“I heard,” Cecilia replied evenly. “I’ll live.”

Chino bounded out of Dar’s bedroom, spotted Andrew, and cork-screwed over to him in utter delight. “Stop that.” Andrew scowled at the puppy then knelt as Chino wriggled against his legs in animal ecstasy.

“C’mon you furball. Cut that out.”

Dar found herself facing her mother, totally unprepared to do so. She felt very off balance. “Um. You want to sit down? We’re just getting ready for this party we have to go to. That’s why the…” She tugged at her leather laces. “I don’t usually dress this way anymore.”

“Ah.” Cecilia kept her response to a minimum, feeling as uncomfortable as Dar looked. “What kind of party?”

“High school reunion.”

“Mmm.”

Andrew stood up. “You are not tellin’ me you are stepping foot outside this house like that now, are you?”

“Ah. Yes, actually.” Dar put her hands behind her back and tried not to breathe too deeply. “It’s a come as you were thing.”

Her father straightened. “Paladar, you are not goin’ out there half naked.”

“No. She’s not,” Kerry’s voice interrupted—a wonderful sound to Dar’s ears. “But I am.” Eyes went to the stairs as the blonde woman trotted down them and appeared in all her scantily leathered, booted glory.

“She’s kinda overdressed, as a matter of fact.”

“Dear Jesus.” Andrew covered his eyes.


Eye of the Storm 205

Cecilia bit the inside of her mouth hard to keep from bursting out in hysterical laughter.

Dar slid an arm around Kerry’s shoulders and rubbed her back, as the shorter woman wrapped her in a hug. Over Kerry’s head, she looked up, and met her mother’s eyes.

And realized they might at last have a common ground to meet on.

She managed a half smile. Her mother managed one back.

Just maybe. “Want the nickel tour?” Dar said to Ceci.

“Sure.”

“MAYBE THIS WAS a bad idea, Andy.” Ceci clasped her hands around one knee, as they sat together in the living room. Dar and Kerry had disappeared into the kitchen after their little impromptu tour and a lull had settled. “I don’t think Dar’s very comfortable with me here.”

“Jest relax,” her husband murmured. “She’ll be all right. She just hates surprises. Shoulda called her.” He looked around. “Nice place, huh?”

Cecilia let her eyes roam around the condo. “Gorgeous,” she admitted. “But it’s so not Dar.”

“Yeap,” Andy admitted. “Ah think she just fell into it and was easier just to stay.”

Probably true. Ceci was drawn to a set of pictures on the entertainment center. Two were of Dar at a young age. Two were of Kerry, also older pictures, and the one in the center was of them together.

Both were looking at the camera. Dar was seated behind Kerry, and had her arms wrapped around her, with a half smile on her face. The blonde woman covered Dar’s hands with her own, and the film had captured just the sweetest expression on her, one that almost made Ceci smile just looking at it.

“We need to find a place to stay tonight.” She tore her attention from the picture and put it on her husband. “Any suggestions?” It had been years since she’d been in the city, though it hadn’t changed really much, and she’d found a thousand memories regaining their color as she left the airport and felt the tropical heat drop over her. “Someplace with sand, maybe?”

“ARE YOU OKAY?” Kerry asked, for the third time, as she assembled some glasses and a large pitcher of fruit juice. Dar stood at the sink, staring out at the water with a completely unsettled look on her face.

“Dar?”

“I wasn’t expecting that.” The dark head finally turned and looked at her. “I didn’t want it to be like this.”

Kerry cocked her head in question. “Like what?”

Dar’s face twitched. “So damned…sudden.”

Kerry put her glasses down, walked over and laid a hand on Dar’s 206 Melissa Good almost leather covered back. “Look. Take it easy.” She rubbed gently.

“It’s not that bad, is it? Your mom’s being okay, I thought.”

“No. Yeah. I don’t know.” Dar turned and leaned against the counter, folding her arms tightly over her chest. “It’s taken me all this time to get used to having him back. Seeing them together…I’m having a little trouble comprehending that right now.” She lifted her hand and rubbed her eyes. “Too big an adjustment.”

Yeah, it must be, Kerry thought, as she took Dar’s free hand in hers. “I know it must be tough. Hang in there, Dar. Having them back is a good thing for you, I really believe that.”

Dar sighed. “I know.”

“But it’s weird.”

“Yeah.” Dar made a face.

“And us being dressed like a post-apocalyptic pair of whacked out Amazons doesn’t help.” Kerry smiled as she got a chuckle out of her lover. “Though you have to admit seeing the look on your dad’s face when I came downstairs was worth it.”

“Mmm.” Dar relaxed a little and rubbed her neck. “Eyah. That’s true.”

“Kin ah ask what you two are up to?” Andrew’s voice growled from the doorway. “Starting to think you went to grow them damn fruits afore you squeezed ’em.”

Kerry picked up the tray and cleared her throat. “Ah. That’s my cue.

Bye.” She slipped quickly past Dar’s father, leaving the two of them alone in the kitchen.

Andy stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and moved inside the room. “Think I owe you an apology, Dardar. Didn’t meant to shake up your day like this.”

Dar studied her father curiously. “You got a haircut.”

Self-consciously, he lifted a hand and scrubbed it through the trimmed silvered darkness. “Yeap.”

There was something so different about him and yet familiar. “Went okay up there, I see.” Her eyes smiled at him. “I’m glad.” She hesitated.

“I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

Andy took a breath. “She wanted to come home,” he responded simply. “Figured we’d find a spot, near to the water. Just set down and be quiet for a bit.”

“Just like that?”

“Yeap.” He scratched his jaw. “You called the right range on it, Dardar. I owe you.” His mouth moved into a smile. “’Cept I don’t think I can pay you back for this one.”

Now she realized what it was. He was whole again. Dar slowly moved forward. Oh, the scars were still there, but he’d left behind his hooded shirt and regained an equilibrium she could see plainly in the late afternoon light coming in the kitchen window. Hesitantly, she put a hand out and took his. “You don’t owe me a damn thing,” she whispered. “If it made you happy, that’s all that mattered.”


Eye of the Storm 207

“Aw, Dardar.” Andy opened his arms and hugged his daughter’s sturdy form. “Ain’t nothing you ever done that didn’t make me happy and prouder than all get out to be your daddy.”

Mmm. Dar absorbed the infrequent hug greedily and returned it.

“Even dressed like this?” She joked faintly, into his nearby ear.

“Lord,” he poked her through the holes, “would you just look at this?”

She nearly doubled over in laughter at the tickling. “Augh.”

“Tch.” Andrew released her, but put his hands on her shoulders.

“Wouldja do one more thing for yer old man?”

“Anything,” Dar responded warmly.

He paused. “I know a bucket of stuff’s happened, Dar.” He touched her cheek. “I know you got hurt.” Her lashes fluttered closed. “But I’d like it if you’d give yer mama another shot at what’s between the two of you.”

Oh. Is that all? Dar’s eyes opened. “Is that what she wants?”

He nodded.

Dar thought about the request. It would be so hard, she knew already, to work through a lifetime of friction. Just thinking about it exhausted her. Did she really have a choice though? She looked into her father’s eyes. “I’ll try.”

That earned her another smile.

KERRY WALKED INTO the living room and set the tray down. “It’s fruit juice.” She sat down, poured a glass and offered it to Dar’s mother.

“Sort of a mixture.”

Ceci leaned forward and took the glass. “Thank you.” She leaned back with the drink and sipped it as they studied each other. “So,” Ceci murmured. “I somehow didn’t expect we’d be meeting again so soon.”

“No,” Kerry agreed. “I guess not.” She scratched her nose. “This is sort of awkward.”

Ceci took a swallow of the sweet juice. “That’s an understatement,”

she admitted. “It’s been a very surprising few days.” She regarded Kerry’s open, intelligent face curiously. “We could chat about the weather.”

Kerry glanced outside. “Eighties, thirty percent chance of showers.”

Ceci smiled. “Have you lived here long?”

Kerry leaned back. “Well, if you mean in Florida, about two years.”

She folded her arms over her bare stomach. “If you mean here, as in right here, a little over six months.” She paused. “I like it. Miami, I mean. It was a little tough when I first moved down, but after a while, even the heat grows on you.”

“Yes, it does.” Softly clinking ice. “You’re from Michigan originally?”

Kerry nodded. “My family lives there.”

“Sorry I made that crack about your father the last time we met,”


208 Melissa Good Cecilia murmured. “Andy told me about what happened. That must have been very tough.”

“In a way,” Kerry admitted. “In a way it was relief, because I’d been living as part of a charade for so long and after that, I wasn’t. I was free to live however I wanted to.” She studied the table reflectively. “But I miss my family, sometimes. I miss knowing I’m a part of them.” She glanced up. “I still love them, in spite of everything, and I always will, even if they never speak to me again.”