Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series (24 page)

It felt very good to be here. Kerry opened the cabinet after she finished, taking out a coffee filter and going about the task making coffee. The cabin was now finished, and she leaned on the counter as the hot beverage brewed, looking out over the interior with a sense of pleasure.

The living area had a long couch against the wall, its ends curving around to make a huge seating pit across from a wood enclosed television set. The furniture was overstuffed and comfortable, butter soft green leather that blended with the stone floors and wooden walls.

There were richly woven colored carpets scattered around, and in one corner a large round dog bed that Chino was busy scratching and snuffling. On the walls were a few pictures, one piece of Dar's mother's art, and some of Kerry's photography.

Overall, the impression was one of a richly appointed, if very small, hunting lodge, except it had no tacky animal heads on the wall and there was a distinct lack of testosterone.

Kerry turned around in the kitchen. It had stone countertops of polished and cool granite that framed the gas stove, brushed stainless refrigerator, and blue shutters that closed over the window above the sink.

Rustic. Except that there were wireless access points mounted on the walls near the ceiling. The television was a flat plasma display, and the entire cabin was hooked up to a remote monitoring system that could have let her turn on the air and the coffee from the car on the way down, if she'd really put her mind to it.

But she hadn't. Kerry smiled as Dar appeared from the bedroom, having already traded her jeans and crisp cotton blouse for a pair of shorts and an old, ratty t-shirt. "Know what?"

Dar walked over and leaned on the other side of the counter from her. "You're glad we're here," she said. "So am I."

Yes, she was glad. Kerry sighed happily. It felt so calm and peaceful here in the cabin. The sound of the ocean was audible through the sliding doors that opened onto their big porch--which was a little funny, because their condo on the island was equally quiet, and had an equally close relationship to the sea--and yet, she always felt different when she was here. "I am very happy to be here, yes," she said. "But what I was going to say was, how about a bowl of designer popcorn and a movie?"

"You don't need to ask me twice," Dar replied instantly. "Tell you what; I'll fix the coffee while you go change."

"You don't need to tell me twice." Kerry said doing a little dance as she exited the kitchen, bumping hips with Dar on her way to the bedroom. "Pick something gory."

"Only if you promise not to use that red candied apple stuff on the popcorn." Dar took her place in the kitchen, taking down a set of mugs and putting them down on the counter. "Gave me nightmares the last time."

Kerry chuckled as she entered their bedroom, smiling as she bypassed the neatly made waterbed and the mahogany dressers that held the clothing they now left at the cabin all the time. They'd picked ocean colors for the bedroom--blues and greens, with the odd punch of color, fiery orange and red, as though tropical fish had made an unexpected appearance. On both sides of the floor to ceiling windows were stained glass panels, throwing warm bars of color when the sun slanted through them.

She loved this room. Kerry unfastened her jeans and slipped out of them, folding them neatly and putting them on the shelf inside the closet. She put her hiking boots next to them, and then removed her shirt, hanging it up as she traded it for a shirt of Dar's that hung down halfway to her kneecaps.

Chino trotted in to find her, tail wagging as she spotted Kerry and rushed over to bump her knees. "Hi, sweetie. Did mommy Dar send you in here after me?"

"Growf."

"Okay, well here I am." Kerry reached down to pat the dog's head. "Are you glad we're here too?"

Chino wagged her tail even more furiously. The Labrador enjoyed the cabin almost as much as her owners. Her favorite activity was chasing the crabs down the beach just outside.

Kerry gave the soft ears one more scratch, then she patted her leg and headed back out into the living room. Dar was just coming out of the kitchen with the coffee cups, and she paused to put them down on the counter as Kerry passed her. "Ker?"

Willingly, Kerry detoured, swinging around and coming nose to nose with her partner. "Yes?"

Dar leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. Then she rubbed noses with her. "I love you." She rested her forehead against Kerry's. "Do you care if it rains tomorrow?"

"Hell no."

"Me either."

Kerry leaned in for another kiss, then reluctantly backed off and ducked into the kitchen. "How do you feel about milk chocolate and caramel?" she asked, removing a package of popping corn from the refrigerator.

One of Dar's eyebrows waggled. "Lose the corn, shorty." She drawled, in her sexiest voice.

Kerry started laughing.

"Wasn't the reaction I was going for," Dar complained.

"Harumph." Dar took a sip of her coffee.

Kerry looked at her and left her corn to pop as she climbed up onto the counter and leaned across it, capturing Dar's lips just as she managed to swallow. "You can drizzle me whenever you want, my love." She leaned even closer, whispering in Dar's ear, "But caramel hardens in really, really awkward places."

Now it was Dar's turn to laugh, almost making her coffee spill.

Satisfied with the reaction, Kerry got down off the counter and retrieved the small containers of sweets, sticking them in the microwave to heat up as the corn started popping in the popper. "You know, I'd love it if it rained tomorrow. I would absolutely adore a day to just lie around and be a complete bum."

"You can do that if it's sunny." Dar walked around the counter, handing Kerry her coffee.

"Nah. If it's sunny, I just have to be outside messing around on the beach, or in the water, or on the bike..." Kerry demurred. "I feel so guilty being a couch potato when it's pretty out."

"Eh." Dar had no such problem, having learned to take her slothdom where she found it. "Well, if it's nice out, I'll fish for dinner. How's that?"

Hmm. Kerry removed the corn from the popper, putting it in a huge round bowl. She drizzled her additives over it and tossed the corn. "I think that sounds spectacular." She looked over her shoulder at Dar and grinned.

Dar grinned back. They took the corn and the coffee and curled up together on the couch. Kerry leaned back and felt the aggravation of the week dissolve as Dar wrapped both arms around her. Even the tension of the ship, where the wiring had slipped behind schedule, eased into that place she reserved for things she had limited control over.

John was going as fast as he could. The conditions in the ship were hellacious; there was intermittent power and no air, and even Dar had come off the vessel shaking her head.

Kerry could not change the conditions. All she could do was press John to meet his commitment because time was running short and she had a deadline herself.

Here, she could release all that, putting it aside until Monday. Even in the condo that was hard to do because all she needed was to walk outside and she could see the ship from there. In the cabin, there was only peace, the sea, and the warmth of Dar's body pressing against hers.

She picked up a piece of popcorn and offered it to Dar, who accepted it, licking the chocolate drizzle off her fingers as she took it between her teeth. "Can I ask you something?" She looked away from the opening credits of the hack and slash movie her beloved partner had selected and peered back over her shoulder.

"Sure." Dar opened her mouth and poked her tongue out, looking inquiringly at the bowl.

Kerry placed another corn on her tongue and watched it disappear. "I was a lot more pissed off about all the bullshit talk at the office than you were."

"Was that a question?"

"Erm...no. I guess I was just..." Kerry paused. "I guess you're just used to it, huh?"

Dar's hold tightened. "No." She gazed reflectively past Kerry's shoulder. "I just knew none of it was true, so I didn't care."

Kerry's brow creased.

"The last time I heard stuff like that, it was," Dar clarified quietly, "And the time before that, and etc." Her shoulders moved in a faint shrug. "All I felt was just this sense of relief, honestly. As long as you know the truth, nothing else matters."

There were faint reflections in the depths of Dar's eyes. Kerry disregarded the movie and the popcorn, half turning to lay her hand gently on Dar's cheek. "Nothing else does matter," she said. "I never thought about that, you know? About how it was before for you."

"Mm." Dar blinked peacefully at her. "It sucked," she said, "especially the last time. Everyone took a..." She paused a second, "certain glee in our very, very public breakup."

Kerry rubbed the side of her thumb against Dar's skin. "Well, if I'd been there..."

"If you'd been there, it'd have been a moot point."

"Okay, well, if I'd been there and we hadn't been together..." Kerry restarted.

"You think that's really likely??"

Kerry shifted her hand to cover Dar's mouth. "Let me finish my over the top declaration, please," she scolded. "If I'd been there, and we hadn't been together, and we were just friends, I would have taken the biggest mallet I could find, and gone around whacking all those bastards on the head like moles." She removed her hand and leaned closer. "Do you believe that?"

"Oh yeah," Dar agreed instantly. "You have the staff scared spitless. They'd rather spill gossip to me than dare to tell you about it."

Kerry's eyebrow cocked. "Really?"

"Really." Dar kissed her. "So yes, Kerrison, I believe that with all my heart."

"Oo." Kerry nibbled a piece of corn. "I feel like such a mercenary." She let her head rest against her partner's. "Grr. You bring out the beast in me."

Dar eyed her, a grin surfacing immediately. "I'd buy that a lot faster if you didn't have that cute smile, Ker."

Kerry solemnly stuck her tongue out, then licked Dar's nose with it.

Dar reveled in their closeness, feeling a simple happiness not only in having Kerry in her arms, but in being here in this place that was so much a part of both of them. The troubles at work niggled at the very periphery of her conscience, but she ignored that, leaving the potential issues for the daylight.

Tonight didn't belong to work, it belonged to them. Dar poked her tongue out for more popcorn, and they then settled in to watch the mayhem.

AS IT HAPPENED, it did rain the next day. Kerry was in her glory, lounging in her pajamas on the couch watching luridly violent, yet curiously satisfying, cartoons. Dar was stretched out facing her, the length of the furniture explicitly planned so they both could relax on it at the same time.

"Mm." Kerry wiggled her toes against Dar's, grinning as she responded. While purchasing leather furniture didn't usually involve measuring for footsies, in their case they'd decided to make everything in the cabin fit them--even the chairs on the porch. Hers was a little smaller with a shorter seat, and Dar's was long enough to fit her legs perfectly. A bit pretentious, perhaps, but as Dar had said at the time, they could afford it and it lasted longer than an ice cream cone so why not?

At least they hadn't had the towels embroidered with Hers and Hers. "Find anything yet?" Kerry asked.

"Nope." Dar had her laptop balanced on her thighs. "So far, nada. That MCI router exists, but they swear nothing in it has got our IP."

"Uh huh." Kerry put her head down on the plush leather couch arm. "You think they're covering up, or just clueless?"

"Eh. Let me threaten more people. I'll let you know."

Sounded like a fine idea to Kerry. She stifled a yawn as she watched the animated characters thrash and dance their way across the screen, reminded suddenly of her little friend Gopher Dar. "Are you messing with that program a lot more?"

Dar's fingers stopped moving, and she peered at Kerry over the top of her laptop screen. "That program." She repeated. "You mean..." She made a face, and chattered.

"Yeah."

Dar continued typing for a bit in silence, thinking about the question.

"I thought maybe you were getting a little bored," Kerry suggested. "So you were using that to keep yourself interested."

"No." Dar shook her head. "Actually, I think I've just been lonely."

Kerry rolled over and looked at her in surprise.

"That's my way of hanging out with you when we're both busy." Dar had most of her concentration focused on her screen, and was unaware of Kerry's rapt attention. "I'd be sitting in my office-- c'mon, you bastard--and I'd be on this stupid, pointless conference call wishing I was out on the boat with you instead, and all of a sudden some new idea for the damn thing would occur to me. New t-shirt, new dance...I finally got the vocal program working the other day."

"I noticed," Kerry replied quietly, now understanding the message it had conveyed.

"Anyway, it's more interesting than listening to people bicker about their budgets."

Kerry studied Dar's angular face, watching the pale eyes flick over the screen with restless energy. "Dar?"

"Hmm?" Dar looked up.

"Do you...not like what you're doing now?"

Dar's brow creased. She thought for a moment, and then cleared her throat a little. "I don't know, really. It's not so bad most of the time."

Kerry got to her knees and scrambled forward, sprawling over Dar's legs to get closer to her. "You liked what you were doing before though, right?"

Dar shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"I took your job."

Dar chuckled easily. "No you didn't. I horse-wrangled you into the position over your protest, if I recall correctly." She set the laptop aside. "Besides, you do it better than I did."

Kerry crawled up further. "That's not the point, Dar." She objected. "Not if you're not happy because of it."

"Happy?" Dar took hold of her and pulled her up further until Kerry was half lying on top of her, their limbs tangled in a warm mess. "I have never in my life been happier."

Kerry rested her chin on Dar's shoulder. "That's not what I..."