six years we’ve been stormchasing, we’ve only had one tour where no tornadoes were spotted.”
“Let’s not make it two,” someone called from the crowd.
“I hear ya.” Oakley chuckled. “You just need to be aware it’s a possibility, but looking at the weather patterns, it would be highly unlikely. The other thing you must understand is tornadoes do what they want to do, not what we think they should.”
Oakley took a sip of water before she continued. “We go where we think the conditions are the best to spot tornadoes. While it is a science, it’s still partially an art form.”
“And Oakley is an artist,” Asher said from behind her.
