Another sigh. But is that good, or bad? Dar considered thoughtfully. Well, something that feels this good can't be bad, and not be illegal. So I guess it's good. She yawned, and closed her eyes, letting a peaceful sleep take her.


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KERRY PULLED HER pale blue terrycloth bathrobe around her and sipped at her tea, trying to muster up the energy to go and take a shower. The drugs had worn off after she’d woken, and even taking more wasn’t really helping at the moment. The ache was making her cranky and tired, and she wished she could just crawl back into bed.

”Well, no time for that, Chino. I’d better get moving.”

Bare footsteps made her look up to see Dar ambling into the kitchen, a towel tucked neatly around her damp body. ”Hey.” Dar glanced at her, then put the cup down she’d been reaching for and stepped closer. ”You still feeling lousy?” she inquired.

Kerry shrugged. ”I’m okay, just a little sore. Give me a minute and I’ll get going.” She eased off the stool in the kitchen, then paused, biting back a grimace. ”Jesus.”

Dar took her cup out of her hand and grasped her by the shoulders.

”I think you better stay home,” she decided, speaking in a firm voice.

Kerry straightened, and shook her head. ”C’mon, Dar, don’t be goofy. I’m not calling in sick for a dumb stomach ache. That’s crazy.” A cramp hit her, and she leaned on the counter. ”I’ll be fine.”

Dar put her hands on her terrycloth covered hips and gave her a look. ”You listen here, Kerrison Stuart. You are not going to develop all of my damn bad habits, just because we live together, got me?”

Kerry peeked up at her, speechless.

”You are staying right here, in that cute little bathrobe, and watching Oprah all day,” Dar stated. ”That’s an order.”

”B—”

”Ah ah!” Dar put a hand over her mouth. ”You can logon from here if you have to, that’s why I have a damn ISDN in the house.”

Kerry kissed the palm of her hand, and smiled as it was withdrawn.

”Okay.” She felt a huge wave of relief, knowing she didn’t have to wrestle into her business clothes and put up with how that would feel all day. ”Thanks, boss,” she added, gratefully.

That got a frank, open grin from Dar. ”That’s better.” She leaned over and kissed Kerry’s forehead. ”Play with Chino, munch on ice cream, and relax. All right?”

”Nice prescription.” She stuck her hands in the pockets of her robe.

”And I do have some things I need to take care of so maybe it’s a good idea anyway.” She butted Dar's arm with her head. ”G’wan, you’re going to be late.”

With a satisfied chuckle, Dar turned, and walked out, humming lightly under her breath.


Chapter

Twenty-two

THE SUN POURED into Dar’s office, painting the carpeted floor and warming her back. She took the paper she’d been reviewing and marked on it, then tossed it into her outbox and flipped the pen she’d used in her hands. ”I may be a quarter of the way through this crap,”

she commented to her fish, who wiggled their fins at her. ”Oh, that’s right. I have to feed you today, huh? Your best buddy’s not here.”

Her phone buzzed. ”Yes?”

”Dar, I have Richard Edgerton for you on numero dos.”

Dar glanced at the phone in surprise. ”Really? Okay. I’ll take it.”

She hesitated before picking up the line, wondering what her family's lawyer wanted. ”Richard?”

”Hello Dar, long time no talk to,” the cheerful voice echoed slightly. ”Haven’t seen you in quite some time. How are you?”

Ten thousand answers to that question. ”Fine thanks, and you?”

Dar replied, recalling a mental image of the forty something lawyer, a former college football tackle who still retained his bulldog physique and almost military crew cut. ”Yeah, it’s been a while.” Her father’s funeral, to be exact.

”Oh, doing all right. Listen, it’s a small thing, but seems your aunt May had a lock box over at People’s First National that nobody knew about.”

”Yeah?” Dar leaned back in her chair and nibbled her pen. ”And?”

”There’s a trunk and two boxes of stuff in there, and by the terms of her will, it goes to you,” Jason advised her. ”The bank’s closing down and they called to tell us, since we were her executors of record.”

”Oh.” The dark brows knitted. ”All right, have it sent down. I guess I’ll sort through it. If it’s stuff that can be donated somewhere, I’ll do that in her name.”

”Great, great. So, how’ve you been, Dar? I saw your mother last week. She’s doing okay. Her stuff’s being shown at a gallery up here in a little bit.”

Dar exhaled, feeling the usual stab of pain thoughts of her mother brought. ”I’m doing just fine, Richard, glad she is too,” she got out civilly. Then an idea struck her. ”Listen, I’m glad you called. I need to ask a question.”

”Shoot,” the lawyer responded briskly.


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”First off, I um...I need to modify my will.” Dar interlaced her fingers and regarded them. ”And second, I need to know what kind of…I’m not sure what you call it, but something that would legally give someone the right to make certain decisions for me, if I wasn’t able to, for instance.”

”Uh,” Edgerton stuttered. ”Is everything all right Dar? I mean, with you? You’re not sick or...”

The executive chuckled. ”No, no. I’m fine, never felt better, in fact.”

How true that was. ”Just send me over the draft of the will, and I’ll amend it. I need to leave everything to someone other than the Humane Society.”

”Oh.” He sounded relieved. ”Well, sure, and the other thing, there’s a couple ways you can go with that, depending on how much power you want the person to have.” He paused. ”How much you want to trust them, that sort of thing.”

”All the way,” Dar replied softly. ”What do you need from me?”

”Just their name,” Richard answered. ”Dar, are you sure about this?”A slow smile appeared. ”If I’ve ever been sure of anything in my life, it’s this,” she confirmed, giving him Kerry’s name. ”Make sure you spell it right.”

”Okay, but listen, Dar, it’s awful sudden of you, and you’ve got quite an estate here, are you really sure about this? You’re sure it’s not someone looking for treasure, or anything like that?”

Dar regarded the mantel for a long moment, considering his words.

”I’m sure,” she finally said. ”She has no idea of the size, or that I’m doing this.”

”Okay,” Richard surrendered amiably. ”Just keeping your best interests in mind, Dar.” He cleared his throat. ”I’ll draw up the papers and send them down to you, end of the week okay?”

”Perfect.” Dar smiled. ”Thanks, Rich.”

”Anytime Dar, and watch for those cases,” the lawyer added.

”Knowing May, it could be anything.”

Dar acknowledged that, and hung up, feeling a quiet satisfaction.

Yeah. It was time. She turned to her computer and called up a session, then entered into the employee files, and called up her own records.

A few keystrokes, and the contact information was changed for emergencies, and then a few more, and her insurance beneficiary was likewise edited. She paused, watching the blinking cursor for a moment, then she hit send.

Update Complete, it said. Dar nodded and retrieved a cashew from her trail mix, munching it contentedly.

”COMPUTERS ARE GREAT things, Chino,” Kerry mused, as she reviewed her screen. She was curled up in her leather office chair, her 310

Melissa Good

robe tucked around her and soft, fluffy pink booties on her feet. ”Online banking really does make life a lot easier.” She clicked on a screen, then typed in an amount. ”Okay, that’s the last of the bills to pay. I got my car, the credit cards, all set.” She made a tick mark on a piece of paper sitting next to her keyboard. ”Let’s not let mommy Dar see that one, hmm?”

The puppy glanced up at her and licked her chops.

”Yeah, that’s the bill for the ring, and she’d have my head on a platter, I think.” Kerry laughed gently, picking it up and looking at it.

”But it was worth it, and they said you should budget two month’s salary for that kinda thing, right?”

”Yawp.” Chino yawned.

”Well, it’s just our secret.” She tucked the bill away. ”Okay, let’s see where we are.” She reviewed her bank balance, pleased with the result. ”Hey, that’s not bad, Chino.” She glanced at her payments.

”Okay, I think it’s time to reduce one part of this.” She picked up the phone and hesitated, then took a deep breath and dialed. She waited through three rings. ”Hi, Mr. Mahoney?”

A low, pleasant voice answered her.

”It’s Kerry Stuart... ...yeah… ...I know, the lease is up next month.

I won’t be renewing it.” The words felt so strange, and had taken her so long to decide to say. ”No, no, it’s great, I just...well, I’m living with someone, and I wanted to make sure it worked out...you know.”

The landlord was very understanding. ”You’ve been a great tenant, Ms. Stuart. Anytime you need a referral, you let me know, okay?”

”Thanks,” Kerry responded. ”I’ll be by to pick up the few things I’ve got there, but there's nothing valuable—you can show the apartment if you want to.”

”Right you are, and I know it’s in great condition. Thanks for letting me know, Ms Stuart. I really appreciate it.” He paused. ”And best of luck to you. I hope things go really smooth.”

”Me too,” Kerry responded. ”Talk to you later.” She hung up, and regarded the phone. ”Well, Chino, that’s that.” She glanced at the puppy. ”I mean it’s not like I haven’t been really living here before, but...” It was a line crossed, and she knew it. ”She’s stuck with me now.”

”Grrrr...yawp.” Chino rolled over, and put her head down, peering up at Kerry sleepily.

”Hmm...” Kerry turned her attention back to the screen. ”Okay, now let’s order some groceries.” She switched over to the internal Island site that allowed her to pick and choose what she wanted from an extensive list, and have it delivered. ”Let me check...oooo... Dar, you little piggy wonk. I’m gonna hurt you.” She shook a finger at the screen, as she clicked into the personal options, and changed the credit card the groceries were billed to back to her own. ”Damn it, I can afford this, Dar. How many times do I have to tell you that?”


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Irritated, she clicked over to her email, and whipped off a short, scolding note to her lover, and sent it. ”Bad girl.”

Chino lifted her head and whined.

”Not you,” Kerry reassured the puppy. ”Now, let's see...” She selected a variety of fresh produce and some staples, then drummed her fingers, and went over to the goodies section and clicked on a number of Dar’s favorites. ”By all rights, I should restrict you to Brussels sprouts for that trick, but...” A mental image of the little puppy dog eyes Dar was capable of when the mood struck her surfaced, and caused a grin to appear on Kerry’s face. ”I can’t resist that pout and you know it.”

She finished her shopping, which she’d discovered one night while roaming around the Island website, and which Dar had no idea existed.

”Not surprising,” Kerry snorted softly ”Coming from Ms. I can live on Frosted Flakes.” She reached over and took a sip of her ginger peach tea, breathing in the fragrant steam with a sense of quiet pleasure. The drugs had kicked in again, and she only felt a gentle ache, which was better than the spasms of the morning. Still, she was glad she was curled up here in her robe with a heating pad nearby if she needed it.

She set about balancing her checkbook, and putting things in order.

”Hmm...we’ve got a little extra here this month, Chino. Let’s see if we can find a treat or two.” She clicked over to an online computer store.

”Ooo...digital camera. What do you say, hmm? Does that sound good?

Is that a treat?”

The puppy heard the word ”treat” and immediately got up and trotted over, standing up on her hind legs and putting her small paws up on Kerry’s thigh. ”Rgrro?”

”Oh, you want a treat?” Kerry laughed, and fished a puppy biscuit from her pocket, giving it to the animal. ”Here you go.” She watched Chino chew for a minute, then she returned her attention to her browser. ”Yeah, that would be cool...gimme.” She glanced down as her mail icon flashed. ”Hmm?” She clicked it, and smiled as she saw the sender.

Roberts, Dar