by Melissa Good
Dar relaxed a little. “Sorry, it’s been a long day. I just got home and got hit with that.”
“Mmm.” Alastair folded his hands on his desk. “Well, I just wanted you to know not to worry about the whole thing. I sent an answer back, wanting to know why pictures of two tourists would be of a concern, and that you’d been under my orders to take time off there, so what was her problem?” He paused.
“Only in a little nicer language.”
“Thanks,” Dar replied quietly.
“No problem. Dar, you’re a valuable employee. And though I don’t say it a lot, I do appreciate all you do for me. You know that, right?”
Dar nodded. “I know.”
“Cute kid.”
Dark brows contracted. “What?”
“Your assistant.”
“Oh. Oh, right. Kerry. Yeah.” Dar waved him off. “She’s all right. A little too nice sometimes, but…she’s new.”
Alastair nodded. “You’ll change that.” He winked. “Well, happy Thanksgiving, Dar. You staying in town?”
I’ll change that? No, she’s changed me, Dar wryly admitted. “No, I’m heading out tomorrow morning. I’ll be back on Sunday.”
“See ya.” Alastair waved an amiable hand and the connection cut off.
Dar shook her head, and picked up her mug, taking it with her into the living room. She set it down. She then went into the bathroom, changing into her bathing suit and throwing a towel around her neck. Moments later she was submerged up to her neck in swirling, soothing warm water, and regarding the canopy of stars overhead.
384 Melissa Good KERRY WATCHED THE mail send, then she closed down her laptop and turned to the bed, where her bag was resting. She sat down next to it with a sigh, then unzipped the top, and pulled out the sweatshirt, which she’d packed last. As she pulled it out something came with it, and she grabbed at the item in puzzlement. It was a small, blue-green stuffed animal, and she peered at it in half recognition. “Where have I seen you before?” she mused to the tiny salamander. “Oh, I remember. You were at the Rainforest, but how did you get here?” She glanced at the suitcase and remembered who had slipped it into the back of the car for the ride to the airport. “Oh, did you follow Auntie Dar home?”
The salamander winked at her. Kerry gave him a kiss on the nose and detected Dar’s familiar scent on the fabric. She was setting him back into the suitcase when a soft knock came at the door, and she looked up. “C’mon in.”
It opened, and she was relieved to see her sister’s face. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.” Angela slipped in and crossed over to her. Kerry stood and held her arms out, smiling when her sister threw her arms around her and hugged her. “Bet you’re glad to see a friendly face.”
“Oh, you know it.” Kerry sighed, releasing her.
“Let me see you.” Her sister held her at arms distance and studied her.
“Mom went on and on about how much weight you’d put on, but Jesus Christ, Kerry, you look fantastic.”
Kerry’s eyes flickered in surprise, not expecting that. “Think so?”
“My god, yes.” Angela smiled. “I thought she meant… You’re working out, aren’t you? And would you look at that tan?”
Kerry smiled. “Yeah, I spent all day Sunday out on the water. I’m still a little sunburned,” she admitted. “And I’ve been doing a lot more stuff outside and at the gym. I’ve been really busy.”
“I bet. So, tell me about the new job?” Angela sat down on the bed as Kerry untucked her short-sleeved shirt from her jeans and started to unbutton it. “I heard Dad say your boss was actually at your apartment the other day?”
“Well…” Kerry folded her shirt and put it away, then slipped the dark blue sweatshirt over her head. “I really like it. I’m learning so much, and there’s so much opportunity. I’ve got this big office with a window, and great benefits, it’s fantastic.” She turned and sat down next to Angela. “And I really like my new boss. She, um… She got me interested in doing a lot of stuff.”
“Really? From what Dad was saying, I’d have thought she was tough to work for,” her sister commented. “I’m glad you like her, though.” She leaned closer and dropped her voice. “So, you found someone, didn’t you?”
Kerry glanced at her. “What makes you say that?” she countered warily.
“Mmm, let’s just say, I’m your sister, okay?” Angela smiled. “C’mon, spill it. Did you bring pictures?”
Kerry folded her hands together and studied them. Of all her family, her sister was the only one she was at least willing to try to tell. Paradoxically, Angela was the one ally she had, and chances were, this would ruin that. No good choices. “Ang, you don’t want to hear this.”
Her sister was silent. “What do you mean?” she asked in a puzzled tone.
“Of course I do. I could hardly wait for you to get here.”
“It’s…not what you think,” Kerry started, very carefully. “It’s not what Tropical Storm 385
you expect.”
Angela glanced towards the door again, then reached out and folded her hands over her older sister’s. “Ker, whatever it is, you can tell me. I’m your sister, remember?” She paused and waited, watching Kerry’s face remain closed and silent. “Did you finally figure out you liked girls and not guys?”
Green eyes widened in utter shock as Kerry turned to look at her. She couldn’t speak for a moment. “You knew?”
“Duh.” Angela had to laugh at her expression. “Close your mouth, sis, you’ll attract gnats.” She squeezed Kerry’s hands. “Listen, I should have talked to you about it before. I was just…I don’t know, maybe it’s all that indoctrination we got growing up.”
Kerry lifted a hand and rubbed her temple, feeling a mixture of relief and shock. “I…”
“Hey, take it easy.” Angela put an arm around her shoulders. “Just because I live a stereotype, doesn’t mean I don’t have a brain, sis.”
“I know, I…” Kerry laughed weakly. “I was just expecting a different reaction.”
Angela sighed. “I know, but Richard got this computer last year. And you know he’s never home? Well, I took it upon myself to wander out onto the Web. It’s really changed a lot of the things I used to think.”
Her sister smiled wryly. “The wonders of modern technology.”
“So, did you bring pictures?” Angela’s dark eyebrow lifted up.
Kerry studied her for a moment, then she got up and went to her laptop bag, unzipping the document pocket and removing a folder. She handed it to her sister and gave her a tense smile. “That’s her.”
Angela willingly took the folder and flipped it open, peering at the pictures inside. After a moment, she looked up at her sister. “Jesus, she’s gorgeous.”
Kerry felt a big grin stretching her lips. She resumed her seat on the bed and peered over Angela’s shoulder. “Yeah, she is, isn’t she? I like that one.” It was a nice shot of Dar on the boat, leaning against the cabin front on the bow, one knee raised, the sunlight glittering off the droplets of seawater that beaded on her skin. The bathing suit left very little to the imagination. And once you stopped looking at that, you looked up at her face and were caught by those startlingly pale blue eyes.
“Oh wow.” Angela turned it over and caught the next one, a picture of the view from the condo. “Where is this?”
Kerry cleared her throat. “Her place. The boat’s her’s, too.” She gave her sister a very wry look. “It’s a private island off the tip of South Beach.”
Angela blew a soft whistle. “Wow! Where’d you meet her?”
There was an awkward pause. “Um…she’s my boss.”
Angela looked up in utter shock. “That’s Dar?”
Kerry nodded. “Yeah, I know it seems weird, but we just hit it off from almost the first. I mean, it was a great opportunity and all, becoming her assistant, and at first I…I thought it was just me. You know, just a silly crush.”
Angela shook her head. “You kno
w, sis, corporate VP, boat, pricey condo…
Except for one small detail, Dad would cream his shorts to get you involved with someone like that.” She peered at her sister. “How serious is this?”
386 Melissa Good Kerry picked up the picture she was looking at, one where she’d actually gotten Dar to smile at the camera. She smiled back in reflex. “It’s serious.”
“You know Dad’s going to flip out,” Angela stated quietly. “I don’t know if you should say anything—maybe just put them off for a while, and get the heck out of here.”
Before Kerry could answer, they heard their mother’s voice. “Girls! Come on now, dinner’s being served.”
The two sisters glanced at each other. “Thanks for understanding,” Kerry told the younger woman softly. “You don’t know how much it means to me.”
She stood up. “C’mon, let’s go and get this over with.”
Angela stood and hugged her. “Ker, whatever you do, I’m with you.
Okay?”
Kerry hugged her back. “Likewise. I hear I’m going to be an aunt again.”
Her sister sucked in a breath and gazed at her. “Yes, but the baby isn’t Richard’s.”
Kerry’s jaw dropped. “Oh boy,” she muttered.
“Girls!” Their mother’s voice had a hint of impatience in it.
Angela smiled tightly. “We’ll talk later.”
They stepped into the dining room side by side, Kerry pushing up the sleeves on her sweatshirt, and Angela running her fingers through her curly brown hair. Richard was already there, sitting next to her father, and Kerry had a chance to look at them before they saw her. Her father was a stocky man of middling height, with silver hair and a neatly trimmed beard and moustache—he gave the impression of sophisticated power. Seated next to him was her brother-in-law Richard, who was half his age, but taller, with thinning brown hair and a rugged, but slightly off-centered face. His nose had been broken several times during his football-playing days, and they’d never really gotten it just right. Her father looked up and saw them, fixing his eyes on her as he leaned back.
Kerry called up the image she held in her mind of Dar entering that hostile room in Orlando, and she lifted her chin a little as she crossed the parquet floor and took one of the remaining seats at the table. “Hello, Richard,” she said quietly as her sister took the chair next to her. “Dad.”
“Good to see you, Ker.” Richard gave her a friendly smile. “Nice shirt.”
“Didn’t know they had a base down there,” her father commented.
“You’re looking…healthy…Kerrison.”
Kerry smiled precisely at him. “Thanks, and no, there’s no base. A friend of mine gave it to me.” She took the napkin at her place setting and opened it, settling it on her lap neatly. “How are things going for you?”
“Pretty good, you know how it is in stocks.” Richard laughed a bit.
“You’re up, you’re down. Right now, we’re trying to hang on while the international stuff dies down.” He peered at her. “We all don’t get to sit out in the sun all day like you guys down in Miami.”
Kerry pushed her hair behind her ear and accepted the jibe. “It definitely has its advantages,” she cheerfully agreed. “This past Sunday I was swimming in the ocean—it was beautiful weather.”
“Thought that job would be keeping you too busy.” Her father snorted.
“It does,” his daughter replied. “I’m at the office before eight AM, and I Tropical Storm 387
usually don’t leave until after seven. After that, I usually go to the gym or out Rollerblading by my complex.”
“I heard you work on Saturdays.” Roger Stuart gazed across at his daughter.
“Occasionally,” Kerry responded. “Depends on what projects I’m working on.” She glanced up as her mother came in and seated herself. “My system at home will connect up to the office if I need it to.”
Her father grunted. “I hear your boss pays you visits.”
Nothing like getting right to the point, and before the soup’s served, eh? Kerry sighed inwardly. “Sure. We work very closely together on stuff. And you know, despite all the stories I heard about her, I really like Dar.” Her sister hid a smile.
Senator Stuart glanced up as his soup plate was put down, then he picked up his spoon and pointed it at her. “That’s a dangerous woman. You’d best steer clear of her.” He took a spoonful of soup and tasted it. “More pepper, damn it.”
Angela silently passed him the salt and pepper dishes.
“She can be, that’s true,” Kerry answered his comment. “But I consider myself lucky to have gotten the position under her. And that’s the main reason it just wouldn’t make good sense for me to just up and leave.” She tried to keep her voice calm and reasonable. “The potential to learn, and to advance… I can’t find that here.”
“Why do you need that?” her mother objected. “When you’re married and settled down, what difference is it going to make?”
“C’mon, Mother, it’s a great opportunity,” Angela disagreed. “Once Kerry spends a little time in the position, she can move anywhere and get the same kind of work at the same level. Of course she wants to spend some time doing that. I bet she got a pay raise.” She turned to Kerry and asked, “Didn’t you?”
Kerry gave her sister a smile. “Boy, did I.” She laughed. “I was surprised.
I thought they’d keep me at my previous salary while they tried me out, but no, it was a fifty percent increase.” Even her father looked impressed.
“But you don’t have to worry about that,” her mother persistently objected. “Brian’s going to make you a very good living, dear.”
“He’s just out of school, Mother.” Angela dove back into the fray. “It’s going to take a while. And besides, you can never have enough money, right, Dad?”
Roger Stuart grunted.
An awkward silence fell.
“So, how about those Lions?” Richard asked with forced cheerfulness.
“That was some game the other day, huh?”
Kerry dove into her soup, glad the conversation had been directed away.
So far, so good, but looking at her father’s closed face, she suspected he had another plan already in place. At least, she sighed, Kyle isn’t here. Facing his smug arrogance over the table would have made the dinner even more aggravating.
The door slowly opened, and the family cook, Elena, poked her head in.
“Everything all right here, ma’am?”
388 Melissa Good Cynthia Stuart glanced up. “The soup’s a bit on the bland side, Elena, the senator likes more pepper in it.”
Kerry caught the cook’s eye and smiled at her. “I think it’s great. I’ve missed your cooking, Elena.”
The elderly woman smiled back at her. “Glad to hear you say so, Miss Kerrison.” She pulled her head back and the door closed behind her.
Kerry took a roll from the napkin-covered bread basket and split it open, enjoying the rich, warm smell, and ignoring her mother’s scandalized look as she cheerfully covered it with butter. “Did you know my old account is supporting the IRS computers, Dad?”
Senator Stuart glanced at her. “What?”
Kerry took a bite of her roll and chewed it. “Mmm-hmm, that big website they use so people can get forms and information.”
“What, you mean they do their own taxes?” Richard laughed. “I haven’t been able to do that since I left college.”
Figures. Kerry refrained from rolling her eyes. “I file mine electronically.
Just go to the transmitter’s website, fill in a few fields, and click. It’s gone.”
She took another bite of her roll and a spoonful of the potato soup. “And my refund gets deposited automatically.”
“Ah, the simplicity of an unencumbered life.” Richard smiled at her.
“Wait until you start investing.”
Kerry smiled right back. “I let my 401K do that for me, thanks. We have a company that hand
les that, and the stock options, and the retirement fund.”
She chewed her roll and swallowed. “I just do my job, they take care of the rest.”
“Wow, that’s a great benefit package,” Angela commented, sipping a spoonful of the soup. “That’s better than the one you had at the other place.”
Kerry nodded. “Much, but then, it’s a much bigger company. It’s a nice building, too. I have pictures if you want to see them later.” She finished off her soup. “Including a shot from my office window. Wait until you see the view.”
“Easy come, easy go,” her father commented. “From what I hear of your boss, she could just cut you loose anytime.” He picked up a roll and took a bite out of it. “I don’t like her way of doing business, and I’m going to get them out of our state contracts if it’s the last thing I do.”
Kerry bit her tongue to keep from leaping to Dar’s defense. “Does the account not do what it’s supposed to do?”
Senator Stuart looked at his daughter. “How in the hell should I know?
All that mixed-up mumbo jumbo you people spout like garbage. All I know is we asked for some simple things, and got told it wasn’t going to happen, and nobody tells me that.” He slapped a hand on the table. “Especially not some goddamned smart-mouthed woman.”
Another awkward silence fell, as Kerry refused to rise to his baiting.
Finally her mother cleared her throat. “Tell us about the church bazaar you ran the other week, Angela.”
After they finished dinner, Richard gamely took on the senator in a debate about offshore fishing rights, which the older man was reviewing as part of his work. Mary and Elizabeth, the two house maids, silently cleared off Tropical Storm 389
the table. Kerry sat back and folded her arms across her stomach, wishing for an excuse to leave. Considering, she turned as Angela put her napkin down.
“Wow, that was great, wasn’t it. You up for a walk?”
Angela pursed her lips in amusement, then nodded. “Yeah, we can head up towards the lake, I think they’re starting to string up the Christmas lights.”
