Emily watched as Parker walked out of the house onto a now clean deck wearing only a robe. The fencing from around the court had been taken down and Emily figured they were going to take photographs of Parker's play. The pilot found it odd that Parker grabbed a racket and hit a few practice rounds with the robe on. Out of sight in a small boat in the water Gary fed her some lobs over the net so that Annie could get her locations for different shots set up.



Once a good sweat had broken out on Parker, they were ready to begin and she dropped the robe. Emily thanked god that she was sitting on the beach and not out in the water. The sight before her would have made her drown she was sure.



Standing on the court with her hair loose wearing only tennis shoes was Parker. The makeup job Parker had undergone that morning made it look like there were no tan lines anywhere on the most perfect body Emily had ever seen. "Holy shit," was all she could think to say as the popping noise from the day before returned. Parker hit ball after ball as the woman shot more and more rolls of film. The backdrop of the incoming storm only accentuated Parker's form thought Emily as she watched how the muscles bulged when she went to hit the ball. Without her permission Emily found her feet moving closer to the court as the commercial shoot came to an end.



By the time Emily was next to the deck Parker was sitting at the table they had had dinner on the night before having another bottle of water wearing the robe she had come out in. The man that had been throwing the balls from the water was sitting with her as the other man helped the crew pack up their gear.



"Emily, good morning. I hope our little bit of capitalism didn't disturb you too much this morning. If it did see Nick, it was all his idea," said Parker. Abby's whining had alerted Parker to the pilot's presence before Parker had actually seen her.



"No, I came to apologize again for last night," started Emily before Parker put up her hand to stop her.



"Not necessary, Captain. I think if I were in Gail's shoes the evening might have played out about the same, minus the drinking and the broken dishes. I am really glad you came though, I enjoyed our time together before you have to go back to the real world." The bathing suit finally clicked as to who this woman was and that she was very much, like Willy had said, involved with someone else.



Gail wouldn't look as good as you in your shoes, thought Emily as the mental picture of a naked Parker played in her head again. "Thank you then, I enjoyed it too. I'm thinking of heading back today and I wanted to see you before I go. If you are ever in New York please give me a call and if I'm in town I'd be happy to return the dinner favor," said Emily. She crossed her arms over chest to hide her discomfort.



"Why don't you come up for some juice or something," offered Parker not ready to see her go just yet. Parker could see that like her, Emily looked lonely and the thought of not seeing her again was suddenly unacceptable.



"Parker, we need to finish this," insisted Gary. Parker glared at him to shut him up and the coach just ignored her. Before him on the table was the fifth death threat that had been sent to Parker in just the last month. In each note the group that claimed to be the Soldiers of Christ got more explicit as to how they were going to kill the tennis player. The tabloids headlines of her latest break up with Alicia had spurred a new flurry of right wing hate mail, but this group scared Gary. The others never sent such detailed descriptions on how they were going to do away with his friend.



"Maybe I should just go, Parker, you seem busy." And I'm standing here half naked, and you are naked under that robe.



"Nonsense, Emily, Gary is just our resident worry wart. People threaten me all the time because of who I am, the clothes I play in, for the way I wear my hair you name it they find fault with it. This isn't anything new and I'm sure it won't be the last time it will happen. Apple, cranberry or orange?"



"Apple thanks," She picked up the letter that was on the table and read it after Gary encouraged her to do so. Emily wasn't there to further upset Parker so she settled for humor when her hostess handed her the juice glass. "Ah, so you do know my name, I was beginning to wonder."



"Of course I know your name, Captain. Willy told me all about you. Your likes, your dislikes and what kind of person you are."



"I'd be afraid to know," said Emily. The chair swallowed her up and Emily wished that she had remembered to wear a shirt over the revealing suit she had on.



"Abby, fetch blue for me, boy," said Parker to the dog sending him inside before putting to rest Emily's doubts. "He and the rest of that crew think you are hard to work for, but they love you, Emily. They feel safe with you. Hell you can fly the plane serve hot chocolate and put up with full of themselves tennis players. Good boy," said Parker when Abby came back out with a red shirt in his mouth. Parker threw it at Emily as she petted Abby for his good deed. It was hard enough looking at Emily like that for the obvious reasons, but the sight of Gail's hand in the back of the bikini bottom was etched in her mind now.



"Thanks, Parker, but this is a red shirt." Emily held the shirt up before slipping it on.



"I know that and you know that, but he doesn't. Abby's color blind, but he's eager to please so cut him some slack."



"That he is. Must have learned it from you. Could I use your phone please?" Emily got up and headed toward the kitchen after Parker nodded her head. She left the coach and player to work out a solution to their problem while she went to work out her own.



"Thanks, Bobbie, I got a flight out tomorrow. I'm taking a couple of days off to start looking for a place as soon as I get there, so I appreciate you giving me a place to stay until I find one." After only a ten minutes Emily had found a flight back to New York and an old friend to stay with once she got there. The airline would put her on a different route for awhile to give her more time at home until she resolved her family problems, so she could use the rest of her vacation to look for a new apartment.



The pilot stepped back outside to find Parker dressed and ready for what she assumed to be more practice. The large hands that usually held a racket now held the hate letter that predicted her death, and from the movement of her eyes Emily could see she was reading it again. Gary was standing at the railing of the deck staring at the water not looking happy. Emily had never seen another person that looked so much like a free spirit just sitting still as Parker King. Who would want to kill a person for that?



"All set?" Parker looked up from the paper in her hand and smiled at Emily. She had gotten these types of things before, but these people seemed a little more organized than the rest. At the bottom of the page they had listed her schedule of play to point out different places they could get to her.



"Yeah thanks. I should let you get back to work. I have to pack and find a place to stay in town." Emily twisted the borrowed shirt she had on in her hands and waited for Parker to walk away.



"Why?"



"Why what?" Gary walked off the deck headed toward the court when he heard them begin their conversation. Emily figured he and Parker had had an argument while she was using the phone and there was no clear winner. Or maybe she was just imagining things and was projecting the fight she knew was waiting for her next door onto the two glum looking people here.



"Why are you going to stay in town, when I have three guest rooms inside that are empty? I promise to be on my best behavior, Captain, if you would grace me with your company for the evening. I'll even take you out to dinner so that you don't have to suffer through my cooking two nights in a row." Parker whispered something into the dog's ear and he went and stood in front of Emily. He lifted his paw and waved it at the small blonde trying to get her to look at him. "See, even Abby wants you to stay. I'll even drive you to the airport in the morning. I give excellent cab service."



"Well I won't complain if you want to cook for me again, you do great work in the kitchen. You really don't mind if I stay with you?" Emily scratched Abby's head as she looked at Parker.



"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it. You want me to go over with you and help you pack?" Parker wasn't asking for any explanations of why Emily wasn't leaving with Gail, but something had happened last night and she wanted to make sure Emily was all right.



"No, get back to work before it's Gary that doesn't let me stay." Emily could see that Parker wanted to not let her go alone after Gail's performance from the previous night. Their relationship had died but Gail had never been violent, though a huge confrontation was not was she was looking for either. "How about I take Abby with me then we'll both meet you out on the court when I'm done? Since I've never scored court side tickets, this will be a treat for me."



"Just whistle if you need me to come over." Parker threw the hate mail on the table and bent down to pick up her rackets. Natasha would be there soon to begin their session and Parker wanted to finish early to spend the afternoon with Emily.



"I don't know if I can whistle that loud."



"I was talking to the dog." The creases on the blonde's forehead told Parker that she was trying to figure out if she was serious or not.



"No freaking way," said Emily finally over Parker's laughter.



Gail had gone for a walk along the beach after her shower and sleep wouldn't come to try and think of a way to apologize to Emily for her behavior. From the moment she had met Emily, Gail had fallen in love with the gregarious woman, and for the longest time she had thought Emily felt the same way about her. She had been relentless in making Emily hers, but the long trips and the constant finding of fault in her behavior were beginning to tell Gail she was losing her grip on the pilot. The problem was she wasn't ready to let go. In her other relationships it was Gail that had done the leaving, not the other way around. Aside from the night before she couldn't find a reason for Emily's pushing her away.



Nothing looked different when she got back from her walk and seeing that Emily was still gone Gail took the car into town. Maybe some flowers and a bottle of their favorite wine could be the start of a better ending to their vacation. By the time the rental car hit the end of the driveway, Emily was walking out to the tennis court over the water after dropping her bags off in one of the guest rooms of Parker's house.



It had taken less than an hour from the time she had stepped off the deck with Abby to the time she got back, but Parker and tall blonde she was playing with were covered in sweat. Like Emily had seen the day before, the two kept up a blistering pace with Gary calling out instructions every so often over the grunts that followed almost every shot.



Emily sat on a bench that was right behind the side of the net Parker was playing on and drank the bottle of water she had brought out with her. Abby jumped up next to her and put his head in her lap looking relaxed but Emily could see he was keeping his eyes on the ball waiting for the opportunity to pounce on a missed one.



"Move the shots out more, Park, aim for the lines. If your opponent thinks the balls are going to go out they might not chase them all down. When that happens, you win shots and conserve energy," said Gary. Parker let the next ball Natasha hit fly past her stopping to take a quick break.



"Why would anyone let a ball past them, Gary, I chase them all down even the ones that look like they're out by a foot." Gary threw her a couple of balls then pointed his finger at her.