Of course, she suspected her lover had cooperatively kept her pace to something Kerry could handle, but still, eight was eight, and it felt pretty damn good.

Add that to the fact that she’d finally...finally gotten the hang of that over the shoulder throw last night, and had managed to down Dar with it not once, but twice.

Yeah. She could sit here in the sun with her rocks and her solution, and feel darn proud and pleased with herself. ”Heh, heh, heh,” Kerry chortled softly, dipping the rocks carefully in the very mild liquid. She was actually feeling pretty smug, to tell the truth, and she was more 336

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than a little looking forward to going in for her checkup for a change.

What she hadn’t told Dar was that her doctor, Marie Simpson was a gym rat. She’d not only delighted in chastising Kerry for being so skinny, she’d spent thirty minutes during every appointment trying to browbeat her into joining a gym and starting an aerobics program.

She’d also been, to Kerry’s mild discomfort, romantically interested in her. Marie had made it clear that she wasn’t looking for anything serious, just some light hearted fun, and they’d gone out a few times together. Kerry had enjoyed herself, still very tentative in adjusting to her sexuality, but she and Marie just hadn’t had that much in common.

The doctor’s interests tended to violent sports, poker, and frank leering at passing bodies.

Marie also like to drink, which Kerry had deliberately turned away from, and she loved to party.

Kerry had gone with her to one, thrown by a professional women’s group Marie belonged to. She’d been all right, until she was cornered near the bar by a couple of very drunk and very amorous paralegals.

That had been a little ugly. But she’d gotten out of it with the help of a very sweet and very friendly bartender, who let her slip by behind the bar and through the hotel’s kitchen, where she exited and called a cab. It hadn’t been Marie’s fault, though the woman had apologized profusely, but Kerry had decided after that she wasn’t quite the party animal. ”Kerry,” Marie had said. ”You’re sweet, but you need to get a life.”Kerry swished the rocks around in the solution, and looked around her, with a grin. “Guess I found a life, huh?” She watched a seagull float overhead, and savored the sunlight warming her skin in a moment of pure, animal happiness. “Mm.”

”Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here.” She gently fished the first stone out and laid it on a soft cloth, then rubbed it carefully. A layer of the dark surface came off onto the rag, and she examined it, then dipped it again. Three or four more dips, and a careful cleaning with the rag, and she was sitting in some amazement, as the sun poured down and sent fractures of colored light through the pure, clear crystal in the palm of her hand. ”Wow,” she whistled under her breath. ”Check that out.”

An idea occurred to her, and she carefully dried off the two pieces of crystal, untangling the ruined chains from them. ”I think I remember a jeweler close by Marie’s office.”

She grinned, as she stood up and reentered the condo, heading for her bedroom to change.

THE WAITING ROOM was quiet this early in the morning, and Kerry had only been seated for perhaps five minutes before the Hurricane Watch

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receptionist slid her glass window to one side, and motioned her in.

”Good morning.” Kerry smiled at the nurse who met her.

The woman glanced quickly at the folder she was carrying. ”Oh, good morning, Ms. Stuart. Gosh, we haven’t seen you here in quite a while, have we?”

”Not for a quite a few months, no,” Kerry confirmed cheerfully.

”You must be nice and healthy, then.” The nurse tucked her folder under her arm. ”Right this way...in room three.” She guided Kerry down the corridor, and into the examination room. ”Go on and slip into the gown, and I’ll be in to take your blood. This is just a regular physical, right?”

”Yep.” Kerry put her purse down and shrugged out of her jacket, draping it over the back of the chair. She’d worn a fairly casual, but neatly pressed polo shirt under it, chiefly because she knew she’d be taking it off, and travel irons weren’t really her style. She unzipped her skirt and slipped out of it, then pulled her shirt off and left them folded precisely as she pulled on the thin fabric of the examination gown.

Then she walked over to the counter and examined the various jars and containers, wishing this part of the trial was already over. She didn’t hate doctors like Dar did, but like any normal person, she found the waiting, and the wondering, uncomfortable.

She didn’t have long to wait, though. The nurse came back in, and put her folder down. ”Okay, let’s get you weighed and then I have to take two blood samples, okay?”

”Sure.” Kerry stepped amiably over to the scale and stood on it, watching as the nurse adjusted the weights until the bar balanced perfectly.

”One hundred twenty one…okay.” The nurse marked it down.

”That’s a change from last year.”

From ninety four? Yes. ”I took a job delivering pizzas; it’s made all the difference.” Kerry told her solemnly. ”You know you have to eat all the ones you can’t deliver.”

”Oh my.” The nurse gazed at her, concerned. ”Is that healthy?”

Kerry kept a straight face. ”I work with a partner. I only eat the vegetable ones.”

”Ah, that’s really smart.” The nurse smiled. ”Okay, go on and sit up on the table there, and I’ll get what I need to draw blood.”

Kerry obediently went and hopped up onto the table, dangling her bare legs over the edge, and resting her elbows on her thighs. She lifted an arm as the nurse came over, and submitted to the short, chunky woman’s touch as she probed for a vein.

”Do you work out?” the nurse asked, in idle curiosity, as Kerry flexed her arm and caused the newly defined biceps in her upper arm to bulge.

”No. Why?” Kerry asked, with devastating innocence.

The nurse peeked at her, then went back to her task. ”Oh, well, 338

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nothing. I was just asking.” She took her blood and then checked Kerry’s pulse and pressure, and wrote those down. ”Okay, the doctor will be in shortly.”

Kerry rubbed her arm, where the needle had extracted blood and stifled a yawn. She’d deliberately skipped coffee that morning, not wanting to send her blood pressure skyrocketing. ”Musta worked,” she murmured to herself, recalling the 115 over 72 that the nurse had recited.

She hopped off the table and wandered over to the frosted window, standing up on her toes to peer out the top, where green leaves moved across a blue sky. She spotted a blue bird outside, and she watched, fascinated, as the bird hopped to a nest nearby and started feeding small chicks.

In February. Kerry shook her head in mild amazement, then turned, as the door opened, and Marie Simpson walked in, letting it close behind her as she stood, and studied her patient.

”Who are you, and what have you done with Kerry Stuart?” the slim, frosted haired woman asked, with a laugh. ”Holy Jesus came to town, kid. What’s up with you?

Kerry chuckled, as she turned, and leaned casually against the wall.

”Hi, Marie.”

The doctor put her folder down and walked over. ”When I heard Nancy talking about this buff blonde in room three, who was smart mouthing her, I had to come see for myself.”

”I was just messing with her.” Kerry felt a blush coming on. ”So, how’ve you been?”

Marie took her wrists, and moved her arms out, examining her.

”Not a patch on you, kid. Did my lectures finally sink in or something?”

She gave Kerry a slap on the shoulder. ”Go sit down on the table, let’s check you out.”

Kerry did so, laying down on the table and stretching out, as Marie set her stethoscope into her ears and listened to Kerry’s heart, then moved it down to her abdomen. ”So, did it?”

”Did what?” Kerry asked.

”My lectures sink in?” Marie asked, probing with gentle, sure hands.

”Not exactly,” Kerry told her. ”But I took your advice. I got a life.”

”Really?” The doctor laughed. ”That wasn’t all I told you to get,”

she teased. ”I think I recall saying 'Kerry, you’re sweet, but you need a life, and a good lay.’”

Kerry cleared her throat, ignoring the flush of blood going to her skin. ”I got one of those, too,” she muttered, hardly able to believe she was saying it.

”Ooh...did you?” Marie gave her a pat on the belly. ”Sit up.” She waited for Kerry to comply, then set the stethoscope against her back.

”Breathe.”


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Kerry sucked in a breath obediently, glad of the chance to regain her composure.

”Breathe.”

Another breath.

”Sounds good in there. You had any more bronchitis?” Dr. Simpson studied her. ”Those dizzy spells come back?”

Kerry shook her head. ”No coughing since that last time, and the dizzy spells kinda tapered off in the fall.”

The doctor picked up a metal bar and tested her reflexes, then peered interestedly into the side of her head. Kerry sat quietly, looking straight ahead and trying to think of something other than how much that thing was tickling her.

”So, you lifting weights?” Marie asked, casually.

”Um...a bit...not that much really, mostly light stuff.” Kerry resisted the urge to bat the woman’s hand away from her sensitive ears.

”Wall climbing, a lot of running, some diving, a little martial arts, that sort of thing.” She glanced up as the doctor stepped back. ”I feel great.”

Marie put a hand on her shoulder. ”You look great.” She smiled. ”I can hardly believe it.” She indicated Kerry’s clothes. ”Get dressed and c’mon into my office. We can chit chat for a minute or two.” She paused.

”Did you want me to schedule you for a mammogram? No, wait, we did that last summer, right?”

Kerry nodded. ”Yes. That’s hard to forget. I still get chilly thinking of it.” She grinned wryly.

”I...um...” She chewed her lip. ”Check

regularly.”

Possibly more regularly than strictly necessary, since she and Dar had invented a sort of mutual, gently sensual game to it, when she’d found that her stubborn lover had never bothered to check herself even once.”Good deal,” the doctor nodded. ”Okay then, meet you down the hall. I’m going to grab a bottle of carrot juice. Want some?”

”Uh, no thanks.” Kerry ignored the growling in her stomach. ”I’m going to pick up some breakfast on the way into work.” A Cuban egg McMuffin, she’d decided, and a nice big café con leche.

And one for Dar, of course.

Marie left her to change, and she did, tucking her shirt into her waistband and zipping it, then settling her metallic green jacket over her shoulders. She picked up her purse and went down to the doctor’s office, settling into the comfortable chair across from the desk, where the older woman was busy scribbling into her files. ”So, everything look okay?”

”Hang on,” Marie muttered, still scribbling. ”I want to get...okay.”

She looked up, and folded her hands. ”It’ll take a while for the blood work to come back, but everything looks good to me.” Her eyes twinkled. ”And your health does too.”

Kerry allowed a smile to cross her face, acknowledging the 340

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compliment. ”It’s been quite a change for me. I moved. I have a new job...” She paused, considering. ”Someone in my life. I guess that’s been the biggest change. Dar’s gotten me into a lot of that physical stuff.”

Marie cocked her head. ”Dar, that’s an unusual name. You don’t mean Dar Roberts, do you?”

Kerry blinked, truly startled. ”Um...yes.”

The doctor whistled.

”Wow. I never met her, but I’ve heard

stories.” She leaned forward. ”You got pictures?”

She’d heard of Dar? That made no sense, given the separate circles they traveled in. ”Uh, yeah, I do.” Kerry pulled out her wallet, and opened it, selecting one of her favorite pictures of the two of them, standing near an old oak outside the condo, Dar’s arms wrapped loosely around her neck.

”Wow,” Marie said again, looking up and giving Kerry a very respectful glance. ”My ex was at the bar downtown the night she took out those two robbers. She said she never saw anything quite like it, just like in the movies.”

Kerry's blonde brow edged up. ”Hah. I haven’t heard that story, but that’s Dar. She hates making herself out to be a hero.”