Dar’s face was a study in concentration as she carefully untied the knots and laid the ribbon open on either side of the box. Then she held the bottom steady with one hand and lifted the top with the other, setting it down before she removed the light layer of cotton batting just under it.

Kerry waited. She saw the motion as Dar’s jaw muscles relaxed and the sudden reflection of the dim light on her widened eyes.

“You’re tough to shop for.” She spoke quietly, more to give Dar a chance to collect herself than anything else. “And you’re one of the most conservative non-traditionalists I know. So, I thought you’d like something like this.”

Dar carefully lifted the gift out of the box and cradled it in her hand. She released a long held breath and looked up at Kerry. “It’s gorgeous.”

Kerry smiled.

Dar looked back down at her gift. Resting in her palm was a pocket watch, its cover etched in fine gold and silver filigree over a darker base. From the top, a twisted link, silver chain trickled through her fingers. She gently opened the facing to reveal a face with large, crisp numbers and a briskly sweeping second hand.

There was engraving on the inside of the cover. Dar tilted her head to read it. Because you make every moment of my life worth living. She stared at the words until they blurred and she had to close her eyes to blink the tears from them. Without a sound she put the watch back into its box and reached for Kerry, who readily squirmed into her arms for a hug.

Kerry felt the shudder as Dar inhaled, and the soft gasp as she buried her face against Kerry’s shoulder. She held the moment carefully in her heart, understanding deep down that she could have written the words on a napkin and it wouldn’t have made a difference. “I love you,” she whispered in Dar’s ear, hugging her tightly.

Dar drew in a breath, held it a moment, and then exhaled, sniffling a little before she spoke. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get you all wet.”

“Honey, you always get me all wet,” Kerry teased gently, rubbing Dar’s shoulders with both hands. She felt her lover’s body shake again, but this time it was with laughter. She rocked Dar back and forth, just loving her.


Terrors of the High Seas 191

So what if she had a bug? So what if their vacation had turned into a bad television movie? She had Dar, and they had each other, and there was nothing else anywhere that could top that. Nothing.

The soft sound of the waves trickled through the windows on a breeze that ruffled the oil lamp and threw a single dancing shadow against the wall.


Chapter

Seventeen

DAR WHISTLED SOFTLY as she worked on the stern deck, tidying up the boat from their ordeal the day before. It was about an hour past dawn. The sunlight poured over her swimsuit-clad body, warming her shoulder blades and allowing her to appreciate the brisk breeze.

Kerry was tucked in bed with a cup of hot tea for her still-sore throat. Despite that, the blonde woman had seemed much more chipper when they’d woken up, and Dar suspected Kerry would not stay in bed that long. But that was okay.

With a grin, Dar finished her task and re-entered the cabin. The scent of fresh coffee greeted her and sure enough, behind the galley counter she found one of Santa’s own little elves making it. “Ah hah.”

Kerry looked up, producing a sunny smile for her partner.

“Merry Christmas and happy birthday, honey.”

Dar prowled into the galley behind her. “Thought you were resting.”

“I was,” Kerry replied. “Now I’m cooking. It’s a serial processing kind of thing.” She tapped Dar’s chest with a mixing spoon. “I feel a lot better. Now go over there and let me finish my pancakes.”

“Pancakes?” Dar’s voice rose in surprise. “Mmm.” She inclined her head and kissed Kerry on the lips.

“It’s a tradition.” Kerry put a hand up and touched Dar’s cheek. “Now scoot.”

Instead of obeying, Dar slipped her arms around Kerry’s body and caught her up in a powerful hug, lifting her up off her feet.

“Urgh.” Kerry reveled in it, enjoying the unexpected side effect of feeling her spine relax and realign itself. “Ooh... Thank you.” She felt Dar’s hands rub her back briskly as she was set down again.

When she leaned back and looked up, she was glad to see Dar’s face completely open and happy—lacking the worried tension of the previous day. She patted Dar’s belly through the thin swimsuit fabric and gave her another hug, then gently nudged her out of the galley so she could finish making breakfast.


Terrors of the High Seas 193

Dar reluctantly retreated to the couch and dropped onto it, stretching out on her side and crossing her ankles. “So, are we in agreement about ditching DeSalliers and company?”

Kerry pushed a bit of hair out of her eyes. “You mean, just take off and let them all sort out their own problems?”

“Mmhm.”

“Yeah.” The blonde woman nodded. “I mean, there’s really nothing we can do, is there?”

Dar examined a faint scar on her upper thigh. “Not really,” she said. “Sometimes it pays to know when to just close the books and walk.” She gave Kerry a rakish grin. “Besides, that family feud sounds ugly.”

Kerry had occasion to know more about that than most people.

She merely grunted in agreement as she poured pancake batter onto the small griddle, getting the temperature just right for the creamy substance to immediately start bubbling at its edges. She reached over to a dish and removed a handful of chocolate chips, sprinkling them evenly into the batter.

She could only imagine her mother’s reaction to her choice of breakfasts. For more years than she could count, breakfast at home had been dry toast, perhaps an egg white, and a bowl of healthy cereal with skim milk. Of course, that had only spurred her to find a way to grab a candy bar before first period at school and resulted in her developing an intense dislike of Grape Nuts.

Living with Dar was definitely different. If she felt like having a milkshake for breakfast, the only comment she’d get from her partner was likely to be “Where’s mine?” Dar had a very secure and relaxed attitude toward her own body and that extended to Kerry’s as well, easing Kerry’s initial shyness considerably.

To be fair, most of the time she and Dar ate relatively healthily, and somewhat to her surprise, the last time Dr. Steve had checked her cholesterol, it had actually gone down forty points. She suspected all the extra time in the gym was responsible for that, but she wasn’t about to argue with the results. Not when she was finally getting to indulge herself and not have to worry about comments around the dining room table.

Ah well. She turned her attention back to her task. Pancakes took practice. Kerry maneuvered the paper-thin flipper under the cakes and expertly turned them, exposing nicely golden bottom sides. The scent of the cooking batter as well as the melting chocolate filled the air, and she felt her mouth start to water.

Well, at least my appetite’s back. That’s a good sign. Kerry reached over and turned a few slices of bacon that were sizzling nearby.

Her throat was still bothering her a little and she still felt “off”—

her body ached and her head felt slightly stuffed. But she had no fever and she was hungry enough to eat a raw fish, so she figured 194 Melissa Good she was probably getting better.

Besides, it was Dar’s birthday. Kerry found herself smiling as she remembered her gift-giving the night before. She glanced over at the couch, charmed to see Dar studying her new watch, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth as she turned it over in her fingers. She turned back to the griddle and got a plate ready, deftly transferring four of the hotcakes and several slices of bacon to it.

She set it to one side and put the rest of the food on a second plate, then turned off the heat and set two covers on the plates.

“Dixiecup, can you come over here and give me a hand?”

Dar chuckled as she set aside her watch and strolled over. “You know, if anyone had told me before I met you that I’d ever put up with someone calling me that, much less liking it, I’d have clocked them.”

Kerry gave her a charming smile and handed her the plates.

“Let me get the biscuits and the coffee.”

“And the syrup,” Dar reminded, setting the plates on the table and returning to duck past Kerry and retrieve a jug of juice from the refrigerator. They sat down together and Dar lifted the cover off her plate, inhaling the scent of the chocolate chip pancakes. “Mm.”

Kerry drizzled a little syrup neatly over her stack and separated a forkful. “You know, if anyone had told me before I met you that I’d be scarfing down pancakes and bacon without any guilt, much less enjoying them, I’d have just laughed,” she said.

“So, I think we’re neck and neck for making positive changes in each other’s lives.” She winked at Dar.

Dar slid closer, and they traded forkfuls of breakfast. Kerry licked a bit of syrup that had somehow ended up on the tip of Dar’s nose, and they toasted each other with coffee.

“Okay, so if we’re not crusading, and me sticking my head underwater isn’t a really good idea, what did you have in mind for today?” Kerry asked after a few minutes of peaceful munching.

“Shopping?”

A nice quiet stroll through some of the eclectic shops of St. Thomas?

Dar suddenly found that appealing, if for no other reason than that it provided an activity they could do that wouldn’t compromise Kerry’s health. “All right,” she agreed. “When we’re done with breakfast, I’ll run up and tell Bud and Charlie so long, and we’ll head out.”