“Hundred bucks!” Chuckie leaned forward eagerly. “C’mon.”

She was out of her mind, Dar dimly realized as she watched herself rise to the challenge, almost as though seeing someone else do it. “How about a thousand?” she drawled softly. “C’mon, tough guy. See if you can lift anything but binoculars now.” A tiny voice cleared its throat internally. Hope you know what you’re doing, big shot, or you’re gonna be picking splinters out of your ass for a week. “How about it, Chuckie?”

His eyes glinted and his well-shaped nostrils flared. “You got it.

Let’s go. I got a lot of things I could do with a thousand bucks.”

Dar set her bottle down and stood. “After you?” She held a hand up and pointed to the door. She gave the rest of the group, who were muttering and shaking their heads, a smile. “C’mon, guys. After this, I’ll treat for dinner. How ’bout it?”

“You ain’t gonna be in any condition to treat anyone,” Chuckie warned with a big grin.

“Save your breath.” Dar booted him in the butt before he could move, then booted him again when he tried to evade her. “You’re gonna need it.”


120 Melissa Good

“Hey!” Chuckie slapped at her leg with his uniform hat. “Cut that out, or I’ll...I’ll...”

“What? Tell my daddy?” Dar was enjoying herself thoroughly.

“Last time you did that, I got a banana split out of it.”

“Wench.” Chuckie started laughing. “God damn you, you’re such a wild weasel. Ow!” He slapped at Dar’s boot again, which had just impacted his butt. “I am gonna push your ass so far down in that mud, you’ll have to call a deep-sea diver to go find you.”

“Careful, hairball,” Duds rumbled softly. “If’n that deep-sea diver’s her daddy, your ass is gonna be flying over the mess hall by morning.”

They all laughed and jostled out the door into a still-drizzling evening. “How is yer old man doin’, Dar?” Mike asked, lowering his voice a little and getting serious. “Man, I was glad they got him back.”

Dar exhaled. “He’s fine,” she replied. “He and Mom got this fifty-some-foot Bertram, and they’re having a blast on it. They’ve been out to Bermuda twice, and I can’t remember ever seeing him so happy.”

“Wow.” Mike smiled. “That’s way cool.”

“He got a boat?” Duds asked curiously. “Man, that musta been some pension...or did you get that for him?”

Dar smiled and ran a hand through her now damp hair. “What do you think?”

Duds laughed. “Daddy’s girl all the way, that’s for damn sure.

C’mon, let’s get this damn thing over with. I’m hungry!”

“You’re always hungry, mouth on wheels,” Chuckie chided, giving him a backslap in the belly. “That’s why you’re outgrowing your uniform. Lookit that.”

“Cut that out!” Duds nudged him. “Leave my buttons alone, y’pervert.”

“Butthead.”

Dar sucked in a wet breath, overcome with a wash of giddy enjoyment, looking ahead to the dark, mud-spattered challenge in front of her. So it was crazy.

That was all right.

Everyone had to have a crazy night now and then, right?

KERRY LEANED BACK in the seat of the stolid gray pickup truck Andrew was navigating through the flooded streets. She had her seatbelt securely fastened around her body, and her feet were braced solidly against the floor, steadying her as the truck moved.

Andrew wasn’t really a bad driver, she’d decided, just an impatient one; and little things such as sidewalks and divider islands proved little or no impediment to his progress in getting from point A to point B in the quickest possible manner. “Nice truck, Dad.” She patted the fabric seat. “I like it. Dar was telling me about the one she had when she was younger.”


Red Sky At Morning 121

Forced by convention to stop at a red light, Andrew sat back and folded his arms. “Ceci tried for some days to get me to agree to drive in one of them Beetle cars.”

Kerry raised an eyebrow.

“Well, young lady, that is exactly how I felt about it, too,” the ex-SEAL drawled. “Them are the ugliest things I ever did see; and there was no how, no way I was going to be sitting inside one of them, much less drive it.”

“I couldn’t picture that.” Kerry shook her head. “It would be like you having a moped, or Dar drinking skim milk.”

“She hates that,” Andrew agreed. “Even when she was a tot, Cec used to try and get her to drink it, and she’d toss her bottle ’cross the kitchen.”

“I know.” Kerry closed her eyes as the light changed and Andrew used the opportunity to cross three lanes between four other cars. “I suggested it once.” She paused. “Only because I worry about her cholesterol, and mine; but I got a lecture about cows, and water, and the fact that if she wanted to drink white chlorinated liquid, she’d just add food coloring to the tap.”

Andrew snorted. “She’s particular ’bout a few things. That’s one of

’em,” he admitted. “Got that one from me, I do believe.”

“Gee, what a surprise.” Kerry peeked at him and grinned tolerantly. “Anyway, I got her to stop having chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, so I figure I’m ahead of the game.”

Andrew peered through the raindrops and spotted his target. He aimed the truck toward the entrance and proceeded accordingly. “She’s a healthy kid,” he stated. “Always was. Worst thing she ever did get was them chicken pox. Lord, that was a mess.”

“I heard you got them, too.” Kerry smiled at him, pretending she didn’t see the truck bearing down on them as Andrew crossed the intersection. The pickup darted into the parking lot of the Lexus dealership just in time, though she imagined she could feel the draft of the eighteen-wheeler crossing behind them. They pulled into an empty spot, and she released her safety belt with a sense of relief.

Andrew leaned on his steering wheel and peered out the window, observing the rows of shiny, if rain spattered, new cars. “You getting one of these damn things, too?” His voice was surprised.

“Sort of.” Kerry pointed. “See? That’s the one Dar has.”

“Uh-huh.” Andrew nodded.

“That’s the one I’m getting.” She indicated a row to the left.

“Sonofabiscuit. Ain’t that cute,” her father-in-law chuckled softly.

“All bitty and spunky looking. Figures.”

Kerry gave his arm a poke. “Hey, at least it’s not a Beetle.” She opened the door. “C’mon, this won’t take long, and I’m hungry.” She got out and grabbed for the doorframe as a wave of dizziness passed over her. “Whoa.”


122 Melissa Good Andrew circled the front of the truck and put a hand on her shoulder. “You all right?”

Kerry leaned against the metal frame and took a deep breath, waiting for the world to stop spinning. “Yeah. Like a doof I skipped lunch, and I know better.” Her vision cleared and she shook her head.

“Low blood sugar runs in my family. I usually keep granola bars around but I ran out, and I meant to stop this morning.”

“That ain’t a good thing.” Andrew stuck his head inside the truck and rummaged in a bag behind the seat. “Here.” He handed Kerry a banana. “Forgot I had those damn things.”

Kerry peeled the fruit and took a bite, a little disturbed by the shaking of her hands. “Maybe I was just overstressed today,” she joked faintly, aware of Andrew’s concerned expression. “I had some really confrontational meetings, and I was a little worried about Dar driving down there in this weather.” She swallowed a few mouthfuls and was relieved when the shakiness faded.

“I do believe we might need to be worrying about you,” Andrew stated. “You’re white as Caesar’s ghost, Kerry. Sit down here.”

“No, it’s okay,” Kerry reassured him. “I feel a lot better, honestly.”

She finished her banana and neatly folded the skin, then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Dad.”

Andrew blushed, faintly visible in the lamplight bathing them.

“That was a lotta fuss for a little old banana,” he muttered. “You sure you don’t want something else? Maybe an orange, or whatever the hell else Ceci stuck in the back of this here truck?”

Kerry smiled. “Does Dar know how lucky she is?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t think she does.” Kerry pushed away from the truck and straightened her sleeves, then tossed the banana peel into a nearby garbage can. “Let’s go get my new wheels.” She slid her hand around Andrew’s arm and walked with him toward the showroom, where she could see dim forms of hopeful salesmen lurking in wait.

The door opened as they reached it, and she stepped inside the cool, well-lit showroom to be greeted by a very nice-looking young man in a neatly fitted suit and tie. “Hi.” Kerry smiled at him. “I’ve got an appointment. I’m supposed to pick up a car?”

The sound of staccato heels made their heads turn to see a woman with dark, frosted hair walking toward them, a warm smile on her face.

“Ms. Stuart?”

“That’s right,” Kerry replied.

“Excellent. If you’d step over here to my desk and sign these papers, I’ll have your car brought ’round.” She glanced at Andrew.

“Can I get your husband some coffee?”

Kerry thought her father-in-law’s grizzled eyebrows were going to pop right off his head and stick in the drop ceiling. “Sure,” she agreed cheerfully. “C’mon, honey, sit down here.”


Red Sky At Morning 123

“Excuse me,” Andrew barked. “This here young lady is not mah wife.” He pinned the saleswoman with a fierce glare. “What do ah look like to you, some kinda candy-assed cradle robber?”

The woman’s jaw dropped, and she looked from Kerry to Andrew in bewilderment. “I’m very sorry sir,” she stammered. “I know I shouldn’t assume...I just thought...well, excuse me. I’m very sorry.” She put the papers down. “Ma’am, if you could just sign these?”