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━ CHAPTER TWO  ━
❝ THE SOONER, THE BETTER ❞

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"FLIGHT AA1362 out of Little Rock, Arkansas now arriving in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma."

The monotone voice of a service personnel, belonging to an older woman with quite the rancorous scowl, echoed across the terminal as Jess limped out from the jetway. She stopped just outside of her gate and looked around, taking in the surrounding bustle of the airport she was in. There were people everywhere, boarding and disembarking, eating and talking, dragging luggage from one end of the terminal to the other...it was difficult to even take a step forward without getting clipped with someone's carry on or neck pillow. Growing up in a small town, she was unaccustomed to large crowds such as this, so no matter how times she flew, she was always left in surprise just how many people could fit in one building. Of course, the airport was huge, quite possibly twice the size of her entire hometown put together. There were probably more people here than there were people in all of the county back home.

Jess shouldered her backpack, which contained her camera gear, and starting following the signs across the terminal that would take her to baggage claim. She checked her phone as she walked, turning off airplane mode and watching the messages roll in. She didn't have much, just a few emails from her job back in Michigan, overdue reminders about her flight, and a text from her Uncle Mitch, who had finally gotten around to using an iPhone.

He'd come over earlier that morning, before she had departed for her flight, offering to look after the house and keep in touch if she needed anything. He was really just happy that she was getting out of the house, even if was to go chasing after tornadoes. Jess had given him her cell number and when she was ready to leave. he'd given her the tightest hug in the world. You would have thought that she was never coming back ever again.

Jess tapped on the text and read it with a smile on her face.

M: Hope ur flight is OK.
Love ya kid.

And in a separate thread.

M: This is Uncle Mitch by the way

Jess laughed to herself and clicked out of the message, deciding she would call him later once she'd settled into wherever she was staying. She scrolled through the rest of her unread texts, but the one she was hoping to see wasn't there.

Back in Arkansas, Uncle Mitch wasn't the only person she had given her number to. The same day that she had agreed to come to Oklahoma, she had written her personal cell on a scrap piece of paper and handed it over to Tyler, who had immediately put it into his own phone. They hadn't texted much since then, other than to organize flight plans and transportation, though Jess's fingers had itched to cancel more than once. She wouldn't lie, she still thought this entire idea was absolutely absurd. A part of her wanted to turn tail and hop back on the plane home, but, by some miracle, she was here.

Jess found Tyler's contact and clicked "send message", her fingers hovering over the keyboard as she thought of what to write. "Forget the tornadoes, I'm staying in the airport forever" crossed her mind, but reluctantly decided to get her shit together and send something else.

Just landed, grabbing my bag now.
Where are u at?

Jess sent the text and put her phone into her back pocket for safe keeping. She continued to follow the posted signage to baggage claim, where she waited behind the silver conveyor belt for her suitcase to appear. Not too long after she arrived, a light in the middle of the runway started flashing and one by one, the luggage from her flight started to appear. Her bag came around the corner just as Jess's phone buzzed in her pocket. She heaved the bag off the conveyor belt and walked a short distance away to make space for others, before she checked the message.

T: Parked out front.

Jess made a face at her phone, annoyed. That wasn't much to go on. Out front where? There were several entrances all over the building, in an airport she had never been to, and she was beginning to lose her patience. She huffed and texted back:

J: What entrance?

Almost immediately, her phone dinged again, his latest message lighting up the screen.

T: Southwest entrance.
Come find me, cowgirl 🤠

"This man, I swear..." Jess muttered to herself. She sent a thumbs up emoji in response and turned her phone off, deciding she would figure out the rest of her questions once she was outside. Jess rolled her bag across the terminal to where the signs said the southwest entrance would be, caught up in the endless chatter of travelers and airport staff, intercom messages, and the scratch of suitcase wheels against the linoleum flooring. She was more than happy to get outside and away from the noise and stuffy air, but she wasn't met with the peace and quiet she hoped for.

Cars and buses were lined up bumper to bumper in the pickup lanes against the building and everyone seemed to be in a bad mood. One or two people started honking when she walked outside and when she turned to look down the row, she figured out why. Tyler's souped-up red pickup was parked crooked a few car lengths down and was taking up more space than what was necessary in both lanes, which was causing a bit of frustration. Jess could see him leaning against his truck, cool and collected, waving someone else on with a charming smile on his face. This didn't go over well, because the driver of the car stuck his hand out the window and showed just how inconvenienced he felt.

Jess stifled a sigh. She started down the walkway towards Tyler with her cane and her bag, trying hard not to make eye contact with anyone waiting impatiently behind his truck, which wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. As she got closer, a few people gave her odd looks, but she shook it off when she saw Tyler beam in her direction. His smile was honey-sweet and warm; it seeped into Jess's bones slowly and made her legs weak at the knees.
He was wearing a plain, white t-shirt and jeans, his blond hair poking out from a backwards baseball hat on his head. A pair of aviator sunglasses covered his eyes, but he took them off when Jess approached.

"Well, look at that—you actually made it," he said, passing her a smug grin. He tucked the sunglasses into the front of his shirt and rocked forward to lean on his side. "Didn't know if you'd bail out or not."

"I thought about it," Jess admitted honestly. Then she shrugged a shoulder, matching his relaxed posture against the truck. "But my mama didn't raise a quitter."

Tyler smiled wide, satisfied by her answer. "It's gonna be great, promise."

Jess nodded. She forked over her suitcase when Tyler offered to take it, stepping aside so that he could open up the back and squeeze it onto the seat. There was some other gear lying across the back, but Jess only got a glimpse before Tyler slammed the door closed and turned back to her.

"Nice park job," she commented, gesturing to the bumper, which was still blocking the other pickup lane.

Tyler just laughed. "Ah, well, I had to roll out the red carpet somehow," he said. He walked back to the front of the truck and reached for the door handle, but before he opened the door, he leaned in through the open window on the passenger's side, withdrawing the Stetson rancher's hat had had worn back on the farm. He swept some dust off with the back of his hand, before dropping the hat on top of Jess's head. It slanted down over her forehead, casting a shadow that covered her eyes. "Welcome to the Sooner State."

She looked up at him, half amused, half exasperated. "Very funny," she said, tilting the hat back to get a better view of his smirk.

He was looking at her in a way that made her skin warm, like she was standing in the path of the sun. It wasn't just the way his eyes crinkled with genuine amusement, but how his gaze seemed to see straight through her. Jess cleared her throat as she took the hat off, running a hand across the brim while she fought to calm the heat rising to her face.

"We should probably get going," she continued. "Before they call a tow truck on your ass, y'know?"

Tyler snorted. He put his sunglasses back on and took a step back to open the passenger door. "I'd like to see 'em try."

He held a hand out to Jess, offering to help her up into the truck. Normally, she would have declined, too stubborn to accept help, but the action was so sincere that she would've felt bad saying no. Jess took his hand and clambered into the passenger seat, setting her backpack and cane down by her feet, and his hat in her lap. Tyler climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. The truck roared to life and soon they were rolling out of the pickup lane towards the airport's exit.

As the truck eased away from the airport, the warm, golden light of the afternoon poured in through the open windows. The landscape unfurled in a vast, sunlit panorama. Fields of tawny grass stretched out endlessly, dotted with occasional clusters of dark green trees and the occasional grazing herd of cattle. In the distance, rolling hills rose gently against the blue sky, their edges softened by a hazy heat shimmer. A few scattered ranch houses with their wide porches and barns added rustic charm to the scene. A warm breeze blew in through the open windows, carving it's fingers through Jess's hair like an invisible hand. If she hadn't been any wiser, she wouldn't have guessed this was the kind of place where chaotic forces of nature ran rampant. But she also knew how quickly circumstances could change.

Jess looked around at the interior of the truck. "What's all this for?" She asked, brushing a hand over a row of switches and buttons in the center console. She was drawn to a large black button labeled BOOM, but Tyler's hand closed over hers before she could press anything.

"Woah, woah, woah, careful," He said warningly. "That one there sets off fireworks."

"Fireworks?" Jess cried incredulously, resisting the urge to rip her hand out from under his. She didn't, simply for the sake of keeping her own cool. "Why on earth would you need those?"

"Reasons," Tyler said with a little, secretive smile on his face. Jess rolled her eyes.

"I see. Anything else in here I should be worried 'bout?"

He shrugged a shoulder, a mischievous glint lighting up his eyes behind the shade of his sunglasses. "No. But maybe just watch where you put your hands."

"Yes, sir," Jess replied with a sarcastic grin.

He removed his hand and Jess immediately missed the warmth of his skin against hers. She pulled her arm back into her lap and glanced out the window again, watching the Oklahoma scenery roll by. Puffy clouds speckled the sky above the horizon, looking like someone had plucked cotton straight from the plant and scattered them across the vast blue expanse. Amber fields stretched on for miles underneath the afternoon sun, streaked with green by stray trees. Jess pulled her backpack into her lap and unzipped it to reveal a neatly organized array of camera equipment. The camera itself was a sleek, black DSLR, and beside it lay an assortment of lenses, filters, and memory cards. Each item was carefully arranged in its own compartment, an attempt to keep her sanity in tact during the trip.

Her fingers traced the cool metal of one of the lenses as she fitted it to the camera body and she glanced out the window again, her eyes scanning for the perfect shot. She took a few of the sunny landscape, checking each image as they came up as previews.

"So, where're we goin'?" Jess asked, as she lined the viewfinder up to her eyes again to snap a photo of Tyler as he sat in profile to her in the driver's seat. A small smile quirked the corners of his lips.

"There's a town not too far from here; we're gonna stop and you'll get to meet the team," he replied, gesturing to the road ahead of them with two fingers off the wheel. "Then we get geared up and see what we can find."

Jess pulled the camera away from her face, her heart fluttering in her chest like a bird in a cage. "Wait, we're goin' chasing today?"

"Yeah, you didn't know that? The data report for today is off the charts. They've got cells comin' in from the west and it's gonna...hey, what's wrong?"

Tyler must have noticed the expression on her face because he stopped talking, his green eyes shifting between her and the road in an attempt to read her reaction. His gaze was piercing and inquisitive, but also held a trace of concern. Jess bit her lip, trying to steady her nerves. She looked down at her camera and shook her head.

"Nothin'. Just wasn't expectin' to start today is all," She confessed, keeping her tone even as to not give away her anxiousness. "But hey, no time like the present, right?"

Tyler appeared doubtful, but he nodded nevertheless. "Right..."

Jess smiled in his direction and when he returned the gesture, it seemed that the topic had, thankfully, been dropped. She hadn't expected him to give up so easily, but she was quick to understand when a small town, appeared in the distance, a smudge of life against the nearly barren horizon.

The town wasn't anything she hadn't seen a hundred times over: cute and quaint, and containing only a few thousand residents. Most probably lived on the ranches and farms located in the hills, tending to cattle or crops and coming into town only long enough to refuel at the gas station or pick up supplies at the local grocery store. These were the kind of towns that Jess visited the most often while on the job, because they were usually the worst effected. Their warning systems were either outdated, broken, or poorly installed, so casualty rates were high during the storm season.

Tyler drove a little ways into the center of town, before turning into a bar on the side of the main road. Jess glimpsed a sign out front—The Bull's Eye—with, unsurprisingly, an image of a bull bucking off a rider. The place wasn't too busy at this time, with the exception of a couple vehicles, which were pulled out farther in the lot. One of was a dark blue minivan and the other was a camper-van that looked like it was out of the late 90s. There were a handful of people standing outside and they turned to look when Tyler's truck pulled in. Jess's grip tightened on her camera, her pulse thrumming beneath her ribcage.

Tyler caught her by surprise as he reached over a put a hand on her arm. "Relax," he said. "It's gonna be fine. Trust me."

Jess didn't say anything, but gave him a look as if to say I'm fine. Tyler nodded and got out of the truck, the door slamming closed behind him. She watched him walk around the front to her side, but before he could reach the door, she had thrown it open and clambered down from the seat on her own. As her feet and her cane made contact with the dusty earth, Tyler dropped the hand he was offering, and Jess smiled apologetically. Accepting his help had been easier without prying eyes watching. She glanced at him expectantly, but Tyler was already taking the reins.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone," he said.

He put a hand on her lower back and led her over to the group of people at the back of lot. Several, if not most of them, were messing with different kinds of equipment: computers, radios, cameras—all much more high tech than she expected. A girl with dreads was flying a drone low to the ground, a pair of boxy, black goggles on her face as the drone hovered up and down the parking lot. Another woman, with a stocky build and short, cropped hair, was on top of the Ram pickup, mending a radar pole. Jess was surprised. She wasn't sure what or who she'd anticipated Tyler to be working with, but this was amazing nonetheless. As the pair approached, a man with long, dark hair and a video camera ran up to them.

"Tyler—what's up, my man?" He stuck his hand out and they shook hands in that way that men did that ended with a brief, one-armed hug. The dark-haired man pulled away and smiled at Jess. "And you must be Jess."

Jess returned the gesture. "Yeah," she said. "And you are?"

"Boone," He replied, and before she had a chance to react, he'd stuck his recorder in her face. "So, Jess, would you like to tell our audience why you've decided to come chasin' with us today?"

"Uh..."

Thankfully, Tyler intervened, putting his hand up to block and push the recorder away. "Dude, seriously," he laughed. "Give her some space. You can ask her all the questions you want later."

Boone looked dejected, but he nodded and stepped aside to let them pass.

"So, you've met Boone." Tyler brought her over to a dark skinned man with glasses. He was sat in a foldout chair, working on a laptop that showed radar for the area. The screen was filled with various colored blips and grids, indicating movement and activity around the perimeter. "This is Dexter, our resident scientist."

Dexter glanced up from the screen and nodded in acknowledgment, though his fingers never left the keyboard. Jess smiled back in return. Tyler pointed to the woman on top of the minivan next, who waved from her perch, a wrench in her hand. "And that's Dani. She's our mechanic."

"What he means is the boys 'round here are incompetent, so I cover their asses," Dani called out, earning a few complaints from the male crew members.

"Right over there, with the goggles, is Lily. She's in charge of our drone."

As if summoned by it's name, the drone descended above them with a gust of steaming air. Lily, her eyes hidden behind the dark lenses of her goggles, expertly guided the drone to a steady hover. The drone's camera feed displayed a live view of the surroundings, its detailed imagery streaming onto a tablet in her hands, giving everyone a clear perspective of the area from above. Jess could see a distorted image of herself, looking up at the camera.

"Hi, Jess," Lilly waved her hand like Jess was standing right in front of her. "I love your shirt."

"Oh, uh, thanks," Jess replied, unsure whether to look at the girl or the drone. The machine took off higher into the air and soared away, taking footage from the same height as the roof of the bar.

Tyler turned to look around him, nodding to himself. "I think that's everybody."

"Erm—what about me?"

The voice belonged to a lanky, middle aged man with glasses, who looked sort of out of place amongst the rest of the team. Jess noticed right away that he had a heavy, British accent and a camera, like hers, that dangled from a strap around his neck. Jess was confused. If they already had a photographer, or whoever this man was, then why did Tyler need her to come all the way here?

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, man, I forgot you were still here," Tyler said, though he didn't sound apologetic. "Jess, this is Ben. He's a journalist, joining us from the U.K. Gonna write an article about us storm chasers."

"Nice to meet you, Jess," Ben said and he shook her hand warmly. "Tyler's told us so much about you."

Jess smiled. "Hopefully all good things," she said, nudging Tyler in the ribs with the point of her her elbow. He made a noise of surprise, rubbing the side of his chest

Beside her, Tyler checked his watch as if he were late to something. "Shoot. Sorry, I gotta run—Jess, just hang here for a sec, I'll be right back," he said. If he'd stuck around longer, she might've tried to protest, but he'd just patted her arm and started jogging back to his truck before the words could leave her lips. "Just get acquainted without me!"

Jess heaved a frustrated sigh and turned back to Ben. "Charming, ain't he?"

"Quite," Ben answered with an chuckle. His gaze flickered to her cane and he gestured to a set of fold-up chairs not too far from them. "Would you like to sit?"

"Yes, thank you," she replied, grateful to be off her feet. She settled down in the seat beside Ben, setting her bag down beside her. "So, where 'bout the U.K. are you from?"

"London. Near Streatham, actually."

Jess nodded. "I know where that is. My mama did a semester abroad in college and she stayed in that area."

Ben smiled, delighted. "Really? That's wonderful."

"It's a lot different than Oklahoma, ain't it?" To which he nodded to. "Then again, I always say there nothing ain't quite like Oklahoma. There's a lot of things here that make it...special."

Jess couldn't help but glance across the lot at Tyler, who was getting a duffel bag out of the back of his truck. He'd taken off his baseball cap and left it to sit on the dashboard, his hair windswept and tousled. Ben followed her gaze and pursed his lips.

"Tyler tells me you're both from the same town Arkansas," He said after a beat. "Did you two grow up together?"

Jess nodded, breaking her stare to look over at Ben. His fingers were tapping against the arm of the chair, like he was itching to write something down. She understood that feeling. "Yeah. We used to be real close because our daddies were friends," she said. Then, she shrugged a shoulder and reached down to pick up her backpack. "We kinda grew apart a few years ago. Now we're here."

Ben's expression read like he wanted her to say more, but he stopped himself from asking. Instead, he eyed the camera that was resting her lap.

"That's a nice one. Have you been photographing for long?"

"Since I was thirteen," Jess said proudly. "Course, I'm not professional, but I'd like to be."

"May I?" Ben asked, holding his hands out. She was hesitant to let someone hold her camera, much less look at her pictures, but something told her that she could trust him. She handed the camera over, anxiously wringing her hands in her lap as Ben scrolled through the previews. A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"These are...incredible," He said. He passed the camera back into Jess's hands and she hugged it close to herself. "I just might need to enlist you for my article."

A warmth spread across her face and she smiled, suddenly shy. She opened her mouth to thank him, but a voice interrupted her.

"A real talent, ain't she?"

Jess looked up in time to see Tyler strutting across the parking lot towards them, sporting a new change of clothes. He wore the same faded Levis and worn-out boots, but his white t-shirt had been traded out for a dark red button down, the sleeves of which had been rolled up to the elbows. The cream-colored rancher's hat he'd put on her at the airport was in his hands, a replacement for his backwards baseball cap. Jess quirked an eyebrow at his attire.

"Did you get your other shirt dirty or somethin'?" She asked, sarcastically.

"Don't you know, Jess? I'm a celebrity 'round these parts," he said, sweeping his blond hair back to place his hat over it. "Gotta look good for my audience."

"What audience?"

A grin toyed at Tyler's features. "You'll just have to wait and see, cowgirl," he said. Then, he clapped his hands together and looked around at the members of his team, who, as if they could all read each other's minds, were beginning to round up their equipment. "Alright, then. Let's get this show on the road."