12 #2
The foreman looks at me, then glances at Darana for confirmation, and, seeing that the boss isn’t contradicting me, tips his hat.
“That makes sense. We’ll get right on it.”
Darana continues assigning tasks as if she were playing chess, moving the staff around with enviable efficiency. The atmosphere in the living room is pure tension and adrenaline.
Just then, the door to the west-wing office bursts open, and Ethan appears in the room, narrowly dodging a ranch hand coming out loaded down with rain boots.
“Camila, finally!” he exclaims, striding across the room toward me. “The repeaters on North Hill miraculously held out on backup power and just sent this over. You have to see it right away.”
He hands me the tablet. As I take it, I almost cry with emotion: finally, a clean, working piece of technology in the middle of this mud fest. I glance quickly at the bar graphs and atmospheric potential curves, and my stomach lurches.
I didn’t come here to watch the staff clean up mud; I came to keep this place from blowing up.
“Darana.”
My voice cuts through the commotion of the workers heading out toward the stables. She turns slowly, raising an eyebrow with that air of arrogance that drives me up the wall.
“Tell me, Bennet. What’s the matter now? Are you going to tell me it’s going to rain frogs?”
“This is more serious than your sarcasm, Calloway,” I reply, staring at her intently.
Darana presses her lips together, annoyed by my warning tone, but gestures for me to speak.
“Go ahead. Spill it, scientist. We’re all ears.”
I step into the center of the room and clear my throat. All eyes are fixed on me.
“The sensors I installed before the hail crushed them recorded levels that aren’t normal,” I begin as I run my fingers across the screen.
“The electrostatic charge accumulated in the ranch’s subsoil is two hundred percent above the seasonal average.
This wasn’t just any summer storm; we’re facing a severe shift in weather patterns in the Willow Creek basin. ”
A murmur of confusion ripples through the few remaining ranch hands.
“Let’s get this straight, Doc,” Bert growls from the doorway. “Are you telling us another deluge is coming?”
“I’m saying this is going to happen again in the coming days,” I blurt out bluntly, looking directly at Darana.
“I’ve cross-referenced the readings with the region’s wildfire history.
This summer is going to be the most dangerous on record.
The air is so charged that any subsequent dry thunderstorm will trigger positive lightning—not to mention more rainstorms. And those are the strikes that cause instantaneous fires.
If we don’t take action now, we’re going to face serious consequences before the month is out. ”
I can see every muscle in Darana’s face tense. Her pride. Her livelihood. I’ve just dropped a bombshell right in the middle of her living room.
“And what exactly do you propose, Bennet?” she asks, taking a step toward me. Her pride is resisting the idea of me telling her how to protect her land. “Do you want us to blow the clouds away?”
“I want full and unrestricted access to every area,” I reply, standing my ground without backing down and pointing to the heat maps on the screen.
“Freedom to dig trenches for sensors and install ionic-dispersion lightning rods in the high-altitude zones. And I need your workers to help me transport the heavy equipment. I can’t save this place on my own, Darana.
I need you to stop seeing me as the enemy and trust my data. ”
The silence that settles over the room is the kind that makes history. Darana holds my gaze, her eyes flashing, weighing whether to tell me to get lost or bite her tongue for the sake of her business. In the end, common sense wins out, though I know it’s costing her every ounce of strength.
“You’ll have it,” she declares, turning to the foreman. “Bert, make sure no one objects to a single thing she asks for. Ricky, as soon as you get Angus to safety, you’ll be under her command.”
Those words hit the room like a sledgehammer. Working together. Just what we needed. The room begins to empty in a hurry, and the two of us are left alone in the middle of it, surrounded by mud and a tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.
“Thanks,” I murmur, taking a couple of steps closer as I gather my things. “I know you’re not at all thrilled about me taking control of certain areas. But you don’t have to shoulder the entire burden of this mess by yourself.”
Darana looks me up and down, narrowing those honey-colored eyes that drive me crazy, and crosses her arms with a smug smile.
“Make no mistake, Bennet. I’m giving you access because the data is on your side, but this place is still mine,” she tells me with that unbearably cocky attitude.
“We’ll discuss the technical details tonight, once we’ve handled the urgent matters.
We have a lot to lay on the table… and I’m not just talking about the clouds. ”
I bite the inside of my cheek, feeling my pulse race again as I remember that damn hayloft. What an insufferable woman.
“Whenever you’re ready, Calloway. Make yourself some strong coffee, because my reports will be well worth your while.”