Essential Beginnings (5 page)

“If that earthquake this morning was the catalyst, the boys need to start this way tonight,” Ernie exclaimed, effectively shutting down this conversation. He was adamant that he was right and there wasn’t anything that she or Mav could say to change his mind. He stood up in a huff and grabbed his favorite coffee mug that he used every single day. It was chipped and faded, but the decal of his medals from his years in the Corps could still be seen. It had been a gift from Mav. “I’ll meet you outside.”

Henley sat for a moment and watched Ernie as he walked to the counter and went about making another pot of coffee. It was easy to see his frustration at the fact that they didn’t believe him, but it would be different if he could only give them something other than a half-assed guess. Earthquakes were common and FEMA had already come out and said that everything was fine. What was it about this specific occurrence that had Ernie all keyed up?

She really didn’t want to be alone with Mav, but this might be a good opportunity for the two of them to figure out how they were going to address this situation. Ernie was the most grounded man Henley had the privilege of knowing. He wasn’t prone to illusions of fantasy and, although he had been constructing a survival bunker for many years for that worst-case scenario, it hadn’t consumed his entire life. She’d always viewed it as a hobby and his way of being prepared, but now she wasn’t so sure.

Henley left the papers on the coffee table and made sure she had her bottle of water as she headed for the door. The sun was now setting off to the west and creating a beautiful skyline that she’d come to love watching each and every evening. Those horny crickets were out in full force and having their own particular conversation. Walking around the corner to where Mav would be manning the grill, she didn’t look his way as she sat at the picnic table Ernie used in the evenings for dinner. It was rather chilly and she regretted not bringing a heavier jacket.

Mav had the radio turned to a news channel and from what she was hearing the talk of today’s earthquake had already run its course. The announcers had moved on to a nuclear materials ban that several countries were trying to negotiate. Commentators from both sides were giving their viewpoint.

“I’m not saying he’s wrong, but I don’t think it’s going to happen today.” Mav’s deep voice cut through the drone of the radio and Henley finally looked his way. With the tongs in one hand and a basting brush in the other, he looked ready to do battle. She almost smiled at his appearance, but she caught herself in time. Besides, his words were nothing to be happy about. “Hell, I don’t think it will be in our lifetime.”

“You need to tell him of your future plans,” Henley suggested, starting to peel off the label on her water bottle. “It will make Tank feel better knowing that you’ll eventually be here for good. Plus, it will get him to ease up on you tomorrow morning when it’s time to leave.”

“Sheriff Ramsey has another year to do toward retirement before I’d be able to replace him.” Mav set the basting brush down and the tongs on the plate that he had positioned on the side shelf of the grill. He closed the large chrome cover, grabbed his bottle of beer, and then took the seat across from her. The picnic table instantly became miniature, but she never broke eye contact with him. She refused to let him think he got to her in any way. “I had wanted the move to be a surprise, but I can see that I’ll have to tell Ernie now. The way he’s pushing this though, I don’t think it will be enough of a reassurance.”

They fell into a somewhat comfortable silence, although Henley was on edge that Mav might bring up their previous conversation they’d had at the diner. She didn’t want to talk about this underlying attraction between them when it had no place to go. Honestly, she was rather surprised he
had
brought it up this morning. She knew exactly where he stood and how he thought of her. Being armed with that information was half the battle, but she didn’t want to even enter the battlefield.

“He loves you.” Henley didn’t hear Ernie exiting the house yet, so she looked around wondering what they could talk about that kept them on neutral ground. They’d just covered that he should tell Tank about his intentions to move here, so there was really nothing else to say. She certainly wasn’t going to talk about her past and she didn’t want to know him any more than she already did, so she chose the safest topic. “I take it you were able to get your shift covered?”

“Yes, although it wasn’t easy finding someone on such short notice.” Mav rested his elbows on the old wood of the picnic table, the bottle of beer in his right hand. His brown eyes had settled on her face and she tried not to regret that she hadn’t worn make-up. There wasn’t a need to impress him. “We’ve never done this in all the years that I’ve been visiting.”

“Done what?” Henley asked, unable to prevent herself from asking what he meant. She could feel herself walking into a trap, but her pride wouldn’t allow it to happen any other way. He couldn’t be talking about eating a meal out on this patio since they’d done that at least once every time he and the other guys would arrive for their annual vacation. She always let the group have their time with Ernie while she kept her distance after the first night. It had worked out perfectly, so she was curious as to what Mav could be talking about. “Discuss a supervolcano?”

“Have a conversation,” Mav replied, not even bothering to smile at her humorous attempt to lighten the mood. The intensity of his stare was a hell of a lot more effective than any photographer could have captured on camera. “You have discussions with Berke, Owen, Mason, and Van as if they were long lost friends. You don’t do that with me. In fact, you’re usually berating me over doing something that isn’t up to your impossible standards.”

“That’s not true. You’re usually catching up with Tank when you get into town and I don’t want to be the one to interfere in that.” Henley was being drawn into a web when she’d rather be flying away from the sticky subject Mav had just broached. She’d peeled off the label on the water bottle and started to fold it up in a little square. “Besides, I know all there is to know about you from Ernie. I’ve heard all the stories and then some.”

The vise on Henley’s chest eased when the corner of Mav’s mouth lifted in a half smile at her reminder of his time underneath Tank’s command. The men had shared good times and bad, but they’d relied on each other and would now have a connection throughout their lives. She was somewhat envious of their close relationship.

“You might know the things that happened during our tours, but you don’t know
me
, Henley. All you have to do is simply ask and that could change,” Mav said, his voice an octave lower and instigating a shiver that ran down her spine. He wasn’t willing to let this go and she wavered, wondering if he really saw her for who she was. She breathed a sigh of relief when the sound of Ernie’s cabin door opened and he walked around the corner of the house with his cup of coffee in hand. “Tank, five more minutes on the steaks.”

It was at that moment that the radio announcer’s voice came through the evening air and cut through the chattering of the crickets. They fell silent. The only other sound was that of the steaks sizzling from the heat. Ernie was now standing at the end of the table where he’d set his mug down on the weathered wood. To his credit he didn’t look smug or issue
I told you so’s
.

“A vent has opened up in the Yellowstone caldera, but the initial reports we are receiving say that it is only high-pressure ash being released and that the hole was considerably smaller in size than what would be considered a significant threat. Officials have confirmed that they are vacating the park as a precaution, but that residents in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho have nothing to fear for now.”

The report continued on, but no other relevant information was being given. Ernie slowly lowered himself beside Henley as she and Mav exchanged looks of concern. She was positive that Mav had expected the evening to pass by uneventfully, but this threw them an inside curve. It was apparently one that Ernie was willing to swing at.

“Mav, I think it’s time you call the boys.”

M
av glanced at
the green digital display on the microwave and noted that it was going on twenty-three hundred hours. The evening had gone to shit from the moment the radio news announcement had been made regarding the initial states of volcanic activity at Yellowstone. Henley now appeared to be recognizing this was not a theoretical exercise any longer and she was treading on tires right alongside Ernie. Hell, Tank had taken her back inside the cabin and went into further detail regarding the caldera while Mav finished grilling dinner over his own active heat source, cursing the way his night had just gone to hell. He’d finally been having a moment with Henley and it had come to a complete screeching halt just when he thought he was making a bit of progress. Shit, after joining the duo inside Mav now had more knowledge of earthquakes and volcanoes than he had interest in learning.

Mav figured Ernie would be monitoring the radio for the rest of the night, and by that same reasoning there was no way that Henley had gone right to sleep after being told the next thousand year ice age was about to get underway…that was if they actually survived the aftermath of the massive supervolcano with its own ten years of volcanic winter. Ernie hadn’t diminished the gory details and he’d certainly strung together a colorful sentence when Mav had opted to call Berke in the morning rather than right away. When Tank said that he would take care of it, Mav had reminded him of the men’s reaction to Ernie’s most recent improvements to the bunker complex…that had gotten a different response with the same meaning. It was better to wait for additional information before calling the four other men to tell them Ernie thought a monumental natural disaster was in their foreseeable future and they needed to drop everything to return to the place that they had just left the day before.

Mav didn’t feel like being alone, but then again he couldn’t be in the same cabin as Tank mumbling about how all the fucking politicians were going to be eating crow before too long. Ernie had become more insistent as time wore on and Mav didn’t want to say anything he’d regret. The odds of what Tank was saying weren’t even remotely in his favor. How had the situation gotten so out of hand so quickly? Mav should have left town this morning like he had originally planned and maybe he wouldn’t have encouraged Ernie to be literally thinking that Yellowstone was about to have a major eruption.

Stepping outside into the dark of night, Mav used the light of the moon to lead him to the back of the camp where Henley’s cabin was located. For some reason the gas lamps along the path hadn’t been turned on tonight. The gravel path was easily visible in the available moonlight and Mav continued walking, taking notice of how cold the early spring night air had become. This season tended to bring out Mother Nature’s hormones and while she had hot flashes during the day, she had ice in her veins at night. The few early mosquitos he had seen must have decided it was a little too cold as well, for they were nowhere to be seen or heard now. Mav found himself thinking it was odd that even the frogs and crickets had turned in for the night and he questioned his own sanity regarding the potential natural disaster and its effects it might have on nature as a whole.

Mav was only feet away from Henley’s door when something stopped him in his tracks. He didn’t know what it was at first…he couldn’t put a finger on it, but there was a stillness around him that was ominous. He took a moment to look up toward the sky that didn’t contain one single cloud to obscure the stars. The moon was large and bright, as if to shed light on something only it was aware of. Not even the leaves on the trees were moving. It was as if the outside world was holding its breath and had ceased its relentless march in time. He knew this feeling…it called out to him from the past, the agonizing pause just prior to kicking off combat operations. Knowing full well that the guys would ridicule him for what he was about to say, he still reached into his cargo pants to pull out his cell phone. He didn’t waste time accessing the display he needed and then connecting to the first person listed on the preprogrammed speed dial list.

“Mav, I’m going to have to call you back,” Berke said as he finally answered his phone. He spoke over the additional voices in the background, which had to be at the shooting range he owned and operated in Texas. Mav was surprised it was open this late at night. “You’d think I was gone for a goddamned year instead of a week. It’ll take me days to get this mess sorted out.”

“Berke, have you been listening to the news today?” Mav asked in a low voice, not wanting Henley to know he was outside her door quite yet. “Radio? Television?”

“Shit, don’t tell me another terrorist attack happened in the States.” Berke continued talking to someone in the background, but Mav could picture him walking into his private office in the back of the building as the voices finally faded. “Hold on.”

“There hasn’t been an attack, but this could potentially have much worse consequences.”