Page 18 of Keeping Kara

Chaos launched into some of the hundred reasons he loved being behind the controls of an aircraft. How freeing it was. How he loved operating such a huge machine. How he enjoyed serving his country. Helping the men and women he and his team shuttled in and out of dangerous missions.

When he was done giving her about a dozen reasons, he realized that he’d been talking for at least fifteen or twenty minutes. “Sorry, I honestly didn’t mean to go on and on.”

“It’s okay. It’s fascinating. And I think it would scare the crap out of me. It’s interesting that it does the exact opposite for you.”

“Yeah. What about you? What do you like about accounting?”

“Nothing.”

Chaos blinked. “Nothing?”

“Nope. Wait, that’s not true. I like the paycheck. And I’m good at math, so it’s not hard.”

“Why do you do it then? Why not write full time?”

“It’s not as easy as that. Do you know how many books are published every year?”

“No.”

“Millions. And most books sell less than fifty copies a year. And it’s not cheap to publish either. Editors, proofreaders, covers…and that’s all before you throw in marketing. These days, you have to pay out the nose to get ads on social media, and it can be a time suck to try to entice readers to pick up your book out of the millions of others they have to choose from. I enjoy writing, but it doesn’t pay my bills.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kara shrugged again. “It is what it is. I get a kick out of each and every sale I make. I actually sold ten books last month!” she said with a huge smile. “That’s ten people who I entertained with my words for a couple of hours. And I even got a good review posted as well. Made my day.”

“That’s awesome,” Chaos said quietly, all the more determined to find out what her pen name was and buy one of her books.

“Yeah. Your turn to ask something.”

The day passed pleasantly enough as they took turns asking questions and getting to know each other. Some of the questions were silly and easy, and others were more serious and introspective. By the time the sun was setting, Chaos had gotten to know Kara pretty damn well. And he was even more sure of his decision to invite her back to Virginia as a result.

He knew without a doubt that she’d get along great with Penny, Laryn, Zita, and Mandy. And even Jen. If there was ever a woman in need of a girl tribe, it was Kara.

But as relaxed as the day had been, Chaos was upset that they hadn’t been found. Intellectually, he knew the team was doing the best it could, and that the region was in complete chaos. He’d seen that for himself when they’d first gotten up in the air. Even in the dark, he could see the area was a disaster zone. That there were hundreds of people who needed help. He assumed Casper and the others had prioritized helping those who were in danger of losing their lives over finding him, exactly as they should. But it still sucked.

“Looks like we’re going to have to spend another night out here,” he said, as the sun began to inch its way to the west.

Kara nodded. “I figured.”

“They’re going to find us,” he said firmly.

“They might think you didn’t make it out of the floodwaters alive. Most people don’t.”

“I’m sure they’ve considered it. But I know my team. They aren’t going to be satisfied until they see my dead body for themselves. Until that happens, they’ll assume I somehow survived. Just as I would if it was one of them who’d gone into the water. Have faith, Kara.”

“That usually doesn’t work out well for me,” she admitted.

“Well, this time it will. And it’s okay if you don’t believe they’ll find us, because I have enough faith for both of us. I’m going to scrounge around and see what kind of branches I can find to make us a shelter.”

“I can help,” Kara said, moving off the log to stand.

Chaos wanted to tell her to stay seated. That he’d do it himself, because he didn’t want her to hurt her feet any more than she already had. Point out her hands were still too damaged to do what needed to be done. But he knew more than most that feeling useful could be a big mood lifter. That she probably needed to help.

“Okay. If you can look around and gather leaves, pine needles, and anything else that might be soft enough for us to lie on, that would be great.”

She nodded eagerly, and he saw the pleasure in her face that she’d be contributing.

For the next hour, they worked together to put together a lean-to. He wanted to make it big enough that Kara wouldn’t have to be smushed up against him, but that was easier said than done. In the end, it was a bit bigger than the rock shelter they’d had the night before, but not by much.