“How are you?” She took his hands. “Angie said you got promoted?”

A brief smile flickered over his face. “They made me a junior partner, yeah. Not too bad for less than a year, but nothing like your career’s been.”

“Mm.” Kerry smiled back. “Thanks for coming down here. I know it’s a zoo downstairs.” She exhaled, glancing behind him to see her uncles reenter the room. “Not that it’s been much better here.”

“Yeah, Mike was telling me.” Brian gently rubbed her hands.

“It’s good to see you, though. You look great.” His eyes twinkled slightly. “I’ll have to come down to Miami sometime to see where you get that tan from.”

“Anytime,” Kerry said. “Plenty of sun to go around, I promise you.”


80 Melissa Good

“Kerrison.”

Kerry glanced at where her mother was now standing, with Angie and Mike next to her. Kerry gave Brian’s hands one last squeeze, then released them and straightened her shoulders before she started towards her family. Her eyes flicked to the far corner of the room where Dar was leaning against the window and gazing out at the snow. After a brief instant, Dar turned and met her gaze, her lips tensing in sympathy. Kerry returned the look, then walked to her mother. “I’m here.”

“Let us go into that area there.” Cynthia indicated a small office tucked inconspicuously in a corner. The doctor was standing there, obviously waiting for them. “It’s time.”

They filed into the room and closed the door behind them, leaving the rest of the assembled family and friends in a somber, chilly silence.

IT WAS GRAY outside. Dar could feel the chill through the thick glass of the window, and she watched in idle bemusement as the snow fell harder onto the parking lot below.

The weather seemed appropriate to the situation, though. Dar glanced down at the television news trucks gathered near the back entrance to the hospital, their lights glowing dimly in the winter gloom. It also matched the atmosphere inside the room, she acknowledged wryly as she glanced up to catch the reflection in the window of what was behind her.

Center of attention, Dar resisted the urge to straighten. She could see Kerry’s aunts and uncles glaring at her back, and the half furtive, half curious looks she was getting from the tall, blond Brian. Her…rival? Dar almost smiled. Kerry had called Brian a good friend, but she hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to him at their first meeting, a brief few minutes at Angie’s bedside after the birth of her infant son.

Brian’s son as well, in fact. Dar wondered if Angela had ever told anyone else about that. Even having only exchanged a nod with Brian, Dar thought he’d be a better match for Angie than her husband Richard. She looked at her own reflection, seeing the pale light glint off her eyes. Would that change now?

For Kerry’s sake, Dar felt badly about the whole reason they were there. She was honest enough with herself, however, to admit she wasn’t sorry to see the end of Senator Stuart. The man was a bastard who’d made his kids miserable most of their lives, in Dar’s view. And while she wasn’t glad, exactly, that he’d been stricken the way he had been, she also didn’t feel any reason to pity him.


Thicker Than Water 81

Dar sighed and watched the snow covering the cars. She was surprised at just how depressing it appeared.

“Excuse me.”

Dar’s eyes jerked up at the sound and she turned to find Brian standing right behind her. He met her surprised gaze warily, then pursed his lips and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Yeah?”

“I…um.” Brian peered at her from under sandy eyebrows.

“We really didn’t get a chance to meet last time.” He stuck a hand out. “I’m Brian Evans.”

“I know.” Dar allowed a half smile as she took his hand and gripped it firmly. “Dar Roberts.”

“Yeah, I know,” Brian replied, returning his hand to his pocket. “Well, I just wanted to say hello.” He seemed at a loss for further conversation.

Dar leaned back against the glass and crossed one ankle over the other. He was fairly good looking, she decided, with an angular face and a gentle demeanor that reminded her just a little of Kerry’s. “I’m glad you came.”

He peered at her. “You are?”

Dar nodded. “Kerry needs all the friends she can get.” She glanced pointedly around him at the rest of her lover’s family, who were glaring at her with venomous intent.

“Ah.” Brian followed her eyes, then exhaled. “Yeah, it’s been tough, or so Angie told me. I guess it’s more important for some people to nurture their hatred.”

“Yeah.” Dar exhaled. “More I see of it, the more I appreciate my parents.” She shook her head a tiny bit. “What a waste of energy.”

Brian gave her a wry smile, then a motion at the door caught his eye and he turned. “Ah.”

Dar looked over his shoulder. In the doorway, stood a tall, very distinguished man with steel gray hair and a clean-shaven face. She glanced at Brian. “Someone you know?”

Brian exhaled. “Charles Durham.” He kept his voice low as the rest of the occupants of the room went to greet the newcomer.

“He’s been a friend of the family for many years.”

“Lawyer?” Dar asked.

“Worse.” Brian hesitated, then apparently made his decision, moved closer to Dar, and folded his arms. “Their very, very conservative pastor.”

“Oh.” Dar sighed, wishing she and Kerry and the unexpectedly nice Brian were three hundred miles away. “Great.”

THE INNER DOOR opened and the family filed out, followed 82 Melissa Good by the doctor, who clasped Cynthia’s shoulders before he walked towards the ICU.

As Dar watched in concern, Kerry straightened her shoulders with an obvious effort, then turned to meet her eyes. The look in them was quiet but resigned as Kerry held out a hand in obvious invitation.

“Excuse me,” Dar murmured as she left her spot by the window and crossed the tile floor to Kerry’s side. She took her hand and clasped it. “You all right?” she whispered.

Kerry nodded, swallowing audibly. “I didn’t think it would be that hard to let him go,” she murmured. “Damn it hurts. Even after everything he did.”

Dar briefly rested her cheek against Kerry’s hair, trading trite words for the comfort of touch. They waited for the rest of the family to join them, everyone blessedly silent for a change, before they proceeded to the ICU.

The pastor joined Cynthia and they spoke quietly, heads bent together. His eyes flicked to Kerry, but Cynthia quickly raised a hand, in an almost impatient gesture. The pastor nodded and patted her shoulder, but couldn’t resist a slight shake of his head.

Kerry didn’t miss any of it, but she remained silent, firmly squeezing Dar’s hand as they stood waiting. Memories of stern lectures from their pastor rang within her, but she hoped with all her heart the old man would focus his energies on her father and leave her alone.

Dar squeezed her hand in return and took a step closer, bringing a welcome sense of security totally at odds with the chill, dis-approving atmosphere in the room, and managing to carry off an air of somber, yet potent intimidation.

Just when the tension was almost unbearable, Cynthia sighed and turned towards the door. “Please, let’s all go now.”

The hallway was quiet, save for the scuffs and squeaks of their shoes as they walked towards the critical care unit. As they entered, a nurse looked up and pressed her lips together in sympathy before she intercepted them.

“We’ve just taken him off the machines. You can stay as long as you want to,” she told them with professional gentleness, and waited for them to move past her before she pulled the privacy curtain around them and left.

Kerry was surprised at how quiet it was. They’d turned off all the alarms and all the pumps—machines stood mutely dark in the corner, save for one single monitor that showed an already irregular heartbeat.

She focused on the still figure in the bed, watching the hesitant breaths with a surreal sense of distance. It was almost like Thicker Than Water 83

this was happening to a stranger. In a way, her mother had been right, she realized. Yesterday she’d said her goodbye, an inner part of her knowing there would be no recovery from this. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the end.

Kerry felt a warm touch on her back and she looked up at Dar, then glanced around the room. Everyone was solemn, leaving their differences outside for a brief time while they gave death its due dignity. Even Dar’s presence was accepted, however grudgingly.

Pastor Charles held Cynthia’s hand, his head bowed in prayer. Kerry pensively studied his profile, remembering long hours spent in Bible study and his uncompromising view of the world and all their places in it.

“Go with God, Roger,” the pastor said softly as he finished his prayer. “Knowing the Lord will watch over your family and keep them safe until you meet again.”

A shiver passed over Kerry, and she grasped the railings of the bed. The reality of the situation came clear as she watched her father’s chest move more slowly, more erratically.

She glanced at the slack face, its half open, glazed eyes staring off into a strange realm none of them could yet see. There was no expression there, no familiarity.

The green line on the monitor rippled, its bumps jerking and hesitating.

Kerry found it hard to breathe herself, and she focused on the railing between her hands, its faintly reflective surface showing a flash of blue green from her sweater. Dar’s hand settled on her shoulder, feeling warm and incredibly real in all that cold silence, and she only just resisted turning and hiding her face against her lover’s chest.