“Didn’t you get a picture of it?” Dar queried, sitting up and putting her forearms on table.


Eye of the Storm 249

“Yes, but that’s got to wait for developing.” Kerry sat down next to her with a pad and pencil. “Please?”

“Oh, all right.” The dark haired woman gave her an indulgent look and accepted the pencil. She propped her head up with her other hand as she moved the pad into a more comfortable position. “This was the one with the red and blue stripes and the pig nose, right?”

“Roman nose.”

“Well, I always heard Romans were pigs.” Dar smiled. “Okay. I remember that one. You flipped upside down to take its picture.”

“That’s the one.” Kerry eased away and slipped into the kitchen area, giving Ceci a smile as she poured herself a cup of coffee from the thermos clamped on the counter. “Would you like some?”

“Sure, thank you,” Ceci answered absently, her entire peripheral attention focused on the powerful hand moving the pencil across the paper with sure, confident scratches.

An eye formed.

A round body tapered in back, and properly three-dimensional.

A wide, sturdy tail.

Feathery fins caught in mid motion by a knowledgeable hand.

Cecilia’s eyes followed the dark lines flowing easily from Dar’s imagination, feeling like she’d just walked into a room and been greeted by a little gray man from Mars. Wearing a bow tie.

Speaking French.

For thirty years she’d been convinced the only thing she and her offspring shared was a mutual antagonism and a grudging similarity in musical tastes.

And now here she sat, watching a bit of herself come alive and emerge from those long, tapered fingertips.

Dear Goddess.

A wisp of steam warmed her hand, and she started, then looked at a pair of warm green eyes over a cup of coffee. “Oh,” Ceci murmured, taking the cup. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Kerry’s voice had deepened slightly. She circled the table and settled next to Dar, sipping her coffee and watching her fish emerge. “That’s exactly the one.”

“Uh huh. Thought so. No way was it a parrot,” Dar muttered, sketching in the curious markings on the fish, in a light phosphorescence. “Did you see that little gold triangle, just above the gills?” She made a few last additions, then pushed the pad over. “Okay?”

Kerry regarded the pretty fish with a smile, then lifted her eyes and met Ceci’s. “What do you think?”

A hot flush tingled Dar’s skin, as she realized she’d forgotten that her mother had been standing there watching. A half dozen defensive words filled her mouth clamoring for her tongue’s attention as she tensed and half turned, her tired mind scrambling to deal with the unexpected embarrassment.

Ceci pulled the pad over and studied it. “Well, I’m no expert but I 250 Melissa Good think you’re right. It’s not a parrotfish,” she remarked softly. “It is a really nice sketch, though.” Her eyes slipped up to meet Dar’s, finding her daughter with such a deer in the headlights expression she almost started laughing.

But no.

Instead, she looked at Kerry, whose mossy green eyes held a definite twinkle in them. Why, that little stinker. Ceci felt a jolt of surprise . She did that on purpose.

“Thanks, Dar.” Kerry captured the pad and stood, then leaned over and brushed the top of her lover’s head with her lips. “Be right back.” She bolted out the cabin door and leaped for the ladder, scaled it, and hopped up onto the flying bridge with a chortle. “Bingo!”

Andrew looked up from his instruments and grinned rakishly at her.

“Very smooth, kumquat. Fell for it, did she?”

“Hhhhook, line and ssssinker.” Kerry did a little gopher dance, then showed him the pad. “See?”

Andrew glanced at the picture. “Wall, spin my tail and call me spooky. Wouldja look at that?” He tilted the small instrument light towards the pad and examined the fish. His eyebrows jerked, then knit.

“Cec say anything?”

“She said it was a good sketch,” Kerry replied. “And that it wasn’t a parrotfish.” She poked Andy in the ribs. “Did I do good?”

He ruffled her hair affectionately. “Hell, yes. C’mere, since you like this so damn much.” He gave her an awkward hug and a pat on the back.

“Wanna help me steer this thing?”

“Sure.” Kerry peered into the pitch darkness. “Is that the buoy?

Yeah. Hey, I always wanted to do something…”

“What?”

“This.” Kerry shoved both the throttles forward and the bow lifted as the wind suddenly screamed past her. “Oh yeah.”

“Son of a…”

KERRY TRUDGED INTO the living room, her Tweety Bird shirt draped over one shoulder and a bottle of aloe lotion in one hand, meeting Dar coming out of her office, followed by Chino. “Hey. Can I beg a favor?”

Dar observed the nearly naked woman with two hiked brows.

“Beg?” she murmured, eyes going a little round.

“Tch.” Kerry butted her head against one of her friend’s shoulders.

“Slather me, please?” She held out the bottle. “I feel like I’m being compressed in saran wrap.”

Dar took the aloe and squeezed some out, then delicately turned her subject around and spread it. “So. Did you win the bet?” she asked casually, tracing a damp, green line over the pink area across the back of Kerry’s neck.

“What bet?” Kerry murmured.


Eye of the Storm 251

“The fish,” Dar drawled, her breath brushing against sensitive skin.

“What fi—? Oh.” Kerry turned her head and peeked. “Um…”

“You,” Dar licked her ear, “are such a little meddler.”

The blonde woman assumed a contrite look. “Are you mad at me?”

Dar let her stew for a few minutes, while she finished her spreading, feeling the shoulders under her fingers shift and straighten. “I should be.

You caught me so off guard with that. Not a really pleasant feeling.” She turned Kerry around to face her and started on the sunburned skin there, aware of the grave eyes searching her face.

“You’d have been too self-conscious otherwise,” Kerry almost whispered. “I just wanted her to see you have part of her in you.”

Dar didn’t answer, her face shifting in thought.

“I-I haven’t known either of you that long but, I sort of sat down and thought about it.” Kerry’s nervousness came out in a torrent of words.

“And what it seems to me is that you and your dad are so close. You look so much alike, and all that stuff, I thought maybe you… I mean, I thought if your mother could see there is this bit...I—” Kerry had to stop because Dar kissed her. When they parted, Kerry let out a tiny sigh. “I have this ‘solve everyone else’s problems’ gene that just kicks in sometimes.” She shrugged. “Besides, I like your mom.”

Dar leaned her forehead against her partner’s. “I noticed you two seemed to get along,” she murmured. “Listen, Kerry. My mother and I have thirty years of whitewater rapids behind us.” She kissed the sunburned skin lightly. “And there are some things that just can’t be fixed.”

Kerry looked at her sadly.

“At least not right away,” Dar hastily amended. “Though,” her brows knitted, “there does seem to be a hell of a lot less we disagree on now.” She sighed. “Either she’s mellowed out a lot or…”

“You’ve grown up,” Kerry finished softly.

“Mmm,” the dark haired woman acknowledged. “Maybe a little of both.” She took Kerry’s T-shirt, bunched up the fabric, put it over her head and settled it over her now aloe’d body carefully. “That was, by the way, an impressively sneaky move, though.”

“It was, wasn’t it?” Kerry essayed a tentative smile. “You’re so hard to do that to. I was really kind of surprised it worked.” She rubbed her fingers against Dar’s bare skin, between her cutoff shirt and her soft cotton shorts. “Did your mom say anything after I left?”

“No.” Dar thoughtfully paused. “But she was thinking.”

“Thought so.” Kerry exhaled in satisfaction. “She snitched the sketch pad before she left.” One green eye winked and she patted Dar on the side, before she edged around her and headed for the kitchen.

Dar looked after her and shook her head, acknowledging her partner’s pugnacious stubborn streak. Then she followed along, retrieved a glass from the cupboard and squirted some chocolate syrup into it. “Want some?”

“Nu uh.” Kerry was busy at the counter, filling a handled mug with some vanilla ice cream, then adding root beer to it. “To each their own 252 Melissa Good poison.” She poked at the ice cream with a spoon, making the soda fizzle up. “Whew. I gotta tell you, Dar, your parents wore me out, though.” She hooked her arm in the dark haired woman’s and tugged her to the living room, where they settled on the couch and put their socked feet up on the coffee table. “I hope I’ve got that kind of energy to spare when I get a little older.”

“You and me both,” Dar agreed. “They’re something else.” She observed the foamy moustache gracing Kerry’s mouth and decided to remove it. “Mmm.” She licked a surprised lower lip. “Maybe I should try one of those.”

“Try one of what?” Kerry had set down her glass, half turned, squirmed up Dar’s body and attempted to retrieve some of her chocolate milk the hard way. “Hmm. Ooo, I like that. Yeah. And I—Jesus! Dar!”

Kerry yelped, almost levitating off her lover’s lap. “Your hands are cold.”

“Nu uh.” Dar moved her touch. “Your skin is hot. Sorry, forgot the sunburn.” She slid her fingers lower. “Better?”

“Oh. Yeah. Much better.” She relaxed again, nuzzling the side of Dar’s neck. “Thank goodness for bathing suits.”