all the nonsense. I took a look at the mail, by the way, and answered that one you sent and a few others.”

“Good girl.” Dar smiled. “Getting away sounds like a good idea. Maybe after today, they’ll settle down a little.”

“Maybe,” Kerry replied, reluctantly. “Well, anyway, let me get going.

Just wanted to say hi, and I hope you enjoy your dinner.”

“You, too,” Dar answered.

“Not likely,” came the uncharacteristically pessimistic retort. “But I’ll give it the old college try. Talk to you later, Dar.”

Dar closed the phone thoughtfully and clipped it back onto her belt.

Damn, she sounds depressed. “Families can be such hell,” she commented audibly.

“Hmm?” Jack turned his head. “Oh, yeah, I guess. Was that your office?”

“No, my assistant. She’s home and having a tough time with her folks.”

Slowly, Jack rolled over, and propped his head up on one hand. “Dar, I…” He fell silent, then plucked a stem of grass, not looking at her. “I need some advice.”

Dar drew up one knee and circled it with an arm. “Sure.”

He hesitated. “Have you…ever had to tell someone…I mean, someone you really cared about, something you knew was going to hurt them and make them feel…disappointed in you?”

Uh oh. Dar considered carefully before she answered. “Yes, I have. Why?”

He looked up, his blue eyes meeting Dar’s. “Was it hard?”

She nodded. “Very.”

He looked back at the ground. “Do you think, sometimes, it’s better not to tell?” “Well.” Dar sighed. “It depends on what it is, and who the other person is. An elderly grandmother, for instance, you don’t want to go telling that her long-dead husband was actually a swindler. It serves no purpose.” He nodded. “But important things, Jack, they have a way of coming out anyway.” The hypocrisy of what she was saying hit her, and she winced in reflex.

“Funny you should put it that way,” he replied softly.

Her eyes fastened on his bent head, an eyebrow edging up. “You wanna tell me what’s going on? You know I can keep my mouth shut.”

He swallowed and nervously fingered the grass. “Dar, you’ve known me since I was in short pants.” He exhaled. “We grew up together. Did I ever seem…not normal to you?”

Dar let out a snort of laughter. “Jack, you’re the most normal person I know. You’re a stereotype for a Navy brat, and you know it.”

Jack nodded. “That’s what I thought. That’s what I always thought, until last May.” He fell silent for a long moment. “I got a new back seat.”

It took Dar a minute to realize he was talking about his flying partner, and not a car part. “Yeah?” she prodded cautiously.

“Robbie, yeah. Robin Hood, we call him.” Jack seemed intently interested in examining the grass stalks. “We, um…we hit it off real good, you know?

Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don’t. I’ve had some back seats I couldn’t hardly stand to talk to, and some that are my buddies even now.”


406 Melissa Good

“Uh huh,” Dar murmured. “Nice guy, huh?”

“Yeah.” Jack sighed. “We started hanging around together, and I, um, I…

It’s never happened to me before, but…I kept wanting to…to touch him.”

Dar’s eyes closed briefly, and she shifted, biting her lip. “Yeah, and?” She kept her voice interested, but unalarmed.

“And, at first, I thought I was just…I thought I was sick, okay? I hadn’t had a girlfriend in a while, and… Well, you know.” He looked miserable.

“And I-I…I just told myself that I should go into a corner, and…and…”

“I know,” Dar replied softly. “So what happened?”

He ripped a few blades of grass up. “I was coming back from the shower, and…and he came into my quarters, and he, um, he…” He fell silent again.

“He touched you?” Dar guessed, and got a tiny nod. “And you liked that.” Another tiny nod. “All right.”

Finally, Jack looked up, fearfully peeking into her blue eyes. “You don’t think that’s sick?”

Dar reached out and put a hand over his. “That would be incredibly hypocritical of me.”

Dead silence. Jack blinked at her. “Bu…” His brows knit. “You?”

Blue eyes met his evenly. “Do you think that’s sick?”

“Dar, that’s insane. You could have any guy you wanted. I don’t…I mean…you’re gorgeous. I…” He spluttered, winding down.

Dar waited. Finally she sighed. “No, I don’t think it’s sick, and you shouldn’t either.”

He thought about that. “We were both kind of…we were pretty weirded out.” He sighed. “But after a while, it just seemed okay.” He paused. “Until I thought about telling my father.”

Dar exhaled. “Yeah.”

“Dar, it would kill him.” Jack looked up at her. “I’m his only son. He wants grandkids. Jesus, he’s given me everything, done everything in his power for me. I…” His blond head shook back and forth. “I can’t do that to him. I love him too much.”

What a problem. Dar felt for both her friend and for Gerald Easton. Who, certainly, would be devastated at the news. She didn’t really blame Gerald; he was a prisoner to his generation, his upbringing, and his lifelong devotion to the service. “Tell you what, just put it aside for a few days. Let me think about it. Maybe I can come up with an idea,” she told him sympathetically.

He looked up at her pathetically. “If you can find a way out of this for me with honor, I’ll owe you for the rest of my life, Dar.”

She ruffled his hair gently. “That’s what friends are for, Jack, and I don’t have many, so I take care of the ones I do have.” She gazed at him. “You know, I told your father if I was going to marry anyone, it’d be you.” He blushed a deep, fierce red. “You know…” she kidded him gently. “Worst comes to worst I’ll bear you a grandkid for your dad.” He turned a color so dark, his eyebrows stood out in stark whiteness. She ruffled his hair and chuckled again.


Tropical Storm 407

KERRY CLOSED THE phone and went to find Angela. “You ready?” she asked her sister, finding her in the living room.

“Mmm-hmm, let me just get my bag. Hang on.” Angela nodded, leaving the room and returning a moment later. “Let’s go. They’re having a choir recital at the downtown church, I thought maybe you’d like to hear it.”

Anything. “Sure,” Kerry agreed readily, following her out the door. They got in Angela’s car and drove onto the parkway, passing endless rows of tall, thin, bare trees. “This place is depressing, Angie,” Kerry said softly.

Her sister eyed her. “You’re just now noticing that?”

“Guess I never had a contrast before. You have to come visit me sometimes in Miami,” Kerry responded. “It’s so different. I could take you out to Bayside, or the Grove, maybe down into the Keys. I think you’d like it.”

Angela sighed. “Maybe if Brian and I end up running away from home, we’ll end up down by you,” she told her sister wryly. “Is there a market for earnest lawyers down there?”

Kerry gazed at her a long time. “Have you talked about that, or are you just razzing me?” she asked. “Of course there’s a market for lawyers, are you kidding? He could make a living alone just representing one of our politicians on voter-fraud charges.”

Her sister exhaled. “We talked about it,” she admitted. “A lot had to do with how you…I mean, you know.”

“Reacted to the news?” Kerry smiled.

“Mmm, more or less, yeah. I don’t know, it’s such a huge step, but if I try to separate or divorce Richard legally, you know I’ll never get out of here.”

She navigated an interchange. “You know he’ll demand custody, and you know Father will just go crazy.”

“Yeah,” Kerry acknowledged softly. “I don’t know, that seems really drastic, Angie. But I won’t lie to you and tell you I wouldn’t be glad to have you down there.” She smiled at her sister. “In fact, I know a nice apartment in Kendall that might be available sometime soon.”

Angela darted a look at her. “Oh, really?” She signaled and turned off the expressway, heading into town. Low, brown brick buildings began to travel by on either side of the road. “That’s moving kind of fast, isn’t it?”

Kerry leaned back and braced a knee against the dashboard. “It was just something Dar said, before I left. She said next year we’d have Thanksgiving on the Island. It surprised me, because she’s someone who really values her privacy, you know?” She exhaled. “But when we’re together, it’s like there’s no…personal space, if that makes sense. She doesn’t get on my nerves or make me uncomfortable to be around, and I don’t make her that way, I don’t think.”

She paused reflectively. “I know that when I woke up this past Sunday, I realized I wanted to wake up with her next to me for a long time to come.”

Angela slowed to turn into the church. “Well, don’t take things too quickly. I know you guys really like each other, but that’s a big step, Ker.”

Kerry laughed gently. “I have to wait for her to ask, you know? It could take months, and I was trying to figure out how she’d do it. Probably really matter-of-fact… ‘You know, Kerry, it would be more cost efficient to use one car to go to work, and my place is closer. What about it?’ ”

Angela laughed. “Really?”


408 Melissa Good

“Oh yeah, that’s Dar—no flowery speech or anything. She’s very practical and straightforward,” Kerry assured her, then paused. “Though I did come back from lunch to find a rose on my desk once,” she amended thoughtfully.

Angela parked the car and sighed. “Sounds pretty darn romantic to me, Sis,” she commented wistfully. They got out and walked across the parking lot, joining several groups of other people heading for the church’s entrance.