by Melissa Good
Kerry exhaled. ”Sorry, it’s been a really long day,” she admitted, as she got up and walked across to where a phone rested on a wall side credenza. ”Hang on.” She dialed a number, unsurprised when it was picked up before it even rang once. ”Hi.”
”Hey.” Dar’s voice was worried. ”Everything okay?”
”I think so,” Kerry told her, in a low voice. ”Alastair wants to come see you.”
”Ah.” Her lover mulled this over. ”Yeah, sure, why not?” she replied. ”You can bring him over then run Dad back over to the mainland; give us a few minutes to duke it out.”
”Gotcha.” Kerry felt a quiet sense of relief flood over her. ”See you in a few.” She hung up and returned to the conference table. ”I’ll give you a ride over there if you want,” she told the CEO.
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”Best offer I’ve had all day,” Alastair replied, cheerfully. ”Let’s go.”
DAR PUT THE phone down, and glanced at her father. ”Well.” She scrubbed her face. ”I guess I’d better go take a shower and put some clothes on. My boss is coming over.”
Andrew put his hands behind his head and stretched out his body, stiff from a long afternoon of crocodile watching. ”He all right?”
”More or less, yeah.” Dar hoisted herself to her feet and grabbed her crutches, moving towards her bedroom. ”Be right back.”
Her father scratched Chino’s head and crossed his ankles. ”Be careful now, Dardar. Don’t be slipping up in there.”
She stopped, unseen, at the doorway and gazed at him with quiet affection. Then she shook her head and moved into the bathroom, stripping off her pajamas and starting the water running. Dar waited for a moment as she removed the leg brace, then carefully moved into the stall shower. Her leg hurt a little, but nothing like it had the other day, and she was cautiously optimistic as she limped under the warm water.
It felt great. She gingerly scrubbed her body, avoiding the scratches from the trip, and carefully washed her hair around the still tender bump above her ear. It seemed to have gone down, though, and she stood under the force of the water for several minutes, just letting the pressure ease some of the tension out of her.
Dar reluctantly shut the water off, and stepped out of the shower, grabbing one of the long, fluffy beach towels she kept in the bathroom for drying off. She wrapped it around her, then took a second and roughly dried her hair before she exited the bathroom and moved gingerly through the bedroom without her crutches.
Hmm. She tested the leg cautiously, pleased with the response. Not bad. She considered, then shrugged and pulled on a polo shirt and a pair of jeans, tucking the shirt inside and giving herself a cursory glance in the mirror. ”Gonna have to do.” She made a wry face at herself, and ran a brush through her hair quickly.
”Hey, Dardar?” her father called from the other room.
”Yeah?” She limped to the door and went through it, finding him near the sliding glass doors. ”What’s up?”
He turned. ”Hey where’s them damn crutches?”
”In the room. It’s okay. Leg feels a lot better” Dar remarked, putting a hand against the glass.
”Uh huh.” He sounded skeptical. ”I’d believe you ‘cept that if it were me saying that, I’d be lying a blue streak.”
Dar glanced at him, then chuckled wryly, waggling her hand. ”It hurts, but my back is killing me from using those damn things. I need a break,” she admitted. ”I’m gonna go sit down anyway. Did you want to show me something?”
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Andrew seemed nervous all of a sudden. ”Naw, well.” He cleared his throat. ”You still go out there?” His head indicated the sea.
Dar nodded. ”I stopped for a while,” she admitted quietly. ”But Kerry loves it. She got certified and we go out almost every weekend.”
”Good fer her,” Andrew stated.
A soft chuckle. ”She’s got me back involved in a lot of things.” Dar sighed. ”I was...” she hesitated, ”considering getting back into competition.”
Her father’s eyes lit up. ”Were ya?” He studied her seriously.
”Looks like you could.” He poked her experimentally. ”Better’n some of the pups they sent out with me the last time, I tell ya that.”
Dar laughed, a touch embarrassed. ”Yeah, I kept that up,” she murmured. ”You’re responsible for that. I always thought you’d be disappointed if I hadn’t.”
Andrew remained silent for a moment, then he put a gentle hand on her arm. ”Rugrat, I could never be disappointed with you.” His voice was sincere. ”Doesn’t matter what you ended up doing, who you ended up being. You’re my kid, and ain’t nothing gonna ever change that.”
Dar found herself unable to answer, and she swallowed a lump in her throat.
”Nuff of that mushy stuff.” Andrew cleared his throat. ”You go back into that stuff, you let me know, hear?” He fumbled a white card from his pocket and handed it to her. ”That’ll get me.”
A pager number. Dar smiled at it, and tucked it into her shirt pocket. Then she limped over to her briefcase, resting on a chair nearby and removed one of her own cards. She scribbled the home phone at the condo on the back and handed it to him. ”Fair’s fair,” she told him.
”Give us a call sometimes.”
He stared at the card, turning it over in his fingers. Then he tucked it away carefully without a word.
They both heard the sound of a car outside. ”Guess that’s them,”
Dar stated quietly. ”Thanks for sticking around today.”
”You can thank the kumquat for that. It was her idea,” Andrew mumbled. ”Well, I’ll go round back and wait for her. You take care of yourself, you hear, rugrat?”
Dar hugged him, feeling him tense for a moment, then relax and return the hug. ”I love you, Daddy,” she whispered. ”I missed you.”
He took a shaky breath, and patted her side. ”Same here.” He broke off and cleared his throat. ”Be good.” He gave her arm another pat, then slipped out the back door and into the darkness.
Dar watched until his shadow blended into the foliage, not turning until she heard footsteps outside the front door.
KERRY PARKED THE Mustang next to Dar’s Lexus, and glanced at her passenger. Alastair had been looking around with great interest, 154
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and it gave her a chance to study him in return.
He looked like a kindly grandfather, she decided. Except that he was deceptively shrewd and she suspected he could make the tough decisions when he really needed to. Certainly he had Dar’s respect and she knew just how much that counted for. “Here we are.”
”Nice place,” he commented, looking around. “Wasn’t aware we’d have to take a boat trip out here. I never realized this was where Dar lived.”
Kerry nodded. ”Okay, well, that’s the condo, so.” She opened the door and got out, waiting for him to join her before she led the way down the walk and up the stairs. As she approached the door she hesitated, lifting her hand to knock, then made a quiet decision and let her fingers drop to the keypad instead, keying in her code and unlocking the door.
Alastair made no comment. His eyebrows didn’t even twitch.
Kerry suspected he knew more about them than Dar figured. ”After you.” She opened the door and held it, gesturing with the other hand.
A quick peek inside showed her Dar was leaning casually against the back of the love seat, regarding them. There was no sign of Andrew.
”Hi.”Dar’s eyes flicked to hers, and she gave her a tiny wink. ”Hi.” Then her attention turned to Alastair. ”Hello Alastair, c’mon in.”
Kerry lifted a hand and moved a step back. ”Later.”
Dar lifted a hand in response, and watched the door close behind her lover, then she turned her gaze on her boss.
They regarded each other in silence for a moment, then Dar exhaled and stood up. ”Siddown. You want a drink?”
�
��I think I need one,” Alastair replied wryly, as he took the invitation and settled on the couch, leaning back and glancing around.
”Nice place, Dar.”
The dark haired woman nodded. ”Thanks.” She limped over to the cabinet against the wall and took out a bottle, pulling the top off and pouring a portion of honey golden liquor into two glasses. Then she put the top back on and made her way back, handing Alastair his, and settling in the easy chair across from him.
”So.” He took a sip, eyebrows rising at the taste. ”Very nice,” he added approvingly.
”Thought I remembered you liked scotch,” Dar commented, taking a sip of her own glass. The smooth twenty year old alcohol burned warmly on the way down.
”That I do,” Alastair agreed. ”That I do.” He looked around. ”You know Dar, not that I spent a whole lot of time thinking about it, but I never pictured you in a place like this.” His eyes fell on the space scape.
”High tech apartment in a high rise off Brickell, sure, but...”
Dar smiled briefly. ”An aunt of mine willed it to me.”
An awkward silence fell.
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”So,” Alastair said again. ”Where do we go from here, Dar?” He sipped his scotch and watched her over the rim of his glass. ”I think you probably realize I’ve got someone real hefty sitting on that resignation request of yours.”
Dar considered that. ”Flattering,” she commented briefly.
”Let’s not bullshit each other,” Alastair advised her. ”We both know I consider you an essential part of my management team, and it would kill me to lose you.” He paused. ”Especially over something as ridiculous as this.”
He waited, but she didn’t comment. ”So, what really happened here, Dar? I’ve heard Mari’s side, and José’s side, and I just don’t get it.
What made you up and decide to throw up your hands and walk out?”
Dar regarded him in silence for a moment, then she exhaled. ”Good question.” She paused, and gave a little shake of her head. ”It’s gotten to the point in the last month where I’ve been attacked more by my own company than any of our competitors, and maybe I started to wonder what in the hell I was doing here.”’
Alastair thought about that, sipping his drink slowly ”You're a high profile kinda gal, Dar. You’ve always attracted slings and arrows, you know that,” he ventured. ”Was this guy really that much of a needle in your shorts?”
A shrug. ”Maybe.” Dar regarded the table. ”Maybe because it was personal, not professional, maybe because I knew a colleague had brought him in deliberately to attack me.” She shifted the glass in her hands. ”But I think I could have dealt with that.”
Alastair nodded twice. ”But?”
”But he went after my people,” Dar concluded. ”And I’d just had enough.” She looked up at Alastair. ”I’d had enough of being the whore bitch from hell until someone needed something.”
Alastair leaned forward. ”Dar, the fact that most of the operation is at a complete standstill, and I have over fifty empty desks should tell you not everyone feels that way,” he replied, seriously. ”And I think you know that I don’t feel that way either, or I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. I’d be home in Houston, watching a ball game, considering who I was going to promote to VP Ops.”
Dar cleared her throat a little. ”I should have called you first,” she admitted. ”I owed you that.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry, Alastair.”
A tiny smile crossed Alastair’s face. “An apology from Dar Roberts.
Thank God I’m sitting down.” He kidded her gently. “I think that’s a first.”She studied her clasped hands. “Probably,” she agreed, in a mild tone.Alastair watched her for a minute. “For that matter, I think I owe you an apology,” he said. “Next time I’ll eat the cost and save myself a boatload of heartache.”
Dar leaned back and relaxed a trifle. “You know what the worst 156
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part was, Alastair?”
He shook his head.
“I’ve worked for you for fifteen years,” Dar said. “And I didn’t even get a phone call asking me what the hell was going on before I was carted off to the boondocks like I was a bad kid.”
Alastair considered that in silence for a while, his bushy brows contracting. “Well,” he finally said. “Y’know, I just didn’t think it was that big a deal, to be honest with you.” His eyes searched her face.
“Knee jerk, actually. If I’d really put two cents into what he was pitching, I think I would have called.”
“Mm.”
“It would have saved me a flight,” he added. “I think.”
Dar hesitated, then she half shrugged and nodded. “Probably.”
”But I’m glad I came anyway, just to see things first hand.” He leaned back. ”You have problems here, I’ll grant you. And I wanted to meet this mysterious assistant of yours who seems to be causing problems far out of proportion to her size.”
”She doesn’t cause problems,” Dar snapped. ”She solves them.”
Alastair chuckled softly. ”I realize that. It’s why I offered her your job.”It took all of Dar’s self-control to keep a look of mild interest on her face, and to not tense up. ”And?” she asked, forcing a lazy smile onto her face. ”She’d be good at it.”
The CEO watched her intently, then he nodded a little. ”That’s what I told her, and I got told to kiss her ass.” He remarked dryly.
”Which seems to be a departmental tradition of yours.”
The sense of relief almost choked her. Dar had to take a few breaths, masking it by sipping her drink, before she could answer. ”Part of the orientation,” she drawled. ”She picked it up faster than most.”
Bless you, Kerry. I followed my heart when it came to you, and you’re the first person who didn’t stab me in it. ”So who’s your second choice?”
Alastair exhaled, regarding his hands thoughtfully. ”I have none. I was hoping I could convince you to stay.” He paused. ”I just wanted to see what Ms. Stuart would say, and she basically said exactly what I expected her to.” He paused again, and looked up at her. ”I knew you trusted her, and I wanted to see why.”
Dar's expression softened a little. ”And did you?”
He nodded. ”Yes, I did.” He waited for her to go on, but she remained silent. ”So, how about it, Dar? I’d offer you more money, but I don’t think that’s really of interest to you.”
Dar cleared her throat. ”No, you’re right.” She lifted a hand and let it fall. ”I need two things.”
Alastair leaned forward expectantly. His eyes sharpened, and he waited.
”My organizational structure stays intact,” Dar enunciated Hurricane Watch
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carefully. ”Completely intact.”
The CEO pursed his lips. ”Policy wise, that’s murder,” he advised her. “The board’s going to roast me if it gets known.”
”I know,” Dar responded. ”But I need it that way.” She paused.
“It’s my price, Alastair. I found something I’m not going to let go of, no matter what it costs me professionally.”
He drummed his fingers. ”We’re going to have to line out the reviews and all that,” he murmured. ”All right, it’s a personnel nightmare, but I’ll do it.” He paused. ”What else?”
”José gets a new assistant.”
Alastair laughed. ”Saw that coming.” He leaned back, obviously relieved. ”My problem is, I need a way to bounce him legitimately.” he told Dar. ”Otherwise, the little bastard is going to sue for wrongful dismissal, and I don’t want the publicity.”
Dar leaned forward. “I’ll find a way,” she said. “Leave it in my hands.”
Alastair gazed at her, then let out a breath. ”Does that mean you’ll stay?” he countered. ”I had a long talk with Mariana. She feels a lot of this is her fault that things went on she should have put a stop to.”
Dar let him wait a mi
nute, then she nodded. ”All right, but I’ll tell you right now, I’m not putting up with any more bullshit from them,”
she warned softly. ”Not on my behalf or on anyone in my staff’s.”
Alastair nibbled his lip. ”It’s going to be a rocky few weeks. There’s a lot of hard feelings in there,” he replied. ”But I have a lot of confidence in you. I’m not worried.” He finished off his scotch. ”You free for dinner?
I never get to see you anymore, Dar. It’s been, what, two years?”
Dar’s lips twitched. ”Actually, I had plans, but you’re welcome to join us,” she stated blandly. ”There’s a great little Italian place over on the other side of the island, and it’s casual.”
His eyes twinkled a little. ”Well, I did enjoy my conversation with the enigmatic Ms. Stuart. Sure she won’t mind?”
Dar was outraged to find herself blushing, and she was glad the fading twilight hid it. ”I’m sure she’ll be fine.” She got up and limped towards the kitchen. ”In fact, let me page her.”
“She could have stayed.” Alastair relaxed, extending his legs and crossing them at the ankles. “After all, she lives here, doesn’t she?”
“Really want me to answer that?” Dar answered from the kitchen.
“Ever hear of don’t ask don’t tell?”
“Give me a break, Dar.” Alastair studied the ceiling. “I’ve known you as long as my children. Did you really think I didn’t catch on something was up after I got those pictures from whatshername, the redhead?”
“We were just on a goddamn rollercoaster.”
Alastair chuckled wryly. “If you looked at me like you were looking at her on that damn rollercoaster there’d actually be something to those hoary old rumors José used to spread about us.”
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Dar peered around the edge of the kitchen entrance. “You bucking for Dr. Ruth’s job?”
“I just call ‘em as I see ‘em.” Her boss said. “Y’know Bea didn’t know what the hell those pictures were and she asked me if that was your new girlfriend.”
Dar pulled her head back behind the edge of the door as she felt a blush warm her skin. “Glad to know what the company time and attendance dollars are paying for over there in Houston.”