Red Sky At Morning - DK4 (12 page)

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.

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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.

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“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!”

DAR WOKE JUST before the alarm went off and silenced it before it had a chance to ring. It was still dark outside, and by the scant starlight coming in the window, she could just barely make out Kerry’s features, peaceful in sleep.

For a moment, Dar debated not waking her up. They’d meant to go to bed early, since she knew she had to leave for the base first thing, but somehow they’d ended up watching a Croc Hunter special, and before she knew it, two AM was staring them in the face.

Whoops
. Dar rubbed her eyes, wishing she could close them and go back to sleep.

The movement, however, woke Kerry, and she gazed up at her with half-opened eyes, a smile sketching its way across her face. “Can I come with you?” she said.

Dar spoke at the same time. “You want to come with me today?”

They both stopped and blinked.

“Wow,” Kerry remarked mildly. “The invisible psychic fiber hub’s up and passing packets, huh?”

A laugh escaped from Dar. “I guess.” She rolled over onto her back and stretched. “I was just thinking I’d like to have an outside opinion while I go through there. I know I’m biased.” Was that just an excuse to have Kerry along, though? Dar examined the thought carefully and decided it could go either way, but the fact that she wasn’t impartial was incontrovertible.

Kerry reviewed her schedule. “Well, I’ve got a marketing meeting I can reschedule, two conference calls that are just follow-up, and some small odds and ends. Yeah, I can clear my day,” she decided. “And, come to think of it, since you’re going to be allocating my resources right and left to Uncle Sam, I think I’d better be there to see how much trouble you’re going to get me into.”

Dar turned her head and regarded the dimly visible profile in amusement, remembering the agony Kerry had gone through not so very long ago and wondering if she was qualified to do the job Dar was asking her to. Since her promotion, Kerry had blossomed into the position, exceeding even Dar’s admittedly biased but high expectations for her. She felt briefly like a mother bird watching its offspring soar 64
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proudly. “You don’t seriously think I’d overextend you, do you?”

A soft chuckle came out of the darkness. “No. C’mon, Dar. You know our systems and infrastructure better than anyone else, including me. I was just kidding.”

“Mm. You’re pretty close,” Dar told her. “I’d say, if I had to judge both of us, you’re doing a better job than I was as VP.”

There was absolute dead silence from the other side of the waterbed for several long heartbeats. “I think my brain just exploded,”

Kerry finally spluttered.

“Good thing this is a waterbed, then.” Dar rolled up out of it and stood. “C’mon. I know I need the run this morning or I’m not going to be awake enough to drive south.”

“Start the coffee. I’ll just suck up my neurons and be right with you.”

“You’ve got it,” Dar agreed before heading out of the bedroom and through the living room with Chino frisking at her heels. She opened the back door for the dog, then started the coffee running. By the time she turned around, a sleepy Kerry was trudging into the kitchen. “That was quick...use the vacuum?”

“Sucked them up with a straw.” Kerry pulled open the refrigerator and removed a jug full of juice, sloshing it around a few times before she popped the top open and poured herself a large glass full. “Can we stop talking about brains while I drink this? It’s got pulp in it.”

Dar slid both arms around her and rested her cheek against Kerry’s head. “Sure.” She listened to the soft, distinct sounds of swallowing as their bodies touched through two thin layers of cotton and swore she could feel the cold juice as it traveled into Kerry’s stomach, under where her hands were resting. She rubbed the spot, and Kerry gurgled as a chuckle interfered with her drinking. “Ah ah ah...don’t you dare bring that in here.”

Kerry glanced over to see Chino in the doorway, a big stick in her mouth and a guilty expression on her face. “Honey, where’s your toy?

Where’s Hippo? Play with that instead, okay?”

Chino dropped her find immediately and dashed off, to return with a stuffed fleecy animal in the vague shape of a hippopotamus. “Growf.”

She dropped it expectantly at Kerry’s feet.

“Oh. So now I guess you expect me to play with you?” Kerry put the glass on the counter and her hands on her hips. “How about you running with me and mommy Dar, hmm? That should tire you out.” She reached behind her and patted Dar’s thigh. “I’ll get your gear, if you fix the coffee.”

Dar released her. “Go for it.” She nudged Kerry toward the door and busied herself in pouring.

AS LUCK WOULD have it, they hit rain halfway to the base.

“Figures.” Dar drummed the fingers of her right hand on the padded
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console next to her. “Hope you like mud.”

Kerry looked up from her laptop, which she’d been busy working on. “Mud?” She regarded her pristine, nicely starched white shirt. “You did tell me not to wear this, didn’t you?” Her eyes studied the wash of heavy rain hitting the windshield, then a smile appeared. “But you know, this reminds me of the first time I rode in your car.”

Dar’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “I’m sure that’s not one of your fondest memories.”

“Au contraire,” Kerry objected. “It most certainly is, Dar. That was the start of everything; that was one of the biggest turning points in my life. You know that.”

It was quiet except for the rattle of Kerry’s keyboard for a little while, as Dar indulged herself in memories as she drove. “You know what I remember the most from that night?” she commented, after about fifteen minutes.

“Huh?” Kerry looked at her. “Oh, no. What?”

“Getting home, sitting down on the couch, and not being able to stop thinking about you.”

Kerry tilted her head back and smiled. “Oh yeah.” She sighed. “If you’ll remember, I sent you an e-mail at one AM. I hate to tell you, because I know you’ll laugh, but I slept in your sweatshirt that night,”

she admitted.

Dar did, in fact, laugh. “Did you?”

“Yeah. I really liked the way it smelled.” Kerry leaned over and sniffed Dar’s shoulder, emitting a low hum of approval. “I’m not sure I remember what BS I fed myself to explain that.” She paused. “Actually, I don’t think I even bothered trying.”

“I woke up the next morning, hired you, then conked out with the laptop sitting on my chest,” Dar recalled. “I got your mail asking about the clothing and answered it before I was actually awake.”

“Ah. That explains the shopping,” Kerry teased. “You have no idea how nervous I was waiting for you in the mall.”

“I was pretty rattled, too,” her lover murmured, steering carefully around a large puddle. “I’m not exactly a social butterfly.”

Kerry nodded. “I know. You were fidgeting during dinner.” She remembered watching Dar’s long fingers play restlessly with the table tents. “But I felt really comfortable being with you,” she added.

“Especially after you shared your dessert with me.”

Dar laughed. “Oh, so that was the big icebreaker, huh? I should have known.”

Kerry shook a finger at her. “Now that I know you the way I do, I know you sharing a plate with someone is a big deal, Dar, not to mention you actually gave me a bite of your dinner.”

“Mm.” Dar’s face took on a curious expression. “I should have realized right then.” She slowed the car. “Okay, hang on. Here we go.”

Kerry closed her laptop and tucked it into her briefcase as they 66
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turned into the base, the road blocked by gates and an impressive set of armed guards. “Dar, that man has no neck.”

“Don’t start me on inter-service jokes, okay?” Dar muttered as she pulled the Lexus forward. “Damn place hasn’t changed much.” She waited for the car ahead of her to be admitted, then drove on.

“I don’t think the military is known for being avant-garde, hon.”

Kerry watched with interest as Dar rolled down the window and slipped on her attitude like a pair of sunglasses.

“I have an appointment with Commander Albert,” Dar stated in a crisp, no-nonsense tone as she handed over her identification badge.

The guard studied the badge, then studied Dar as though comparing the picture. Then he consulted a plastic-covered clipboard.

His eyes lifted, and he peered into the Lexus. “Commander Albert is expecting one person, ma’am.”

“Lucky him, he gets two,” Dar replied. “This is my associate, Kerrison Stuart.” She offered him Kerry’s badge, which the blonde woman had helpfully passed over.

“I don’t have clearance for her, ma’am,” the guard said.

By sheer will, Dar kept herself from smirking. “Then I guess we’ll be blocking your gate until you get it or turning around and going back to Miami and billing you for our time,” she said. “What’s your name again? Williams, is it?”

“Ma’am, this is a secure base, and we don’t give people clearance just because they show up at the gate,” the guard replied stiffly. “I think you need to understand.”

“Son,” Dar leaned on the doorframe, “I used to eat breakfast every day with someone a lot scarier than you, so put your attitude up in your side pocket and either let me in or tell me you won’t, and I’ll do what I need to do.”

The man stared at her for a moment, then retreated into his hut. Dar leaned back and crossed her arms, shaking her head slightly. “Some things just really never change,” she sighed.

“I don’t think I can quite picture you doing this, Dar,” Kerry observed. “Though you’d look really cute in those uniforms.” She fell silent as the guard returned, a look on his face that made her think he’d been sucking key limes in the interim.

“These are your passes, ma’am.” He handed their identification cards back to Dar, along with two clip-on badges. “Wear them at all times when you’re on the base.”

“All right.” Dar took one, and gave Kerry hers. “Thanks.”

“Commander Albert is in the Huntingdon building. Drive straight through the gates here, turn left, turn right, turn left, second stop on the right.” He opened the gate, and ducked his head in a semirespectful salute.