With efficient strokes, Kerry swam over to her and grabbed the line as well. “You’re making me jealous. Now I know I have to get certified. I tried coaxing some of the guys at Associated into doing it, but they were all scared.
I bet I can get at least one or two people at the office join in, though.”
Dar studied her in silence for a long moment, then gave a slight nod.
“Wait here.” She reached up and grabbed the gunwale, pulling herself upright out of the water and pressing her body up and over the railing.
Kerry blinked. “Wow, I couldn’t do that even when I was doing gymnastics six times a week,” she murmured, impressed. “Heck, I don’t think the guys who did rings could do that.”
Dar came back and unhitched a section of the railing, pulling it back and seating herself on it. “Okay, we can do a really quick, really easy short dive with just the stuff I have here.” She handed Kerry a vest-like garment. “Put that on.”
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Kerry did, buckling it around her chest and tightening the straps so it fit snugly. “Okay.” She felt a thrill of excitement. “What’s next?”
Dar handed her a pair of booties. “Now these.” She waited. “Okay, now slip these on over the booties and tighten them around your heels.” She gave Kerry a pair of swim fins.
“That’s a little…oh, okay, I got it.” Kerry bit her lip a little as she concentrated. The vest provided some buoyancy, fortunately, and after a moment she looked up. “Okay.” She waved her feet, feeling the powerful surge against the water, and grinned. “Oh, that feels neat.”
Dar handed her down a snorkel. “Put that through the loop in the mask.
Yeah, that’s right. Now turn around, and hold onto that anchor line.”
Kerry did so, facing out towards the horizon. She felt the splash as Dar entered the water behind her, then experienced a moment of jostling as something was attached to her back. She felt the weight difference immediately. “Oh, is that the tank?”
“Yep.” Dar’s hand suddenly appeared beside her ear, holding a round object with a mouthpiece. “Okay, this is how this works.”
Her voice was right up next to Kerry’s ear, and it took a moment for the words to register. “Um. Okay, that’s a regulator,” she repeated.
“Right,” Dar agreed. “See this button?” She pointed to a round spot on top of the piece of gear. “That’s a forced expel.” She put the mouthpiece under water. “Water can’t get in, but if you press this…” She did so, and a stream of bubbles erupted. “Got it? You put that in your mouth, and just breath in normally.”
Kerry fit the mouthpiece between her teeth and sucked in, mildly surprised when air happened. “Fowfh.”
Dar patted her. “Okay, I’m not going to go into the dive computer or anything, because we’re just going down a few feet today. Hang on while I get my gear.”
“Owflk.” Kerry nodded, looking around and getting used to having the regulator in her mouth. What seemed like moments later, Dar was back with similar equipment. She put her flippers on, then swam closer, and Kerry felt a touch at her waist as Dar’s arms circled her.
She stopped breathing. “Uf…”
“Weight belt,” Dar said matter-of-factly. “You need it to compensate for the air in here.” She patted the vest and smiled.
“Owf.” Kerry nodded in understanding as her lungs started working again.
Dar put her own belt on, adjusting it a little and scowling, then she set her mask in place. “Okay, just do what I do. You’re going to let go, and let yourself sink. Just breath normally.”
It was the oddest sensation, Kerry decided, as she obeyed and let herself start to fall through the water. The regulator’s bubbles kept a steady stream of sound around her, but she looked around as she went deeper, seeing the sun’s rays bend and lose their color.
Not far, as Dar had said, and in fact, if she looked up, Kerry could see the solid bottom of the boat just above her. But down here… She leveled out and floated just above the bottom, which was covered with a thick coral formation.
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Her eyes widened as a school of small, brightly painted yellow and blue fish went right past her, their fins brushing her skin lightly, like butterflies. Past them swam larger, more solitary fish, their bodies undulating back and forth as they surveyed the reef in regal splendor. A tiny, darting red fish zigzagged past her and fled, followed by a larger, flat, black fish with an eye on each side of its body. She glanced down and pointed. A lobster was making its way across the bottom, its spiny shell flexing as it moved.
Just watching her, Dar nodded. The older woman was floating, her arms folded over her stomach and her legs half bent. She lifted one hand and made an okay sign with her fingers, then raised an eyebrow in question. Kerry nodded vigorously, almost unseating her regulator. Dar nodded back, then moved off very slowly, motioning her to follow.
They stayed down for about twenty minutes, while Dar gave her a little tour and pointed out things not to touch. The reef, for one; every touch on the coral was a death sentence to it. Fire coral for another, which could sting human skin badly. Puffer fish, which had spikes; eels, which she wouldn’t have come within a hundred yards of anyway; and other various creatures.
Then Dar gently led her up to the surface, swimming up the anchor line until they both broke through the waves, and removed their regulators.
“Oh my god, that was amazing!” Kerry blurted immediately. “Did you see those silver fish? They were making faces at me!” She pulled her mask off, and pushed her wet hair back. “And those purple things. What were those purple things? There were these little translucent squiddy things, too. What were they?”
Laughing, Dar held up a hand. “Whoa, take it easy. Let’s get back on the boat and we can talk about it, okay?” She had Kerry hand her the gear, and she put it onto the deck, then lifted herself up and extended hand to the smaller woman. “Here, grab on.”
Kerry felt herself being pulled up and she grabbed the railing, getting onto the deck far more easily than she had anticipated. “Wow.” She smiled at Dar in delight. “Thank you! I really, really mean that.”
Dar smiled back. “Always like to see another convert.” She chuckled, ducking into the cabin and coming back out with two towels. “ Let’s get dried off, and I bet you’re hungry.”
Kerry felt her stomach growl. “Okay, I give. How did you know that?”
Dar’s tanned fingers waved dismissively. “Diving does it. I am too.”
They sat in the sun, drying off and sharing lunch as Kerry peppered her companion with questions about sea life. Dar stretched out on one of the cushioned benches, putting her hands behind her head and closing her eyes as she answered. Kerry eventually ran out of queries and took the other bench, relaxing against its slightly rough surface with a contented sigh. “Ill wind blows nobody whatever, huh?” she commented wryly.
“Mmm.” Dar turned her head slightly and regarded the younger woman.
“You could say that.” She studied the slim frame, sleek in its purple fabric, then her eyes closed again as the sun bathed them in rich golden light. “Glad we remembered sunscreen.”
“Uh huh,” the fair-skinned woman agreed. “Otherwise, I’d turn the color of a lobster,” A silence fell, and Kerry mused thoughtfully to herself for a bit,
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then she turned to ask Dar a question. She bit it back when she saw that Dar was peacefully asleep. With a contented smile, she shifted to get a little more comfortable, then let her own eyes close as well.
A SEAGULL, ARCHING overhead and complaining, nudged Dar awake, and she reluctantly opened her eyes, slightly startled by the low arc of the sun
.
Oh damn
. She yawned and stretched, rubbing her face with one hand as she sat up. The boat was bobbing gently, and she glanced around, not seeing her companion until she half stood and spotted her on the very front of the bow, her knees tucked up against her chest as she gazed out at the horizon. The sun was hitting her from the back and brought out gentle red highlights in her otherwise blonde hair, and Dar felt a smile on her lips she really had little control over.
“Hey.” She climbed up onto the bow and settled down at Kerry’s side.
“You shouldn’t have let me sleep so long.”
Eyes the color of the sea around them peered at her from under sun-lightened brows. “I just woke up myself. And you looked so peaceful, I didn’t have the heart to wake you up.” Kerry smiled. “I know last night wasn’t very comfortable, so…” She shrugged. “It was kinda like catching up.”
Dar leaned back against the cabin wall and nodded. “That’s true. Guess we’d better get going on in, though. Power should be back on and I can get you home.”
“Yeah,” Kerry murmured, resting her chin on her knee.
Silence settled, save the soft rippling of the waves. Dar finally cleared her throat a little. “Listen, I, um…I wanted to apologize.”
Kerry’s brows knitted and she turned her head. “For what? Dar, it’s not your fault a storm came up.”
Dar held up a hand. “No. For what happened with Associated.”
“Mmph.” There was a brief pause. “Well, it’s all right, I mean, it worked out.”
“But it wouldn’t have,” Dar admitted with a sigh. “If you hadn’t stood up to me and made me take a second look at what I was doing, it wouldn’t have.” She fell silent for a moment. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I never stopped to think about how the people I was doing it to felt.”
“Oh.” Kerry absorbed this. “It was hard,” she acknowledged. “I felt like it was so hopeless sometimes, and then when you called. Boy.” She looked out at the water and shook her head. “It hurt.” She glanced sideways and watched Dar’s eyes narrow, her sight firmly focused on the horizon. “But you were doing your job.”
“Yes,” Dar murmured. “I know. That’s why it puzzled me when, after all that, you wanted to come help me do it to other people.”
“Maybe the next time something like that comes up, I can get you to think twice again,” Kerry answered simply.
Blue eyes looked directly into hers. “What if you can’t?”
Kerry thought about that. “I’ll just keep trying,” she answered quietly. “I have a lot of patience.”
Dar ducked her head and chuckled. “Fair enough.” She pushed herself to 146
Melissa Good
her feet and made her way back to the console. “Hang on, I’m bringing up the anchor.”
Kerry scrambled off the bow and settled herself onto the cushioned bench, leaning against the railing and extending her legs into the lowering sunlight. The city was backlit in molten gold. Wishing she had a camera to capture the sight, she swung around and kept it in her view as Dar turned the boat and headed for shore.
“MORNING, MARIA.” DAR settled back in her seat as the ferry made its way toward the causeway.
“
Dios mío
, Dar. You cannot believe the smells in here this morning. It is like a thousand cats pee-peed on the rug,” the secretary informed her. “I have an orange stuck into my nose.”
“Did maintenance arrange for a carpet cleaning service?” Dar inquired, wincing at the thought of the stench. “Never mind, just put me through to Jack Eierdall.” She waited a moment, then a gruff voice answered. “Jack? Dar Roberts.” She listened. “We need a steam cleaner in there today, Jack, not two days from now … That’s not acceptable.” Another wait and protesting tones.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about your cousin. I’ll get a commercial crew in and bill you back for it at cost plus if you don’t get ’em in there today.”
Dar inspected a nail, then flexed her hand where the skin was just a little tight from the sunburn she’d gotten on Saturday. “Look, cut the crap. Bottom line, I see the truck by the time I get there, or I call in Stanley Steamer Corporate. G’bye, Jack.” She hung up the line, then dialed again. “Maria?”
“
Si
.” The secretary sneezed. “
Oye
, excuse me, Dar.” She shuffled some papers. “You have a meeting at eight thirty, remember—the executive committee, and you have three client briefings after that.”
Dar sighed. “I know. Listen, block out my morning tomorrow, until at least lunchtime, and Kerry’s too.” She paused. “She’s, um…she has to drive me to an appointment I have to go to.”
After a period of shocked silence, Maria said slowly, “All right, I will do that. Is it…a business meeting? I…”
“No,” the executive said quietly, “I’m having some tests done. It’s all right, nothing major. I just don’t know what kind of medication they’re going to give me and didn’t want to risk driving myself.”
“
Dios mío
. All right, I’ll put that down. I’ll have to cancel your account meeting with Travel and Transport, Dar.”
“Aw, shucks,” Dar drawled. “Reschedule it for sometime extremely inconvenient to them, will you?”
“Tch, Dar.” Maria laughed shortly. “You are so bad.” She hesitated. “I have my rosary here. What kind of tests for you, so I’ll know how to pray?”
Dar blinked at the phone, too stunned to answer for a moment, then she exhaled. “It’s nothing, I … They’re not sure, really, Maria, just maybe a leaky valve or something. It’s really not anything to worry about, but thanks for offering.”
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“
Mi madre
.” The older woman sighed. “
Ay
, good morning.” She held the phone away from her mouth. “Excuse me, what?” Dar heard a muffled exchange, then Maria came back. “Dar, they lost some big thing in New York.”
“Oh, hellinahandbasket.” Dar covered her eyes. “New York down on a Monday morning. What did I do to deserve this?” She angled the Lexus up the ramp and turned left onto the causeway. “Look, I’m about five or ten minutes out. Have whoever is on duty in the MDF call Netops and find out exactly what’s down, and warn Northeast region, especially service recovery, that we’ve got a problem.”
“Okay, okay. Ah, good morning. Thank you, thank you,
chiquita
.”
Maria’s voice warmed, and Dar could hear another voice in the background, which brought a smile to her face.
“Dar, Kerry is here, she says she’ll take care of it.”
“Good morning, Kerry.” Dar chuckled. “Thanks, how was the rest of your weekend?”