Tropical Storm - DK1

by Melissa Good

  Kerry was grateful for the shift in focus, even though it was a depressing one. “God, no. They’re making plans for me to come home. I’ve got to try and think of a way to get them to back off, before I end up in ruffles attending some rubber-chicken banquet in Michigan.”

  “Mmm. So, what else did you get?” Colleen resolutely pushed her worries out of her mind. “I see bags.”

  The blonde woman smiled. “Oh god, wait. I brought you back some of the best chocolate. Here.” She dug out her large-handled bag and began showing off her purchases. “Try this fudge.”

  “Mmm.” Colleen nibbled appreciatively as she peered at the brochures her friend had brought back. She held up the picture of the Grand Floridian.

  “Is this where you stayed?” “Wow. Must be niiiicce.”

  “Oh yeah.” Kerry grinned. “They had the best banana-stuffed French toast for breakfast…and a really nice view.”

  “French toast, huh?” The redhead chuckled. “So you guys didn’t do the 218 Melissa Good bread and water thing, that’s good. Did you share a room?” Artfully put, she thought, with an inward smirk.

  “Nope and nope,” Kerry replied cheerfully. “I ate like a pig, I’m ashamed to admit, and I enjoyed every minute of it. We managed to get to Epcot during the International Food Festival. It was great.” She patted her stomach. “But with all the damn walking and everything, I don’t think I did too much damage—it was worth it, though. I had a really great time, even with worrying about the bid and all.”

  Colleen studied her as she dug into her packages. Smiling and interested, her sun-tinted skin evident in the lamplight, Kerry looked like she’d just come back from a vacation, not a business meeting. The redhead smiled to herself.

  “Well, you look great. Got some sun, huh?”

  Kerry nodded distractedly. “We spent six or seven hours at Blizzard Beach. I got sunburned like crazy, even though I wore screen, but it was great.

  Those slides are fantastic.” She pulled out a bag. “I got you a T-shirt.”

  “Ho-ho,” Colleen laughed, holding it up. “I like it. He looks good in a tartan.” It was a bold Mickey, dressed in green Scottish garb and carrying bagpipes. “Blizzard Beach huh? So, how’s your boss look in a bathing suit then, eh?”

  “Gorgeous,” Kerry answered without thinking. “She’s got a body to die f—” She stopped awkwardly, realizing what she was saying, and gave Colleen a gently accusing look. “Col…”

  Her friend smiled and patted her cheek. “Never you worry, lassie, it’s clear as a bell to me you’re head over heels. And if you’re happy, I’m happy for you, okay?”

  “I am not…” Kerry burst into a protest, “…any such thing.” Her voice trailed off, and she sighed. “Oh my god, is it that obvious?” Her shoulders slumped.

  “Hey, hey.” Colleen laughed and put an arm around her. “I think it was the fact that your face lights up every time you say her name that clued me in, but don’t worry, kiddo. If it’s any consolation to ya, I think you’ve got great taste. I can’t say I like her methods, but she’s one hot-looking lady.”

  Kerry folded her arms across her chest. It felt good to stop dissembling.

  “I feel like such an idiot, Col. I thought I was too old for crushes. It’s embarrassing,” she admitted ruefully. “But, yeah. She smiles and my damn blood pressure skyrockets…and I start stuttering like some kind of star struck teenager.” She shook her head with a sigh. “I’ll get over it, but it’s driving me a little crazy.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Colleen patted her knee. “How does she feel about it?”

  Kerry stared at her. “Who, Dar? Oh, Jesus, Colleen, she doesn’t know anything about it. I mean, she’s my boss, for Christ’s sake. She likes me, sure, and she thinks I’m a good employee, but that’s it.”

  Colleen plucked at the bear’s arm and raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

  “Of course I’m sure,” Kerry insisted. “We just get along well, that’s all.”

  The redhead leaned over and sniffed at the bear’s fur. “That her perfume?” A half teasing, half sultry note had entered her voice.

  “Uh…” Kerry exhaled. “Yeah.”

  Tropical Storm 219

  “Nice,” Colleen complimented it. “Okay, well, I’m really looking forward to meeting her tomorrow then.” Her eyes twinkled.

  Kerry grabbed her arm and a fierce note enter her voice. “You’re not going to say anything to her. Colleen, I’m warning you…”

  A hand lifted. “Not a word, I swear it,” the redhead promised solemnly.

  “Well, let me let you get some sleep. We’ve got a long day tomorrow.” She rose and ruffled Kerry’s hair. “Sweet dreams, my friend.”

  Yeah. Kerry watched her leave, then she leaned against Pooh, letting out a long sigh. She considered a moment, then picked up the cordless phone lying on the table and dialed a number which was now ingrained in her memory.

  An unusual five rings sounded before it was picked up. “Um. Hi. Listen, I know it’s late, but I…”

  “Hey, no, I’m glad you called. I fell asleep on the damn couch.” Dar’s voice sounded a little blurry. “What’s up?”

  “Um. Thanks for Pooh,” Kerry said softly. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  A chuckle sounded, sending gentle shivers down her spine.

  “I don’t recall signing the card,” Dar replied in playful tone. “But you’re welcome. I thought you deserved a little memento of the successful bid.”

  She paused, and Kerry could hear her clear her throat a little.

  “And…um, that was an insane thing to do, but thank you for the dolphins. I love…them.”

  Kerry blushed a deep, brick red. At a loss for words, she stammered softly. “Y-you’re welcome.” She could almost feel the smile on Dar’s face, as it faintly changed the tone of her voice when she spoke.

  “It was the best Boss’s Day ever, you can be sure of that,” Dar assured her. “Hey, you there?”

  “Uh, yes. Sorry. I’m really glad it was.” Kerry managed to get her tongue untied. “Well, you must be tired. Um. See you tomorrow?”

  “Uh huh,” Dar agreed. “See you tomorrow. ’Night, Kerry.”

  “ ’Night,” Kerry said softly as the line went dead. She could feel a deep welling of emotion going through her, and she put down the phone and hugged the bear to her, burying her face into its fur with helpless fierceness.

  After a long moment, she stood, changed into her nightshirt, then turned out the lights and went to bed, bringing the happy-looking Pooh right along with her.

  Chapter

  Eighteen

  KERRY WOKE UP late and didn’t even have time to get coffee before she ran out of the apartment and bolted north to the school, arriving with just minutes to spare and signing in with the work coordinator. It was eight AM, and they were due to start shortly, but the company always felt that it needed to make sure its volunteers weren’t starving to death beforehand. Kerry looked around her at the dull concrete building and the crowd of T-shirted workers milling about, munching on bananas and bagels and drinking orange juice. She grabbed some juice and a bagel, and took a deep breath of the cool, crisp morning air, brought on by a mild cold front that had rolled through the previous evening.

  “Hey, Kerry!” Susan trotted up. “Nice sunburn.”

  Kerry laughed and tugged on her T-shirt. She had it tucked into a pair of older jeans and was wearing her hiking boots. “Yeah, I was in Orlando the past few days. Got a chance to get out into the sun for a while.” She glanced at Susan. “How are you doing? I hear you’re heading up the new programming project.”

  Susan nodded her head, her silvered chestnut hair dancing in the light.

  “Yep, it’s actually pretty cool. I’m really enjoying it, nice programming environment, and they got me a killer developmental machine—a dual processor Pentium.”

  “Ooo, listen to the geekazoid.” Ray came up on the other side and rubbed Kerry’s arm. “Vaya, chica. What’s
up with the pinky stuff?” He stepped back and looked at her. “Have you been on vacation already? You look great.”

  Kerry rolled her eyes. “No, for the hundredth time already, I was at a meeting in Orlando the past couple of days. I just got a few hours off, that’s all.” She put her hands on her hips. “Not like you guys would get your faces out of your screens long enough to go to the beach yourselves, I noticed.”

  “Well, we’re not all snooty executives,” Ray teased. “So how is El Chupa?”

  “Yeah, has she made you eat any raw meat yet?” Susan added with a grin. “I heard yesterday that she hides small children in her office closet for afternoon snacks.”

  Kerry didn’t smile. “She’s fine. Actually, you’ll get to see for yourselves.

  She’s supposed to be here today.”

  “What?” Susan snorted in disbelief. “You’re joking, right? El high and mighty power suit doing grunt work?”

  “Nah, she’ll show up and tell everyone what to do, I betcha.” Ray Tropical Storm 221

  laughed. “I can see it, in those spike heels, too.”

  Kerry glanced over his shoulder and let a grin edge her lips. “Um, not quite.” She watched as the Lexus pulled to a quiet halt, and the door opened, allowing Dar to emerge into the sunlight.

  “Huh?” Susan followed her glance and fell silent. So did Ray.

  By some weird coincidence, the executive had chosen to wear almost a carbon copy of what Kerry had on. Her company-issued T-shirt was tucked neatly into faded blue jeans, and she wore practical work boots not unlike the ones the blonde woman was sporting. The sleeves on the shirt were rolled up, exposing her toned arms, and she’d tied her hair back into a loose tail. Her pale blue eyes stood out against her tanned skin, and she had a watchful, guarded look on her face. Until her eyes met Kerry’s, and then a quick grin lit up her visage and just as quickly disappeared. She went to the work coordinator and quietly gave her name.

  “Huh,” Susan muttered, obviously surprised.

  “Mamacita. She’s buff!” Ray whispered to Kerry. “And she’s young!”

  “Hey, is that the Popsicle Lady?” Colleen had come up on the other side and poked Kerry. “Certainly looks different than I remember her.”

  “Be nice, guys.” Kerry tore her eyes from the dark-haired woman with some effort. “She’s my boss, remember, okay?” She was aware of Dar’s moving closer, and she lifted her gaze to greet the older woman with a smile.

  “Hey.”

  Dar had reached them, and she gave the group a civilized nod before she let her eyes meet Kerry’s. “Morning.”

  Kerry smiled in reflex. “It sure is that. Dar, this is…”

  “Susan Barnes, Ray Ramirez, and Colleen McPherson,” Dar interrupted quietly, giving Susan and Ray a polite nod and inclining her head towards Colleen. “You’re at Barnett, correct?”

  They all blinked and Colleen looked uncharacteristically rattled. “Um, yeah. I don’t think we’ve met, but I’ve seen you at the bank once or twice.”

  “Over the tape stream incident,” Dar replied crisply. “I remember.” She turned to Susan and Ray who were frankly gawking at her. “I don’t believe we’ve spoken since you transitioned, but I hear things are settling down there.”

  “Everything’s all right, yes,” Ray answered a little stiffly.

  A faint, wry expression crossed Dar’s face and she backed off a step.

  “Well, I’ve got some painting to do.” She gave Kerry a nod and a ghost of a wink before she turned and headed for the small group of people assigned to help paint the side of the building. “Later, Kerry,” she called over her shoulder, giving her a casual wave.

  “Well, color me plaid,” Colleen blurted, giving Kerry a look. “I surely didn’t expect her to remember me, that’s a fact.”

  Kerry watched the tall figure walking away, her snug jeans and T-shirt showing off her lithely muscular body to admirably good effect. “She does a lot of amazing things,” she said. “She’s certainly surprised me these last few weeks.”

  Susan let out a low whistle. “I don’t remember her being that…um, she’s different than I remember,” the programmer muttered.

  222 Melissa Good

  “Me, too. She sure looks different in that than she did in a suit,” Colleen agreed. She looked at Kerry, who was regarding the grass thoughtfully. “Well, we’re the garbage detail, right?” She handed around bags. “Let’s break up—

  you guys want to get that side of the yard, and we’ll get this side?”

  “Sure.” Susan shook her bag open. “Let’s see who finishes first.”

  Kerry let her body work mechanically as she and Colleen scoured the schoolyard, picking up cans, bottles, and other, more sinister debris. Her mind roamed all over, but chiefly settled on the tall figure perched on a ladder, one leg swung over the top as she neatly covered part of a wall with a color most kindly called puke green. Quite a few people were painting, but to Kerry’s eyes, no one could come close to Dar’s casual grace with a paintbrush, and the easy balance she had on the ladder was obvious.

  “Why do they pick such a disgusting color for a school?” she commented to Colleen.

  “Well, it wasn’t that upchuck brown or Pepto Bismol pink, so I guess we should consider ourselves lucky,” Colleen replied, watching Kerry’s eyes with a quickly stifled grin. “You stuck on the paint or the painter?” Kerry scowled at her and went back to her trash picking in silence. “Just kidding, Ker,” her friend apologized. “If it’s any consolation, you’re not the only one looking.”

  Huh? Kerry glanced around furtively, and realized Colleen had a point.

  More than one set of eyes were fastened on that tall, lanky figure and she experienced an odd spurt of relief and resentment so strong it nearly made her sneeze. She rubbed her nose in irritation. “Jesus. I think I’m coming down with something.”

  Colleen picked up a crushed can and dropped it into Kerry’s bag.

  “Nothing a nice tall glass of Florida juice wouldn’t cure, I’m guessing.” She patted Kerry on the hip and continued searching, leaving her friend to stand sputtering in the sun.

  They worked all morning, finishing up the garbage detail and moving to work inside the building, peeling old posters off the walls and removing broken furniture from classrooms that had seen hard use. Many of the desks had gang slogans carved into them, and Kerry found herself shaking her head as she traced the many angry statements written in rough letters in the aged wood. “Jesus.” She exhaled. “What are we teaching these kids here? The worst thing I remember seeing when I was in school was rhymes about underpants.”

  She was working so hard she barely heard the call for lunch until Ray came trotting in, his hair held back with a bright red bandana to get her. “Hey, chica, lunch time.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Kerry put down her bag and dusted off her hands, pulling her shirt away from her body as she followed him outside to catch some air. It was warm, and the newly cut grass over which they were walking smelled pungent and green in the sun; she was glad she’d remembered to cover her recent sunburn with lotion.

  The other workers were gathering under a spreading tree where tables had been set up, and pizza was being distributed along with cans of soda. She tagged along after Ray and joined Colleen and Susan as they picked up their slices, then glanced around for a cool spot to sit down in. Trees scattered in isolated oases of shade across the grass, and Kerry spotted a familiar, Tropical Storm 223

  conspicuously lone figure reclining underneath one of them. Everyone was just as conspicuously avoiding her, so Kerry bowed to her inner desires and knew where she was going to head. She poked Colleen. “C’mon, I’m going to go keep my boss company, since no one else here wants to.”

  To her credit, Colleen neither rolled her eyes nor chuckled. She merely nodded agreeably and started towards the tree with Kerry, sipping from her can of Sprite as she walked. Susan and Ray hesitated, then sighed, and followed along, giving Dar wary looks as the
y closed in on the tree.

  The executive was chewing her pizza slowly and gave them a moderately welcoming look in return as they came closer, before letting her attention turn to Kerry. “How’d the cleanup go?” She let her gaze travel up the blonde woman’s body until twin blue eyes reached her face and their eyes met.

  Her attention thus distracted, Kerry almost tripped on a root. “Um…”

  She recovered and took a seat in the grass next to her boss. “Pretty good, I guess. How’s the painting coming along?”

  “Haven’t fallen off the ladder yet,” Dar remarked, leaning on one elbow and extending her long legs. “I’m sure everyone’s disappointed.”

  “Tch.” Kerry frowned. “No one wants to see you fall off a ladder, Dar.

  You could break a leg!”

  Dar gave her a droll look and took a bite of her pizza. “You obviously don’t know your co-workers as well as I do.” She cocked an eyebrow at the Associated folks. “Present company excepted, of course.”

  They settled in a circle around her and started eating in silence, until Susan, giving the others a furtive look, started a technical discussion, getting into programming concepts with Dar that were beyond the other three.

  Kerry let out a tiny sigh of relief and reminded herself to thank Susan later. The atmosphere had definitely been getting stilted, and she felt herself losing patience with both the wary dislike coming from her friends and the icy reserve of her boss.

  Dar had spatters of paint up and down her long frame, and a spot of it was above her right eyebrow. Kerry found herself having a very rough time not reaching over to wipe it off. Instead, she sighed and settled herself again, her back just touching the edges of Dar’s pants legs. She concentrated on her pizza, picking off the pepperoni and chewing it before she took a bite from the small part of the slice, then almost choking on it as she felt a gentle nudge against her back. She stopped chewing, then felt it again, and darted a glance at the reclining Dar.

  “No, that wouldn’t make sense,” Dar’s low voice was saying. “They’d have to modularize it.” Then for just a second, those blue eyes wandered casually over and met hers, and a tiny glint appeared.