by Melissa Good
A small rustling behind the curtains to her left caught her attention.
Time to go, Gran. At least you’re in a nicer place now. And if you can hear me, I hope some day we can meet up. Maybe just sit down and talk for a while. I really wanted to tell you about Kerry, Gran. I finally found that one you told me was out there. Dar’s eyes dropped for a moment, then she turned and walked back down the aisle, avoiding the avidly curious stares that hit her. She resumed her seat and resisted the urge to slide down and hunch her shoulders.
There was an expectant rustle of motion. Dar glanced to her left and realized her mother had chosen to sit down in their row, taking a place right next to her. Her blood pressure skyrocketed, but she folded her arms over her chest and fastened a calm, disinterested look on her face.
“Hello, Paladar.” Her mother kept her voice to a low murmur.
Dar turned her head slightly. “Mother.” She knew her tone was even, but she was desperately grateful for the pressure of Kerry’s hand against her side, giving her little, friendly scratches.
“Glad you could make it.”
Dar merely nodded.
The minister stepped out at that moment and cleared his throat, providing a very welcome distraction. For the moment, at any rate. However, with this and the reception afterward, it was, Dar realized soberly, going to be a very long night.
Chapter
Nine
“THANK YOU.” KERRY accepted the two glasses and turned, pausing a moment to survey the crowd before she made her way back to Dar.
Her lover was against the far wall, making polite conversation with two or three of what Kerry assumed to be uncles and aunts. Certainly, they were of her mother’s generation and had a similar set of features.
“Excuse me.” A voice to Kerry’s right caught her ear and she turned to find the short woman with silvered chestnut hair at her elbow, smiling politely. Kerry smiled politely back at her.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry. Forgive me for asking, but are you a friend of Paladar’s?”
Kerry briefly toyed with the notion of flatly denying it, then decided she should be nice. “Yes, I am. Why?”
“It’s just been so long since any of us have seen her.” The woman disregarded Kerry’s question. “I’m Elli. Elli Bainister. I’m a good friend of her mother’s, you see. We’re so glad Paladar decided to join us here.”
“That’s nice to hear,” Kerry responded. “It’s too bad it had to be such a sad occasion.”
“Yes. Isn’t it? We’ve been wondering how she’s doing.”
Kerry blinked mildly. “Why don’t you ask her?” She glanced at her partner.
“Oh. I don’t want to bother her. She’s talking with her uncles. I was just wondering…are you in the computer business, too?”
Kerry caught the clue that had been wandering aimlessly around.
“Yes. As a matter of fact, I am.” She put down one of the drinks and held a hand out. “Kerry Stuart.” She waited for the woman to return her grip hesitantly then smiled.
“Really. Well, my husband works for Ethrington Consulting. Have you heard of them?” Elli edged a little closer. “They do work for the government.”
“Sure.” Kerry nodded. “We’ve done some co bids with them, in fact, I’m the operations director of ILS.”
Elli’s eyes widened. “Oh. Then you work with Paladar?”
“I work for her,” Kerry replied, with a kind smile. “She’s my boss at ILS.”
“Ahh.” The woman smiled, evidently figuring out whatever it is she Eye of the Storm 77
was fishing for. “And what part are you director of? My husband special-izes in retail.”
“All of it,” came the prompt, amiable reply. “I’m the Executive Operations Director.”
There was a long pause as the woman’s head tilted to one side. “And you…work for…”
“The Chief Information Officer for ILS, mmhmm,” Kerry agreed cheerfully, pointing across the room. “That’s her, my boss. She’s great.”
Elli put a hand on her arm. “Excuse me a minute.” She turned and scurried away, as Kerry lifted her hand and waggled her fingers at her retreating back.
“Bye.” She scooped up the other drink and resumed her aborted trek across the room, arriving just as Dar was nodding a farewell to her latest group of questioners. “Here.” She handed the taller woman her glass.
“Is there alcohol in here?”
“Yes.”
Dar drank the entire thing down in a draft. She lowered the glass, then licked her lips. “Got another one around?”
Kerry handed her the glass she’d gotten for herself without a word and took the empty one from her lover. So far, at least, her mother seemed to be steering clear of them, letting the various family members come up and renew their acquaintance with what Kerry realized was their version of the black sheep of the family.
Who turned up, shockingly, with a snowy white fleece and golden hooves, and now no one knew quite what to do with her. It would have been funny, if it had been anyone other than Dar who was very obviously hating every moment of the affair. “Hey, Dar?”
Dar had been busy chewing on a piece of ice, and now she finished crunching and leaned back against her chosen wall. “Yeah?”
“This rebellious phase. Just how rebellious are we talking about?”
“Mmm. I wasn’t too bad at work. But off hours,” Dar chewed her lip a little, “I tended to leather and spiked collars.” Her eyes darted to Kerry’s face, which went slack with shock. “Yeah…and clothes with strategically placed rips.” She paused. “I almost had a tattoo.”
“Almost?” Kerry croaked, her mind still busy constructing a picture of her lover in leather and chains. “What stopped you?”
“Dad. He said, ‘Dardar, you kin do what you want, but so kin I, and if you put any damn pictures on any part of that body of yours, I’m gonna take steel wool and scrub ’em off.’”
Kerry covered her face with one hand and stifled a giggle. “That would have stopped me,” she admitted, glancing up as more people closed in on them. “Whoops. Next shift.”
“Paladar. It’s been so long. You look marvelous. What have you been doing with yourself?” A tall, willow thin woman with uniformly yellow hair wafted up, followed by a heavyset man that reminded Kerry of Duks.
“Hello, Aunt Seleine. Uncle Rob,” Dar replied quietly. “I haven’t 78 Melissa Good been up to much. Um…this is my friend Kerry.”
Kerry returned the greetings with a warm cordiality that made it seem like she’d been performing onerous social duties all her life. Which, of course, she had. “Shake ’em and bake ’em” had been a part of her normal existence since she’d been old enough to stand and she had a lot less problem dealing with the sea of faces than Dar did, who was used to mostly small, closed meetings and faceless conferences. A large event where everyone knew her personally and where she was the focus of some not always friendly curiosity was getting on the taller woman’s nerves, and Kerry felt a pang of sympathy as she watched Dar muster her energy for yet another assault.
“Paladar.” The low voice was enough like her partner’s to make her jerk and Kerry turned to see Dar’s mother standing at her elbow, her diminutive height inches shy of Kerry’s own. “Excuse me.” Her eyes flicked to Kerry’s face, then away, dismissing her.
Dar hadn’t noticed as she turned and backed away a little in wari-ness as she regarded her mother. “Yes?”
“Are you set with a place to stay tonight?”
One of Dar’s dark eyebrows curved up a little. “We have a room, yes,” she answered guardedly. “We have an early flight back home.”
Cecilia digested that. “If you could change your plans, I’d like a few minutes with you tomorrow.”
Dar slowly folded her arms over her chest. “What did you have in mind?”
“Stop by the house. Midmorning,” her mother directed. “Can I expect you?”
For a long minute, Kerry though
t Dar was going to turn her down flat. But she finally inclined her head slightly in assent, her face a mask.
“All right.”
“Good.” Cecilia turned and started to walk away almost slamming into Kerry. For a moment she was forced to look into a pair of very intense green eyes, as Kerry held her ground, then sidestepped with a polite smile.
“Sorry.”
The older woman paused uncertainly. “No. It was my fault,” she replied. “I should have watched where I was going.” She paused again, slightly expectant, her eyes flicking up to Dar’s face.
“This is Kerry Stuart,” Dar supplied quietly, “my partner.”
Kerry held out an obliging hand. “Pleasure to meet you.” She returned Cecilia’s grip with her own strong one, then released her. “That was a beautiful service.”
Dar’s mother nodded absently. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, too,” she remarked, then turned and threaded her way through the crowd gracefully.
Kerry turned and met the pale blue eyes peering down at her. “You know something, Dar? I didn’t think I’d ever meet someone with more nerve wracking relatives than me.” She reflected on that and shook her Eye of the Storm 79
head. “Wow.”
“Sorry.” The taller woman sighed. “It’s not exactly fun for me either.” She rubbed her temple lightly. “What time is it?”
“Ten,” Kerry answered.
“Let’s get out of here.” Dar set her glass down and straightened, running impatient fingers through her hair to settle its waves, then twitching her suit jacket straight. She turned and almost bumped into a distinguished looking man who had just come up. “Hello, Richard.” It was close to a relief to see a face that wasn’t family. “Kerry, this is Richard Edgerton. Something of a family lawyer.”
Kerry smiled at the tall man. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Edgerton.”
She extended a hand and found it clasped firmly, then released.
“Pleasure to meet you, too, Ms. Stuart,” the lawyer replied courteously. “It’s nice knowing someone whom Dar speaks so highly of.”
Ah. Kerry’s ears perked up. He was the first person that night not to call her lover by her highly disliked full name and, on top of it, he knew who she was. Two points for him. “Hmm.” She released a gentle laugh.
“I’m not sure I want to know what tales she’s telling about me, but…”
The man laughed as well. “Nothing to scare the children with, Ms.
Stuart, trust me.” He turned to Dar. “It’s unfortunate why you’re here, Dar. But since you are, can I get you to take a moment out and swing by the office? I’ve got some forms I need you to sign. May’s trust fund comes up next month and it needs to be transferred over to you.”
“I’d forgotten completely about that,” Dar admitted. “Yeah. I promised my mother I’d stop by her place tomorrow morning. I can make it by your office by lunch, if that’s all right with you.”
“Perfect. See you then.” Richard gave her a friendly pat on the arm.
“Good to see you, Dar. You’re looking great. Ms. Stuart, a pleasure.” He smiled at both of them, then sauntered off, heading in an oblique line towards the bar.
They managed to get outside the room without being stopped again and handed the valet the ticket for their rental car. They waited quietly for it to be brought around, then Dar hesitated. “Do you mind driving?”
Kerry shook her head. “No. I think I remember where the airport guy said to go. It can’t be that hard.” She tipped the valet, then rested a hand on the doorframe. “Excuse me. There’s a Hilton near here?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The boy nodded. “Get on that road there, go north for about ten minutes, it’s on your right. Can’t miss it.”
“Thanks.” Kerry got in the car and almost laughed at the distance between her and the steering wheel. She adjusted the seat forward and put the car in gear, then pulled out of the parking lot. “Well.”
“Mmm.” Dar had slid down in her seat and had her eyes closed.
“Glad that’s over.”
“Oh god, yes,” her lover muttered. “That was worse than I’d imagined.”
Kerry reached over and patted her knee, then left her hand there just because she could. “I know it was rough on you. Did you even get any-80 Melissa Good thing to eat?”
“Nu uh.”
“The hotel has room service.”
“Oh yeah.”
“I bet they have ice cream.”
“They’d better the hell and damnation have some goddamned ice cream,” Dar replied testily.
Kerry peered at her, since she had to stop at a light, and noticed the lines of tension around her lover’s eyes. “You okay?”
Dar rested her head against the doorframe. “Headache.”
“I think I’ve got something for that,” came the sympathetic response.
“Soon as we get to the room, okay?”
Dar wrapped her fingers around Kerry’s, still resting on her leg, and exhaled. “I’ve got something for it right here.” She half opened her eyes and peered over. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” The blonde woman smiled. “But what have you been telling your family lawyer about me?” She turned into the well marked entrance to the hotel. “Hmm?”
“I had to explain to him who this person was that I was making my heir,” came the quiet reply. “When I had my will and the papers for all the accounts and stuff changed.”
Kerry pulled the car up to the valet stand and turned. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Dar shrugged. “I wanted to make sure you were taken care of, just in case.”
Kerry had perhaps a moment before the valet came. A moment in which to try and relate a truth so deeply ingrained, it came to her lips like second nature. “Dar.” She took a breath. “If anything ever happened to you, there wouldn’t be enough money in the world to patch the hole it would leave in me.”
A stillness filled with only two sets of breathing lengthened, then broke as the door was opened, and a bright eyed young girl smiled at them. “You checking in?”
Dar got out and snagged both overnight bags from the back seat then joined Kerry as she walked around and they headed for the steps. “You mean that.” The taller woman pulled the hotel door open and courteously motioned her forward.
“I mean it,” Kerry replied peacefully, heading for the front desk.
Dar followed her, absorbed in thought.
WHY, KERRY WONDERED, did all hotel rooms smell the same? She pushed the door open and held it as Dar entered, headed past her, and dropped their overnight bags on the large king sized bed. Was it some weird air freshener they all used, Eau de Plastique, or something? Dar paused a moment to rub the back of her neck, then stripped off her jacket. She laid it over the back of the comfortable looking chair and sighed as she took Eye of the Storm 81
her shoes off.
Kerry did the same, glad to shed her gray wool jacket, the silk shirt, and the matching wool knee length skirt and hose. She tugged her favorite Tweety Bird T-shirt from her bag and wriggled into it, enjoying the freshly laundered scent. Dar changed next to her in silence, then stretched out her arms, and cracked her back and shoulders, making a small sound of discomfort as she did.
“Long day.” Dar sat down on the edge of the bed and rested her elbows on her knees.
Kerry picked up the room service menu and stretched out next to her, pulling a pillow out as a prop. “Considering it started with an eight a.m. meeting…yeah.” She touched Dar’s arm, then patted her stomach.
“Want a pillow?”
Dar accepted, laying back and resting her head on her lover and folding her hands. “Ungh. That feels good.” She wriggled a little to get more comfortable and turned her head to watch Kerry study her choices. It was much more relaxing to do that, than to think about her evening, and she decided to keep it that way, carefully locking the tense memories away for later.
Much later.
One more hopefully short
meeting and they were outta there. She tried to engage her interest in the sideways written food items, but the headache that now worked its way across her skull was so intense, it made her sick to her stomach. She closed her eyes and recalled the last time she’d felt this lousy.
A hand on her shoulder brought her lashes fluttering open to see Kerry’s concerned green eyes watching her. “You look really washed out.
How’s your head?”
“Reminds me of a certain day during a certain storm.” Dar managed a wry smile.
“That bad?” Kerry put the menu down. “Why didn’t you say something? I’ve got some stuff in my bag. Hang on.” She gently slid out from under Dar’s head and padded over to the chair, rummaged in her bag and returned with a pill bottle. “Shoot. You’ve got to eat something before you take this, Dar, or you’ll get sick.”
“I am sick.”
“Sicker.” Kerry grabbed the phone and glanced at the menu. “Hello.
Yes, room 322. I need a bowl of the chicken soup.” A dark eyebrow lifted at her. “Two of the club sandwiches, and...” The blue eyes gazed at her sadly. Kerry sighed. “And a bowl of chocolate ice cream.” She put the phone down and set the menu aside. “Have some soup and you can take this stuff. I figured that was fastest.”
“Okay.” Dar rolled over and rested her head on her folded arms, feeling completely drained. “Mind turning that light down?”
Kerry turned off the light closest to the bed. “Sure.” She rubbed Dar’s back lightly with her fingertips, eliciting an incoherent sound from her friend. “Want me to see if I can loosen those up a little?”
82 Melissa Good
“Uh.”
Kerry slid over and sat cross-legged in front of Dar, flexing her hands before carefully kneading the painfully tense muscles. “Ooo.” She winced, touching the back of Dar’s neck. “This must be driving you nuts.”
It was easier just to grunt, so Dar did, curling her body up a little and trying to concentrate on not throwing up. It was too much for one day, she decided. Three meetings, two of them fairly adversarial, then the flight which usually gave her a headache anyway, then the funeral. Add to that the knowledge she was going to have to deal with an inquisitive Ankow next week, and what she really felt like doing was taking off to the Keys and disappearing.