Melissa Good - Thicker Than Water

Dar tipped Kerry’s chin up so their eyes met. “I’ll live. Don’t worry about me, okay?”

A thin lipped smile flitted on Kerry’s face, then disappeared.

“Okay. Let’s go.” She slipped into her leather jacket and zipped it, then headed for the door with Dar following behind her. “Good God.” She stopped in mid stride, almost making Dar crash into her. “Dar, what happened with the Navy investigation?”

Dar put a hand on her back and pushed her gently forward.

“C’mon.” She pushed the elevator button, debating whether or not to go into the subject.

Kerry didn’t budge. “Dar?”

Pale blue eyes regarded her seriously. “Gerry called me.”

Kerry waited. “And?”

Dar sighed. “He…wants to dump the whole thing.”

Kerry’s jaw dropped. “What?”

Dar fiddled with the catches on her heavy jacket. “I can see 66 Melissa Good where he’s coming from, Kerry.” She glanced up and down the empty corridor. “The scandal could destroy a lot of people.”

Kerry just stared at her. “And you accepted that?” Her voice was flat with disbelief.

Dar studied the carpet, then looked up. “No. I told him I’d go public with it if he didn’t.” The doors opened and she put out a hand to keep them that way. “Alastair’s frothing at me for that.”

Kerry walked into the elevator, her mind churning. She knew Dar would keep her word, but at what cost? “Is it worth it? Maybe Easton’s right.” Dar’s silence made her look up, and she found her lover studying her seriously. “Maybe the damage outweighs the benefits.”

Dar seemed to understand where she was coming from. “I thought about that. After I did the analysis, I sat at my desk for hours, debating with myself over whether or not to give it to your father.” She half shook her head. “Maybe I knew this was going to happen.”

The doors opened at the bottom floor and they exited. Kerry thought about what Dar had said as they crossed the warm, gaily decorated lobby and passed through the revolving door into the bitterly cold wind. “Did you think you might be doing it just because you were mad at Ainsbright?”

Dar stuck her hands in her pockets. “No. I thought I might be doing it to stroke my own ego.”

Kerry looked at her in surprise. “What?”

Dar gave an embarrassed nod. “I figured there’s a part of me that hates losing and hates letting someone get one over on me, and that’s what was driving me to force the issue.”

Kerry stopped at her rental car and opened the doors. She waited for Dar to slip inside, then joined her and closed the door on the icy air. “And you decided you weren’t?”

Dar smiled at the bleak scene outside the car. “No. That was very much a part of why I did it.” She gave Kerry an honest, open look. “But the other part of it was that people are getting hurt by this, and it has to stop.” Her jaw tensed. “And it will stop, one way or the other, no matter what that takes.”

Sometimes , Kerry mused, as she started the car and let the engine warm up, sometimes life’s lessons come at you from the strang-est directions, and at the weirdest times. “Does your father know about this?”

Dar nodded silently.

Kerry didn’t have to ask how Andrew felt about it. She knew, simply by the set of Dar’s shoulders and the almost unconsciously proud lift of her chin. It definitely gave her something to think about. “Well. I don’t think my father had time to do anything with Thicker Than Water 67

it.”

“Mm.” Dar leaned back in her seat.

Kerry exhaled and put the car into gear. She backed out of the parking spot and headed towards the main road. The landscape was bleak and gray, trees dressed in winter brown with their coat-ing of snow and ice.

It made Kerry feel cold, despite the heater in the car. This had once been home. She’d grown up here, played in some of the fields they were passing, skated on those frozen lakes. They drove past a group of young people walking along the sidewalk, laughing and joking with each other, obviously headed for the church youth center not far away.

Kerry remembered being one of them, pampered and privi-leged, wanting for absolutely nothing. Sure of her place in the world and secure in her family’s solid circle. Lacking only the one thing that Dar, raised without any of her advantages, had been given freely.

Life is so strange, sometimes.

Kerry felt almost lightheaded. She pulled over to the side of the road, stopped, and leaned on the steering wheel as she stared out at the trees.

“Ker?” Dar asked, hesitantly.

“It…um…” Kerry started, then paused. “I think part of the reason why I leaked that dirt on my father was because I was so angry at him.” Her voice was shaking a little, and she appreciated the sudden warmth as Dar laid a hand on her thigh. “I don’t think it had anything to do with wanting to do the right thing. Knowing that, and seeing him in that bed…it’s killing me.”

“Hey.” Dar leaned over the shift console and put an arm across Kerry’s shoulders. “It’s not your fault, Kerry.”

She gazed at Dar. “Isn’t it?”

“Don’t be an idiot.” Dar’s voice was warm, taking the sting out of the words. “Yeah, that was stressful, but your father spent his whole life in politics, Kerry. You think that was the only stress in his life? C’mon, you know better.”

Kerry remained silent.

“Don’t do that to yourself,” Dar said. “He made the choice to do what he did, knowing it might get out. You think keeping that secret wasn’t tough?” One dark brow lifted. “In the long run, lying is harder than truth.” She stroked Kerry’s cheek. “We found that out, didn’t we?”

A memory of the tense months early in their relationship surfaced, when even bringing Dar lunch was looked at with suspicion. “Yeah,” Kerry had to admit. “It was a lot easier once we came out. But this isn’t the same thing, Dar.”

68 Melissa Good

“Isn’t it?” Dar echoed her earlier statement. “Think about it.”

Kerry exhaled. “Maybe. Guess we’d better get moving.”

Dar rubbed her neck a little. “Want me to drive? That should keep you distracted until we get there.”

Kerry unexpectedly smiled as she put the car back into gear.

“I’m okay.” She put the turn indicator on and watched for passing cars. “But I’ll keep the offer in mind.”

THEY MET ANGIE and her husband on the way into the hospital. Some of the press interest had waned, it seemed, or maybe the weather had deterred them. Snow was falling, and Kerry shivered a little as she joined her sister on the walk to the back entrance. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Angie rubbed her arm. “Hi, Dar. Thanks for coming up.”

Kerry didn’t have to look behind her to see the raised eyebrow. She gave Angie a heartfelt smile and a hug. “Sorry about last night.”

“Richard, this is Dar Roberts, Kerry’s partner,” Angie went on in a determined Midwestern twang. “Dar, this is my husband, Richard.”

Dar mentally gave Angie several more points as she extended her hand. “Nice to meet you.” She met Richard’s wary eyes, on a level with her own, as they shook hands. “Sorry it has to be on this kind of occasion.”

“Ms. Roberts,” Richard said quietly as he released her hand.

“Good to finally meet someone I’ve heard so much about.”

Oo. Talk about your loaded statements. Dar returned his brief smile. “Likewise.” She turned to Angie. “How’s Andrew?”

Everyone relaxed just a little as Richard turned to open the door to the hospital.

“Growing like a weed,” Angie said. “He’s made up for having such an exciting birthday by being just the sweetest, calmest child.” She waited for her husband and Kerry to enter the hospital, then she turned and lowered her voice. “Dar, I’m really glad you’re here.”