by Melissa Good
“I don’t know,” Susan replied. “They want to do it as one huge executable. I think they’re crazy.”
“We’re going to get more pizza. You want some?” Colleen asked as she and Ray got up. Her offer went to everyone, and she even shyly glanced at Dar. The executive gave her a smile. “No thanks, none for me.”
“I’ll go, too.” Susan got up and joined them. “Be right back.”
They trooped off, leaving Dar and Kerry alone under the tree. A soft 224 Melissa Good breeze came through, blowing the green grass around them and rustling the leaves overhead. Kerry finally gave in to her desires and reached over, rubbing the paint off Dar’s eyebrow. “Jesus, you look like a demented Dalmatian.”
Dar grinned sardonically. “I did it on purpose. I thought it might break the ice with your buddies. Y’know I’ve been in boardrooms during a hostile takeover that were friendlier.”
Kerry sighed. “Sorry.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Dar chuckled. “I’m used to it, believe me.”
She picked off a piece of sausage and nibbled it. “Besides, it’s a worthy cause.
This place is a mess.”
Kerry glanced over to where her friends were headed back. “Yeah, I know. It scares me, how filled with hate these kids are.” She smiled as Ray sat back down. “I see they’re switching to vegetables now.”
“Uh huh.” he agreed cheerfully as Colleen and Susan also sat down, giving both Dar and Kerry brief smiles.
Uh oh. Kerry sensed collusion.
“So, we were thinking of going over to the Pelican after this and grabbing some dinner,” Susan announced. “You guys want to join us?” Her eyes went to Dar first, then to Kerry, and she made it clear the invitation was to both of them.
Dar’s dark eyebrow crawled up into her hairline. She took a quick look at Kerry’s face, the blank startlement there confirming her suspicion that this was an unplanned event. Tactically, she had no idea what the group was up to, but she had every intention of spending the evening with Kerry regardless.
“Sure,” she replied casually, getting a quick side glance from the blonde woman.
“That sounds fun,” Kerry agreed hastily, wondering what in the world her friends were up to. She looked up as the work supervisor started calling out their names and realized the short lunch break was over. “Back to work, I guess.”
Dar got smoothly to her feet and balled up her napkin and cup. “Later.”
She strode off with a jaunty hitch of her jeans, leaving the rest of them to scramble up and follow her.
Kerry let the others move ahead, and then she was free to grab Colleen and pull her behind a tree. “What in the hell was that about?”
Colleen gave her a startled look. “What was what? It was a dinner invitation, Kerry. Jesus, would you relax?” She shook herself free from the blonde woman’s grasp. “We were just talking, saying how maybe you were right. Maybe we need to give the woman a chance. So, we decided that asking her to have dinner with us was at least a step in that direction. What did you think this was?”
Kerry dropped her gaze, and rubbed her temples. “I-I’m sorry, Col. I…”
“Hey.” The redhead stroked her arm, giving her a concerned look.
“Listen, if this is too much for you, we’ll forget it, okay? I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
Kerry got ahold of herself. “No, no, it’s okay. I just…I guess I feel so self-conscious around you guys because all I hear is Popsicle lady this, and Tropical Storm 225
Chupacabra that, and I just don’t…I just want to scream at you, because goddamn it, she’s not like that.”
“Whoa. Whoa.” Colleen glanced around, then took Kerry by the shoulders and gently pushed her back against the tree. “Take it easy. We didn’t know, okay? All we had to go on is what we hear at work, and what everyone else says. You obviously know more about her than we do. I’m sorry, I didn’t know that stuff was getting to you.”
Kerry took a deep breath. “I guess I didn’t know it either,” she admitted.
“I’m not sure what’s with me today. Maybe I’m PMS’ing or something.” She gave the redhead an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
Colleen dropped her hands, a relieved look on her face. “Okay, so we’re still on? I think it’ll be fun. At least if you can give me an idea of something to talk to the damn woman about. Jesus, Kerry, she’s so intense.”
“Yeah.” Kerry started walking towards the school building. “I know.
Um… Well, she likes the ocean, she scuba dives, and she’s been to most of the reefs and stuff around here. You could ask her about that.”
“She likes you,” Colleen said, unexpectedly. “But I don’t think we’ll be asking her about that tonight.”
Kerry stopped and glanced around, feeling the blood flush her face.
“C’mon, Col, lay off that, will you? We’re just friends,” she muttered. “She doesn’t…”
“Kerry.” Colleen put her hands on her friend’s shoulders. “I’ve got no clue if this is a good or a bad thing for you, girl, but don’t sell yourself short in those blue icicle eyes of hers, okay? There’s something cooking in there.”
Kerry shook her head. “Col, you’re wrong,” she stated decisively. “It’s not what you think. We just clicked as friends, and that’s it.”
“You really believe that?” Colleen asked with a quizzical expression.
Do I? Kerry was briefly silent, then she just shrugged.
The red-haired woman dropped her hands and smiled, shaking her head.
“Whatever you say, lassie.” She gestured for Kerry to precede her. “After you.”
Kerry sighed and shook her head as well, heading off over the grass towards where the work groups were reassembling. She peeked furtively over at the painting section, spotting Dar back up on her ladder. Her boss was just sitting there though, and she realized she was being watched as she walked across the open space.
“Hey, Kerry.”
Kerry turned her head to find the Marketing Admin, Mary Evers, catching up with her. “Oh, hi.”
“We’ve got a bet on,” the woman said. “Did you talk Dar into showing up?”Kerry was aware of Colleen’s cocked ears. “Me?” She didn’t have to dissemble. “No, why? She said it was her turn this year or something.”
Mary laughed. “Oh, Kerry, you have no clue. Dar’s been in the company for fifteen years, and she never does this stuff. She told someone last year she’d have to be drugged senseless to spend time with people she works with on the weekend,” she said. “So we figured, I’ve got money on it, that you talked her into it. Tell the truth, did you?”
226 Melissa Good Kerry looked past the woman’s shoulders and right into Dar’s watching eyes. She saw the smile form and felt her lips moving in response and her perceptions shifted subtly as she acknowledged the connection, whatever it was, between them. “Honestly, I didn’t talk her into this,” she repeated. “Why don’t you ask her why she’s here?”
Mary lifted both hands. “No thanks!” She backed away. “Oh well, thought I’d pick up a few easy bucks. Take care, Kerry. See you later.”
Kerry continued walking, keeping her eyes on the ground in front of her as she kicked thoughtfully at the grass.
THE RUSTY PELICAN sat on an outthrust bit of land, on the seaward side of one of the small Keys that led out to Key Biscayne. The twilight was just settling, lighting the western side of the wooden building in shades of burnished, deep red. The restaurant was a two-level wood building, with rustic decorations including fishing nets and old oars, and came complete with creaking floorboards which held a deep scent of the sea locked in their salt-encrusted pores.
Dar mounted the steps and took a breath of the air, then smiled as she held the door for Kerry. “They look pretty busy,” she noted. “Glad we carpooled.” She let her eyes briefly scan the interior, which held scattered clusters of waiting patrons.
“Me, too.” Kerry stifled a yawn. “Glad we got a chance t
o use those school showers, too. Boy, I was grungy.”
“Mmm.” Dar muffled a grin. “Next community project should get them new shower curtains.”
Kerry frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Never mind.” Dar indicated the interior. “After you?”
“It’s nice out here,” Kerry said softly as she passed in front of the taller woman. “I like the park on the other island.”
“So do I,” Dar agreed. “Maybe we can stop out there afterward.”
Kerry felt a quiet thrill at the words. “Sure, I’d like that.” She grinned, then entered the building, spotting her friends immediately. “Hey, guys.”
“Hey.” Colleen and the rest were standing near the seating station, looking at a tank full of fish. “Ready? I’m hungry enough to eat one of those little beauties raw.”
The hostess led them to a round table. Colleen, Ray and Susan took seats beside one another, and that left the two seats on the far side of the table.
Kerry took one, and Dar took the other. “I think I definitely need a beer.” She glanced at the waitress. “Got something amber on tap?”
“Make it two,” Susan agreed. “Ray?”
“Mojito, por favor.” Ray gave the waitress a charming smile. “Lots of mint, okay?”
“Vodka and cranberry for me,” Colleen added.
The waitress scribbled, then looked up at Dar with an inquiring expression.
Dar debated asking for milk, then conceded to the occasion. “Whatever she’s having.” She indicated Kerry. The woman nodded and disappeared, Tropical Storm 227
leaving them all looking at each other in a somewhat awkward silence. Susan peered out the window. Ray played with his napkin. Colleen studied the menu. Dar sighed, then recalled that she was capable of holding her own in hostile boardrooms. “Did you all know you’re sitting in the Bermuda Triangle?” she inquired casually.
That broke the ice, big time. Kerry turned to her. “You’re joking.”
The executive shook her head solemnly. “Nope. This is the western edge.
It hits here and scrapes along Key Biscayne. You are, indeed, at this moment, inside the Bermuda Triangle.”
“Dios mío!” Ray yelped, looking behind him as though expecting ghostly aviators to float through the window. “I knew it. I felt…so strange…coming out here. I knew it.”
“Damn.” Susan laughed. “I know the weather out here is weird; I never realized it was part of the Triangle, though.”
“It’s a microclimate.” Dar spoke knowledgeably, regarding her interlaced fingers. “Because of the pressure ridges over the coast, it rains a lot less, and the humidity content is much different than the mainland. You can see it in the foliage here, too.”
“You lived here all your life?” Susan asked, her reserve broken as she rested her chin on her hand, peering at Dar with interest.
“On and off,” Dar replied. “I did a study of the ecology when I was at the university down here. I spent a lot of time at RSMAS.” She cleared her throat.
“It’s interesting if you go out to the tip of the Key, where the state park was.
You know Andrew wiped that entire Australian pine forest off, and they let it grow back up as natural vegetation. You can’t recognize it anymore.”
“Wow. Yeah, I know.” Susan leaned forward. “I used to go out there and picnic. After the hurricane, I went out and almost cried. Then they told me that entire forest was really parasite trees, imported, and they were going to burn out the remnants. I was pretty pissed off until someone explained what the Australian Pine was doing.”
The tension relaxed and the chatting went on, diverging to discussions on various shellfish which were on the menu. Kerry felt the knot in her stomach relax and she started to enjoy herself, trading jokes with Colleen and ordering a lobster in defiance of Susan’s protestations that sea roaches were just disgusting. Dar, she noticed, had ordered a mixed platter, and the executive was talking reefs with Susan, who had done a one-day diving workshop when she’d gone to Bermuda the preceding year.
Okay, this isn’t so bad, she thought happily. I should have known Dar could handle these guys. Silly me. She leaned forward, her knee pressing against Dar’s, and held her breath until it became obvious to her that Dar had no intention of moving away. It felt nice. She smiled, then her eyes widened as their dinner arrived and she was faced with a large, pugnacious-looking lobster, staring at her with baleful, beady black eyes. “Oh, gosh.” Everyone laughed, and she picked up the nutcrackers the waiter handed her, peering at the large animal uncertainly. “Good grief. Why did I order this again?”
“You saw it under the water?” Dar muffled a smile.
“I’m sure I saw a flounder under the water, too.” Kerry poked the lobster. “Oh, my god, it’s looking at me.”
228 Melissa Good
“Hah. Told you the sea roach would be too much for you!” Susan crowed, pointing her fork at Kerry. “You better order something else.”
“No, no, I can do this,” Kerry objected, poking at the shell with the little bitty fork they’d given her. “Somehow.” She scowled at the red object, who scowled back. “Why do they leave the shell on?”
“So you can get exercise with your meal.” Dar reached over and covered Kerry’s hand with her own. “Give me that.” The executive took the nutcracker out of her hand. “C’mere.” Dar picked up a claw and put the cracker around it, closing her hand and breaking it efficiently. “See?” She held up the claw, with the pink lobster meat peeking out of it.
“Ah.” Kerry took it from her, and examined it. “Okay, I gotcha.”
“Good.” Dar handed her the cracker and went back to her own plate.
Kerry nibbled the lobster. “Mmm.” She glanced up at the watching faces, startled to see quiet, knowing smiles there. “I usually stick to shrimp,” she explained sheepishly, giving them puzzled looks as they exchanged glances and started their own dinners. Wonder what that was all about? she mused, then shrugged, and went to work on her stubborn lobster.
IT WAS LATE by the time they finished dinner and left the others with a cordial set of good-byes. Kerry was happy. They’d had a good time, and so, she thought, had Dar. She glanced at her boss as they got into the Lexus, and she settled into the leather seat with a groan. “Oh god, I think I’m going to explode.”
“That’s all right, leather cleans up,” Dar blithely replied. After a slightly awkward pause, she asked, “You, um, still up for a walk on the beach?”
“Moon’s out. Looks pretty nice for it.”
Kerry peeked out the front window and spotted the round, golden orb.
“Wow,” she murmured. “Yeah, that’s pretty. I’d love to go look at it for a while.” Her eyes shifted to Dar’s waiting profile. “A walk sounds great, especially after that dessert.”
“All right, then, let’s go.” Dar put the Lexus into gear and pulled forward through the parking row, turning left out of the lot while the rest of their group went to the right. “I like that place. Food’s pretty good.”
“Once I figured out how to use the can opener, yeah.” Kerry leaned back.
“Key lime pie, what an odd combination of sweet and sour that is.”
Dar chuckled. “Some people say it’s just a reflection of what South Florida is—a lot of sour with a little sweet on top just to fool you.”
Kerry thought about that. “I don’t know. It was kind of refreshing. I think I liked it,” she decided, watching the softly blowing palm fronds go by as Dar drove over the last causeway and pulled into a familiar parking lot. “This is ironic,” she commented as they got out and let the cool sea breeze hit them.
“This is where I went that night.”
Dar leaned on the hood of the car, watching her. “The night we ended up at my office?”
Kerry leaned on the other side. “The night you saved my life,” she replied, quietly serious, “and then changed it.”
Dar wasn’t really sure what to say to that. She s
traightened up and Tropical Storm 229
walked around to the front of the car, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “That was quite a night, huh?” she eventually muttered as they walked together through the lot and towards the soft roar of the sea.
“Sure was.”
The boardwalk was relatively quiet and echoed their footsteps as they left the lights of the parking lot behind and approached the softly sighing shoreline. The moon tracked along with them, lighting a rippling pathway across the water, leading up onto the beach. Kerry felt the onshore wind brush back her hair, and she welcomed the full moon’s reflection across the endless length of the water before them. Far out on the horizon, a buoy winked as it bobbed back and forth, and faintly, on the wind, Kerry could hear music coming from the hotels down the shore south of them.
It‘s pretty, she thought as they paused and perched on the railing of the boardwalk, listening to the waves. The moonlight reflected off Dar’s hair, and made her pale eyes colorless, but Kerry had no trouble conjuring up what they looked like as she glanced up into Dar’s quiet face.
She could feel the slow beat of her heart, the rhythm picking up as Dar’s gaze left the horizon and tracked to hers, and the lips curved into a smile.
Dar’s voice broke the stillness in a quiet rumble.
“Nice night.”
“Mmm. It is, yes,” Kerry reveled in the currents she could feel running between them. “Thanks for taking them up on the invite. That worked out better than I thought it would.”
Dar slid off the railing and leaned back against it, so that their heads were almost on a level. “Wasn’t bad.” She grinned. “I got them with the Bermuda Triangle thing.” She studied Kerry’s profile, outlined in the moonlight.
Kerry smiled back. “You sure did. Is that true?”
“Oh yeah,” Dar assured her, turning around and pointing. “You’re standing in it right now, in fact.”
The turn had put her shoulder right up against Kerry’s thigh, and it was too much for Kerry not to let her hand drop to rest against the smooth back, feeling the warmth through the cotton of Dar’s shirt. Dar didn’t move. She just continued to look out over the water, but Kerry could see the muscles in her jaw clench a little, then her throat worked as she swallowed. The blonde woman’s fingers stirred of their own accord, tracing a gentle pattern casually.
