Well, at least my appetite’s back. That’s a good sign.
Kerry reached over and turned a few slices of bacon that were sizzling nearby.
Her throat was still bothering her a little and she still felt “off”—
her body ached and her head felt slightly stuffed. But she had no fever and she was hungry enough to eat a raw fish, so she figured 194
Melissa Good
she was probably getting better.
Besides, it was Dar’s birthday. Kerry found herself smiling as she remembered her gift-giving the night before. She glanced over at the couch, charmed to see Dar studying her new watch, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth as she turned it over in her fingers. She turned back to the griddle and got a plate ready, deftly transferring four of the hotcakes and several slices of bacon to it.
She set it to one side and put the rest of the food on a second plate, then turned off the heat and set two covers on the plates.
“Dixiecup, can you come over here and give me a hand?”
Dar chuckled as she set aside her watch and strolled over. “You know, if anyone had told me before I met you that I’d ever put up with someone calling me that, much less liking it, I’d have clocked them.”
Kerry gave her a charming smile and handed her the plates.
“Let me get the biscuits and the coffee.”
“And the syrup,” Dar reminded, setting the plates on the table and returning to duck past Kerry and retrieve a jug of juice from the refrigerator. They sat down together and Dar lifted the cover off her plate, inhaling the scent of the chocolate chip pancakes. “Mm.”
Kerry drizzled a little syrup neatly over her stack and separated a forkful. “You know, if anyone had told me before I met you that I’d be scarfing down pancakes and bacon without any guilt, much less enjoying them, I’d have just laughed,” she said.
“So, I think we’re neck and neck for making positive changes in each other’s lives.” She winked at Dar.
Dar slid closer, and they traded forkfuls of breakfast. Kerry licked a bit of syrup that had somehow ended up on the tip of Dar’s nose, and they toasted each other with coffee.
“Okay, so if we’re not crusading, and me sticking my head underwater isn’t a really good idea, what did you have in mind for today?” Kerry asked after a few minutes of peaceful munching.
“Shopping?”
A nice quiet stroll through some of the eclectic shops of St. Thomas
?
Dar suddenly found that appealing, if for no other reason than that it provided an activity they could do that wouldn’t compromise Kerry’s health. “All right,” she agreed. “When we’re done with breakfast, I’ll run up and tell Bud and Charlie so long, and we’ll head out.”
“Ooh...you’re letting me take you shopping on your birthday.
You’re in so much trouble, Paladar,” Kerry chortled, crunching a piece of bacon between her teeth. “I’m going to spoil you to within an inch of your life.”
“Uh oh.” Dar covered her eyes. “What have I gotten myself into?”
“Heh.”
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DAR STROLLED UP the beach toward Bud and Charlie’s place, feeling mellow and a little lazy after her favorite treat, despite the threat of shopping hanging over her head. The island was very quiet—only a few seagulls noted her presence as she climbed up the slope to the restaurant. She stepped up onto the porch and peered inside the screened door.
Inside, the restaurant was silent and still—chairs were upended on tables, and the floor mats piled near the door. It was still very early, though, so Dar didn’t consider that unusual. She pulled the iron handle experimentally, a little surprised when the door readily opened towards her. “Hello?”
Her voice echoed in the empty room, but there was no answer to her call. With a slight shrug, Dar entered and crossed the wooden floor, pushing the kitchen hatch open and peeking inside.
The place was also empty—pots hanging spotless and empty on ceiling hooks, and stoves standing cold and barren. Dar crossed through the somewhat cramped space and through the doors in the back, finding herself in a small corridor with closed rooms to either side. She knew Bud and Charlie lived in the back of the restaurant, and now, suddenly, it occurred to her that maybe they’d closed the restaurant for the holiday and were sleeping in.
“Whoops.” She ducked back inside the kitchen, looking around until she found an ordering pad with a pencil tied to it. She picked it up and bent her head over it, writing for a few minutes before she studied the results, then tore the top page off the pad. Leaving the pad where she’d found it, Dar went to the inside door and stuck the note on it, facing in toward the inner rooms. Anyone coming into the kitchen would see it, and she felt reasonably sure either Bud or Charlie would do just that sometime that morning.
She regarded the note with a touch of bemusement, remembering certain rainy days when she and Kerry had played hooky from work.
Okay, maybe sometime this afternoon.
With a smile, she turned and walked back through the restaurant and out the back door.
KERRY REGARDED THE charming streets of Charlotte Amalie with a grin, enjoying the colors and the displays of local handicrafts. She wore a pair of dark, mid-length shorts with more pockets than was really safe, and a crisp white shirt tucked into them, and she felt properly touristy and ready to shop.
Dar ambled along next to her, sporting snug-fitting, black bicycle shorts and a bright red muscle T-shirt. With her sunglasses, and her dark hair tied back in a tail, she looked like a walking advertisement for a bad attitude.
Kerry loved it. She kept catching people looking at Dar, who strode through the crowd with an air of cool disregard. She had on a light backpack, which contained the laptop and their cell phones, since the marina wasn’t what Dar considered very secure, and the straps pulled the fabric of the shirt taut against her muscular body.
Very butch
. Kerry’s grin wrinkled her nose, and she suppressed a chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” Dar inquired, peering at her from over the tops of her wraparound sunglasses.
“Nothing,” Kerry assured her. “This place is so cute.” She indicated the market. “Want to see if we can pick up some of those straw baskets? I think your mom would like them for her painting stuff.”
Dar regarded the stacked wares. “Lead on,”she replied. “Hey, maybe I can pick up a pair of pearl earrings while we’re here.”
Okay
. Kerry linked arms with her.
Not so butch
. “How about some of those nice miniature seashell ones? They’d look pretty on you.”
“Think so?”
“Absolutely.”
AFTER A TOUGH afternoon’s shopping, they ended up in a little outdoor café on the street overlooking the harbor. Dar’s backpack had gotten heavier by several packets, and Kerry had a
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woven hemp bag resting at her feet. “This is nice,” Dar commented, sipping from a cup of fragrant cappuccino. The breeze was coming inshore, and she stretched out her long legs and enjoyed it.
Kerry had both hands clasped around a cup of hot tea. “It sure is,” she agreed. “Hey, you want to spend the night up there at that Blackbeard’s Castle? It looked really cute.”
Dar tipped her head back and looked up at the hill above them.
“Yeah.” She smiled. “That did look like a fun place. Sure.” She turned back to look at Kerry, spotting the imperfectly masked sigh.
“Running out of steam?”
Darn
. Kerry cleared her throat. “My bug is still bugging me, I guess,” she admitted.
“To the inn with you, then.” Dar put some money down on the table and extended her hand. “Let’s grab a cab and get us a room up on that there hill.” She caught a motion out of the corner of her eye, but as she turned to look, several men brushed by and distracted her, and by the time she refocused on the spot, there was nothing there.
Probably just the waiter
, Dar considered, shouldering her pack and pushing in her chair. She pulled out her cell and checked it.
Seeing no activity, her brow creased. “Don’t tell me they’re still in bed.”
“Huh?” Kerry cocked her head.
“I asked Bud to give me a shout when he got up. I need to ask him something,” Dar explained. “He hasn’t called.”
“I thought they didn’t have a phone,” Kerry commented as they walked along the street toward the crossroad. “That’s what they told Bob.”
“That’s what he told Bob,” Dar repeated wryly. “They’ve got a cell. They just don’t like using it. They pay by the minute.” She shook her head, then looked up a number in her cell’s memory and dialed it. It rang several times, and then politely informed her that the cellular customer she was trying to reach was unavailable. Dar closed the phone. “Probably has it turned off.”
“What did you want to ask him?” Kerry inquired, as they stopped and she lifted a hand to hail a cab. Incredibly, the car slowed and pulled over, its driver sticking his head out and regarding them with a very cheerful expression. “Hi,” Kerry greeted him. “We’d like to go up to the castle.”
“Anywhere you lovely ladies want to go, I take you,” the man replied immediately. “Come, come.”
“Thanks.” Kerry eased the back door open. “I think,” she added, under her breath.
Dar merely pushed her sunglasses up a little and followed. As she closed the door behind her, she caught something in the corner 198
Melissa Good
of her eye again, and this time turned quickly to see what it was.
Nothing. The street corner behind her was empty. Dar frowned and faced forward, crossing her arms over the pack she’d taken off her back and wondering if the rum smoothie she’d drunk at the last shopping stop was making her see things. Or imagine them.
“OH, THIS IS adorable.” Kerry looked around their small room approvingly. “I’m glad they didn’t have room in the big resort, Dar—this is much, much more quaint.” They were staying in the small inn that circled the tavern, with a view that overlooked the harbor. Kerry walked over to the plush, four-poster bed and sat down on it, bouncing a little, then falling back and spreading out her arms. “Whoof.”
Dar set her pack down and put her hands on her hips as she inspected their assigned quarters. “Nice,” she agreed, with a smile.
“Tell you what. You hang out here and relax, and I’ll run down to the boat and pick up a change of clothes for the both of us,” she said. “Order up some hot tea and enjoy the view.”
Kerry considered arguing, then her better sense took hold and she waggled her fingers at Dar in peaceful acquiescence. “You rock.”
With a pleased smile, Dar waved back, and then she turned and slipped out the door and closed it behind her.
“Ahh.” Kerry exhaled, glad to be lying still. As the day had progressed, her body had protested more strenuously, though she’d enjoyed their shopping trip. Now she had a quiet night in this cute, snug little room to look forward to. It had a small balcony with a table, and she suspected a light dinner, a bottle of wine, and the two of them were just the right size to fit there.
A nice end to Dar’s birthday
, she decided. A smile crossed her face as she thought about her partner, and how much she’d enjoyed their day rambling around together. Maybe if she felt better tomorrow, she’d fulfill her half of their bargain, and they’d go horseback riding up in the hills. She’d seen advertisements for a nice looking stable at the hotel’s check in desk.
Yeah.
A nice ride, maybe a picnic together. Maybe we’ll find a nice
quiet spot and I’ll write a poem about it.
Kerry imagined a patch of green, fragrant forest, with birds singing around her. She could almost smell the rich scent of the earth.
Yeah.
With a yawn, she rolled over and crawled to the edge of the bed, retrieving the leather-covered room service menu and opening it. “Ah.” She spotted the tea section, pleased at having more than one choice. “Mango. Let’s try that.” She picked up the room phone and dialed.
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DAR DECIDED TO forgo a cab, preferring to jog down to the boat instead. The crowds were thinning out as sunset approached, and the cafés she passed were starting to gear up for dinner. The air held hints of an eclectic mix of foods— hickory smoke mixed with a dash of tomato and garlic, crossed with a jolt of jerk spices. Dar took an appreciative breath of it, and acknowledged she was damn glad they’d decided to cut out and leave Bob and his family problems behind.
DeSalliers had annoyed her, true, Dar admitted privately. It wouldn’t have bothered her to knock him off his pedestal. But the man had been hired to do a job, and while she didn’t particularly like his style or his attitude, his methods were efficient and very business oriented.
And, Dar, admit it
—
that’s how almost everyone
describes you, isn’t it?
She chuckled a little in wry self-knowledge.
Bob’s story had seemed a little too pat to her, she decided, as her path took her down a fairly steep incline toward the dock. Did she really buy that convenient emergence of a clue after all this time? It seemed a lot more likely to her that Bob had run out of cash, and had gotten together with all the other family wannahaves and cooked up a plot to cause trouble. He was probably banking on a settlement of some kind, if he could stir up enough chaos.
Of course,
Dar dodged a man on a moped,
it could also be that I
don’t like Bob because he tried to hit on Kerry.
She wondered briefly if he had simply seen a cute girl he was interested in, or if he was interested in Kerry because of her obvious financial resources.
She turned a corner and jogged between two buildings. As she passed a garbage dumpster, a flash of motion made her turn her head, but before she could react, a body hit hers and drove her into the wall. “Hey!”
Hands grabbed her and threw her against the wall again, and then a heavy weight pinned her and she got a blast of not very nice breath in her face. “All right, you bitch. Don’t move.”
Dar blinked, and a heavy, pockmarked face swam into focus.