Kerry made a happy sounding grunt and gave her a hug.

The rain eased back into a friendly rumble, and the soft gray light of dawn now became a welcome sight. Life, Dar acknowledged, is a damn, damn funny thing sometimes.

It really was.


Chapter

Twelve

“HEY, KERRY.”

Kerry turned, hearing a somewhat familiar voice. She spotted Lena approaching her, looking painfully uncomfortable in her linen skirt suit and pumps. “Hey.” She went back to stirring the two cups of coffee she’d been preparing. “How’s it going?”

“It’s okay,” Lena said. “I think I’m sort of getting the hang of working here. They haven’t thrown me out yet.”

Kerry stifled a smile. “I’m sure you’re doing fine.” She turned again and leaned on the counter. “How did things work out at home? Any changes?”

Lena was briefly silent. “You mean, did the bitch let me come home? No. She dropped the charges, though. Thanks for having those lawyer people talk to her.”

“At least that’s something.” Kerry gave her a sympathetic look. “And it was no problem for us to do that. I’m glad she took the advice.”

Lena nodded. “Hey, I saw you on television the other night.

Sorry to hear about your father and all that stuff.” She seemed a little uncomfortable. “But I’d be glad as hell if my parents croaked.”

Kerry took her cups, sat down, and patted the table next to her. She waited for Lena to take a seat. “You say that, but it’s not true.”

“Sure it is,” Lena said. “I mean, you ain’t had happen to you what I have.”

Kerry rested her chin on her fist. “Lena, they’re still your family, no matter what they did. There are things my family did to me that I didn’t like or appreciate either, but they’re still my family.”

Lena shrugged. “Mine sucks.”

“Mine does too, sometimes,” Kerry said. “When my father found out I was gay, do you know what he did?”

“Freaked?”


Thicker Than Water 207

“Threw me in a psycho ward.”

Lena’s eyes nearly popped out. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kerry said with a sad sigh. “He hated my being gay.

None of my family likes it. Well, maybe my brother and sister don’t really mind, but…”

“Wow.” Lena pondered. “So you must be glad he’s outta here, then, yeah?”

Kerry took a breath to answer, the facile lie forming inside her mouth. Then she hesitated. Was she glad? “It’s not that simple. He was my father.”

Lena shrugged again. “Yeah, well, my old man’s an asshole, and if he jumped in front of a truck, I’d clap.” She got up. “Anyway, thanks for the help. It’s been pretty cool bringing home a like, real paycheck.”

Kerry managed a smile and also stood. “Well, glad things are going all right.”

“You going to be at the group thing next week?” Lena asked with a slight hesitation. “They were, like, asking me.”

“I’ll be there.” Kerry picked up the two cups. “I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about this week.”

“For sure.” Lena half grinned, then she disappeared, leaving Kerry to cross the hallway back to her office in silence.

DAR SAT QUIETLY in her office, just taking the time to look around and study the space as if it were new to her. Then she exhaled and focused on her visitor, who had just seated himself across from her desk. “So.”

“So.” Alastair nodded. “All’s well that ends to our advantage, eh?”

Dar lifted a hand and let it drop on the desk. “Something like that. Listen, I’m sorry about what happened with Senator Stuart. I should have talked to you before I did that.”

Alastair soberly nodded again. “Yes, lady, you should have.

I’m the last person who’s dinging you for getting a life, Dar, but y’know, you’re not the only one who’d have had their tail roasted because of that.”

Dar got up, walked to the window, and gazed out at the water. Her shoulder was back in its sling, and she leaned against the warm glass with her good hand, having no real response for what Alastair was saying.

“Now, I’m not saying anything about you taking off for parts north, hear?” Alastair joined her at the window. “Totally understood that, Dar. Totally.”

“Yeah.” Dar exhaled. “But when did I turn into Dudley Do-208 Melissa Good Right, is that what you’re asking?”

“Er…”

Dar turned and leaned her back against the glass, feeling the sun as it soaked through her shirt. “Kerry was right.”

“Eh?” Alastair backed up, and hitched up his trousers to perch on the corner of her desk. “Right about what?”

“I was too close to the Navy contract.” Dar met his eyes. “I should have assigned someone else to do it. It was personal.”

Alastair rubbed his jaw. “Ah.”

“It was too personal.” Dar exhaled. “Getting those bastards meant more to me than protecting the company, and I can’t pretend that didn’t happen.”

Alastair folded his arms over his chest. “So, what am I supposed to do with you? If you recall, we got those contracts in the first place because it was personal to you, lady.”

“I know.”

“We’ve gotten more than one set of those in the recent past,”

Alastair continued. “Including the couple that, if my noggin’s working right, let you finagle keeping on some staff from an obscure little software house we picked up a while back.”

“Hmph.” Dar tilted her head. “Yeah, that’s true. I should have talked to someone about this, though. Not just handed that crap over to someone who hates our guts like the senator did.”

Alastair sighed. “Well,” he lifted both hands and let them drop to his knees, “I don’t know, Dar. From what Ham tells me, Stuart went hush on the whole investigation of us right after you tossed him those papers.”

Dar’s eyebrows lifted.

“So, who knows?” Alastair said. “Maybe you did us a favor after all.”’

“You don’t really believe that.”

Alastair shrugged. “Lady, I’m ready to believe anything at this point. That man’s going to hand me the keys to a couple of billion dollars tomorrow, and, in the long run, that’s what counts with the folks who write our paychecks.”

“Eh.” Dar made a face.

“How’s the arm?”

“Killing me,” Dar admitted, glad of the change of subject.

“It’s been a long damn week.” She paused, then looked up at him.

“I’m taking some time off over the holidays. We’re going out on the boat.”

“Good!” Alastair nodded firmly. “I think you need it, y’know? Get some space around you, and all that.”

“Get my head together,” Dar said with a wry smile. “Thanks, Alastair.”


Thicker Than Water 209

Alastair got up and waved a hand at her. “I sure didn’t do a thing, Dar. Glad it all worked out.” He checked his watch. “You and Ms. Stuart free for lunch? I’d love to try some of that Cuban food you’re always telling me about.”

“Sure.” Dar sat down and exhaled, feeling a sense of belated relief. At least for now, things were all right.

At least, for now.

KERRY TOOK A slow sip of her coffee as she leaned on the railing and absorbed the early morning sun with a feeling of complete and total pleasure. It was just after dawn, and she was already dressed in her swimsuit, with a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top thrown over it, her bare toes curling against the stone balcony as she sniffed the clean, salt air.

“What a gorgeous day,” she said softly, then looked to her right as she heard the whine and hiss of the condo’s golf cart approaching. “Hey.”

Dar got out of the cart and headed for the garden gate. “Hey, yourself, cute stuff.” She opened the door and disappeared, to reappear moments later as she entered the kitchen and padded out onto the balcony next to Kerry. “All loaded up and ready to go.”

“Cool.” Kerry offered her a sip of coffee. “I made some breakfast. Want to bring it out here and share?” She waited while Dar obligingly ducked inside and returned with a small tray of eggs, toast, and fresh fruit. They sat down together at the metal and glass table and traded forkfuls as the sunlight poured across the space.

“You know,” Dar leaned back and propped her feet up against the railing, “I’m really looking forward to today.”

Kerry looked at her. “I can tell. You’ve been smiling all morning. I am too.”

Dar returned her gaze. “Was that a map of the Caribbean I saw in the study?”

Kerry grinned, her nose wrinkling up appealingly.

Dar chuckled, clasped Kerry’s hand over the table, and rubbed her thumb against the knuckles. “My little pirate. I can’t wait to sail the high seas with you.”

Kerry’s green eyes were fairly ablaze with an intense joy.

“If I’d known you’d react like this, I’d have suggested a cruise a lot sooner,” Dar remarked mildly.

“It’s not just the trip,” Kerry said with a tiny, wry smile. “It’s being out alone with you for a whole week. You have no idea how much I want that right now. It could have been a cruise, or a 210 Melissa Good remote cabin in the woods, or a hike in the wilderness; I wouldn’t have cared.”

“I would,” Dar said kindly. “Mosquitoes and leaves for TP do not put me in a romantic mood nearly as much as salt air and you in that green swimsuit.”

Kerry blushed. “You must think I’m weirding out. It’s just that so much has happened in the last little while, I really want some time to just...” Her jaw shook a little, and Dar squeezed her hand in concern. “Live.”

“You got it,” Dar whispered, intently watching Kerry’s profile. The green eyes turned to hers with a look of almost painful vulnerability. “I think we’ve earned that.”