Melissa Good: Eye of the Storm

A long, in-drawn breath was clearly heard. “Oh,” Kerry murmured.

“Well, it’s mutual, you know. I couldn’t do half of this stuff if you hadn’t shown me the way.” She paused a moment. “God, I so want to hug you right now.”

Dar smiled wistfully at the phone. “Yeah. That’d be nice,” she responded. “Anyway, have a good night, Ker. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”

“G’night.” Kerry sighed, then closed the phone, and rested her chin on it thoughtfully. “Be careful,” she murmured softly. “Give ’em heck.”

Chapter

Two

A COLD, WET nose poked her in the eyeball. Dar jerked her head back in startlement, then blinked and looked around dazedly. “What th—

” Chino was curled up against her chest, the puppy’s tail thumping against Dar’s leg. The condo was lit warmly with dawn light and the TV

displayed an infomercial for a revolutionary new pooper scooper.

“Damn it.” Dar hitched herself up on one elbow and rubbed her face.

“Gotta stop doing that,” she muttered to Chino, who was apparently getting used to her falling asleep on the couch. Not that the leather surface was uncomfortable, but it threw off her internal alarm clock and made her have to scramble in the mornings.

Like now, for instance, especially since she had a damn plane to catch. Groggily, she sat up, then got to her feet, eyeing the cute abalone clock Kerry had insisted on getting, deciding they didn’t have one piece of tacky South Florida stuff in their living room. “Oh, hell.” Her flight was at eight, and here it was almost seven. “Chino, I’ll tell ya. They’re not getting a wool suit.”

“Woof.”

Dar ambled over and opened the back door for the puppy, then she ducked into the kitchen and grabbed a container of grape juice, which she popped open and sucked at as she headed for the shower.

Ten minutes later she was toweling off and rummaging through her clean clothes, wondering if her presence was worth the scandal she’d cause by showing up casual. Then Alastair’s comments of the previous night poked her and she grinned. “Guess we’ll find out.” She tugged out a pair of faded jeans and neatly ironed cotton shirt.

She pulled the shirt on and brushed a few errant Chino hairs off the sleeves, then slid into the jeans and buttoned them, eyeing the mirror to check the results. A tanned and lean figure was reflected back, showing the effect of three hard months of martial arts training and a multitude of weekends spent diving in the sunny waters offshore. “Oh yeah.” A twinkle entered the pale blue eyes gazing back at her as she added a belt, then clipped her pager and phone on. “Nice, huh? I’ll give you nice.” She pulled a jacket from the closet and slung it over her arm, then shouldered her briefcase and headed for the door. “Think you’ve forgotten just how much trouble I can be when I put my mind to it, Alastair.”

Eye of the Storm 11

Then she stopped. “Whoa.” She put her things down, jogged to the back door, and whistled for Chino, who came bounding up the steps.

“C’mon, girl. I gotta go.” The puppy put paws up on her leg and whined, and she gave her a quick hug. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back tonight.” She glanced around then gave the dog a kiss on the head. “And don’t you tell anyone I did that, okay?”

“Grrrr.” Chino chewed on her belt loop.

“Okay. Be good.” Dar stood up and checked to make sure the puppy had water and biscuits, then she grabbed her case and headed out the door.

It was close. Fortunately, the causeway she lived off of angled right across the city, and onto the one leading to the airport. She dropped her keys in the valet’s hand and jogged through the terminal, arriving at the gate just as the plane was boarding. Moments later, she was sprawled in a comfortable leather seat at the front of the plane, being offered her choice of beverage. “Chocolate milk,” she responded, sending the stewardess off to rummage.

It was a pretty day, Dar reflected, as she gazed out her window and watched the ground crew finish their routine. The sun came in the small portal and she closed her eyes against its brightness, finding a comfortable spot to rest her head as she let the world fade out a little.

“Wonder what Kerry’s up to?” She allowed an image of her lover to form against the inside of her eyelids.

KERRY SIGHED GENTLY as the first light trickled into her window.

She hadn’t slept much, her thoughts keeping her tossing and turning until she’d finally dropped off well after midnight. Now here she was awake before dawn.

Oh well. She sat up and dangled her feet over the bed, rubbing her bare arms and yawning. It would give her a chance to get a run in, at any rate, something she’d had only sporadic success at while she was out on the road. At least it would be pretty scenery.

Kerry stood and trudged into the rustic bathroom, turned on the water, and splashed a handful of it on her face before she realized the temperature difference between Vermont and Miami. “Yow!” Her green eyes popped wide open and she hastily adjusted the warm water faucet a little to cut the chill. “That’s one way to wake up.”

She investigated the little courtesy refrigerator in the room and found tiny crocks of cold apple cider and some little coffee cakes.

“Mmm.” She took one of each, dropped into the curved wooden desk chair, and hit the key to retrieve her mail while she nibbled on her breakfast.

The laptop connected and she logged in with two fingers, then sat back as her mail downloaded. “Oo.” She clicked on one mail from Dar and smiled as a small, dancing raccoon shimmied across the screen, singing “Dixie.” Kerry muffled a laugh, almost sending a spray of crumbs all 12 Melissa Good over her keyboard. “Where in the hell did she find that ?” She watched the cartoon for a moment more, then shook her head and checked the rest of the mails, leaving the three urgent ones open and waiting for attention.

Her juice finished, she got into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She tied her hair back into a tail and put on her running shoes before slipping out the door to the cabin and into the early morning air. It was cool and dry, very different from the late June heat she faced in Miami, and Kerry drew in an appreciative breath as she chose a path and started up it at a walk.

She let her leg muscles stretch out a little before she broke into a jog, not wanting to push herself too hard after being relatively inactive for a few weeks. Between flights, hotels, and the four accounts she’d consolidated on her trip, she’d hardly had time to figure out what state she was in, much less where the nearest gym was.

So, she asked herself, why drag yourself out here today, hmm? Kerry picked up her pace a little, feeling her body settle into the activity.

Couldn’t possibly be because you’re going home in two days, could it? And you’re going to have to keep up with Dar after two weeks of being a lazy bum, or risk a first class teasing? She laughed at herself, acknowledging the eager thrill that danced over her skin at the thought of seeing her lover again.

The little path meandered upward, and she welcomed the effort, enjoying the pretty trees as she lengthened her stride. It had been an interesting couple of months, really. Both she and Dar had settled down and gotten used to being with each other, and now that they’d worked out timing, and schedules, it was really becoming a lot of fun. She’d half expected there to be large areas of contention between them since they were so different, but the condo allowed them both their space and they’d started off by setting a few ground rules.