"Seat of my pants," she disagreed. "I couldn't let it go. Couldn't let them win after all that crap. Bastards. They're lucky I wasn't here when those ships got in or I'd have found that jackass and smacked him."

Alastair regarded his companion with a look of healthy respect. Dar had a sharp intellect, a lot of business sense, and an iron will, but behind it all he knew there was a potent temper. Though she was a woman and a nerd, and not crazy there was a danger about her he recognized.

Not entirely safe. But he knew it was a price he'd decided to pay when he chose to take advantage of that intelligence and take the risk on the rest. So far, it had paid off in spades. "Hell, Dar. If I'd have seen the little creep I'd have probably kicked him. Gave me indigestion for weeks."

They made small talk until the waiter returned with two steaming plates that he put down in front of them. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Nothing for me." Dar picked up her fork. "Thanks."

"More coffee here," Alastair said. "Hey, Dar, did I hear right that you were going to hire that gal from Synergenics? What's her name, Graver?"

"Thinking about it." Dar neatly cut her sausage patty into squares and ate them.

Alastair fiddled with his eggs for a moment. "Isn't she the one who sent me those pictures?"

"Uh huh."

Alastair paused to study his dining companion. Dar was munching on a mouthful of sausage, gazing back at him with those big blue eyes so full of completely fake innocence. Though Dar had a mercurial temperament, he'd discovered she also had an unexpected puckish side that had arisen in the last year or so. "Ah huh."

"Can't beat em, buy em?" Dar finished her sausage and started on her potatoes. "Nah, Michelle's pretty sharp, and we banged heads enough over the ship disaster to get her viewpoint changed." She chased her mouthful down with a sip of coffee. "We'll see if she bites."

Alastair wisely decided to simply nod in response and change the subject. "That's a nice ring," he commented, stifling a smile as Dar's hand stopped in mid motion, and her already sun darkened skin darkened just a shade further. "Don't think I noticed it before."

"I've had it for a while." Dar recovered her composure from the unexpected question. "Remember that damn disaster up in Charlotte? When we lost the network?"

Her boss made a whining, groaning sound.

"Yeah, well, we took a few days off after that up in the mountains and got engaged." Dar paused and thought about that, and then she chuckled and shook her head. "Ever been in London before, Alastair?"

Bemused, he cleared his throat before answering. "Sure, once or twice. We had a few international board meetings here. Just a day up and back. You know." He dipped his toast into his eggs and took a bite of it. "Why?"

"Want to go do one of those double decker bus tours?" Dar asked. "I've never been here but I don't feel like walking around all day."

Alastair blinked at her. "Wh--ah, you mean us? You and I?"

Dar looked around. "Was there someone else here you think I was talking to? How often do I get to hang out with you?"

Her boss stared at her for a long moment. "Well, absolutely, Dar," he finally said. "I'd love to. The missus always dings me for not seeing a damn thing when I travel. Last thing I brought her back was a bottle of jalapeno jelly from Tijuana and let me tell you she didn't much appreciate it."

"Great." Dar returned her concentration to her eggs. "Keep me from falling asleep and screwing up my body clock too."

"Isn't that the truth, "Alastair agreed. "Isn't that just the absolute truth."

KERRY BRUSHED HER teeth, leaning on the marble sink as she regarded her reflection in the mirror. It was early. The sun was rising outside, and she was glad that she hadn't overslept since they had a lot to do and she really had no desire to get kidded about sleeping in.

She finished up in the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom, rolling up the sleeves on her T-shirt as she crossed to the window and looked outside. The slope Angie lived on gave her a view of Lake Michigan in the distance and it brought back memories of her childhood.

Not altogether bad ones, really Kerry had to admit, as she watched a flock of birds fly toward the huge body of water. She decided to take time out for a walk down to the lake before she left, wanting to recover a few of those better times from the place she'd spent most of her life.

Her PDA beeped softly and she turned and picked it up, flipping the top open to find a message from Dar waiting for her. "Hey honey!" She tapped the message, bending her head to read it.

Hey Ker.

Damn, I miss you.

Kerry's eyes closed briefly, and she smiled.

I just had a decent breakfast with Alastair and talked him into going sightseeing with me. I think I freaked him out by asking.

Kerry snickered.

So we're going to grab one of those buses and go see the sights. Want anything?

"You," Kerry answered. She pulled out her stylus and scribbled an answer, checking the time of the message and seeing a few hours had passed.

Hey sweetie! How's the sightseeing going? I just got up and found your message waiting. Tell Alastair I said hello, and don't do any shopping until I get there! Have fun. It's going pretty good here except I think I freaked Angie out with my tat.

She tapped the stylus against her chin.

Maybe you could come up here with me sometime and we can stay by the lake and go sailing. Aside from my family it's not really so bad.

K

A soft knock came at the door, and she turned. "Yeah?" She closed the PDA cover and stuck the device in the mid leg pocket of her carpenter's pants

The door opened, and Angie poked her head inside. "Hey, you up?"

"Believe it or not," Kerry turned and walked toward the door, "I am." She smiled at her sister. "Ready for breakfast?"

"Let's go." Angie opened the door all the way to let Kerry out. "Those are cute pants." She studied her sister's clothing. "They look comfortable."

"They are," Kerry agreed, as she followed Angie down the hallway. "How's Andrew? He up?"

"Downstairs waiting on us. You don't catch him missing a meal." Angie chuckled as they walked down the stairs together. Today she herself was dressed more casually in deference to their impending packing, a pair of sweatpants and a cotton shirt. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail as well.

"Ah, we must be related." Kerry smiled easily as they reached the bottom of the steps and headed into the kitchen. "Looks like it's going to be a rainy one outside, perfect day for packing." She looked around as they entered and spotted her nephew in his highchair, and immediately headed in his direction. "Hey cutie!"

Andrew looked up from his tray, his eyes opening wide at this new distraction. He pointed at Kerry with his spoon and gurgled, his head tipping back to follow her as she approached. "Gah!"

Kerry crouched down next to the high chair and offered him a finger to squeeze, his dark cap of hair and blue eyes making her smile. "What are you up to, little man?" she inquired. "Is that good stuff there?"

Angie motioned for the quietly waiting cook to put their food down, and she took a seat on one side of the table, watching her sister with an indulgent smile. "You're a natural with kids," she observed, as her son giggled in delight, dropping his spoon and slapping at his aunt's wiggling fingers.

Kerry looked up from playing patty cake with the baby. "He's adorable," she said, then turned back to the chair as the cook came back with two plates. "Tell you what, Tiger, let's both eat, then we can play some more, okay?"

She got to her feet and ruffled Andrew's hair, and then joined her sister at the table, taking a seat and putting the crisply pressed linen napkin over her lap. "I love kids," she said, as she picked up her fork. "Long as they aren't mine."

Angie cut off a bit of her egg white omelet and put it on her toast. "Really?"

"Yup." Kerry tasted a bit of the egg, finding it as bland as she'd feared. "Tell you what," she said, "I'll do all the heavy lifting today but you have to let me cook breakfast tomorrow."

Her sister chuckled. "I forgot to warn them we had a chow hound descending on us. You still do the cooking down in Miami?"

"Sure." Kerry got up and went to the sideboard, evading the cook's belated attempt to intercept her and using the container of milk meant for the coffee to provide her with a glassful instead. "Dar doesn't mind cooking, but when she does, we either get something scientifically bizarre or like breakfast the other morning. She sat down with her milk. "Strawberry cheesecake."

"Yikes." Angie watched her sister tear into her breakfast with some bemusement. "So you don't want kids? Have you talked to Dar about it?"

Kerry looked across the table, for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Ooo," Angie waved a fork at her, "sorry. Didn't mean to piss you off. I was just asking."

After a moment, Kerry relaxed, and she gave her sister an apologetic look. "Sorry. Usually people who ask me invasive personal questions don't have any good reason to," she admitted. "Dar and I have talked about it, sure."

"Ah."

"Dar thinks she doesn't have the patience for it," Kerry said. "I, on the other hand, know damn well I don't have the patience for it, and I just don't want to be a parent." She went back to her plate.. "It may sound selfish, but I like my life the way it is, and I like the freedom of being able to go and do what I want to do when we want to do it."