Thicker Than Water

Chapter

Twelve

“HEY, KERRY.”

Kerry turned, hearing a somewhat familiar voice. She spotted Lena approaching her, looking painfully uncomfortable in her linen skirt suit and pumps. “Hey.” She went back to stirring the two cups of coffee she’d been preparing. “How’s it going?”

“It’s okay,” Lena said. “I think I’m sort of getting the hang of working here. They haven’t thrown me out yet.”

Kerry stifled a smile. “I’m sure you’re doing fine.” She turned again and leaned on the counter. “How did things work out at home? Any changes?”

Lena was briefly silent. “You mean, did the bitch let me come home? No. She dropped the charges, though. Thanks for having those lawyer people talk to her.”

“At least that’s something.” Kerry gave her a sympathetic look. “And it was no problem for us to do that. I’m glad she took the advice.”

Lena nodded. “Hey, I saw you on television the other night.

Sorry to hear about your father and all that stuff.” She seemed a little uncomfortable. “But I’d be glad as hell if my parents croaked.”

Kerry took her cups, sat down, and patted the table next to her. She waited for Lena to take a seat. “You say that, but it’s not true.”

“Sure it is,” Lena said. “I mean, you ain’t had happen to you what I have.”

Kerry rested her chin on her fist. “Lena, they’re still your family, no matter what they did. There are things my family did to me that I didn’t like or appreciate either, but they’re still my family.”

Lena shrugged. “Mine sucks.”

“Mine does too, sometimes,” Kerry said. “When my father found out I was gay, do you know what he did?”

“Freaked?”

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“Threw me in a psycho ward.”

Lena’s eyes nearly popped out. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kerry said with a sad sigh. “He hated my being gay.

None of my family likes it. Well, maybe my brother and sister don’t really mind, but…”

“Wow.” Lena pondered. “So you must be glad he’s outta here, then, yeah?”

Kerry took a breath to answer, the facile lie forming inside her mouth. Then she hesitated. Was she glad? “It’s not that simple. He was my father.”

Lena shrugged again. “Yeah, well, my old man’s an asshole, and if he jumped in front of a truck, I’d clap.” She got up. “Anyway, thanks for the help. It’s been pretty cool bringing home a like, real paycheck.”

Kerry managed a smile and also stood. “Well, glad things are going all right.”

“You going to be at the group thing next week?” Lena asked with a slight hesitation. “They were, like, asking me.”

“I’ll be there.” Kerry picked up the two cups. “I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about this week.”

“For sure.” Lena half grinned, then she disappeared, leaving Kerry to cross the hallway back to her office in silence.

DAR SAT QUIETLY in her office, just taking the time to look around and study the space as if it were new to her. Then she exhaled and focused on her visitor, who had just seated himself across from her desk. “So.”

“So.” Alastair nodded. “All’s well that ends to our advantage, eh?”

Dar lifted a hand and let it drop on the desk. “Something like that. Listen, I’m sorry about what happened with Senator Stuart. I should have talked to you before I did that.”

Alastair soberly nodded again. “Yes, lady, you should have.

I’m the last person who’s dinging you for getting a life, Dar, but y’know, you’re not the only one who’d have had their tail roasted because of that.”

Dar got up, walked to the window, and gazed out at the water. Her shoulder was back in its sling, and she leaned against the warm glass with her good hand, having no real response for what Alastair was saying.

“Now, I’m not saying anything about you taking off for parts north, hear?” Alastair joined her at the window. “Totally understood that, Dar. Totally.”

“Yeah.” Dar exhaled. “But when did I turn into Dudley Do-208 Melissa Good Right, is that what you’re asking?”

“Er…”

Dar turned and leaned her back against the glass, feeling the sun as it soaked through her shirt. “Kerry was right.”

“Eh?” Alastair backed up, and hitched up his trousers to perch on the corner of her desk. “Right about what?”

“I was too close to the Navy contract.” Dar met his eyes. “I should have assigned someone else to do it. It was personal.”

Alastair rubbed his jaw. “Ah.”

“It was too personal.” Dar exhaled. “Getting those bastards meant more to me than protecting the company, and I can’t pretend that didn’t happen.”

Alastair folded his arms over his chest. “So, what am I supposed to do with you? If you recall, we got those contracts in the first place because it was personal to you, lady.”

“I know.”

“We’ve gotten more than one set of those in the recent past,”

Alastair continued. “Including the couple that, if my noggin’s working right, let you finagle keeping on some staff from an obscure little software house we picked up a while back.”

“Hmph.” Dar tilted her head. “Yeah, that’s true. I should have talked to someone about this, though. Not just handed that crap over to someone who hates our guts like the senator did.”

Alastair sighed. “Well,” he lifted both hands and let them drop to his knees, “I don’t know, Dar. From what Ham tells me, Stuart went hush on the whole investigation of us right after you tossed him those papers.”

Dar’s eyebrows lifted.

“So, who knows?” Alastair said. “Maybe you did us a favor after all.”’

“You don’t really believe that.”

Alastair shrugged. “Lady, I’m ready to believe anything at this point. That man’s going to hand me the keys to a couple of billion dollars tomorrow, and, in the long run, that’s what counts with the folks who write our paychecks.”

“Eh.” Dar made a face.

“How’s the arm?”

“Killing me,” Dar admitted, glad of the change of subject.

“It’s been a long damn week.” She paused, then looked up at him.

“I’m taking some time off over the holidays. We’re going out on the boat.”

“Good!” Alastair nodded firmly. “I think you need it, y’know? Get some space around you, and all that.”

“Get my head together,” Dar said with a wry smile. “Thanks, Alastair.”

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Alastair got up and waved a hand at her. “I sure didn’t do a thing, Dar. Glad it all worked out.” He checked his watch. “You and Ms. Stuart free for lunch? I’d love to try some of that Cuban food you’re always telling me about.”

“Sure.” Dar sat down and exhaled, feeling a sense of belated relief. At least for now, things were all right.

At least, for now.

KERRY TOOK A slow sip of her coffee as she leaned on the railing and absorbed the early morning sun with a feeling of complete and total pleasure. It was just after dawn, and she was already dressed in her swimsuit, with a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top thrown over it, her bare toes curling against the stone balcony as she sniffed the clean, salt air.

“What a gorgeous day,” she said softly, then looked to her right as she heard the whine and hiss of the condo’s golf cart approaching. “Hey.”

Dar got out of the cart and headed for the garden gate. “Hey, yourself, cute stuff.” She opened the door and disappeared, to reappear moments later as she entered the kitchen and padded out onto the balcony next to Kerry. “All loaded up and ready to go.”

“Cool.” Kerry offered her a sip of coffee. “I made some breakfast. Want to bring it out here and share?” She waited while Dar obligingly ducked inside and returned with a small tray of eggs, toast, and fresh fruit. They sat down together at the metal and glass table and traded forkfuls as the sunlight poured across the space.

“You know,” Dar leaned back and propped her feet up against the railing, “I’m really looking forward to today.”

Kerry looked at her. “I can tell. You’ve been smiling all morning. I am too.”

Dar returned her gaze. “Was that a map of the Caribbean I saw in the study?”

Kerry grinned, her nose wrinkling up appealingly.

Dar chuckled, clasped Kerry’s hand over the table, and rubbed her thumb against the knuckles. “My little pirate. I can’t wait to sail the high seas with you.”

Kerry’s green eyes were fairly ablaze with an intense joy.

“If I’d known you’d react like this, I’d have suggested a cruise a lot sooner,” Dar remarked mildly.

“It’s not just the trip,” Kerry said with a tiny, wry smile. “It’s being out alone with you for a whole week. You have no idea how much I want that right now. It could have been a cruise, or a 210 Melissa Good remote cabin in the woods, or a hike in the wilderness; I wouldn’t have cared.”

“I would,” Dar said kindly. “Mosquitoes and leaves for TP do not put me in a romantic mood nearly as much as salt air and you in that green swimsuit.”

Kerry blushed. “You must think I’m weirding out. It’s just that so much has happened in the last little while, I really want some time to just...” Her jaw shook a little, and Dar squeezed her hand in concern. “Live.”

“You got it,” Dar whispered, intently watching Kerry’s profile. The green eyes turned to hers with a look of almost painful vulnerability. “I think we’ve earned that.”

“Me, too.” Kerry nodded as she got up and walked to Dar, put her arms around her and gave her a hug. ”Dar, will you do me a very big favor?”

“Sure. Name it.” Dar enjoyed her hug, almost getting lost in the faint coconut and butter scent of the lotion Kerry was wearing.

A hand touched her cheek, and she looked up into Kerry’s face, surprised to see utter seriousness there.

“Please,” Kerry murmured, “please be careful and take care of yourself, Dar. If I ever lose you, I’ll die.”

Dar’s jaw dropped in alarm, and she half turned and took hold of Kerry’s body with both hands. “Kerry...”

Kerry’s forehead dropped to touch hers. “I had this nightmare the other night. The one you woke me up from?”

“Yeah?” Dar nodded anxiously.

Kerry fell silent for a moment. Then she sighed. “I was...in that hospital again. In the CCU. Only…”

Dar could feel her shaking. “Easy.”

“Only it was you in that bed, and I couldn’t...I couldn’t stop...you...I...”

Kerry’s knees buckled and she would have fallen, but Dar caught her, pulled her down on her lap, and held on for dear life.

“Easy, sweetheart. It was just a dream.” She could feel the jerks as Kerry sobbed. “It’s okay.”

Chino poked her nose under Kerry’s arm, snuffled worriedly, and licked the skin within her reach.

“Ohh.” Kerry finally took a deep breath and sniffled. “God, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Dar gently stroked her back. ”Take it easy, honey.

I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. I won’t ever leave you, Kerry. Never.”

Kerry sniffled again. “I…don’t know where that all came from. I was just...sitting here thinking about what a great day it was and...” She sighed. “Jesus. What the hell’s wrong with me?”

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She impatiently wiped the tears off her face.

Dar hugged her tighter. “I…um…” She paused to collect her thoughts. “I think you’re just stressed out, Ker. It’s been a bitch of a week, and you’re on overload.”

Kerry remained silent for a bit, stroking Dar’s hair with an almost hypnotic regularity. “Yeah. I think you’re right.” She exhaled. “Boss, can I take next week off? I need to decompress before I go on a wild vacation with someone I love more than life itself.”

“Sure.” Dar smiled. She felt a distinct sense of relief at not having to order Kerry to do exactly what she’d just requested. “I’ll see what I can do about scaring you up some company.”

Kerry exhaled. “Only if the company is tall, dark, and daunting and has blue eyes.”

Dar waited a moment before asking, “You want to hang out with my dad?”

It worked. Kerry snickered through her remaining tears, her body shaking with laughter.

“I could arrange for that, I guess,” Dar went on with a sigh. “I was hoping you’d rather spend time with me, but—”

She was stopped by a gentle kiss on the lips. Then Kerry rubbed her cheek against Dar’s and smiled. “Thanks. I needed a laugh.”

“Mm.” Dar tilted her head and stole another kiss. “I needed that.”

They snuggled for a moment longer, then Kerry regretfully got up and ruffled Dar’s hair. “Okay. My head’s on straight now; let’s get ready to party.” She held a hand out to Dar and led her into the condo, with Chino frisking at their heels and occasionally between their legs.

DAR STRETCHED OUT her legs in the warm sand and wriggled her toes contentedly as she watched the crowd milling around the island. It was late afternoon and the party was in full swing, with buckets of assorted seafood on one side of the neatly made campfire, and a standing bar with plenty of ice, beer, wine coolers, and champagne for the guests on the other.

She herself had downed four or five Bacardi Breezers and was in a pretty darn good mood, sitting there in the shade with a plate of lobster, shrimp and rice balanced neatly on one thigh. Kerry was on the other side of the fire, talking with Maria, Duks, and Ceci, and another knot of guests was clustered around where Alastair and her father were trading tall tales.

Nice.

212 Melissa Good Dar bit into a spicy shrimp and chewed it contentedly. The island looked great, nothing like she, in her childhood, had ever imagined it could become. There were comfortable beanbag chairs scattered around, and neatly dug in Lucite tables for drinks and dinner, and to one side the most incongruous looking Christmas tree she’d ever seen.

It was purple, for one thing, and had bright pink flamingo and bright green palm tree lights. And it was surrounded by piles and piles of presents. Some were theirs, some were their guests—

all of whom seemed to be having a great time.

Dar rocked her head a little from side to side and hummed along with the music emerging from the strategically placed speakers. It was one of Kerry’s favorite songs and Kerry danced a little to it.

Oo. Dar grinned. That is so cute. She took a swig from her bottle and leaned against the tree, glad of the cool breeze and the gorgeous day, and another successful party.

“Hey there, Dardar.” Andrew appeared suddenly and plopped down beside her. “Penny fer your thoughts.”

Dar glanced at Kerry, then glanced back at him and blushed.

“Heh,” her father chuckled. “You having a good birthday?”

“Yeah.” Dar nodded. “It’s great. The best part is having you and Mom here, though.” She gave him a quiet, serious look.

“Means a lot.”

“Mmph,” Andy grunted. “Well, it means a lot to us too, honey.” He folded his hands and propped them against an upraised knee. “Sometimes ah just have to slap the side of mah head ’cause I can’t believe Ah’m having all this back, after going and losing it.”

Dar thoughtfully reflected on this very long speech. “Does it ever feel like a dream to you?”

“Yeap.” Andy nodded. “It does.”

“For me, too.” Dar adopted the same pose, resting her hands on her knee. “I look back to where I was a year ago, and it’s like remembering a whole other lifetime.” She gazed off across the ocean, its surface lightly ruffled with the odd wave. “It’s so hard to believe, sometimes I just have to think it’s a dream.” She paused. “A dream I just hope I never wake up from.”

They watched the revelers in silence for a while.

“Well,” Andrew eventually commented, “better a dream than a nightmare, that’s for sure.”

“Mm,” Dar agreed.

Andy drew in a breath. “Dardar, when you were a kid, you wanted something real bad.” Dar looked at him. “Was a time you made a choice, but the Navy didn’t like that choice much. So they Thicker Than Water 213

told you no.”

“Yeah,” Dar said. “That they did.”

A small silence ensued. Andy seemed to be deep in thought.

“Wasn’t the Navy that said no to that, Paladar. Ah made that choice for you.” He looked at her. “Ah told them to tell you no.”

Dar met his eyes with only the faintest of smiles. “I know.

I’ve always known.”

Andrew just stared at her, a stunned look on his face.

“It…um…” another half smile, “was in the computer files.”

Dar looked out at the horizon. “For a while, I thought maybe you figured I’d embarrass you by not measuring up, and that was just your way of making sure I didn’t have to go through all that.”

“Ah did not think that,” Andrew muttered huskily.

Dar just nodded. “Then I figured maybe you knew me well enough to know I’d never have fit in with the Navy.” She exhaled.

“Then I finally just settled on knowing you made decisions the same way I did: you trusted your guts and let the chips fall where they fell.”

Andrew blinked. “You are the damndest thing.”

She shrugged. “You made me.”

Her father had to chuckle a little. Then he looked at his hands and flexed them. “Paladar, if you’d had your mind set to fit in the Navy, you surely would have, and if you’d set your mind to be a sea dog like me, you’d surely have done that also.”

Dar suddenly felt the seriousness of it. “I wanted to. I wanted to do what you did.” She looked at him. “And you’re right; I could have.” Her eyes glinted. “It wouldn’t have been easy, but I’d have done it. All the way.”

Andy nodded. “Yeap.” He looked her in the eye. “And that’s why Ah told them not to.” He drew a deep breath. “Ah did not want you to do what ah do.”

A thousand little tiny puzzles suddenly made sense to Dar.

“Oh.”

Andrew remained silent, looking out over the waves.

Dar picked at the tiny grains of sand covering her leg.

“Sometimes being able to do what you do is a very good thing.

Sometimes it needs to be done.”

“Yeap,” Andrew replied softly. “And some of the times, ah do enjoy it.”

Dar looked up at him quickly, but he was still gazing out over the water.

“’Specially when you can help out people you care for.”

Andrew turned his head to look Dar right in the eye. “Ah do like that.”

Dar released her breath and nodded slowly. “You put those 214 Melissa Good papers in my briefcase.”

“Ah did,” Andrew said.

“Thanks,” Dar replied. “You saved my ass.”

Andrew’s grizzled brows twitched and he gave Dar a side-long glance. “Ain’t that what daddies are for?”

“Only when you’re lucky.” Dar turned her head towards him and smiled, this time more broadly. “Did you really think I’d be mad at you for getting me turned down?”

Her father blew out a breath. “Lord, Ah had not the first idea what you were going to think about this. Been wanting to tell you for the longest time, and here you just up and trip me. Shoulda figured you knew.”

Dar chuckled. “I was mad. Then.” She looked up and around, and shook her head. “But sitting where I am now, having what I have—it was the right choice, Dad. We both know that.” Time to lighten up a little, she realized. “Besides, with my usual luck, I’d have ended up in charge of something, and you’d have had to salute me. Then what?”

Andrew thought about that, then he laid a long arm over Dar’s shoulders and looked at her. “Ah woulda followed you straight into Hell, that’s what. And been proud to do it.”

Dar didn’t say a word, but her jaw muscles clenched visibly and she swallowed. Andy nodded in understanding and just pulled her a little closer, both of them accepting the moment in all its richness, with a very similar desire for wordless peace.

CECI WANDERED TO where Kerry was sprawled and took a seat on a conveniently placed rock right next to her. “Hi.”

One lazy eye opened and regarded her benignly. “Hi.” Kerry smiled. “Having fun?”

It was nearing sunset and the fire had been lit, pots of seafood and vegetables sending hints of spices across the island. “Yes, I am,” Ceci replied. “You got sunburned.”

“Mm. I know.” Kerry stretched her tired body and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

They’d managed to string a volleyball net between two half-submerged trees and played several vicious rounds in the water, all the more tough for Kerry because of her relatively short height.

So she was pretty tired out and was glad to retire to her towel spread neatly over the sand and busy herself checking out the inside of her eyelids for leaks. Now she rolled onto her side and propped her head up on her hand. “What a gorgeous day.”

Kerry heard Ceci’s acknowledgement, but her eyes fell on Dar, and now her thoughts wandered pleasantly off as she gazed Thicker Than Water 215

at her lover’s sunset-lit form.

Mmm. Dar was wearing her black swimsuit and she’d just come out of the water, droplets glistening on her skin as she shook herself dry. Between the golden light, Dar’s natural tan, the faintly see-through fabric and the strong body easily visible beneath it…

“Kerry?”

“Hm?”

“Do you go off into these lustful hazes all the time?”

Wide, startled green eyes blinked, then immediately turned Ceci’s way. “Uh.” Kerry felt a powerful blush warm her skin.

“Bu…I...um…”

Ceci snickered unkindly. “Boy, do you ever show your thoughts on your face.”

Kerry covered her eyes with her free hand. “Jesus.” She sighed. “Sorry about that.”

“Why?” Ceci asked. “Despite the Republicans claim to the contrary, there’s really nothing wrong with being sexually attracted to the person you’re married to.”

The comment, as usual, came from around the corner, and unexpectedly struck Kerry’s funny bone. She burst into startled laughter, attracting Chino’s attention. The Labrador rushed over and kissed her, which only made her laugh all the harder.

“Hey, hey, what’s going on here?” Dar’s voice floated over.

“What’s so funny?”

Kerry absolutely could not look up at her. She almost inhaled half the beach as she put her head down and held her stomach, laughing so hard she was finding it difficult to breathe.

Dar took a seat next to her and waited, watching Ceci snicker quietly to herself. “Someone,” Dar said, in a low, no-nonsense voice, “is gonna let me in on this joke, right?”

Kerry rolled over and looked up to see Dar’s cool blue eyes regarding her over the edge of her sunglasses. She immediately dissolved into giggles again and hid her face. Dar looked at her mother and raised an eyebrow.

Ceci cleared her throat and stood up, having a firm belief in discretion being by far the better part of valor. “Your father’s calling me. Gotta go.”

Uh huh. Dar slid down onto the sand and stretched out, waiting for Kerry to finish laughing. Eventually, she did, and rolled over onto her back.

“Oh God.” Kerry exhaled, rubbing her face. “Your mother.”

“My mother,” Dar repeated obediently, “was telling knock knock jokes?”

Kerry peeked at her from between her fingers, then smiled 216 Melissa Good ruefully. “No. It’s my own fault. She came over here to talk to me, and I was dozing off I guess, so I woke up and rolled over and…um...” She paused and scratched her nose. “You were in my line of sight.”

Dar waited to hear a further explanation, then cocked her head when none was forthcoming. “So I am what you were laughing at?” she asked in a tone of mild bemusement. “Didn’t think this suit looked that bad.” She frowned and plucked at it. “You should have told me that before, Kerry; I mean—”

“Shhh.” Kerry covered Dar’s mouth with one hand. “No, sweetheart, you look totally awesome.” She paused. “That was the problem.” She removed her hand. “Apparently my opinion on the subject was um…obvious, and your mother made a joke about that.”

“Oooohhhh.” Dar grinned. “I get it now. She caught you looking.”

A tiny smirk tugged at Kerry’s lips. “Yeah.”

Dar’s eyes twinkled. “I’m flattered.”

Kerry briefly wondered what would happen if she just pulled Dar’s head down for the kiss she really wanted to give her. Later, Romeo, she chastised herself with an inward sigh. “Having a nice time?”

Dar uncapped a small bottle of Noxema, took some on her fingers, and spread it over Kerry’s skin, getting the nostrils flaring almost at once. Dar bit her lip to keep from smiling and ran her hands across Kerry’s shoulders and felt her lean into the touch, the warm skin under her fingers growing perceptibly warmer.

“I’m having a great time. What about you?”

“Getting better every second,” Kerry replied, her voice husky.

She cleared her throat self-consciously and glanced around, then up at Dar, a beseeching look on her face.

Dar chuckled and wiped a bit of the cream across Kerry’s pink nose. “I’m going to grab a dry shirt from the boat; you want one?” She handed Kerry the jar and accepted her nod. “Be right back.”

Kerry tucked the cream into her bag, sat up, and wrapped her arms around her upraised knees. The crowd was milling around closer now, and she spotted Andrew and Ceci heading her way.

Andy had a large album tucked under one arm and he sat down on the rock next to her and laid it on his knees.

“Hi,” Kerry greeted him as Ceci circled around to the other side and sat down. Duks and Mari drifted over, and Mark sat down near her, as well. “Whatcha got there?”

“What ah have here is pitchers.” Andrew glanced at the now interested crowd. “Seeing as it’s Dardar’s birthday, me and Cec Thicker Than Water 217

figgured you all’d like to see what that kid looked like as a tot.”

“Ooohhhh.” An eager rumble escaped as Mark scrambled to get a better spot. Everyone crowded around, including Alastair, who put his hands behind his back and peered over Andrew’s broad shoulder.

Andrew opened the album to the first page and smoothed down the time-yellowed plastic. “This here’s at about five minutes.” He pointed. “Yelling already.”

Alastair quipped. “Shoulda known.”

DAR TOOK A moment to rinse off in the shower before she removed her suit and pulled on a pair of shorts, along with a tank top she tucked into them. Then she regarded her reflection in the mirror. “Hey, beach rat, haven’t seen you in a while,” she greeted her scruffy mirror image, wind and salt sodden hair and all.

“Aw, you don’t look so bad for an ancient, almost thirty-one year old.” Dar raked her fingers through her hair to give it some kind of order, then she fished in the small chest of drawers and pulled out a pair of shorts and a soft cotton shirt for Kerry. She wandered through the boat’s compact cabin and stopped in the galley to retrieve the quart of chocolate milk she’d tucked into the refrigerator.

It has been a great day, Dar reflected as she walked out onto the stern and uncapped her milk. She took a sip as she watched the crowd out on the island, all gathered together near the fire. She could hear the laughter from where she was standing, and she took a moment to try and understand the wonder she felt at the scene. It was hard to fathom. Here she was, standing on the deck of her boat, looking at her little island, and it was full of her friends, and her family, and her lifelong soulmate and partner.

Mine. Dar took another swallow of milk. Wow! Then she smiled and shook her head as she leaned against the pilothouse’s support poles. Life is good. Complex, but good. She knew she had some tough decisions coming up in the near future, but somehow, those hovered out beyond the holidays, past the golden week she had planned with Kerry.

A whole week, just the two of them out there together. It would give her time to think. It would give Kerry time to heal.

They’d both just been through a month of hell together and damn it...

Dar paused and thought about that for a moment. They had been through hell for a month, hadn’t they? And the last week had been tough and a bitch. They’d both been off balance and out of 218 Melissa Good temper. And it had only brought them closer together.

Dar put her milk down on the edge of the deck and shivered in the light breeze as the truth of the realization seeped through her. Even with the tension between them, she’d never felt even a hint of fragility in their relationship, no whisper of doubt, no sense of fear that perhaps they were headed down a sad and familiar road to distancing themselves from each other.

It was as though they’d laid down a foundation so strong, that the worst storm could barely dampen the surface.

Dar wrapped that thought around herself as she climbed down the ladder and back across the pontoons, a gentle smile on her face.

CECI INTERCEPTED HER halfway down. “Hi.” Her mother had her hands stuck in her pockets.

“Hi,” Dar replied, stopping and peering down. “Need something?”

Hm. Ceci considered the question. “No, I’ve got everything I need right at the moment. But I’d like to give you something, and I’d rather it be in private.”

Uh oh. Dar blinked a little. Now what? “Um…okay.”

A faint grin flashed across her mother’s face. “C’mon.” She led the way back down the pontoons, past Dar’s boat to the one behind it, which belonged to her and Andrew. She was aware of her daughter’s intense curiosity as she followed, the long strides making the wooden bridge rock from side to side. “You don’t have to worry, it’s not anything that would embarrass you in front of your friends.”

“I wasn’t worried, really,” Dar replied. “I just thought we had all the boxes under the tree.”

“Mm.” Ceci climbed aboard their vessel and felt the boat move as Dar followed her. She entered the cabin but stopped just inside, forcing Dar to stop as well. “One thing.” She turned and faced her daughter. “I want you to promise me something.”

Dar felt very off balance. She was a little buzzed, and she’d been in the sun all day; her brain wasn’t working nearly as well as it usually did. “Huh?”

“Promise me something,” Ceci repeated patiently. “It’s not that hard, honest.”

“Okay. What?”

“Promise me you won’t ask me how or where I got this from,”

Ceci said, feeling more than a bit nervous. “Okay?”

Dar leaned against the doorway, feeling the warm teak wood against the skin of her shoulder. “Okay,” she agreed, completely Thicker Than Water 219

at sea. “I won’t. Why would I, anyway? You don’t usually ask people where they…”

Ceci had opened a trunk just inside the door as Dar was speaking, and now she lifted something and held it out.

Dar’s voice trailed off as she stared at the object, then slowly she reached out and took it. Her eyes absorbed the contrast of slate gray against still vivid color, details meticulously etched by a careful and very patient hand. Her careful and very patient hands, which had first built, then painted the model aircraft carrier many years before.

Ceci just watched her. There was so very much about their shared past she could not change, but this one little thing she’d been bound and determined to. It had taken a while, but she’d persisted in gaining back one of the largest bones of contention there had ever been between them. Even Andy had been shocked and angered at her when she’d gotten rid of Dar’s models.

Dar finally drew in a deep breath and looked up and away from the ship, her gaze open and wondering. “Wh—”

“Ah ah ah.” Ceci shook her head. “You promised.” She covered the intense emotion she felt by indicating the chest. “The rest of them are in here. I don’t know if you even have room for them, but I…” She heard a slight scraping sound as Dar put the model on the table, then felt the warmth as she approached. “…thought you might…” A hand gripped her shoulder and she felt herself being turned.

Having little choice, she went along with the prodding and found herself facing her daughter, and in the moment their eyes met, Ceci felt like a mother again. But she didn’t really get a chance to absorb that before Dar did something very unexpected.

She stepped forward and put her arms around Ceci and hugged her.

Good goddess. Ceci managed to respond in kind, wrapping her arms around Dar’s strong body and giving her a healthy squeeze.

The last time I did this… She let out a small breath. The last time I did this, she was ten years old. “Dar, I’m sorry. I wish it’d been different for us.”

“I don’t care.” Dar closed her eyes and just hugged harder.

“It’s different now. That’s all that matters.”

Ceci was lifted up a little, and she gained a new perspective on why Kerry took such care to remain strong and fit: you could get a little bent otherwise. But it felt good. She hugged her daughter and smiled in relief, thoroughly enjoying the moment.

DAR STUCK HER hands in her pockets and stretched, feeling 220 Melissa Good a tiny cloud of wonder following her around as she made her way off the bridge. It lasted just long enough for her to get across the sand and realize what everyone was looking at. She could feel the slow burn of embarrassment heat her skin as she heard the laughter and slowed her steps.

Kerry was kneeling beside her father, one arm draped over his shoulders, pointing out something on the page with one finger. As the laughter rose again, she glanced up and their eyes met.

In a twinkling instant, the amusement vanished from her face. She stood, gave Andrew a pat on the shoulder and pushed through the crowd towards Dar.

It took all of Dar’s considerable self-discipline to not simply turn and leave.

“Hey.” Kerry sounded like she was walking on verbal egg-shells.

“I didn’t realize I was the party entertainment,” Dar replied in a clipped tone. Another spurt of laughter and her whole body jerked, stilling when Kerry touched her stomach in a reflex action.

It was hard to believe just how angry she was.

“Dar.” Kerry frantically sorted through her thoughts for a way to prevent the explosion she could feel about to take place.

“Honey, please listen to me, okay? Before you go off the deep end?”

Dar remained completely silent.

“We’re your friends and family, and we love you,” Kerry whispered. “Your mom and dad are so proud of you, and they want to share their memories of you with your friends. Don’t be upset, please?”

Dar stared over her shoulder at the crowd, who hadn’t noticed her presence in the twilight shadows. Her face was still and closed, her pale blue eyes remote and very cold. Then, as though a switch had been flipped, she relaxed and sighed.

“I hate those pictures,” Dar muttered. “I look like such an idiot.”

She shoots, she scores! Kerry wrapped an arm around Dar.

“You do not. You were such an adorable baby, Dar. I wanted to just squeeze you.” She did so, getting a soft grunt out of Dar.

“Especially that one picture with you in the bunny suit.”

“Eemph.” Dar grimaced. “I’m gonna go wait on the boat.”

“No, no, no.” Kerry kept hold of her and dug her heels into the sand with a remarkable lack of success in stopping Dar’s progress. “C’mon...c’mon, Dar, please?” Her voice broke on the last word, and it actually made Dar stop and turn and put her arms around Kerry.

Oo. Have to remember that. “Come over and look at them,”

Thicker Than Water 221

Kerry pleaded gently. “Please?”

Dar exhaled unhappily. The very last thing in the world she wanted to do was go look at ugly old baby pictures of herself. On the other hand, it would make Kerry happy. Was she willing to do something she really, really didn’t want to do to gain that result?

Dar tilted her head and regarded the serious, mist green eyes looking back at her. “I’m not comfortable with people getting this close to me. It’s crossing a line I’m not sure I want crossed.”

Kerry absorbed that, her lips pursing as she considered the statement. “My life was lived so much in the public view, I didn’t even think of that with you. I apologize, Dar. I should have stopped your father.” She looked into Dar’s eyes. “Forgive me?”

Like I have a choice? A smile pulled at Dar’s lips as she surrendered her dignity and simply wrapped her arms around Kerry and started towards the group circling her father. What the hell.

She endured the sudden glances and grins with wry stoicism. “All right, which one of the seven thousand bad baby shots is he showing you now?”

“Aw, Dar, you were such a sweet baby.” Maria smiled at her boss. “So cute.”

“Mm,” Ceci agreed with a nod, catching up to them as they reached the rock. “I was going to pitch her as a baby model but she bit the photographer.”

Everyone looked at Dar, who grinned, then they made room as Kerry and Dar settled at Andy’s side. Kerry put an arm around Dar’s waist and rested her chin on her shoulder. “What on earth were you doing there?” She pointed at a small, square Polaroid of a perhaps five or six year old Paladar in denim overalls on a very fuzzy, very unhappy looking animal.

“Riding a llama.” Dar sighed, remembering the Pirate World Adventure during one of Andy’s infrequent leaves. “Neither of us enjoyed the experience, if I recall.”

“Ya’ll were pulling on his ears, Dardar. What’d ya expect?”

Andy drawled.

“Ah, is that where you got the experience to do that?”

Alastair asked.

“Yeah.” Dar grabbed her boss’s ear and gave it a healthy tug as he yelped. “So you better watch it.”

The laughter rose again, but Dar felt a bit more comfortable with it this time. She released Alastair’s ear, then bent her head to regard the next page.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO you, happy birthday to you…happy birthday, dear Dar…”

222 Melissa Good Dar listened to the chorus of voices, the cacophony evoking only a relaxed grin from her. They were in a circle around the fire, plates full of food balanced on laps and mugs of alcohol being freely passed around.

Dar was mildly drunk and she knew it. Kerry was even more so, sitting next to Dar with her sturdy legs sprawled out and an arm draped over Dar’s thigh. Her head leaned back against Dar’s hip as she related a funny story, her warm tones echoing out over the water.

It suddenly seemed oddly familiar. Dar experienced a flash of almost memory as she set her plate aside, put her arm across Kerry’s shoulders, and nursed her mug with her other hand. Was it the fire, some sliver of memory from her much younger years, some time spent out camping?

Laughter resounded and Dar smiled as Kerry’s voice rose a bit, taking on a subtle, yet deep timbre. The sound echoed slightly, and Dar suddenly felt if she closed her eyes and opened them again…But no, there they still were—at the fire with their friends around them, the Miami night sky twinkling overhead.

Strange.

“Well, I tell you, Kerry, that’s a heck of a way to spend a birthday,” Alastair said as Kerry finished her tale. “I think I’d have given them up after that.”

“Well,” Kerry ran her thumb lightly along Dar’s inner thigh,

“I did…for a long time, until I moved down here.” She paused.

“And took my life back.” Her face settled into a quiet reflection, and the tenor of the crowd changed a little as people took the moment to dig into the excellent stew and munch on crusty garlic bread.

Kerry took a sip of her beer and gazed out over the water, glad of the solid, warm presence she was leaning against. Ceci and Andrew were on the other side of Dar, and Mark was seated next to her, and she found herself very glad to be in this fire lit circle, surrounded by her friends and family.

Her family. Kerry took another swallow of beer, knowing that sitting in the sand covered in salt and suntan lotion wasn’t anything her other family would have ever been caught dead doing.

Not even Angie or Mike, who loved her, but who loved their priv-ileged lives just as much. “Y’know, Dar?”

“Mm?” Dar selected a bit of carrot sticking out of her stew and offered it to Kerry.

A smile crossed Kerry’s face as she accepted the offering—

licking Dar’s fingers as she munched on the carrot. “I don’t think I ever fit in at home.”

“No?”

Thicker Than Water 223

“Nope.” Kerry wondered, briefly, what would have become of her if she’d stayed there, had not taken the chance and jumped at the impulsive move to a state as far away from her home as she could get. “Glad I decided to come find you.”

Dar chuckled softly. “Me too. Otherwise I’d have had to come to Michigan and terrorize the area until I found you.”

“Think you would have?” Kerry imagined coming around the corner in Meijers and finding Dar. “Maybe you’d have,” she thought a moment, “found me at some job fair and hired me.”

“Nah,” Dar mumbled around a mouthful of stew beef. “Something more dramatic. How about…oh…I rescued you from being captured by white slavers and took you away for a life of vaga-bond excitement and crusading, traveling around the world.”

They were both silent for a moment, deep in thought.

Kerry rolled her head back and looked at Dar. “Honey, I love you but you’ve been watching too much of that late night television again.”

“Hey, I could have said we’d go off and become crocodile wrestlers.”

Kerry laughed. Dar joined her, pulling her closer and sliding down off the log so they were side by side. Duks started a story of his own and Kerry listened, tilting her head back and regarding the canopy of stars.

Are they twinkling at me? Watching me?

Was her father up there somewhere, finally in a place where lies didn’t work and the truth was like a harsh light that could blind if you weren’t prepared for it?

Did he know the truth about her now? And if he did, would he ever accept it, or would he go through eternity damning her for being something outside his personal box of understanding?

Kerry found the Big Dipper and traced its outlines. Goodbye, Daddy. She let out a small breath. In spite of everything, I really did love you.

A soft voice tickled her ear. “Whatcha looking at?” Dar gazed upward with her.

“Just the stars,” Kerry replied. “Look at that patch, Dar.” She pointed. “You think that looks like a bear?”

Dar pressed her cheek against Kerry’s and studied the pattern. “Nah.” She shook her head. “A pig.”

“A pig?” Kerry lifted an eyebrow. “How about a pig riding a bike?”

Dar didn’t answer. She just smiled.

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