Hurricane Watch - DK2 (59 page)

Duks turned and sat on the edge of the desk, regarding her. ”You know, Dar, I’m sure there are people who feel that way, but I don’t think it’s the majority.”

”No.” Dar had to laugh shortly. ”The rest of them just hate me because I’m a bitch.” She gave Duks a wry look. ”They don’t really care who I sleep with.”

Duks sighed, and patted her on the shoulder. ”Some of us are just pathetically glad you’re here, and as good as you are, my friend. I think there are more of us than you would ever have imagined.” He paused.

”Come, let’s take a walk downstairs, get some coffee, hmm?”

Dar studied her hands. ”Go on down, I’ll meet you there in a minute.”

Reluctantly, the accountant left, closing the door softly behind him.

Dar rubbed her face and leaned back, as her stomach slowly untied itself from its knots. ”What a completely sucky day,” she informed the ceiling. ”A few more like this and I’m going to chuck it all and become a diving boat captain.”

A moment later, a soft knock came on the door, and she tilted her head towards it. ”Yeah?”

The door opened, and Maria came in, carrying a tall mug, a faint curl of steam visible over its edge. ”Jefa, I know this is so bad for you, but today is not good.” She put down the mug, and Dar caught a scent of hot chocolate.

It made her smile. ”Thanks, Maria.” She sighed. ”Yeah, today’s been a bitch all right.” She watched the secretary settle in the visitor's chair. ”I’m sure the stories are flying.”

”Si.” The woman nodded. ”They have been, is true.” She straightened a little. ”You know, Dar, when I came here from my country, in my country I was in the office, the numero uno, you know?

And when I came over to this country, all the people looked at me, and it was...” She made a tiny, discrete spitting noise. ”Immigrante.”

Dar watched her curiously. ”Hmm.”

”It did not matter that I was good in church, or that I was running
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this big law office, or that I raise my children. No, it was just...” She made the spitting sound again. ”Immigrante.”

Dar steepled her fingers. ”That must have been hard for you. We take our citizenship for granted, a lot of the time.”

”Si,” the secretary agreed. ”You do. I had to be studying many hours before I passed this test, you know? And you do not have to take it, but any the way, what I learned from this, Dar, is that what is important is what is on the inside of people, not on the outside.”

Dar gazed quietly at her desktop. ”A lot of people never quite get that, Maria.”

”Si, you are right, they do not,” Maria agreed. ”Even in my church, which is writing that all people must love each other, still, they think that God makes this kind or that kind better than the other.” She folded her hands. ”Dar, you are a good person.”

The dark haired woman smiled. ”Thanks. I think you’re a very good person yourself.”

”Gracias.” Maria smiled. ”Kerrisita is a very good person.”

”Yes, she is,” Dar agreed, softly.

”When two good people love each other, Dar, God smiles on them, and he does not care what they are looking like,” Maria said, gently.

”That is what I believe...that you have been very blessed.”

It was like a warm blanket settling over her, coming from the most unexpected source imaginable. ”Thank you, Maria,” Dar replied softly.

”That means a lot to me.”

Maria looked pleased. ”You are welcome, Dar.” She hesitated. ”One more thing, my youngest daughter, Conchita, is having her quinces next month. I would very much be honored if you and Kerrisita would come, and celebrate this with my family.”

It was a shock. Dar knew enough about traditional Cuban culture to be honestly surprised at the request, but she also knew enough not to refuse. ”We’d be honored,” she replied, simply. ”Thank you.”

”Gracias,” Maria said, in a dignified tone, as she stood, and brushed off her skirt. ”How is Kerrisita?”

”She’s doing all right,” Dar answered, quietly, taking a long sip of her hot chocolate.

The secretary glanced at the window. ”It is five o’clock, I am to be leaving. Do you not think those herbs would do better if Kerrisita gets them soon?”

Dar chuckled softly. ”Are you telling me to get out of here, Maria?”

”Si,” the secretary smiled. ”I think I am doing that. It is very bold of me, no?”

Dar stood up and turned her monitor off. ”Sounds like a good idea to me.” She grabbed her keys and shouldered her laptop. ”It’s been a long day.”

”And there will always be tomorrow,” Maria added. ”For new problems.”

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Dar followed Maria out the door, and shook her head. ”Isn’t that the truth?”

KERRY WATCHED THE late afternoon light come in the front windows, and pour across the tile floor, painting golden stripes across the table. She was curled up on the couch, with Chino tucked in next to her, and a cup of hot tea resting on the end table near her head.

She felt pretty good. The drugs had mostly taken care of the pain, though she was feeling a little lightheaded from having to take so much.

She’d gotten quite a few things done, so she wasn’t feeling any guilt about simply lounging around, watching cartoons all afternoon.

It was nice just to have a day off, she reflected, and spend the time mindlessly relaxing, not having to worry about lines going down, or people yelling, or things like that.

She was a little worried though, since she hadn’t heard from Dar since the morning, and a recent call to the office had gone to voice mail.

She felt a little uneasy about Dar, in a vague, unsettled way, but resisted the urge to use her pager, or the cell phone, because if there was something going on, surely Dar would have called.

Right?

Kerry sighed, and put her head down on the soft couch arm, breathing in the scent of the leather as she tugged a soft quilt around her body. Her eyes closed, and she let the warm comfort lull her into sleep.It was a strange dream, full of children’s laughter, and the smell of hickory smoke. She was snoozing in what felt like a hammock, wrapped in a soft blanket that bore a hint of woods and leather.

Footsteps came close, and she felt a nearby presence, a warmth that brought a smile to her face, even as gentle fingers brushed her hair back, and she felt a kiss touch her lips. Her eyes fluttered open, to see familiar blue ones looking back at her, framed by a face a little tanner, and a little older than she’d expected.

She reached up and hooked an arm around a powerful neck and drew that face down, kissing her again. She reveled in the sweetness, and the passion, and the sense of belonging to each other that had no match in anything else she’d ever known.

And as she did, the children’s laughter faded, and the hickory scent shifted to the tang of wood polish, and she opened her eyes to see those same blue ones looking down curiously at her, as a faint smile played about Dar’s lips.

”Oh.” A little fuzzy, she reached up and brushed her fingers across Dar’s cheek, where a tiny scar had shown in her dream, and now was gone. ”You’re home.” Chino was wiggling up against her and nibbling her fingers.

The lips moved into a gentle smile. ”Yes, I am.” Dar seated herself
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on the edge of the couch. ”How are you feeling?” She scratched the puppy behind the ears.

Kerry glanced at the window, which was darkening into twilight.

”Um...better...thanks. I was...I was watching TV, and I guess I dozed off.

How long have you been here?” She peered up at her lover. ”You look beat.”

Dar sighed. ”I am. I had a tough day,” she admitted softly. ”I’ve got a headache you wouldn’t believe, and I gotta tell you, it’s just nice to see a friendly face.”

”Aww...” Kerry tugged her down and pulled her into a hug, feeling the long breath Dar released as she did so. She rubbed her lover’s back, feeling the warm skin beneath the silk shirt. ”I missed you. What happened?”

Dar allowed herself a few more seconds of bliss, before she reluctantly straightened, and tucked the quilt back around Kerry’s tshirt covered body. She’d been debating with herself since she’d left the office as to whether or not to tell Kerry. Then she figured that Kerry was probably going to hear sooner or later, so it would be best to come from her.

”Nasty stuff. I had to terminate a contract today because the company we contracted with felt they couldn’t do business with us.”

She pushed Kerry’s very disheveled hair out of her eyes, and reflected on how cute she was when she just woke up. ”They didn’t like our diversity.”

Kerry cocked her head to one side. ”Diversity. I don’t... What do you mean?”

No way to soften it. ”They heard about you and me, and spent some time in the lunchroom and heard the different languages. They didn’t like that.”

Kerry stared at her. One blonde brow rose up to her hairline. ”What jerks. Tell them to go contract with the KKK.”

Dar felt a smile coming on. She should have known better than to worry about Kerry’s reaction. ”It was a pretty ugly scene, and then I had to explain to everyone, and that got pretty ugly too. Duks kept me from firing José outright.”

”Wow,” Kerry murmured. ”What did he do?”

Dar bit her lip. ”He said something about you I didn’t like.”

”Oh.” Kerry considered that. ”I’m glad you didn’t fire him for that.” She stroked Dar’s face. ”Sticks and stones, and all that stuff.”

She felt bad, but not as bad as if Dar had fired him. ”I’m sure you handled it in a very professional manner.”

Blue eyes glinted in the soft twilight at her. ”Um...actually...I told him if he ever said anything like that again, I’d take him outside and beat him silly in front of everyone.”

Kerry clapped a hand over her mouth. ”Oh.” She muffled a laugh.

”Jesus, Dar. To a Cuban man that was worse than firing him.”

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”Mm,” Dar agreed softly. ”On the bright side, we got invited to Maria’s daughter’s quinces.”

”We did?” Kerry was surprised. ”I mean...we, as in you and I, did?”Dar nodded. ”We—definitely we—got invited,” she confirmed.

”Maria said some really nice things to me after everything happened.

She’s really a sweetheart.” She tugged on Kerry’s t-shirt. ”We’ll have to go shopping for some really snazzy gowns.”

”Uerrg. I haven’t worn a gown since my prom, Dar.” Kerry made a face. ”And you don’t want to know what I looked like for that.”

”Sure I would.” Dar objected, with a grin. ”You haven’t shown me all your embarrassing pictures yet. Tell you what. How about we get dinner sent over, and we can trade photos. I was a really dorky looking kid.””Eek.” Kerry rested a cheek on her shoulder, and bit her lip. ”Okay, but you have to promise not to laugh. I tried to perm my hair for the occasion.”

”I promise.” Dar crossed a finger over her heart. ”But you can’t ever admit to seeing the ones from my grade school play.”

Mischief filled the green eyes. ”Ooo...you got a deal,” Kerry agreed, curling her fingers around Dar’s. ”Go get into your jammies. I’ll call the beach club.”

Dar smiled. ”Okay.” She stood up and walked towards the bedroom, then glanced over her shoulder. ”Could you have them send—”

”A chocolate milkshake?” Kerry supplied, dialing the phone.

”Sure.”

Dar’s eyes twinkled, as she disappeared. Once she was in the bedroom, she could hear Kerry’s low voice, and looked down to see Chino tugging on her shoe, and it made her smile.

Home had such a different meaning now. Dar tossed her jacket over the chair near the mirror, then quickly changed out of her suit, feeling a sense of relief as the soft cotton of her favorite sleep shirt draped over her shoulders. She sat down for a minute on the edge of the waterbed, and picked Chino up to play with her. ”Hey there girl. Whatcha up to?”

The puppy nibbled at her chin, then licked her face. Her brown eyes gazed adoringly up at Dar as her paws scrabbled for a good hold on her neck. Dar glanced around, then hugged the puppy to her, feeling a silly grin take over her face. Then she stood, and tucked Chino under her arm, as she made her way back out into the living room.

Kerry was standing by the coffee table, having just lit two sturdy, scented candles and dimmed the lights. Her blonde lashes caught the candlelight, which threw interesting shadows up her body as she turned towards Dar and smiled. ”Dinner’s on its way.”

Dar gazed at her, imagining what it would have been like, to come home from a day like today, and not have Kerry or Chino there. A sigh
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trickled out of her, and she put the puppy down, then went over and enfolded Kerry in a hug that came right from her heart.

”Urk.” Kerry was surprised, but obligingly slid her arms around her lover and hugged her back, loving the feel of the strong body pressed hard against her own. ”Mm. What was that for?”

”I’m just glad you’re a part of my life,” Dar answered, with a sigh.

”Really?” Kerry murmured.

”Of course.” Dar released her, and leaned back a little.

”Funny you should say that.” Kerry sat down on the love seat, and pulled her down as well. ”I’ve...um...I’ve got something to ask you, and before I do, I want you to know it’s okay for you to say no.”

”It is?” Dar responded faintly, unsure of what to expect.

”Yes.” Kerry took both her hands and held them. ”I got a call today.” She took a breath. ”It was from Pastor Robert. I told you about him, remember?”

”Yes,” Dar answered.

”He’s in town,” Kerry told her.

”Oh. That's nice...you...um...want to have him here for dinner?”

Dar offered, hesitantly.

”No.

Well, I mean, sure, but that’s not the question.” Kerry squared her shoulders. ”He offered to um...” She stopped, then took a breath. ”He said he’d perform a ceremony for us, if I wanted...I mean, if we wanted him to.”

Dar blinked at her.

”Listen, I know you’re not into that, Dar. I know it’s not been something you had growing up, and I know it doesn’t really mean...oh.”

Kerry shut up as Dar pulled her hands loose, and cupped her cheeks, bringing her closer for a passionate kiss.