Red Sky at Morning

Chapter

Three

THE HOTEL’S RESTAURANT was busy when Dar threaded her way through the business crowd to a table near the rear windows.

Already seated, Alastair spotted her and waved, and she lifted a hand and waved back. “Morning.” She gave Bob a brisk nod. “Thanks for the lift last night.”

Bob returned the nod. “You look a lot more chipper this morning.

Was it the food or the company?” he asked with a wry grin.

“Neither.” Dar sat down. “Migraine. Delayed reaction from the meeting.”

“Ah.” Bob nodded.

“Damned nasty things.” Alastair appeared relieved. “Glad it was nothing serious, though. Coffee?”

“Definitely.” Dar flipped open the menu and studied it.

“Heard from Redmond last night, Dar.” Alastair leaned forward.

“Doesn’t look good. Johnston sounds panicky.” He took a sip of orange juice. “I heard Kerry was on her way there.”

Dar stared at the menu for a moment, then blinked. “She was.” The tall executive made her decision. “I’ve decided to bring the Redmond team down our way instead.” She glanced up over the edge at her boss.

“I told Kerry to stay home.”

Alastair cocked his head to one side. “Oh, really?”

“Thanksgiving week?” Bob also sounded surprised.

“Yep.” Dar kept her eyes on the breakfast selections. “How’s the Benedict here, Alastair? Any good?”

Her boss was caught off guard. He fiddled with his napkin, then leaned back in his chair and hitched up a knee, cupping his hand around the gray flannel surface. “Never had it, really. Listen, Dar...do you really think pulling the whole team out is a good idea?”

“Yes.” Dar put her menu down and met his eyes. “There’s been a big foul-up there. If I send someone in, it’s on their turf and it’ll take me a week to get to the bottom of it. Bring them in to Miami, and I’ll have it turned around in twenty-four hours. You pick.”

Bob sniffed reflectively. “Got a point there. Sometimes it takes coming out of the forest to see the trees,” he said. “Sounds like they’re buried in crap.”

46 Melissa Good

“Eh.” Alastair grunted. “Could be, could be. All right, Dar. It’s your ballgame, after all.” He motioned to the waiter. “Benedict, was it?

Wheat toast?”

“White.” Dar gave the waiter a thin smile. “And a half stack of pancakes. Thanks.” She handed over her menu and sat back, lifting her newly poured cup of coffee and sipping at it. She glanced around at the full room, returning nods and smiles from some of the investors she’d met the day before. “Nice crowd.”

“They certainly liked you.” Alastair chuckled. “Haven’t had so many people come up and ask me questions in six years, none of them about the balance sheets for a change.” He gave his CIO a smile. “Even the board members had to come and suck up to me. I really enjoyed that, Paladar...I really did.”

“I bet.” Dar smiled, toasting him with her coffee. Then she pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. “Now let me give Redmond the bad news.”

Bob leaned back in his chair and munched on a biscuit. “Weather they’ve been having, not sure it’s gonna be that bad, Dar. Now if someone would offer me a week in Miami in winter...” He gave Alastair a look. “But noooo...I get to fly to Cleveland from here.”

“Be thankful,” Alastair told him crisply. “It coulda been worse.

Bracken’s been asking me to get him a top salesman out to North Dakota.”

Dar chuckled as she waited for the phone to connect. After a moment, it did. “Morning, Clarice. Dar Roberts here.”

A moment’s silence was followed by a small gasp. “Oh, hello, Dar! I wasn’t expecting you! Here we thought we’d be seeing your new VP, but I hear the flight was delayed.”

“Canceled,” Dar told her. “So get your team together and book a ride down to Miami. I’m not wasting a minute more of Kerry’s time on your impending cluster.” Her voice took on an edge. “Our offices, tomorrow morning.”

“But—”

“No buts. Move it!” Dar barked.

Clarice sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”

Dar closed her phone and returned it to its clip, then finished her coffee, basking in the crowd’s covert attention and glad she’d left Kerry upstairs and away from the avidly watching eyes. “That’s that.”

“Probably for the best, Dar.” Alastair poured her another cup.

“Business comes first, after all, right?”

Dar’s nose wrinkled a little. “Right.”

KERRY SETTLED INTO her leather seat next to Dar, buckling her seat belt and tugging her sweater straight. She knew she’d have to strip it off the minute they landed, but it was soft and pretty, and the plane’s Red Sky At Morning 47

air conditioning was chilly so she was glad Dar had bought it for her on a whim.

She was still feeling pretty small, like she was running away from her responsibilities. But you knew you’d feel like that, and you did it anyway. So, suck it up and get over it, Kerrison. She leaned on the console between their seats and glanced at Dar. “Was Clarice upset?”

Dar shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t give her time to express her opinion one way or the other,” she told her partner. “I just told her to get her and her team’s asses on a plane and be in Miami tomorrow morning.”

“Mm.” Kerry pursed her lips. “You know—”

“Ah ah.” Dar tapped her on the bridge of the nose. “No second-guessing. It’s better this way, at any rate, because you won’t have to deal with them being territorial. You’ll have them at your mercy from the get-go.”

Kerry winced. “That sounds so manipulative.”

“Kerry, they’re endangering a forty-million-dollar contract,” Dar reminded her. “Don’t feel sorry for them. I don’t.”

True. “I know. I just want to get their side of it before I start hammering on them,” Kerry told her. “I’m really surprised at Clarice. I thought she was very sharp the last project she worked.” She shook her head. “Wonder what went wrong?”

Dar shrugged. “She’s always been stubborn.”

Kerry’s ears perked. “Have you known her long? You never talked about her before.”

Something occurred to Dar. It made her sit up straight and open her eyes wide as she remembered what had precipitated Clarice’s transfer to the Midwest. Slowly she turned and regarded Kerry, nibbling the inside of her lip. “Um...there’s something you’d better know about before you meet Clarice.”

Kerry looked up from reading the emergency card in her seat pocket. “Hmm? What?” She studied Dar’s face closely. “Don’t tell me she’s a phobe.”

I wish. Dar shook her head. “She shares our lifestyle,” she admitted.

“Pretty openly.”

“Ah.” Kerry frowned, then she glanced back at Dar. There was a distinct hint of “uh-oh” right around her lover’s pretty blue eyes, and it made her pause and think hard. She knew Dar had been involved several times before they’d met, but... “Um...you two weren’t...”

“No.”

Kerry exhaled in relief. That kind of complication wasn’t something she’d bargained for.

“But she really, really wanted to be,” Dar added, lowering her voice and looking around. “And she was pretty persistent.”

Kerry leaned closer, intrigued. “And?”

“Wasn’t my type.”

48 Melissa Good

“Ah.” The blonde woman nodded. “So...what’s the problem?”

Dar assumed a sheepish expression. “I pulled the old ‘no relationships in the department’ rule on her to get her to leave me alone.”

Kerry stared at her for a minute, then let her face drop into her hand. “Oh, Jesus,” she muttered.

Dar cleared her throat, giving the flight attendant a wan smile.

“Sorry,” she whispered into Kerry’s ear. “I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it.”

Kerry looked up at her from between her fingers, then covered her eyes again and sighed. “Paybacks,” she uttered. “They always getcha.”

KERRY LEANED AGAINST the wall in the copy room and tried to ignore just how much the machine’s whining noise was annoying her.

She wondered what would happen if she gave in and kicked the thing, but the presence of two of the more gossip-prone marketing assistants made her cross her ankles instead.

Okay, Kerry. Take a deep breath and pretend you don’t have cramps from hell, woke up late, and have an ex-admirer of Dar’s to deal with in twenty minutes.

“Okay, all yours.” Candy gave Kerry one of her sweeter smiles and took her papers with her as she and her crony sauntered out.

“Thanks,” Kerry muttered, pushing off from the wall and putting her agenda on the machine before starting it up. She could have asked Mayte to do this, of course, but her assistant was busy getting the conference room ready and pulling down network diagrams to the transparency printer. Besides, walking around usually got her cranky body to loosen up a little, something she fervently hoped happened before she had to start her meeting.

Sometimes, she reflected, being female and fertile sucks large piggy wonks. The machine finished its work, and she removed her still-warm copies from the sorter and stapled them, then tucked them under her arm as she made her way back to her office.

Mayte was still gone, so she left the collated papers on her assistant’s desk before she went into her office, closing the door behind her as she entered the sunlit space. Her brows lifted as she spotted a small cluster of items she was sure she hadn’t left on her desk surrounding her favorite cup, which was now gently steaming.

“Oho...what have we here?”

She circled the desk and sat down in her leather chair, tucking one leg up under her to try and ease the cramping. Resting on the desk were several things, each with a note. First, her cup, scented with a hint of spicy raspberry, then four wrapped chocolates, then a bottle. “Try this first...” She took a sip of the tea. “Then try these...” She unwrapped a chocolate and popped it into her mouth. “Then this.” She held up the Red Sky At Morning 49

bottle of powerful painkillers. “If all that fails, call me.”

Kerry chuckled around her mouthful and took a swallow of the tea to wash it down. “Thank you, Doctor Dar.” She didn’t really expect either tea or candy to work, and she’d already taken a handful of painkillers, but the thought of Dar in here, meticulously arranging her action plan and writing her notes, brought a smile to Kerry’s face and allowed her to forget her misery for a short while.

A very short while.

Her intercom buzzed. “Ms. Kerry? They are waiting for you in the conference,” Mayte’s soft voice floated into the air.

Kerry sighed and unwrapped another chocolate. “I’ll be right there, Mayte.”

“DAR?”

“YES?”

“COMMANDER Albert is here to see you,” María replied quietly.

“Send him in.” Dar finished signing the last of a stack of requests and closed the folder, tossing it in her out bin and putting the top back onto her fountain pen. Kerry had given her the elegant teakwood instrument, and she played with it for a minute, admiring the fine grain before she set it down and folded her hands.

María opened the door and stood back, allowing her guest to enter.

In walked a tall, muscular man in his mid thirties, every crease in his uniform razor sharp and precise. Dar had about ten or fifteen seconds as he crossed the room to decide how to play her side of the encounter and decided, as she stood and took the offered hand, to let the commander make the first move. “Commander. Thank you for coming down here.”

“That would be up, ma’am,” the man answered crisply. “I did as I was ordered to do.”

Oh boy. Dar resumed her seat. “Please, sit down.” She waited for her guest to comply. “I understand you’re going to be the Navy’s liaison officer for this new project, and I wanted to have a word with you before we got started.”

“Ma’am, I don’t know what you’ve been told, but in my opinion, this project is a waste of both our times,” Commander Albert stated flatly. “I’d just as soon it stopped right here, to save us all the hassle.”

“Commander, that’s not your decision to make,” Dar replied mildly. “Nor is it mine, for that matter. The government, for its own reasons, has decided to contract us to do this, and if you want it stopped, you’re going to have to appeal up your chain of command to do it.”

“With all due respect, ma’am, we do not need a civilian efficiency expert coming in and telling us how to run the Navy.”

“With all due respect, Commander, that’s not what your government hired,” Dar said. “I’m a systems analyst. I couldn’t give a 50 Melissa Good crap how you run the Navy. What they asked me to do is analyze your systems and controls structures and recommend technological enhancements.”

“Our systems work just fine.” Albert’s jaw twitched.

Dar sat back. “Then it’ll be a very short project, won’t it?” She felt almost a sense of amusement as she studied the sharp profile. “Listen, Commander, you’re making three assumptions that are going to get you into trouble, so you might want to just reverse your course right now.”

“Excuse me, ma’am?” he replied stiffly.

“One, you’re assuming I don’t know an obstructionist when I meet one. Two, you’re assuming I need your cooperation to do this little job; and three, you’re assuming I’m a stranger to the Navy.” Dar stood up. “I’ll meet you out at the base Friday morning. I think we’ve wasted enough of each other’s time today.”

Commander Albert stood and gave her a short nod. “Ma’am.” He turned and walked to the door, opening it and slipping through without ever looking back at her.

Dar sat back down and shook her head. “Gerry, I’m going to get you for this.” She pulled out her Palm Pilot and scribbled a few notes on it, adding her new contact’s name. She looked up as her intercom buzzed again. “Yes?”

“Dar.” Kerry’s voice, though calm, held a distinct edge to it. “I think we need some high-level situational administration here.”

Ah. My ass-kicking skills are in demand. “Be right there,” she told Kerry. “Take five.” She released the intercom and stood, circling her desk and heading for the door. “Definitely not a good day.”

KERRY RESTED HER weight on her elbows and cradled the mug in her hands, slowly sipping from it. Across the table, Clarice Keown, a strikingly attractive black woman, was arguing with Mitchell Grafberg, a member of the Midwest team that had been responsible for administering the account over which they were currently fighting.

God. Kerry counted the seconds. She hadn’t seen this much finger-pointing since the last time someone had knocked over the water cooler and shorted out the Xerox machine. It wasn’t that she didn’t know what the problem was—she did. In fact, all of them knew it. The account had been botched from day one, and the bandwidth designed for it was simply not enough. Adding to it would be at ILS’s expense and would take far too much time, and no one wanted to be responsible for making that decision.

Well, actually, Kerry had already made it. The point was, no one wanted to be the reason she’d had to. She’d been a little surprised at Clarice, who was sharp, and funny, and whom she liked, because the regional director was the main roadblock. She flatly refused to accept that her team had goofed and was simply going around in circles with Red Sky At Morning 51

arguments, trying to justify the bill Dar was surely going to slap right onto her desk.

The outer door opened and closed, and the room was suddenly full of Dar Roberts, who swooped down on the table and circled it like a huge hunting hawk before settling neatly at Kerry’s side. Her entrance stopped the argument in its tracks, and now everyone’s attention was focused on Dar’s sleek form.

Dar gave them all a level, serious glare before turning and cocking her head at Kerry. “Well?”

“There was a significant underbudgeting of resources for the account,” Kerry stated. “That miscalculation allowed the bid to undercut the other offers, and it was awarded based on false data.”

The bridge of Dar’s nose wrinkled expressively.

“I’ve just had to order two additional T3 pipes and six new routers to make up the shortfall,” Kerry went on. “Which we won’t be able to bill back for. I’m looking at additional leveraging with other accounts in the area.”

Dar grunted.

Kerry correctly interpreted this to mean she’d done the right thing, but the cost was giving Dar a hive.

“So you needed me here to do what?” Dar asked. “Seems like you’ve got a handle on the disaster without me sticking my nose in.”

“There was a breakdown in processes,” Kerry reminded her. “And, unfortunately, I can’t fix the breakdown because we can’t seem to come to an agreement over where, exactly, the gap is.”

“Oh.” Dar nodded, then reviewed the table. “I get it. No one wants the blame, is that it?”

Clarice leaned forward. “Dar, it’s not anything to do with blame, okay? I still think it was a valid bid. The customer didn’t tell us enough for us to know different.”

“Bullshit,” Dar snapped back. “The customer doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the wall. That’s why they hired us. It’s our job to make sure we know what their business is, Clarice, and if we don’t know enough to ask the right questions, then we end up in situations like this.” She slammed her hand on the table, and everyone jumped.

Except Kerry. She’d felt the shift in the body next to her, and figured it would either be a table slap or a jump to the feet. Since Dar’s thigh didn’t move, she chose the slap and was expecting it.

“Kerry’s going to save your ass, and I agree with her decision, but somewhere down the line, she’s got to stand up and explain why Ops’s budget is in a deficit because we had to take on the expense of your screw-up,” Dar went on. “So you’d better figure out where your hole is and close it, or I will.”

Everyone was quiet for a minute. Clarice finally exhaled. “All right.

We’ll take care of it.”

“Good. Because if it happens again, I’m not going to worry about 52 Melissa Good whose fault it was, I’ll just fire all of you,” Dar snapped back, her voice low and electric, then building to an impressive volume that almost made Kerry wince. “Is that clearly understood?”

In the silence that followed, Kerry could clearly hear the air conditioner cycling on and off.

Clarice broke the stillness. “Understood.”

“Good.” Dar’s manner shifted abruptly to calm cordiality. “There’s a Midwest regional sales meeting going on down on ten. You might want to stop in there. I know Jose wanted to talk to you.” She cleared her throat, then absently picked up Kerry’s cup and took a sip of her tea.

Kerry was careful not to react. She kept a bland, interested look on her face and studied her pen. “I think we might even be able to push up the due date on those extra T3s. The local up there owes me a favor.”

“Good,” Dar said again, putting the cup down and standing up.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” She gave them a nod and strode out, leaving a Dar-sized awkwardness behind her.

“All right. Now that we’ve got that cleared up,” Kerry pushed back from the table and stood, “anything else we need to clarify?” She was met with silence. “Great. I’ve got a conference call I’m due on in ten minutes. I’ll keep you advised on the status of those circuits.” She gathered up her papers and tucked them under an arm, then picked up her cup and made her way to the door, pushing her way through it and letting it close behind her.

DAR HEARD THE steps catching up to her in the hallway, and she debated making a sharp right turn into the restroom. Then Clarice called her name and she regretfully abandoned the thought and stopped, turning and giving the black woman an inquiring look.

“Got a few minutes?”

Patience, Dar. Take a deep breath and imagine Kerry teaching you to crochet. “Sure,” Dar replied, then fell silent, putting the burden of the conversation back on Clarice.

“Somewhere more private than the central lobby?” There was a note of nervous amusement in Clarice’s voice. “Your office, maybe?”

“C’mon.” Dar turned and led the way along the hall, pulling the door to her outer office open and holding it as Clarice passed in front of her. María looked up as they entered, and her gaze slipped past Clarice’s shoulder and met Dar’s in wry amusement. The poor secretary had found herself in a most awkward position, having had to field the love-struck woman’s inquires into Dar’s personal tastes and preferences, and had retreated into a bland, Cuban incomprehension on many occasions.

“That is how I knew about you and Kerrisita,” María had told her once. “I did not have to tell her anything, Dar. When I saw her first time fixing you the Red Sky At Morning 53

coffee, the right way? I knew.”

Dar considered that as she followed Clarice into her inner office, realizing that should have signaled to her the difference between Kerry and all her former interests. Kerry alone hadn’t fenced around with her, done the dance, played the game. She’d walked in and simply claimed Dar, lock, stock and barrel, as though she’d had some inalienable right to do so.

Hmm. Dar set her interesting revelation aside as she sat down behind her desk and crossed her arms on it. “All right, what can I do for you?”

“So, how are you, Dar?” Clarice asked, seating herself cautiously.

“Never been better,” Dar replied with complete honestly. “What do you want?”

“Haven’t changed, huh? Straight to the point.” Clarice cleared her throat. “Well, you remember my mom?”

“Mm.” Dar nodded. Clarice’s mother lived in Coral Gables, and she’d always thought the two were close.

“She’s getting on, and the doctor doesn’t want her living alone anymore. She wants me to come back here and live with her. So I was wondering if there was anything in the company available for me.” She paused. “Here.”

Oh. Something simple for a change. Dar sat back and propped a knee up against the edge of her desk, looking up at the ceiling as she brought to mind a list of openings in operations in the area. Her peripheral vision told her Clarice was watching her with a look that mixed curiosity and something else. “There might be one or two things, but I’ll have to check with Kerry,” Dar replied. “It’s her ballpark, unless you want to change divisions. When are you looking at making the move?”

Clarice exhaled, obviously relieved. “As soon as I can. Listen, I’m sorry about this whole mess-up, Dar.” She got the words out in a rush.

“Paul’s new, and he’s young, but he really did sound like he knew what he was doing, and I—”

“Don’t apologize to me,” Dar cut her off. “Do yourself a favor and don’t cover up for him. Everyone takes the heat for their own mistakes, remember?”

Clarice pursed her lips and exhaled. “You sure haven’t changed much at all.”

That got an amused quirk of Dar’s lips. “You expected me to? Hope you weren’t holding your breath,” she remarked. “There’s a reason everyone would rather deal with Kerry.”

A shift. “Yeah, she’s pretty sharp,” Clarice said. “Where’d she come from?”

Dar sensed a ruffle in the waters. “She was part of an account we consolidated down here,” she said. “I’ll send her a note, tell her you’re looking to relocate.”

“Thanks.” Clarice stood up. “I’ll go talk to her myself. I just wanted 54 Melissa Good to make sure you didn’t have a problem with it. Maybe she’ll have a minute now.”

“I’m sure she’ll find time,” Dar answered.

“Hmm...she’s really efficient, that’s true,” Clarice said. “I can see I have a lot to learn from her.” She turned and walked out, closing the door behind her with a distinct snick.

Dar gazed plaintively at her ceiling. She was reaching over to hit her intercom button when her inner door cracked itself open and a blonde head poked inside. “Ah. I was just about to call you.”

Kerry entered and closed the door behind her, running the fingers of her right hand through her hair as she made her way across the office. “We got the overseas links to the UK straightened out,” she announced. “And they were able to get permission for that new link station in India.”

“Good.” Dar laced her fingers together behind her head and leaned back. “Clarice was on her way to see you. She wants to move back here.” Dar considered. “And I think she’s heard about us.”

“Sweetie, you drinking my tea in a meeting doesn’t really help hide that.” Kerry perched on the edge of Dar’s desk and let her hands rest on her knee. “Not that you weren’t welcome to it.”

“Damn.” Dar exhaled. “I did do that, didn’t I? Oh well.” She laughed softly. “Have you had lunch yet? Want to go downstairs?”

“Is that an invitation from my boss?” Kerry answered playfully.

“No, I haven’t; and I’d love to, since all I’ve had so far today is a handful of chocolate kisses.”

“Good.” Dar stood up. “I’ll be down at the base Friday and all next week, eating God only knows what.” She slipped on her jacket and straightened it, smoothing the line of the crisply tailored skirt in the same motion. “C’mon. I think they have pot roast today.”

“Is that going to be a little weird for you?” Kerry asked, as they walked out the door and through the outer office. María was already at lunch, and the room was, for once, quiet. “Going back there, I mean, not the pot roast.”

“A little,” Dar admitted. “I’ve got a lot of memories invested in that place, both good and bad.”

Kerry waited until they were on the elevator before she spoke again. “Can I come down there with you one of the days, just to see it?

I’m curious.”

“Hgrm.” Dar held the door open for her. “It wasn’t exactly the nicest place in the world to grow up, Ker. Mostly sand, palmetto scrub, and mosquitoes.”

They strolled across the lobby, passing several people headed in the same direction who called out greetings. “Is that a no, then?” Kerry asked. “I mean, if you’d rather I didn’t, that’s okay, Dar. I think you know enough of how I feel about your upbringing to know you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Red Sky At Morning 55

The noise in the lunchroom stalled further conversation, and they got in line after exchanging hellos with Mark and Duks, who had snuck in just ahead of them. Dar took the opportunity to capture a chocolate mousse hiding behind two pieces of fruitcake and listen to the chatter.

She’d been frequenting the lunchroom more often the last few months—

not as regularly as every day, but at least once a week, so her presence no longer drew outright stares and whispers.

She still found it easy to imagine the covert attention, though. But she’d been dealing with that since her first overall promotion to regional manager, and by now, it was more an amusing way to pass the minutes than anything else. Or play with their minds. Dar reached out an idle hand and arranged a lock of Kerry’s blonde hair, getting a raised eyebrow from her lover. She tweaked the hair, and Kerry turned her head, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. “I’d love you to come on down to the base with me.”

“Next Friday good?” Kerry asked, the corners of her eyes crinkling in amusement. “I’ve got stuff scheduled the rest of the week.”

“Fine.” Dar turned her attention to the cafeteria server. “Pot roast, potatoes, gravy on the side.” She watched the lady assemble the plate, looking up inquiringly with her spoon over the two choices of vegetables. Dar merely raised an eyebrow at her and received her plate, naked of green invaders. “Thank you.” She followed Kerry over to the large round table where Duks, Mark, Mariana, and several others were already seated, discussing a movie that had just opened the previous week.“You seen it, DR?” Mark asked as they sat down. “Your kinda flick, I thought.”

“Why? Did it exceed the severed body part quotient of Aliens? ”

Kerry asked, making everyone chuckle. “During dinner the other night, we were watching Braveheart on disc, and boy was I glad we weren’t having steak.”

“Hey!” Dar objected. “It was your pick, remember? Not mine. I wanted to watch The Ancient Secrets of Rome, but no...”

Another laugh went around the table, easy and unforced. Dar dipped her roast into her gravy contentedly, enjoying the banter as Duks and Kerry started arguing over the historical accuracy of the picture. She listened to Kerry’s laugh and watched the smiles go around the table, and it occurred to her quite suddenly that for once she was damned happy with her life.

She paused in mid-bite, just to savor the knowledge. Then she washed her mouthful down with a sip of milk and pretended she didn’t see Kerry stealing a spoonful of her mousse. “Hey.”

Everyone turned to look at her.

“You all interested in going out on the water next weekend? We can do a cookout on the beach, that kinda thing,” Dar said. She’d caught Kerry flat-footed by surprise, she knew, and the way Kerry’s expression 56 Melissa Good read, she half expected her lover to reach over and check her for fever.

Mark accepted instantly. “Sure. Sounds great.”

“Yes, I agree,” Mariana recovered. “Thanks, Dar. What a great idea.”

“Absolutely.” Duks nodded solemnly. “I will bring the beer.”

Dar sucked on her milk, enjoying the sensation she’d caused. It was the first time, she acknowledged, that she’d instigated a party, usually leaving Kerry to do the social arrangements for them. Well, she decided, it was about damn time.

Yeah.

THE COOL BREEZE blew across the patio, ruffling the soft cotton of Dar’s pants leg as she pushed against the stone wall with one bare foot, rocking them gently in the net swing chair they’d recently installed. It was just big enough for two people, providing those two people really liked each other, and a comfortable way to sit and watch the moonlight travel across the water. Kerry was curled up in her arms, and they both held glasses of sweet white wine for sipping.

“You surprised me today,” Kerry murmured.

“With the party?”

“Mm.”

Dar had her eyes closed. “Good surprise or bad surprise?”

“That’s not a serious question, is it?” Kerry asked. “Of course it was a great surprise, and a great idea, by the way.”

“Good.” Dar rested her cheek against Kerry’s head. “I sort of figured anything that involved water, boats, sun, food, and beer would be okay with you.” She felt Kerry’s body shake as she laughed. “I’m just warning you, if you and Mark decide to have a belching competition again, I’m gonna tape it, convert it to an mpeg, and broadcast it companywide on Monday.”

Kerry laughed harder, almost spilling her wine. “You wouldn’t.”

Dar chuckled. “You wanna stake your dignity on that?” She put her glass down on the table next to them and put both her arms around Kerry. “Feeling any better, by the way?”

Kerry let her chuckles wind down into a sigh. “Yeah, thanks for asking.” She put her now empty glass down next to Dar’s and folded her hands over her lover’s. She caught a hint of smoke in the air from the beach club, mixed with the salt tang of the sea, and decided life just couldn’t get too much better than this. “Clarice made an appointment to come see me after Thanksgiving.”

“Mm.”

“She kept making pointed comments, I kept ignoring them.” Kerry yawned a bit. “I think I found her something in product development, though.”

“If she gets too obnoxious, let me know,” Dar rumbled. “I don’t Red Sky At Morning 57

want her taking potshots at you.”

Kerry tilted her head to observe the angular profile above her. “I can handle her, Dar. It’s not her fault she picked my personal property to get a crush on.”

Both of Dar’s eyebrows lifted. “Hmm. Maybe we’d better go back to that leather place and get me a leash and collar,” she suggested with a smile. “I could get your name on it in rhinestones. What do you think?”

“I dare you.” Kerry regretted the words the instant they came out of her mouth. “Oh, no, wait—forget I said that, Dar. Just erase it from your— Don’t you look at me like that!” Kerry reached up and tweaked Dar’s nose. “Stop it! Just don’t you even think about it.”

Dar pouted. “You don’t think I’d look good as a love slave?”

Kerry’s nostrils flared. “Ooh.” She blinked. “Now there’s an image.”

They both started laughing. “Dar, you’re a lot of things, but submissive isn’t one of them,” Kerry told her fondly. “Putting a collar on you would be like tying a bow on the tail of a tiger.” She grinned.

“Pretty, but definitely not functional.”

Dar gave her a little squeeze. “I’d do it for you,” she said. “Because you do own me, body and soul. You know that, right?”

“I do?” Kerry murmured.

Dar nodded.

“What an incredible gift that is.” The words were a mere whisper.

“Especially since I think you know I feel the same way.” Kerry ran a delicate fingertip over Dar’s lips. “I’ll take good care of you, Dar. I promise.”

“Does that mean you’ll get me a leather collar after all?” Dar teased.

“Dar, c’mon.” Kerry had to smile, though. “Maybe you should get me a collar.” She countered. “I should have been spanked with a newspaper for that stunt I pulled in New York.”

Her partner regarded her. “What would you wear it with? Your kickboxing gi?” She pondered, “We could get you one in each color.”

She reached over and tweaked Kerry’s nose. “And would you stop beating yourself over the head about that damned plane flight already?”

Kerry chuckled silently, letting her head rest against Dar’s chest, savoring the salt touched breeze. Then she drew in a breath and bit her lip, stifling a laugh. “Oh, you know, I think I do have something they’d go with.”

“You do?” Dar cocked her head.

“I went shopping while you were gone.”

“Uh oh.” The dark-haired woman chuckled nervously. “I wasn’t gone that long.”

“Hehehe.” Kerry hid her face with one hand. “You ever have one of those spur of the moment fits of insanity?” She sighed. “My inner 58 Melissa Good radical took over and I got…um…”

“Pierced?”

“Blurp.” Kerry bit her tongue as she tried to get her jaw shut without removing it from harms way first. “Dar! Don’t you think you’d have noticed?”

“Mm.” Dar started unbuttoning Kerry’s shirt. “I’d better make sure.

Hold still.” She persevered, despite her partner’s squirming and helpless laughter. “Oo…what’s that in there? Oh, wait. Sorry.”

“Bbrr…” Kerry resorted to biting Dar in the hand, as hers were trapped against her body. “Thifs nof a prisici!”

“Defintely too warm for that. Think of what it would feel like with a…” Dar yelped as the pressure increased against the sensitive space between her thumb and forefinger. “Okay…okay!”

Kerry waited, her teeth poised, gazing up at her partner from between slightly shaggy bangs as they each dared the other to continue.

“I only have fangs for you, Paladar,” Kerry warned, giving Dar as much of a steely glare as she was capable of.

“Okay, I give.” Dar relented, putting her arms around Kerry and hugging her as she settled warily back. They swayed for a brief while in silence, watching as a pair of gulls came in off the beach and circled over the stairs downward, creeling hopefully at them.

Kerry finally sighed. “I’m really an idiot.”

Half in a daze, Dar started. “Huh?”

“I knew I’d feel like squirrel poo if I asked you to bail me out, and I did it anyway.” Kerry admitted. “So now I have to deal with feeling like squirrel poo and having to face Clarice every day.”

“Ker.” Dar tightened her hold. “To hell with her. I’ll fire her ass if she bugs you.”

“Dar!” Kerry’s voice sharpened. “You can’t just fire people because they piss me off!”

“Sure I can,” her partner disagreed mildly. “But if you want to spoil my fun, just tell her there isn’t a place for her here. Make her go back to Chicago, or take a hike.”

Kerry sighed again and rested her forehead against her hand.

“Ker.”

“I know. It’s water under the bridge.” With a small shake of her body, Kerry visibly pushed the thought off and gathered herself together. “C’mon. Let’s go inside and I’ll show you the freaky scandalous thing I got.”

Dar didn’t release her. She pulled her closer instead, feeling the tension wound through Kerry’s body. It was one of the ways she and Kerry truly differed. When she had something happen that was not good, she refused to stress over it, resigning it to the past as something she could no longer change. Her partner was just the opposite, fretting over her decisions sometimes to both of their distraction. “Know something?”

Red Sky At Morning 59

Kerry exhaled. “What?”

Dar leaned forward until her lips were nearly touching her partner’s ear. “I love you.”

The magic words had their intended effect, and she felt the tension dissolve as Kerry slumped against her. Logical arguments seldom distracted her, but goopy romanticism always did, and Dar wasn’t in any mood to argue anyway.

She kissed the back of Kerry’s neck. “So now that that’s settled, let me go and be scandalized. That hasn’t happened since I was eight.”

Kerry chuckled softly. She half turned and kissed Dar on the lips, pulling back to meet the pale eyes watching her. “Thanks,” she said.

“Thanks for being here for me even when I’m being a dork.”

Dar nudged her a little. “You’re never a dork.”

“That’s so not true.”

They untangled themselves and headed for the sliding glass door, leaving the disappointed gulls behind them.

“NEED SOME HELP getting that bird out of the oven, Ker?” Dar called into the kitchen, giving the guests seated in their living room a wry grin. “It’s bigger than she is.”

“It is not! ” Kerry yelled back, having heard her.

Everyone chuckled. Dar was in the single leather chair with her father and mother on the couch across from her, Colleen and Ray on the couch, and Duks and Mariana perching on chairs in the dining room.

“Ah’ll go give it a heave,” Dar’s father announced, getting up and stretching out his six-foot-four-inch frame. The ex-SEAL ambled around the end of the couch and headed for the kitchen.

“Andy, no nibbling,” Cecilia Roberts called after him. The diminutive silver-blonde woman gave the rest of the guests a wry look.

“Not that it’ll help. I used to lose halves of whole meatloaves that way.”

Dar chuckled.

“I thought that you were the vegetarian, Mrs. Roberts?” Ray asked.

“I am. That’s why she’s laughing.” Ceci pointed to her daughter.

“She’d take the other half and leave me with a bowl of peas.”

Dar eased one denim-covered knee over the arm of the chair she was in, and cocked her head in agreement as another round of chuckles sounded.

“My da does the same,” Colleen chuckled. “I have to stop by there tonight, or I’ll never be hearing the end of it.” She turned to Dar. “How was your trip to the Big Apple, Dar?”

“Went all right,” the tall, dark-haired woman said. She sniffed the air as the combined scent of turkey and cinnamon penetrated the living room. “New York’s not my favorite town, but the stockholders were happy; and I got in and out fast.”

“Kerry came back with you?” Ceci asked. “I thought she went out 60 Melissa Good to Chicago.”

Dar got up and stretched, the intriguing smells from the kitchen luring her over. “She ran into weather on the flight up...had some plane problems. They landed in Newark.” Her head poked around the corner of the kitchen doorway. “Ready?”

Kerry looked up from removing baked sweet potatoes off a tray, their tops bubbling with toasted marshmallow. She had on a Dilbert apron, and she met Dar’s eyes with a grin. “Why? Are you hungry?”

Pale blue orbs darted to Andrew Roberts, then back to Kerry’s face.

“Yes.”

“Right nice-looking bird,” he drawled. “Never saw one with slippers on before, though.” He fingered the white frilly caps on the turkey’s leg bones. The bird itself was done to a nice golden brown, and a mound of stuffing spilled out over its breastbone and tumbled down onto the plate. “Good job, kumquat.”

“Yeah,” Dar agreed, licking her lips. Chino poked her head between Dar’s knees and investigated as well, wagging her tail hopefully.

Kerry regarded them fondly, a proud grin appearing on her face.

For her first turkey, it sure had turned out better than she’d dreamed.

“Okay, let’s get it to the table, then. I’ll bring this stuff.” She indicated the side dishes.

Andrew took possession of the turkey tray, lifting its bulk with little effort and heading for the dining room. Dar sidled over and took a fingerful of sweet potatoes, sticking it into her mouth before relieving Kerry of the platter. “Mmm.”

“Know what?” Kerry sucked on the end of her spoon. “I am pretty darn impressed with myself here.”

Dar leaned over and gave her partner a kiss on the lips. “I am totally not surprised.”

Kerry leaned against her. “Thanks.” She licked a bit of potato Dar had left behind off her lip and bumped her partner with one hip. “Better get in there before those are all gone.”

“You can make more.” Dar grinned. “But let me tell ya, I’m damn glad we didn’t’ miss out on this. It’s a blast.” She disappeared with the platter, leaving Kerry to divest herself of her apron and wipe her hands.

She could hear the buzz of conversation in the dining area, and the oohs and ahhs as the food arrived made her grin a little, and blush.

“Ah, and I remember all those horror stories everyone told about their first Thanksgiving.” She leaned back against the counter, enjoying the moment.

Traditions were funny. She didn’t remember Thanksgiving being a particularily enjoyable time in her past, save perhaps for her very youngest years. In the latter ones, it had become a photo opportunity for the press, as her father displayed his perfect American family gathered around a typical loaded table.

Red Sky At Morning 61

She half closed her eyes, a memory of being dressed in pristine starched ruffles and standing against a dark, wood wall as flashbulbs popped in her face coming sharply into focus.

Not attending wasn’t an option. Kerry could remember those endless nights surrounded by preening extended family, stilted conversations and critical remarks. “Damn, I hated turkey.” She sighed, shaking her head at the realization she’d just willingly produced a cooked one of her own.

Traditions here had taken on a whole new meaning, somehow.

“Hey, Ker?” Dar’s head popped back into the kitchen. “You coming out here to take your bows?”

Kerry pushed off the wall and headed into the living room, the chill air brushing against her bare legs and shoulders as she emerged to a round of enthusiastic clapping. She felt a blush color her skin as she took in all the smiling faces.

“Kerry, I have to tell you I never expected to be present at an edible Thanksgiving in this family unless Dar paid off Emeril Lagasse to visit,”

Ceci pronounced, with suitable seriousness. “I certainly never managed one.”Everyone chuckled, eyes turning to look at Kerry’s tall partner. Dar half shrugged, grinning rakishly. “Don’t look at me. I ordered in pizza before,” she assured them. “If anyone here thinks I ever thought I’d see a cooked turkey from that kitchen…” She pointed over her shoulder.

“on that table.” She pointed forward. “You’re nuts.”

So totally different. Kerry welcomed Dar’s encircling arm around her shoulders as she joined the others at the table, remembering where she’d been a year ago this time. “Boy.” She leaned against Dar’s tall body. “This sure beats a chicken salad sandwich at the nut farm, huh?”

she muttered under her breath, knowing a moment of dark triumph as everyone started to sit down around the steaming plates of food.

Dar picked up the gleaming carving knife and fork and studied the turkey, giving the rest of the table a wryly speculative look. “This’ll be interesting.” She tapped the edge of the fork against the turkey breast.

“Let’s see if my reputation as a butcher has any legs.”

More laughter. Kerry leaned back in her chair as she watched her partner bravely hack at her creation as everyone else helped themselves from the dishes of vegetables, and Duks poured glasses of rich, red wine.

“Hey, Kerry, heard you ran into some bad weather. How bad was it?” Mariana asked, as she buttered a roll. “Any problems?”

Kerry hesitated a moment, catching Dar looking right at her, the taller woman’s hands still for a moment. “No problems,” she answered briskly. “I lucked out. We had to land in New York, and Dar changed the plan.” She picked up her glass and took a sip of the wine. “To a much better plan…don’t you all agree?” She held up her glass and indicated the dinner.

62 Melissa Good

“Definitely.” Duks held up his own glass, and the others followed suit. “Here is to Dar’s plans. May they always be as successful.” He paused. “And result in delicious meals for us.”

Everyone laughed again, and Kerry joined in, releasing the troubles of the moment to the future with the faintest of shrugs and a much lightened heart. The choice was, as Dar had said, in the past. What ever happened next would happen.

“For a novice, you’re doing a great job carving that breast, Dar,”

Mariana observed.

“There’s a breast novice joke in there somewhere,” Dar replied dryly. “But my parents are here.”

“Dar!”