Kerry rested her elbow on Dar's knee and looked at the list of shipyards now displayed. There were only six, but though she racked her memory, she couldn't recall Quest mentioning any of the names. What had he said? Just that the ships were somewhere in Auckland, being worked on.

Dar called up one of their info-parsing agents and typed the names of the companies into them. "Now." She paused as she got to the intelligent language question field. "How would you tell if a shipyard suddenly lost business?"

"Not stock." Kerry mused, as Dar shook her head. "Layoffs?"

"Too soon."

"Newspaper stories?"

Dar nodded. "Let's see what that gets us." She typed rapidly into the field and hit enter, and then watched the small running dog in the corner dash merrily away. "Okay." She half turned and set the laptop back down on the table. "So maybe that'll answer your question from last night." She put her head back down on the couch arm and picked up the report again.

Kerry extended a fork full of pasta toward her partner. "Maybe," she agreed, smiling as Dar closed her teeth over the offering and removed it. "I'm going to throw the stuff in our overnight bags into the washing machine. Got anything else you need to go in?"

"Thought it was my turn to do that this week." Dar gazed at her. "You did it last week."

"Mm...yes, it was your turn." Kerry put a fingertip on her partner's chin and lifted it slightly. "But it seems some little nerdy gremlin got all my office clothes dry cleaned for me when I wasn't looking. I don't suppose you have any idea how that happened, huh?"

Dar smiled charmingly at her.

"And somehow my car got mysteriously washed and waxed while we were gone. Any ideas?"

The charming smile grew wider.

"Uh huh. I thought so." Kerry leaned over and gave her a kiss. "So I'm going to go grab your dirty clothes from the closet and get those suds going." She pushed off Dar's hip and stood, collecting the dishes from the table before she sauntered off toward the kitchen.

Dar let her hand fall on the forgotten papers, taking a moment to enjoy the simple feeling of warmth inside her left by the look of indulgent affection in Kerry's eyes. It even eased the cramps some, or at least she convinced herself it did as she stretched out, and then curled her body up again into the dark leather.

She took a moment to look around the living room, which for so long had simply been 'the condo' to her. Plain white walls and mostly monochromatic furniture had graced it since she'd moved in, providing her with a pleasant, if unremarkable place to throw her car keys at the day's end, and lay her head down for those long tropical nights.

It had never been her home. But now it was their home, and from the colorful Mexican throw rug over the love seat to the framed photograph of them both on the entertainment center it had become a part of her in a way she never thought it would.

That was why, she acknowledged in silence, she'd gotten so wired being around Shari. It brought back memories of what her life had been like for so long, and had provided a reminder of everything she had to be thankful for now.

She never wanted to take that for granted. She never wanted Kerry to take it for granted either, though she'd never gotten the feeling that her partner felt that way. It was more an impression she got that Kerry considered their relationship a natural part of her life and expected it to remain that way forever.

Kerry had no doubts. Dar didn't have any doubts about Kerry, but the last week had made her wonder if she didn't still have some doubts about herself.

Which, frankly, sucked. She'd thought she'd gotten past that. It was aggravating to say the least, feeling again those tiny darts of insecurity pricking at her.

Dar sighed. Maybe it had been PMS. Certainly today, now that she'd started, the doubts seemed to have vanished completely replaced by a feeling of rock solid stability she'd become used to over the last year.

Kerry strolled across the tile in front of her, heading for the bedroom. "Crocodile Hunter marathon this afternoon...you up for it?"

Dar grinned, releasing a happier sigh. "Sure." She hesitated. "Hey, Ker?"

"Yeeesss?" Kerry paused in the doorway, leaning back into the room.

"Thanks."

"For the laundry?" Kerry laughed. "You forgot the last time I did it I washed your whites with my burgundy sweatshirt and we both ended up pink in inappropriate places."

"I like my pink bra," Dar remarked mildly. "But thanks anyway. I don't really feel like standing over the machine today."

Kerry winked. "I figured. No problem." She disappeared into the bedroom. "It'll be my turn soon enough. You can get me hot chocolate."

Chino wandered over and climbed onto the couch, circling twice before she settled down at Dar's feet, resting her muzzle on Dar's ankle.

"It's a deal," Dar murmured. "Best deal going, matter of fact, right Chino?"

"Gruff."



Chapter Eight



KERRY HEARD THE soft ding of mail arriving into her inbox. She swiveled around in her chair and rolled her trackball, glancing at the sender and the subject and stifling a curse. "Oh, pooters." She clicked on it anyway and read the text. "Crap, crap, crap."

Finishing, she sat back in her leather chair and frowned at the pc, sitting inoffensively on the center of her office desk. "I can't believe I forgot about the damn party tomorrow night." With a sigh, she hit the intercom button on the phone. "Dar?"

She released the button and waited, but after a minute there was no answer. She pressed the button again. "Dar?"

Still no answer. Kerry got up and circled her desk, emerging from her office on the second floor of the condo and starting down the staircase. She peeked over, but the living room was empty, Dar's laptop sitting mutely on the coffee table spinning its screen saver in lonely silence. "Hm."

She continued down the steps to the lower level, poking her head into Dar's office and finding an equally empty space. "Where are you, hmm?" She turned and realized Chino wasn't around either. "Ah." She headed for the patio, spotting a blond Labrador tail near the two person swing they'd hung out there.

"Hey." Kerry slid the door open and stepped out, grimacing slightly at the contrast between the cool dry air inside and the warm, languid sea breeze outside. "Listen, I fubared."

Dar looked up in surprise from the book she'd been reading. "You?"

"Me." Kerry walked over and joined her on the swing. "I...um...committed us to a party tomorrow night that I completely forgot to tell you about." She studied her bare feet for a moment, before she glanced sideways at her partner. "Fubar."

Dar let the book close over her hand and studied her penitent appearing swingmate. "Hmmm...what kind of party? Don't tell me it's the condo association again."

"No."

"Good. I'd have to whip you with soggy Ramen noodles." The blue eyes twinkled gently. "Let me guess...the church?"

Kerry nodded, watching the expression on Dar's face carefully. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Nah." Dar displayed her book cover. "Conversation there's gotta beat this. I've seen drier material about heuristic switching, but not by much."

Relieved, Kerry rested her head against Dar's shoulder. "Remind me to get you some nice, trashy bodice rippers for your afternoon time outs, honey. You'll go blind reading this stuff." She tapped the book. "But I really am sorry it slipped my mind. I said yes right before we started talking about leaving early for the trade show and...well..."

Dar put her arm around Kerry and pushed against the railing, rocking them both gently in the light breeze. She wasn't that fond of parties, but the church ones were pretty harmless, and she'd taken a liking to a few of the more regular members. "Maybe I'll even stop having cramps by then. Son of a bitch, I got it bad this month."

"Want to go for a walk? Maybe it'll help."

Dar tossed her book down and stood up, taking Kerry's hand as they opened the gate and walked down the steps into the small patio garden with Chino frisking happily at their heels. It was late afternoon, and the breeze from the sea had started to cool off the air a little, bringing the scent of the salt water with it.

They made their way down to the beach and turned to walk along it as the incoming tide chased their steps. Chino found a piece of driftwood and pounced on it, lifting it and returning to her owners with an air of excited triumph.

"Whatcha got?" Dar reached out and took the stick, examining it before she tossed it ahead of them. "Good girl!"

Chino raced after it, living up to her breed as she retrieved the stick and plowed back toward them.

Kerry was content to watch, her hand still tucked into Dar's as they walked along the mostly deserted beachfront. They got a glance or two, but most of the residents knew them and she returned the smiles and half waves of the few still lying on neatly toweled chaise lounges, soaking up the sun.

Dar swerved a little, taking them into the surf up to their calves. Chino bolted into the water, barking as the surf surged back at her.

"Chino, you silly dog," Kerry scolded their pet.

The Labrador bounded over to her and shook herself vigorously, showering both of them with cool sea water. "Gruff!"

"Bah." Dar shielded her face with her free hand. "Chino, you little..."

"Bitch?" Kerry supplied, with a chuckle. "Yes, she is, isn't she? G'wan, Chi...get the stick!" She pointed to the shore. "Get it!"