Page 41 of Twister

Marshall

Fuck .

There really was nothing left. Admittedly, Daniel had warned me, but the reality was so much worse than I’d imagined.

He’d pulled to a stop behind several vehicles, including Mom and Dad’s camper parked barely inside the front gate of the farm, about five minutes prior, and other than getting out of the truck, I hadn’t moved.

Daniel had wrapped me in his arms, my back to his front, holding me as we watched our families working together to clear the wreckage. He rested his chin on my shoulder as he pointed out his parents.

His twin brother, Henry, was easy to spot, as they were largely identical, even down to the large matching tattoo of Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas on their forearms, although Daniel had it on his left forearm, while Henry had it on his right.

Daniel’s hair and beard were slightly shorter than Henry’s, and Henry was a little stockier than Daniel, but I put those physical variances down to the differences in their chosen careers.

A tall man with a tuft of green hair that he was continually flicking out of his eyes followed Henry closely as they picked their way through the rubble.

He was impeccably dressed in what I would classify as farm chic —dark denim overalls with one buckle fashionably undone so the bib folded over into a triangle over an oversized black polo that I suspected was Henry’s considering Henry was dressed head to toe in varying shades of black.

Chunky black boots that jingled with every step completed his look.

“That’s Blue. Henry’s boyfriend,” Daniel murmured into my ear when he noticed who I was looking at.

“He looks a little overdressed,” I responded quietly, wincing when Blue stumbled over something and landed heavily on his knees.

Henry immediately offered a helping hand up, but I was surprised when Blue just shrugged it off and got right back to helping.

I’d thought he would have used that as an excuse to give up and go sit on the side. “Determined, though.”

“Mm.”

Among the many people I didn’t recognize, I was surprised to notice Kajir, Gabe, and Scarlett. “Why are they here?” I asked Daniel, tipping my head in their direction. “Who are all these people?”

He gently leaned his head into mine. “Rockdale locals.”

“Really?” I looked around in interest, noting how many people were there.

Everyone was busy, moving anything that was obviously beyond saving to a growing pile of garbage and anything that looked like it was a personal effect or something that might be able to get fixed to another pile for Daniel to go through later.

It reminded me of the way the frat houses would work together when we organized charity events, but I’d never seen anything like this in a general neighborhood setting before.

It humbled and awed me in equal measure.

“This is just how small towns work, baby,” Daniel murmured. “Everyone helps everyone else when disaster strikes.”

“You’re not worried about scavengers?”

I felt him shrug. “Honestly? I don’t think there’s going to be much left to scavenge.”

I hummed in agreement. That was fair. Sad but fair.

Kajir was the first person to notice us and slowly made his way over, scowling at anyone who tried to talk to him.

Unsurprisingly, they all fled in response to his growled one-word responses, except for Gabe, who just looked amused by Kajir’s antics, before even he let Kajir go when he, too, saw us off to the side.

“I thought you were fucking avoiding me,” he grumbled when he reached us.

“Figured you’d have nowhere to fucking hide if I showed up to your fucking house to get this fucking paperwork signed.

” He held out a crumpled piece of paper to me.

“Color me fucking surprised when I arrive to find you’ve got no fucking house left. ”

“But plenty of places to hide,” I snarked, looking up his towering form to keep his intense eye contact. I took the page from him before making a gimme motion for a pen.

Kajir startled at the way I spoke to him, blinking as he looked me up and down with renewed interest. “Look who can say more than one fucking word.” He dug in a pocket until he found what he was looking for and handed me a filthy pen.

I raised an eyebrow as I took the pen and signed the insurance paperwork that he’d handed me before thrusting everything back into his oversized paws. “Look who can pause long enough to let me get more than one fucking word out.”

He tipped his head back and roared with laughter, stopping almost everyone in their tracks to stare at us. The only ones who didn’t were the out-of-towners. “Fucking touché.” He grinned at Daniel. “I like him.”

I felt Daniel growl as he tightened his hold on me. “Get your fucking own. He’s mine.”

Kajir’s grin widened before he barked out another laugh.

As I preened from Daniel’s claim, I noticed several people staring at Kajir, then casting confused looks at one another. Apparently, this was highly unusual behavior for Kajir. Who would’ve thought?

I caught Gabe’s amused eyes as he leaned on a shovel with one elbow on the handle.

He grinned at me and nodded, apparently happy that someone else had finally figured out the way to talk to Kajir—give him as good as he gave, and don’t back down no matter how much he growled at you.

That, and his obvious love for animals and vehicles, were apparently the way to Kajir’s profanity-riddled heart.

Speaking of… “Hey, Kajir. Remember that kitten you found the other day?”

His face fell before he asked warily, “Yeah…? What about her?”

Daniel hummed happily as he nuzzled me, kissing my ear before he pulled away far enough to look up at Kajir and say, “We adopted her after we found out you couldn’t keep her.

Rose named her Lucy. You can visit her and Bucky anytime you want.

” I felt his head move next to mine when he paused before adding, “Once we’ve found a place to stay while we rebuild, that is. ”

Kajir’s eyes lit up. “Fucking really?”

I grinned at the prickly gentle giant. “Fucking really.”

He narrowed his eyes at Daniel. “I thought you guys were staying with that fucking ex of yours. At least, that’s what I overheard that strange fucking guy say earlier.”

“What guy?”

“I don’t fucking know.” Kajir turned around to glare at the people crawling over the rubble.

“He was here before. Said he was investigating the twister trajectory or some fucking thing and was going to wait around to fucking talk to you. Sounded too fucking scientific for me.” He shook his head.

“He’s not here now, though. Must have fucking pissed off. Useless out-of-fucking-towners.”

I felt Daniel shrug. “I’m sure he’ll find us sooner or later, especially if he knows Jackson.”

“So, you are fucking staying with your ex?” Kajir asked, one eyebrow raised. “Thought you two fucking hated each other.”

Shuffling a little until he could lean back against his truck and pull me in between his legs, Daniel shook his head. “Times change. People change. Grow.”

Crossing his thick arms, Kajir rumbled in agreement before he leaned his hulking form against the truck next to Daniel so he could join us in watching the town helpers. “That they fucking do.”

At his quieter than normal words, I glanced at him, then traced his eyeline to find that he was watching Gabe carefully. Well, that was interesting. “Kajir?”

“What?”

“Um….”

“Oh, don’t fucking start with that again. Spit it out, for fuck’s sake.”

I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from laughing, and as soon as I felt like I had myself under control, I asked, “Is there something between you and Gabe?”

He startled and turned his large head to glare at me. “ Fuck no.”

I raised both eyebrows so high, they felt like they were reaching my hairline, letting him know exactly how little I believed that.

Daniel chuckled and buried his face into my shoulder to stifle the sound.

Kajir still heard it, though, if the dirty look he shifted from me to Daniel was any indication.

His lips pressed together before he huffed and rolled his eyes, relaxing again up against the truck to watch Gabe toss aside what looked like one of the chairs from Daniel’s dining table set.

“As much as that little fucker amuses me, he’s not meant to be fucking mine. ”

I frowned and turned around to look at Daniel, who shrugged, apparently as surprised as I was by Kajir’s statement.

It sounded like there had been something between Kajir and Gabe at one point, but with how gossip seemed to travel in this small town, I would’ve assumed Daniel would have heard about anything that had connected the pair romantically.

If there had been something between them, they’d evidently kept it very quiet.

“Not like you fucking two,” Kajir continued absently.

“Blessed by the fucking gods, you are.” He turned his head to look pointedly at Daniel.

“I heard what happened yesterday. Your twin told Gabe when he stopped for gas, and you know how much that fucker gossips. It was all over town by the end of the fucking hour.” He shifted his focus to stare at me, casting his steely dark eyes over my face.

Then he quickly traced them up and down my body, ignoring Daniel’s growls.

“You’re fucking lucky to be alive, Marshall.

Did you know that?” He flicked his eyes to Daniel, then back to me, tilting his head in Daniel’s direction as he studied me.

“He’s the only fucking reason you’re still breathing right now. ”

Well, duh. Daniel was the one who kept his head and thought to call Jackson when Rose had told him she couldn’t get through to 911.

Without Jackson’s help, it would have been anyone’s guess how long it would have taken us to get the right help.

I squeezed Daniel’s arms that were still wrapped around my middle. “I know.”