Natalie got out of her truck and walked over to where her parents, Melissa, Dusty, and Haynes were at, which was at Jo's truck, looking at DORTHOY. Haynes walks away and is on the phone with someone. Excitedly, she hangs up.
"Jo, we got major action! The NSSL says the caps are breaking, the tower's going up to 30 miles up the dryline!" Haynes told Jo.
Jo looks up at the sky, she pauses, then suddenly focuses, slamming the tailgate. "All right, let's go!!" Everyone starts packing their things, and Natalie runs to her truck and makes sure that DORTHORY 6 is tight on the back.
"Dorothy 2 and 3 ready!" Beltzer says. "Dorothy 4 ready!" Haynes says. Everyone gets into their vehicles and they all waved, except Natalie and Jo; who honked the horn, as they passed Bill and Melissa.
Natalie was in the back of the line, behind Dusty. She didn't notice anyone behind her till she saw a flash of red. That's when she looked back and saw Bill's truck following her. She says into the radio to Jo.
"Mom, why is he coming?" She asked.
"Who?" Then Jo saw a red truck following her daughter's truck. "I don't know." Natalie sighed and continued to drive.
"Jo, I think we got fleas." Beltzer said into the radio to Jo. Natalie looked up the line of cars passing her teams. It was Jonas Miller's team.
"Jo, come back!" Bill's voice said. Natalie didn't know that Bill tapped onto their frequency till she heard him talk.
"Hey there, you change your mind?" Jo said. She had been glad Bill came along. But, at the same time, not. He probably was only there for her to final the divorce.
"Yeah, what's Jonas doin' here?" Bill said. Black Windstars pass the whole team. Natalie had flipped them off while Dusty made kissy-faces.
Jo responded to Bill, "I'm not sure. But I bet he's asking himself the same question about you." That's when Natalie switched her radio off. She heard noises and looked back. Bill had swerved off the road. Because she wasn't paying attention, she swerved off the road. Her tire went flat.
Bill parked behind her and got out. Melissa stepped out also, but kept by the truck. Natalie had put her blonde hair into a bun and was trying to see if the tire was able to make it to the nearest station.
"Need a ride?" Bill asked. She looked up startled. Sighing, she nodded and got her stuff out of the truck.
Bill followed the team to the repair station where he got his tire fixed and Natalie vanished with Dusty somewhere. When they appeared, she had a drink and he was soaked.
They all looked across the street where Jonas' team was parked. Jonas, himself, was being interviewed by TV reporters. Bill got mad when he saw the instrument. It was like his design of DORTHORY.
"What drives me is the unknown. What if we could predict a tornado's path? How many lives would be spared with the creation of an early warning system?" He pulls out a large weather instrument. "And D.O.T. 3 is the answer! The first digital orthographic telemeter. And inside, she holds hundreds of these little sensors." Holds one up "Which when released into the tornado, will transmit back data on wind speed, pressure, and dew point temperature."
Bill got mad and tried to punch Jonas for stealing his design but lucky, for Jonas, he got held back by Dusty and Beltzer.
Jo ran over and stepped between her team and Jonas' team. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Guys, guys. All my guys get a grip on yourselves." She was being smug now. "We both know he'll never get that thing up in the air."
"Well let me enlighten you people! This baby has satellite COM link. We've got on-board pulse Doppler, we've got NEXRAD real time. Today, we're gonna make history. So stick around." Jo lifts an eyebrow contemptuously. "Cuz' the days of sniffin' the dirt are over." He said knowing that Bill sniffed dirt to help him with the tornados.
"Better than what you sniff." Rabbit injected in the conversation. Natalie rolled her eyes. Couldn't they behave like grown-ups? Apparently, not.
"We'll see who gets their first, pal." Bill said to Jonas.
"Oh, and by the way, I really enjoy your weather reports!" Jonas and his crew laugh. Bill tries to get at him again but Dusty and Bouncer hold him back.
Natalie rolled her eyes once again and walked into the diner. A few minutes later Melissa walked in and sat down at the counter beside Natalie, who ignored her.
"I'm not trying to replace your mother, Natalie." Melissa said after a few minutes of silence. Natalie just snorted.
"I'm almost 17 years old, I'm not 7." When the waitress came about Natalie ordered a Coke while Melissa ordered two lemonades for her and Bill. Jo soon walked in, but she got interrupted by Jonas.
"You know, Jo, I don't know what the matter is with Bill. I mean, he's wacko, he's crazy!" Jo pretends to be deeply concerned with what Jonas is telling her, even though she could care less. "You ought to keep a leash on him."
"He's not my problem, he's yours." Jo said to him.
Natalie got her Coke and walked out as soon as Jo sat down. Bill picked up a handful of dirt and lets it fall to the ground. He didn't notice his daughter stand beside him.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Natalie said, softly. Bill looked up at her.
"What do you mean?" Bill asked his daughter. He knew that Jo trusted her, but he didn't know how much.
"You file for divorce. Disappear for a year or two then you come back remanding the papers. It sounds like you hesitated."
"Natalie. It's none of your business if I divorce your mother and marry Melissa!" He said, not releasing he always got into an argument, just like Jo, when he talked to his daughter.
"Of course, it's my business! The court will place me with one of yawl two." Natalie yelled. "It's always going to be my business Bill!"
Natalie walked away to her mom's truck and Dusty came up to Bill. As soon as Melissa came out with the lemonades Bill realized where to track the tornado.
"We gotta move out. Listen, follow us in the truck, but stay behind Dusty's van, you'll be safe back there. I gotta go with Jo. Okay, let's move out, people! Let's go!" Bill informed her. "Natalie! Ride with Melissa!"
Natalie grumbled and sat in the passenger seat of the shiny red truck. Melissa ran and drove off, following Dusty's van. Natalie could tell that Jo and Bill were arguing. They always did. That's why Natalie didn't talk to her dad often.
Melissa's cell phone rings once again and she answers it. "Dr. Melissa Reeves here? Oh, oh. Yes, Donald, you've caught me in my car!" This Donald person had problems, thought Natalie.
"Donald, this feeling of inadequacy is normal for you, Julia doesn't resent you. We talked about this before. She did not marry your penis. Oh, okay, she didn't only marry your penis." Natalie shook her head. Melissa had weird patients.
As they race along, they can see the tornado ahead. Cars passing the other way honk their horns, letting others know the impending danger. The national weather service has issued a tornado warning in effect until 11:00 am, the radio said. Natalie cut it off. She knew there was a tornado touch down.
Finally, she hung up after reassuring this Donald person that Julia loved him and not just his penis. Dang, I'd hate to be her sometimes, Natalie thought. First, marrying Bill, then 2nd, she has patients who probably did trucks.
"What was that about?" Natalie asked Melissa.
"I'm a therapist." Explains so much.
"Oh." Silent Pause. "My dad's?"
"Do you think your dad needs therapy?" Melissa asked her.
"Probably." She muttered. The rest of the car ride was silent.
"Oh. My. God." Melissa said. Natalie looked up and faintly, saw something yellow falling down from the sky. Then, she realized it was her mother's truck.
It fell right in front of the truck and Melissa narrowly missed it, not wrecking the truck in anyway. Everyone ran over to make sure they were alright.
"You just missed the truck! Awesome! IT'S AWESOME!!!" Dusty said.
"Melissa!" Bill yelled.
"Oh God, Billy, BILLY!!" Overdramatic?
Jo walks by and Natalie walks over to the truck to grab her things. "You okay?" Jo asked her daughter. She nodded.
"Well, there's some good news. It did fly." Dusty says talking to Jo as she breaks a window and pulls her stuff out of the totaled truck. "What was it like?"
"It was windy." She said.
"Windy? That's intense-" Dusty said before Jo interrupted.
"All right, move it, Dusty!"
"That's intense! That's intense!" He replies holding his hands up.
"Hey, the auto club's here!" Joey yelled as the familiar black Windstars passed them.
Dusty runs up to the van and puts his upper body in the window. "Fashionably late again, Jonas? Fashionably late! Gimmie kiss, baby!"
"Loser! Loser!!!!" Dusty shouted coming off of the van.
"Why don't you find your own twister, buddy!!" Rabbit yells.
"Loser!!" Dusty says while acting like he's directing traffic." Move on!!"
Beltzer said, "Let's go." Haynes walks over to DOROTHY 2. "Don't worry, I'll get 'em cleaned. Common' guys let's get DOROTHY 2 ready!"
"You got full coverage on that truck?" Jo says to Bill, who has his arms around Melissa.
"Liability only." Bill informs her. He really knows why Jo's asking why Melissa isn't.
She replies, wiping her face with a towel "Liability only?" Then, she gives them a look that's a cross between "Whatever that means" and "That's a scary thought!" "It's a very pretty truck." Bill makes a nervous laugh; he knows what she's up to. She wants to use his truck for the chase. Jo looks at him as she throws all her stuff in her backpack.
"Don't even think about it." She continues looking at him "No way."