A click, some canned “Sleigh Ride,” and then the phone was picked up. “Good morning! Will this be breakfast or a late night snack?” The operator chuckled.

Dar’s brow creased and she glanced at the window. “Breakfast,” she muttered.


Thicker Than Water 59

“Okay, well,” the woman said, “our special for you this morning is lovebird muffins with sweetheart jelly.”

Dar turned her head and stared at the phone. “What?”

“We also have splits of champagne and berries with whipped cream.”

“How about oatmeal,” Dar replied. “And a large pot of coffee, and,” she considered, “a stack of pancakes.”

There was a momentary pause. “All righty then. Anything else?” the voice chirped. “That’s for two, right?”

“Um…right.” Dar’s brow creased. “How did you know?”

“Just a lucky guess. It’ll be right up, okay?” Now the voice sounded vaguely patronizing.

“Okay, thanks.” Dar hung up, puzzled by the odd responses.

Then she remembered what suite they were in and chuckled quietly.

“What’s so funny?” Kerry asked softly, not stirring an inch.

“If I spread sweetheart jelly all over you, would you be my lovebird muffin?” Dar asked.

Very slowly, Kerry lifted her head and peered at Dar with a look of mild disbelief. “Excuse me?” Her voice cracked a little, and she cleared her throat. “Bah. Dry air.”

Dar handed her the bottle of water she’d left by the bedside.

“Here.” She guided the straw to Kerry’s lips and watched as she sucked down half its contents. “Does that mean you won’t be?”

Kerry finished, and put her head down, seemingly exhausted.

“Right now I feel more like a meadow muffin,” she muttered into Dar’s chest. “A really flat one that was out in the sun a long, long time.”

Dar stroked her back and scratched it lightly with her fingertips. “I ordered breakfast.”

“Ugh.” Kerry shook her head. “Not for me.”

Dar hesitated. “Did you eat anything yesterday?”

Did I? Kerry’s brow creased. “Just breakfast with you. I was way too stressed to eat after I got here.”

Dar drummed her fingers on Kerry’s back. “I’m no expert, but that might be why you feel so lousy. You know how you get.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kerry asked crossly.

Dar gently cleared her throat.

Kerry sighed and burrowed back into Dar’s body. “I don’t think I can handle eggs and bacon.”

“Damn good thing, because that’s not what I ordered.” Dar smoothed down Kerry’s hair and peered at her dimly seen profile tucked against her chest. “So just trust me, okay?”

It was so nice and warm where she was. Kerry closed her eyes, wishing with all her heart they were both home with nothing 60 Melissa Good more to look forward to than a Saturday’s cartoons and a diving trip. “Can I just stay right here?” she asked softly, as Dar’s arm closed around her in a hug. “I don’t want to go over there, Dar.

Call it cowardice if you want, but I don’t want to face those people…or that place.” She paused. “Or him dying.” Her chest tightened, and she blinked sudden tears from her eyes.

Dar felt very much at a loss. “I know it’s tough.” She kissed the top of Kerry’s head. “I’m sorry.”

Kerry sniffled. “Me, too,” she whispered. “Thank you for being here.” She ran a finger along Dar’s ribcage. “I feel incredibly selfish, but thank you.”

Dar kept up her gentle stroking, not sure of what else to do.

“It’s not selfish. I’m glad you want me here. I know how easy it is to shut everyone out when you’re hurting.”

Kerry shifted and looked up at her. “Thinking of your mom?”

Dar’s shrug spoke volumes. “And myself. I had friends who tried to talk to me after Dad…died.” It seemed so strange to say that now. “I pushed them all away. Had to put up that tough front, like I thought he’d want me to.”

Kerry’s lips tensed in wry compassion. “That big mushball?

Nah.”

Dar smiled a little.

“You don’t have to worry. I won’t ever lock you out, Dar; I need you too much.” Kerry gave Dar a painfully open look, then sighed and rolled over, reluctantly releasing Dar’s body. “I guess we’d better start day, huh?”

Dar ran her fingers through Kerry’s hair, making her lay still as she savored the contact. “How’s the head feel?”

Kerry ran her thumb along the inside of Dar’s forearm. “It’s okay.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I just feel really washed out.”

She didn’t feel like moving an inch, as a matter of fact. “Tired.”

C’mon, Kerrison, her conscience sternly prodded. You’re a big girl. Life sucks sometimes, so get your ass up and deal with it. She girded her philosophical loins and lifted her head–then was pulled back into Dar’s arms and back into her safe, warm nest.

Well, I tried. She greedily absorbed the hug. Sort of. “You know something?”

“Mm?”

Dar rubbed her all over, easing tiny tensions she’d hardly been aware of. “Love rocks.” Kerry sighed. She felt Dar chuckle, and the knot in her gut abruptly unraveled, making her almost dizzy with relief. She knew the day wasn’t promising to be any better than she had thought it would be the night before, but from Dar she could borrow the strength she’d need to live through it.


Thicker Than Water 61

DAR WATCHED HER mail download as she stood near the small table, preparing two bowls of gray, glutinous matter. She kept glancing at the bed where Kerry was tucked, the covers pulled around her and a quiet, almost remote look on her face.

She’s too pale, Dar realized, as she continued her work.

“Kerry?”

“Mm?” Green eyes turned her way, abandoning CNN.

“I know how your family feels,” Dar kept her gaze on her oatmeal, “but do you want me to come with you today?”

Kerry had to literally bite her tongue to keep the instant yelp of “yes” from emerging. She took a breath and watched Dar’s face for a moment, seeing the careful unconcern plastered on it. Her family would hate it, yes, but at that moment, she just didn’t care.

“Yes, I would,” she heard herself say.

After a moment’s silence, Dar looked up. “But?”

Kerry simply shrugged. “But nothing. If they have that much of a problem with it, we can both leave.”

Dar’s pale blue eyes widened a trifle, and then she smiled.

“Okay.” She picked up a bowl, carried it to the bed, and set it down on the covers. She handed Kerry a spoon. “Go on. You should be able to keep that down.”

Ah. Kerry took the spoon and examined her bowl. “You know, Dar, I don’t think I ever mentioned this, but…um…I really don’t like oatmeal.”

“Just try it.” Dar said. “Trust me.”

Kerry, she flew a thousand miles in the middle of the night to be here for you. She managed to get a spoonful of the sticky stuff balanced and lifted it. She loves you. Remember that. She loves you.

“Mmph.” For a moment she mouthed the oatmeal, a substance she hated with a passion.

“Yeess?” Dar’s low drawl answered.

“How’d you get oatmeal to taste like tapioca pudding?”

Dar sat down with her own bowl, and smirked, just a little. “I have many skills.”

“Mmm.” Kerry swallowed another spoonful. “So I see.”

THE CLOCK FLIPPED over to eight-o clock. Kerry glanced at it, then sighed. “Hospital opens at nine. Guess we’d better get started.” She pulled the covers back and sat up, stifling a yawn.

“Can’t believe I’m still tired.”

Dar gave her a sympathetic look. “Stress. On top of a killer migraine.”

“Mm.” Kerry scrubbed her fingers through her hair. The room phone rang and she glanced at it, then at Dar. “Probably for me, 62 Melissa Good huh?”

Dar held up her cell phone and shrugged. Kerry picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Ker?” Angela’s voice was low. “I know it’s early.”

The pressure of the situation came down on her again. “It’s okay, I was up.”

“We missed you last night,” Angie said. “Thought you were right behind us, then you disappeared.”

Kerry’s brow creased in displeasure. “I didn’t disappear; I was being chased by those damn news people. I just barely got out ahead of them and got across the parking lot.” She waited for Angie to comment, but there was only silence. “Then I got a migraine, and it was all I could do to get back to the hotel.”

A sigh echoed through the receiver. “You okay?”

“Now,” Kerry said, “yes. But it was a very miserable night. I wouldn’t have been much use.”

Angie cleared her throat. “It was pretty rough here, too.

Mom’s in pieces.”

“I know,” Kerry replied softly. “And given what Uncle Harold was saying, maybe it’s better I wasn’t there.”

The ensuing silence was definitely awkward. “He didn’t mean that,” Angie said. “Everyone’s just so stressed; you say stuff.”

A lie. “Sure.”

“You’ll come back with us tonight, right?”

Kerry gazed across the room at the compassionate blue eyes watching her. “I don’t know. That’s probably not a good idea.”

“C’mon, Kerry. We’re your family, and this… Of course it’s a good idea. Why not?” Angie sounded distressed.

Kerry took a breath. “Dar’s here. She flew in last night.”

“Oh.” Angie let out a heartfelt sigh. “Well, it can’t make things any worse, I guess. I’m glad she’s there for you, at any rate.”

That brought a faint smile to Kerry’s face. “Me, too. Listen, I’ll meet you guys at the hospital, then we’ll see from there, okay?” She knew Angie wasn’t happy with that. “Angie, you know how the rest of the family feels about me. Let’s not make things harder than they already are.”