“Yep. Thanks.” Dar briefly clasped her hand and went to her locker, opened it, and removed her towel. “You did pretty well yourself. You a regular in this bunch?”

“Eh.” Sheila waggled a hand. “When I’m into it. You know how it goes. I cycle through this, triathlon, blading…I’m in the chop socky phase right now.”

Dar chuckled. “Yeah. I’m just getting back into it myself.” She slung her towel over her shoulder and started towards the shower.

“Hey. That your girlfriend out there with you?” Sheila called out, unexpectedly.

Dar hesitated briefly, then nodded. “Yeah, why?”

Sheila gave her a double thumbs up. “She’s a babe. Nice job.” Then she walked out, whistling.

Dar chewed her lip thoughtfully, then resumed her trek. “Well, thanks. I think so,” she commented to the minute fungus on the wall as she turned the cold water on, waiting a moment to achieve lukewarmdom before stepping into the shower’s path. Cold showers really didn’t have much meaning in Florida, naturally, where the water took on the temperature of the pipes, which by necessity were near or aboveground. But this felt refreshing, and she stood for a moment, just letting it run over her body before she scrubbed the sweat off.

When she was finished, she let the water run again, as she leaned back against the wall and allowed the reality of what she’d just done seep in.

Not too damn bad, Roberts. She grinned at her reflection, seen through the water’s distortion. Not too damn bad. Especially that last one, where for a few minutes, she’d felt herself go all out and push past her normal caution, letting loose a wild energy that had both surprised and delighted her.

With a chuckle, Dar finally shut the water off and toweled her body mostly dry, wrapping the fabric around her as she padded back out to the locker, her sweat soaked gear hung over one arm.

Funny, she mused idly as she changed. I though this place had emptied out. Guess there were a few stragglers left after all. Certainly, the locker room’s attendance had grown, as various women busied themselves earnestly about the place. Whatever.

Dar folded her gear neatly and tucked it inside the gym bag, then 58 Melissa Good coiled up her belt and added that, as well, before running her fingers through her damp hair and shouldering the bag’s strap. As she headed towards the entrance, she saw a familiar blonde head poke in, and she cocked her head at the half amused, half outraged look on her lover’s face. “What’s up?”

“Are you done being the center of attention?”

“Huh?” Dar looked behind her in puzzlement. “What are you talking about? C’mon. Let’s go. I hear that ice cream calling my name.” She put a hand on Kerry’s shoulder and steered her towards the exit, where her father waited, none to patiently.

“Oh. So…you didn’t hear the blonde with the crew cut come out here and yell for everyone to come look. That you were naked in the shower?”

Kerry inquired archly. “Wow. Gotta check for—careful there, Dar. Don’t trip.”

“She didn’t,” Dar choked out indignantly.

Kerry pulled down her sunglasses and peered over them at her lover.

“You’re their new poster child, Dardar.”

Dar groaned. “Just get me to some ice cream, please?” She covered her eyes and allowed Kerry to lead the way.


Chapter

Seven

THEY ENDED UP raiding the local Publix and escaping back to the island when three possible ice cream parlors turned out to be packed with people or, in one case, a huge children’s birthday party.

So now they were home, and Dar was sprawled comfortably on the couch with a huge bowl of ice cream resting on her stomach. Andrew had taken over the love seat with a similar dish, and Kerry was seated on the floor next to Dar, sucking contentedly on a root beer float.

Chino, of course, roamed hopefully from human to human, the tip of her black nose already white and sticky with ice cream. The large screen TV was on, but mostly silent, with scenes of ancient Asia playing across it.

“Mmm. This is a nice way to end a really disgusting week,” Kerry commented around her straw.

“Yeah?” Andrew looked up. “What’cha get into, kumquat? More of that gibberish you two are always talking about?”

“Not really.” Dar sucked on her spoon as she remembered the phone call she’d gotten the previous day. “I heard from Mom.”

There was an awkward silence and stillness before Andrew went back to his ice cream. “Didja now?”

“Yeah. Um…Gran passed on. She wanted me to come up for the service.” Dar exhaled softly.

“You gonna go?” her father asked.

Dar considered the question. “I-I should.”

“But you don’t wanta.”

“Not really, no,” the dark haired woman answered honestly. “I haven’t seen any of them in damn near ten years. I don’t know.”

“Mmph.” Andrew slid a little lower in the cushions. “The old lady was always partial to you, Dardar.” He messed around with the ice cream a minute. “And it’s a…it’s not a bad thing for you t’see your mother. I’d um…I’d like to know how she’s doing.”

Kerry tipped her head back and let it make contact with her lover’s arm in mute comfort, feeling Dar’s hand come to rest on her shoulder in silent response.

“All right. I’ll go.” Dar took a spoon of ice cream and mouthed it, able to convince herself easily that her father wanting her to do it was 60 Melissa Good reason enough. “I was surprised she called.”

Andrew put his bowl down on the table and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Dardar, I’m sorry about that,” he told her softly.

“It’s so damn hard on everybody.”

Dar shrugged it off. “Old history. I am what I am. A chip off the old block, and that’s never going to change.”

A faint, pained smile crossed Andrew’s scarred lips. “Squirt, that’s some true, but there’s more of your mamma in you that neither of you realize.” He exhaled audibly and changed the subject, which was making them both very uncomfortable. “That all what made it a bad week?”

Kerry cleared her throat. “No. I was at an account that went pretty badly…and I finally got subpoenaed to testify about my father.”

Andrew made a face, recaptured his bowl, and resumed his aborted attack on the melting treat. “Sorry to hear that, kumquat. That means you’ll be mixing with your folks soon, eh?”

“Yeah. That’ll be pleasant,” Kerry agreed ruefully. “My sister says I’m a persona non grata in their house. I don’t get mentioned.” She paused. “They took all the pictures out of albums…that sort of thing.”

Dar’s arm moved and surrounded her suddenly, in a very welcome hug.

“Fortunately, Angie got a hold of most of my stuff there. She’s shipping it down.”

Andrew scowled. “I thought he didn’t know you spilled the beans?”

“He doesn’t,” Dar interjected.

“So he’s just doin’ that because—”

“Of us,” Kerry told him. “Yeah. You know something? That’s one of the things I like most about you—it was never an issue.” She smiled at Andrew.

“Wall, I like t’think I’m as liberal as the next Southern Baptist career military type,” he answered with a totally straight face. “Went out and got me a rainbow sticker to fit between my NRA poster and my pitcher of Stormin’ Norman the other day.”

They all laughed and the tension that had been building relaxed perceptibly. “Did you really?” Kerry suddenly asked.

“Damn straight. I walked right on in to that little place up in Lauderdale. Scared the bejezus out of them two little boys kissin’ behind the counter and bought me a sticker and one of these.” Andrew pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it over. “Got me a nice cuppa coffee, too.”

Kerry handed Dar the tiny rainbow striped keychain. “You’re so outside the box sometimes I never know what to expect from you, Dad.”

“Do what I do, Kerry, and what you find out is, doesn’t much matter what kinda packaging people got. They all bleed the same damn color,”

Andrew replied with quiet meaning. “Then you stop seeing people as this kind or that kind. Just they’re either a friend or they’re not.”

“Yeah. Well, I wish that attitude was contagious.” Dar sighed. “My other bad news was a new board member that’s making more trouble than he’s worth. Alastair’s worried he’s going to start digging in the Eye of the Storm 61

wrong places.”

“Again? Damn that company’s a pain in mah butt,” her father complained. “You should jest cut out and start your own company that does whatever the hell it is you do. Put them all the hell out of friggin’ business.”

They were all quiet for a moment, then Kerry turned her head and looked at Dar speculatively. “You know…”

“It’s crossed my mind.” Dar spoke at the same moment.

“Would backing be a problem? I’m sure we could—” Kerry spoke up eagerly.

“No.” Dar munched on a spoonful of ice cream. “All those bonuses could finally be useful. Last time I counted, which was a while ago honestly, there was about twenty million dollars in those damn accounts.”

She could feel the waves of utter shock beating against her. Dar glanced up right into Kerry’s astonished green eyes. “Which you, by the way, are heir to. Just thought I’d mention that. I’ve got some guy at Smith Barney who’s been investing and reinvesting everything I’ve gotten from them in fifteen years. He’s pretty damn good, and thanks to Aunt May, I don’t really spend much.”

“Jesus,” Kerry whispered. “Good Lord, Dar. I knew you said you had money stashed away but…”

“Wow,” Andrew muttered, for once at a loss for words. “I never done expected to be related to no millionaire, that’s fer damn sure.”

Dar shrugged. “Anyway, maybe after I finish this network project we’ll do some research on it. Would you come work for me?” she asked Kerry.

“That’s not a serious question, is it?” The blonde woman laughed in delight.

“What about you, Dad?”

“Hell yes,” Andrew answered immediately. “I want to get me some of those hot shot corporate executive perks I keep hearing so much about.

It ain’t bad working for Uncle Sam, but let me tell ya, you don’t get no leather chairs.”

They all laughed, then Dar put her bowl down for Chino to finish off and stretched, easing out strained muscles. She then relaxed into the leather’s soft, inviting surface as Kerry gave Andrew a humorous run down on Allison Consulting.

Start her own company. Would she want the headaches? What the hell? She had them now, didn’t she? Cutting out on her own was…a little scary. A little intimidating, because she was, she knew, much better at organizing and designing things than selling them.

Well, okay. So she’d hire a furking salesman for that…and maybe Mark would come work for her. Yeah...maybe María...

Aw, c’mon Dar. That’s been a daydream of yours for years. Who are you kidding? You don’t want to be responsible for the entire damn thing.

Right?

Huh.


62 Melissa Good MARÍA PUT HER cup down and sighed contentedly, enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning. It was Monday, and she knew it would stop being peaceful very soon, but for right now, just after sunrise, she could sit and listen to the lack of voices, and the phone not ringing, and think clearly.

Having Dar gone for two days had thrown a wrench into quite a few things, and María had set aside items her boss needed to go into immediately in a bright red folder set exactly in the center of Dar’s almost painfully clean desktop. They’d all expected Dar back on Friday, but her sudden detour had been stated as both dire and necessary by Lou Draefus, whose status email on the Allison account had gotten more and more drastic as the day went on.

So it was good that Dar had gone there.

Of course, María knew perfectly well that Allison Consulting had nothing to do with why Dar was in Vermont, but that was all right as well. Kerry had been starting to sound very stressed in the last few days of her first long trip, and it was a good thing that Dar wanted to make sure the visit was a success. Kerry had been doing a fantastic job in the last few months, getting compliments from even the sour Eleanor, and a few, very grudging, from José as she worked their problems with her own, gentler style. But it paid to make sure of things, and that was reason enough for Dar to have gone.

She would be glad to have them both back, though. Things were piling up, and she’d started sorting them in colors. Blue for Dar, green for Kerry, with little red tabs on the items that were the most urgent. Truthfully, Kerry was at a level where she could easily justify having her own admin, but María felt a little protective of her boss’s partner and had decided the extra work was well worth the peace of mind it gave her. At least until she could find someone Kerrisita could trust.