“Go Waterspouts!” Glynis shouted as the adolescents churned up the ocean beneath their feet. The brightly colored ball swirled in the leader’s vortex, heading toward the opposing team’s goal. Behind her, the crowd surged to its feet. The nimbus clouds bent from the assault then reformed into firm bleacher.
“And here I thought you weren’t going to have a good time.” Roland ignored the groans of disgust from his players and took the seat next to her on the coach’s bench.
“I didn’t know you taught.” She bit her tongue. By thunder, that made it the fifth time she had said those very words. At least, the game was almost over. “They’re very good,” she finished lamely.
“I credit the coach,” purred a voice behind her.
Glynis turned. The stylish woman belonged in a dollmaker’s window not at a youth water soccer game. Her hand most definitely didn’t belong on Roland’s arm. Glynis ignored the spurt of jealousy.
“Madeline.”
“Roland. I see the rumors of your impending promotion are true.” Madeline turned to Glynis. “You are Glynis Ahdeed, aren’t you? The Ahdeed’s only Granddaughter. The only girl born into the Ahdeed family for over seven millennia.”
“Yes.” Glynis waited for her part to be cast–innocent victim, interloper, duped date. Anything was possible.
“She’s quite the prize, Roland. And you claimed to disdain politics,” Madeline tsked.
“My life is none of your business, Madeline.” Roland’s words were clipped.
“Do you know what I always liked about you? You were the funnel cloud that never touched down unless you wished it. Wild, free...” Madeline sighed and eyed the ring on her finger. “Matrimony does have certain benefits, especially when one marries someone connected to the Anvil.”
Glynis kept her smile in place. Did all odious creatures have the same script? Perhaps she should recommend the spiteful woman get new material.
“I’m certain your son will be happy you came.” Roland crossed his arms and jerked his her toward the boy on the field.
Madeline shrugged. “My son will play to the best of his abilities whether I’m here or not.”
Roland’s jaw clenched. “It’s just a game, Madeline.”
“You know better than that.” She leaned forward, flashing her generous cleavage. “If Roland hadn’t done so well at these aquatic events, he never would have been allowed to attend Silver Lining Academy.”
“Goodbye Madeline.” Roland turned his back on her.
Glynis sighed as Madeline walked away. The woman knew exactly where to prod Roland. Proof that at one time there had been more to their relationship. “She seems friendly.”
“She’s about as friendly as a class five hurricane to a highrise on an Atoll.” The opposing team called a time out. Roland left Glynis to huddle his players. She watched the clock fifty-six seconds. There wasn’t much the other team could do. They were six goals behind and the Waterspouts had the ball. The teams whirled onto the field. The referee blew his whistle. A minute later, the Waterspouts handed the ball to the referee and shook hands with the losing team as they left the field.
“How did you get into coaching?”
“What you don’t think an elemental hybrid is good enough to teach the pure bloods of Supercell?” The anger faded from Roland’s eyes. “Sorry, my mixed origins are a bit of a sore point. After I achieved my first F-5, I was finally good enough for my mother’s family. Good enough for them to claim that the water brat they’d barely acknowledged all those years, had ice in his veins.”
“We all have our sore points.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll be more than happy to rub the ache out of yours.” Roland tossed the keys to the assistant coach and ushered Glynis through the warren of corridors, away from the public and the reporters.
She hadn’t asked him a single question about his position on the Ice or Wind clans and he wasn’t making the most of his date with the Ahdeed’s granddaughter. No compromising pictures, no using her family name for the best seat or using their relationship to gain a promotion. When they emerged, the cloud stadium had returned to Supercell and the sky was a brilliant cobalt. Glynis sighed. “It would be easy to believe him.”
“What?”
She cleared her throat. It was one thing to talk to herself, quite another to talk to herself when others could hear. “My stomach is rumbling.”
“I did promise you dinner.”
“The hot dog was fine.”
“Not according to your stomach or mine.” Roland stopped beside a black sports Nimbus. Two seats lay against the swoop back. He helped her over the low side and climbed into the driver’s seat. “I think you’ll enjoy this.” He stopped by Heavenly Burger, ordered two meals then merged onto the Jet Steam. Thirty minutes later, he maneuvered the Nimbus into a spot along the edge of Supercell and parked. Below, the snow capped Rocky Mountains stretched across the horizon. “Throat sore?”
“No.” Glynis stuffed the toppings back inside her sandwich. Unease tightened her throat. How could he have known about her favorite spot in Supercell? Coincidence? She didn’t believe in it but she did believe in research.
“Your silence is making my ears ring.”
She swallowed the mass in her mouth. “Just enjoying the view,” she lied.
“I’m enjoying the company. I usually come here alone.”
“I usually end up right over there.” She pointed two hills over. His research had been off but not by much. “Of course, I usually arrive too late for the North America Vista. The Gulf’s very different from the Pacific view, not as passive. Neither is it as violent as the Atlantic.”
“You mean you’ve never watched the skiers. I’ve missed it. I don’t get out here as much as I used to and I always made sure to leave before you arrived.”
She tucked the rest of her burger into the wrapper. So he admitted knowing she came here. Yet, he had never intruded. Was it a coincidence? “I like watching the surfers.”
“Why Glynis? I would never have suspected such a nice, sweet girl like you would be on the look out for some untanned flesh.”
“I saw the skyglass in the backseat of your car.”
“Those are not for spying on surfers,” Roland exited the car, opened the trunk and came back with a glass the size of a small mirror. He scooted next to her, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held the view screen in front of her. “I can’t promise you skin, but snowboarding is the best.”
Skin. Roland’s skin and body heat. She needed to get her thoughts out of the clouds. Glynis focused on the couple in blue swerving down the white slopes on the ground. She touched the glass and the image zoomed in on the one with the pick hat. “Where ever did you get such a thing?”
“Maybe I’ll tell you on our next date.” Roland’s breath washed across her neck.
Glynis’s heart picked up tempo. She turned her head. His lips were close. If she leaned just a bit closer… “What makes you think there’ll be a next date?”
“You like to touch my skyglass. You’ve stroked it and stroked it until the static charge has built up to lightning proportions.” His nose nudged hers, tilting her head just so.
“I see.”
“Then close your eyes and feel.” His lips settled on hers, warm and firm. She stroked his cheek and opened her mouth.
“Attention all Wranglers. Attention all Wranglers.” Glynis pulled back as the sultry voice invaded her thoughts. What had she done? Kissed a wrangler. What had possessed her?
A small cloud floated out of the console of the Nimbus. The white mass turned into a wall of dew with a woman’s face peering out at them. Glynis scooted off Roland’s lap. “The Met Board announces two stable Mesocyclones over the North American continent. Wranglers Ahdeed, Ahdeed and James are expected to report to their stations. Conditions are ripe for a productive anvil. I repeat, conditions are ripe for a productive anvil.”
“Sorry.” Roland planted a quick kiss on her lips then h
elped her to her feet.
“Don’t be. I enjoyed it.”
“I meant,” he smiled, “to be leaving you.”
“And I meant,” Glynis smiled and climbed into his Nimbus, “I enjoy a good tornado alert.”
The ride to her place ended too soon. Roland walked her to her door. “Can I see you tomorrow? I think if we wait just an hour longer we could watch the surfers. I’ll even let you hold the glass.”