Finally, Chino calmed down and curled up inside the circle of Dar’s arms, panting. “Good girl.” Dar leaned back against the door and rubbed the dog’s ears idly. In reflex, she looked up towards the kitchen, half expecting Kerry to appear from the doorway, then sighed as the emptiness of the condo settled around her. “You know something, Chino?”

Brown eyes looked up at her in question.

“It’s too damn quiet in here.”

The dog barked at her.

“You think Kerry misses us as much as we miss her?”

“Growf.”

Dar smiled and gave her a final hug, then stood up and retrieved her bag, crossed the large living room and entered the kitchen. It was almost painfully clean, and Dar averted her eyes as she ducked into the laundry room. She tugged her outfit from the bag and dumped it into the washing machine, along with her towel and underwear, and set the device running. Then she re-entered the kitchen and went to the cupboard, opened it and removed a tall glass, which she filled with milk from the refrigerator.

“Mail.”

“Dar Roberts, six messages, none urgent. Kerry Stuart, twelve messages, three urgent,” the console answered, bringing a faint smile to Dar’s face.

“Display mail, Dar Roberts.” She scanned the headers, then produced a real smile. “Read two.”

Hey Boss.

Vermont is nice.

“Eh. If you like trees,” Dar commented aloud, a habit of hers when reading Kerry’s mails.

It would be a lot nicer if you were in it, though...it’s really quiet up here in the woods. I keep thinking some raccoon is going to hop up on my windowsill and start talking to me.

“Trapped in a Disney movie. Very scary, Ker.”


6 Melissa Good Oh well. The account is going all right—I have all the information, and a copy of the plan is attached to this mail for you to check out. They were kind of upset when I first got here, but I think I made them relax a little, and maybe they realize I’m not here to turn everything upside down for them.

“I’m sure they warmed right up to you.”

Only some things, I guess. They’ve got some very strange acquisition flowcharts...I wasn’t sure what they were doing, Dar, so I scanned those in and attached them too. If you could take a minute and look them over, it’d be great.

“Sure,” Dar murmured softly, taking a sip of her milk. “No problem.”

It’s been a really long two weeks.

“Yeah. No kidding.”

I think it really hit me today, when I was driving to the hotel, just how much I miss you.

Dar bit down on the rim of her glass, rereading the words in silence.

A tiny grin formed on her lips.

It was really strange. I dreamt about you last night, and when I woke up and you weren’t here, I felt awful. I know a business email isn’t the place to say that, but...I just wanted you to know.

Anyway, I’m going to go see if I can find something around here for dinner. I noticed an advertisement at the front desk for maple ice cream. It sounded interesting. Call you later.

Ker

“Mmm.” Dar leaned a hip against the counter and permitted herself a few moments of idle daydreaming, then she sighed as the computer beeped.

“Incoming video conference request, Alastair M.”

“Go.”

A square opened, revealing the familiar features of her boss, a round faced man in his fifties, with a perennially cheerful expression. “Evening, Dar.”

“Hi,” the dark haired woman drawled. “Little late for you, isn’t it?”

“Who me? Nah.” Alastair waved a hand at her. “Listen. I need a Eye of the Storm 7

favor.”

Uh oh. “And that would be...”

“I’ve got a little problem here. Well, ” Alastair looked uncharacteristically troubled, “more than a little. You know David Ankow?”

“Mmm. The new board member. Yeah.” Dar grimaced. An outsider.

He’d been voted onto the board by the stockholders two months prior, as a sort of watchdog, and had been challenging Alastair ever since. The timing was bad since they were right in the middle of a huge network redesign project, which Dar was heading up, and that meant large expen-ditures without an immediate return to account for them.

“He’s called an emergency board meeting tomorrow morning to debate the new network. I’ve got the answers he’s looking for, but just to be sure, I could use your support.”

That, Dar realized, was as close to a scream for help as she’d ever hear from her boss. “Hang on.” She pulled the seldom used pointing device out from the console and clicked to a browser screen, then entered an address. Moments later, she reviewed the results of a query and approved them. Then she clicked back to Alastair’s window. “Okay.”

“Listen, I know it’s short notice, but you know I don’t really ask that often and I—okay what?” His brow creased.

“Okay, I’ll be there tomorrow morning,” Dar replied. “Anything else you need?”

Alastair merely gazed at her for a long moment. “Well,” he propped his chin up on one hand, “yeah, in fact. What’s Kerry’s favorite kind of flowers?”

Dar blinked in startlement. “What?”

“C’mon. Roses? Tulips? What?” Alastair pursued. “I want to send her something, because I honestly appreciate just how much of a human being she’s made you into in the last few months.”

Dar stared at him, shocked.

“I’ll make it roses. That’s safe. Later, Dar. See ya tomorrow.”

Alastair’s face disappeared, leaving a company logo behind in the box.

“T…b...you...hold on there you son of a...” Her voice rose in outrage and she stopped, realizing that yelling at a blank computer screen was less than useful. What in the hell had that been about anyway? “I certainly haven’t changed that much.”

Chino wagged her tail.

“Have I?” Dar almost jumped when the phone rang, then she set her glass down and answered it, feeling a little rattled. “Yeah?”

“Um...hi?” Kerry’s voice came back at her.

“Oh. Hi.” Dar picked up her milk and wandered into the living room, dropped down onto the leather love seat and slung one leg over the arm of it. “Sorry. Alastair just called. I’ve got to go out there tomorrow.”

“Oh? What’s up?”

“Some meeting. That damn new board member. What’s up with you?” Dar swallowed a mouthful of milk. “Did you get your maple ice 8 Melissa Good cream?”

A soft chuckle trickled down the line. “Oh yeah. I was bad,” Kerry admitted. “I’d bring you home some, but I think it’d melt.” She paused a moment. “Got my mail, I guess, huh?”

“Yeah,” her lover responded. “I’ll take a look at your paperwork. But I’m sure it’s fine. You’ve got a knack for that.”

“Mmm.”

“And I miss you too.”

“Ah.” The smile was very evident through the phone line. “How long are you going to be in Texas?”

“Just an up and back. Probably fly back tomorrow night.” Dar sighed. “Sounds like he’s getting a lot of crap from that new guy...and it’s about the network, so…”

“Ew.”

“Yeah.” Dar relaxed and closed her eyes. “He’s a pinhead. I’m going to have to come up with Sesame Street words to describe a global Intranet to him tomorrow. Wish me luck.” The project was hers, really. Something she’d been able to do because Kerry had really stepped up to the plate in the last few months and taken most of the day to day headaches off her shoulders. It would triple productivity and almost quadruple the amount of bandwidth they had to offer, and Dar was quietly proud of herself in the design.

It had been damn nice to have the time to sit back and really think about it, working with a hand picked engineering team and laying out a new design that replaced circuits in some places twenty years old. But it was obscenely expensive, and Dar knew that’s what the newbie had picked up on, as a way to make a name for himself with the stockholders, since they wouldn’t see any benefit from the new system for at least two quarters, maybe more.

Pinhead.

“Hey, Dar?”

“Hmm? Sorry. I was just thinking.”

“I love you.”

Dar smiled at the ceiling. “I love you, too.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“When?” came the puzzled response.

Kerry laughed. “Never mind. Listen, my flight’s due in at nine on Friday, assuming I finish up by then. Can I get a ride?”

Dar snorted. “You have to ask? What kind of dumb question is that?

You bet your ass I’m going to be at that gate, my friend, And you tell those people in Vermont their butts better be done by then, or they’re going to have a lot bigger problem than a consolidation to worry about.”

“Like you?”

“Like me,” Dar growled. “Live and in color, and wanting to know why they’re monopolizing a very, very valuable company resource.”

Kerry giggled. “Oh my god. You have no idea how cute you sound.”

“Cute?” Dar affected a wounded tone. “That’s the second time Eye of the Storm 9

tonight. Alastair accused me of turning into a mushball, too.”

“Did he?” Her lover laughed. “Well, he didn’t hear you with those network carriers before I left, I guess. They could have heard you in Atlanta without the phone.” She’d been privately thinking that she’d detected some changes in Dar recently and had wondered if anyone else had noticed.

Apparently they had.

“How’d practice go tonight?” Kerry asked.

“Pretty good,” Dar allowed. “I think it’s possible I won’t embarrass myself totally at that damn meet.”

“Great. I have my little flag and T-shirt all ready,” Kerry teased gently.

“Ermph.” Dar rolled her eyes. “I hope I don’t regret this.” She stretched her legs out, feeling the strong pull of newly redefined thigh muscles. “Me and a bunch of kids.”

“Ooo. Listen to old grandma there. Want me to send you a nice frilly cap for your cane?” Kerry retorted. “C’mon, Dar. Don’t start that. You bounce Ken all over the place and leave most of those other people in the gym standing slack jawed.”

It was true, Dar acknowledged silently. But what do I say, that most isn’t good enough? That I’m not happy unless I beat them all? Do I tell her coming close ain’t gonna cut it? “We’ll see,” she finally compromised. “Anyway, let me let you get some sleep. It’ll be a long day tomorrow.”

“You’re right.” Kerry sighed. “Have a safe flight and say hi to Alastair for me, okay?”

“Mmm. I will. He’s…um,” Dar shifted a little, “sending you flowers.”

Dead silence.

“Huh?” Kerry finally spluttered. “For what?”

“Apparently he, ah, thinks you’re a good influence on me,” her lover replied. “He appreciates that.” She could imagine the stunned look on Kerry’s face. “I think he may be right.”

A long, in-drawn breath was clearly heard. “Oh,” Kerry murmured.

“Well, it’s mutual, you know. I couldn’t do half of this stuff if you hadn’t shown me the way.” She paused a moment. “God, I so want to hug you right now.”

Dar smiled wistfully at the phone. “Yeah. That’d be nice,” she responded. “Anyway, have a good night, Ker. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”

“G’night.” Kerry sighed, then closed the phone, and rested her chin on it thoughtfully. “Be careful,” she murmured softly. “Give ’em heck.”


Chapter

Two

A COLD, WET nose poked her in the eyeball. Dar jerked her head back in startlement, then blinked and looked around dazedly. “What th—

” Chino was curled up against her chest, the puppy’s tail thumping against Dar’s leg. The condo was lit warmly with dawn light and the TV

displayed an infomercial for a revolutionary new pooper scooper.

“Damn it.” Dar hitched herself up on one elbow and rubbed her face.

“Gotta stop doing that,” she muttered to Chino, who was apparently getting used to her falling asleep on the couch. Not that the leather surface was uncomfortable, but it threw off her internal alarm clock and made her have to scramble in the mornings.

Like now, for instance, especially since she had a damn plane to catch. Groggily, she sat up, then got to her feet, eyeing the cute abalone clock Kerry had insisted on getting, deciding they didn’t have one piece of tacky South Florida stuff in their living room. “Oh, hell.” Her flight was at eight, and here it was almost seven. “Chino, I’ll tell ya. They’re not getting a wool suit.”

“Woof.”

Dar ambled over and opened the back door for the puppy, then she ducked into the kitchen and grabbed a container of grape juice, which she popped open and sucked at as she headed for the shower.