Andy snorted. "h.e.l.l, Ah"da been happy in a Quonset hut." He leaned back. "But that there boat"s a hoot and a half, no question.
Ceci"s having her a good old time with it."
Bud eyed him. "You guys lucked out," he remarked, but his tone was mild, not grudging.
"h.e.l.l yes." Andy hitched a knee up and circled it with both big hands. "Spent all them years in h.e.l.l, now we got some good times.
Life"s evened out for a change." He glanced at both men. "Ah done paid my dues."
"That"s for sure," Charlie murmured. "Glad things came out all right for you, Andy."
364*
"Mm," Bud grunted in accord.
A short silence fell over the group. Kerry picked up the tray and returned, setting it on the table. "This is a favorite of Dar"s,"
she explained, pointing to the round, fudgy looking creation in the center. "So if you don"t like chocolate, blame her."
Dar exhaled as the tension around her dissipated. She cast an appreciative glance at the tray, recognizing the chocolate on chocolate on chocolate mousse cake Kerry had created for her for her last birthday. "Mm...where did that come from?" she asked.
"Don"t tell me you made it while I was out this afternoon."
Kerry pa.s.sed around fresh plates for the dessert and collected the used ones. Surprisingly, Bud got up and took the dinner plates from her, carrying them to the galley and setting them in the sink.
"Not quite. I made it before we left home. It"s been in the freezer."
Dar observed the carving of her portion with a jealous eye.
"You didn"t tell me that."
"Because I wanted it to last the trip," her partner dryly commented. "And I wanted to get at least a small piece."
"Wow." Charlie had tasted the cake. "Mind if I get this recipe from you, Kerry? I"d sell a million pieces of this in the shop."
Kerry sat down and picked up her fork. "Not at all." She rested her free hand on her knee and found it immediately captured and squeezed under the table. "I"m just really glad everything turned out okay."
Everyone murmured agreement. Bud cleared his throat and reluctantly met Andrew"s eyes. "Thanks," he muttered.
"Welcome," Andy replied.
"Any word on the jerk and his crew?" Charlie asked suddenly.
There was another awkward silence. "The Coast Guard didn"t find them," Dar stated matter-of-factly. "There wasn"t anything at the coordinates we gave."
Andrew snorted. "Serves them b.a.s.t.a.r.ds" right if they sank."
"d.a.m.ned if we don"t finally agree on something," Bud said.
"a.s.sholes."
Charlie nodded. "Yep. Hope the fish had a d.a.m.n good dinner."
"Hey." Bud spoke up. "You and Ceci ever ride out this way?"
Andrew finished his cake. "Thinking about it," he replied.
"Ceci"s done into painting them ocean things again. Looking for new stuff."
"Stop by and have dinner."
Even Charlie looked surprised.
"Surely," Andy drawled. "Thanks for the invite."
Bud grunted and went back to eating, apparently having exhausted his sociability for the moment.
Dar and Kerry exchanged looks. Kerry felt the clasp on her hand tighten and she squared her shoulders, digging her fork into*365 her dessert and taking a bite with determined enjoyment. After all, they"d done what they could, more than most would have, given the circ.u.mstances.
Dar was right, Kerry thought. At some point you had to accept responsibility for the things you did. She had, and whatever fate DeSalliers had come to, he would have to do the same. What you cast out onto the waters came back to you in the end. Sometimes it took a while, and sometimes you had to go through h.e.l.l before it did, like for Andrew. Sometimes you got off scott free for a lifetime and had it all your way, like her father had. But eventually the circle would close.
Kerry smiled, and looked up to find Dar smiling back at her.
Sometimes, you didn"t even have to wait a lifetime.
Epilogue.
KERRY SWUNG GENTLY in the hammock, doing nothing more strenuous than watching the seagulls. She lifted a hand and took a swig from a longneck bottle of beer, finding an interesting patch of clouds wandering its way across the clear blue sky. "Hey, Dar?"
The other occupant on the hammock grunted in her ear incoherently.
"Y"think I should check my blood pressure right now?"
"Does that mean I gotta get up?" Dar mumbled. "I think your pressure"s fine. I can hear your heartbeat. It"s whistling Dixie."
"Mmm," Kerry agreed. "I feel very, very relaxed." She lifted her other hand, linked with Dar"s, and kissed her partner"s fingers.
"Coming back here was a really good idea."
"Uh huh."
"I could stay here for weeks."
"Uh huh."
"There"s a rabbit on your hip."
"Cool."
Kerry turned her head and indulgently watched Dar"s mostly asleep profile. There was a dusting of beach sand on her cheek, and the dark hair, slightly overgrown, was hiding almost all of one eye.
"Would you like to take the bike out and ride naked down US 1 with me?"
"Sure."
"I think that idea sounds better than it really is." Kerry blew a lock of Dar"s hair back. "It"s gnat season."
One blue eye opened. "Ew."
"Mm." Kerry pushed against the porch railing, swinging them both gently. "I was joking about the nude riding, but we could go down the road a bit and watch fireworks tonight."
"We could do that," Dar agreed sleepily. "How about we bring that bottle of champagne with us and toast the New Year out on the beach?"
"Ooh." Kerry rubbed the side of her nose, which itched. "You missing not going to the company party?"
Dar just snorted. "Only thing I"m gonna miss is not getting to*367 dance with you in front of all of them," she grumbled. "And we can do that here without having to suffer through high heels."
"Okay." Kerry rolled onto her side and sprawled over Dar, drawing in a breath full of cocoa b.u.t.ter and apricot body scrub. "I"ll bring my MP3 player with us on the bike."
"Does it have speakers?"
"I intend for us to share the ear buds."
"That means Who Let the Dogs Out isn"t on the playlist, right?"
Kerry chuckled happily. "Ah, now this is a vacation, Dar." She nuzzled her partner"s ear. "Just you and me. No pirates, no land sharks, no snooty but curiously ineffective private eyes."
"Uh huh. A vacation from our vacation," Dar said. "From now on, we"ll just take "em two weeks at a time: one week to get into trouble, one week to recover from it." She turned her head slightly and kissed the lips that had been nibbling her ear. "Mm. You taste like hot peppers."
Kerry licked her lips. "Those were very tasty mud bugs." She held up her beer. "I"ve been trying to cool down my mouth since we had lunch."
Dar tasted her lips again. "There"s a little redneck steak joint about three miles south of here. Wanna join me there for a very low cla.s.s New Year"s Eve dinner?"
"Is this the kind of place where you get a side order of b.u.t.ter with your deep fried garlic bread?"
"Uh huh."
"And they serve brown gravy with the fries?"
"That and cheese sauce."
"I"m there." Kerry glanced over her shoulder at the sun. "Let"s go grab a shower and dress down," she suggested. "We can laugh about poor Mark in his tuxedo."
Dar took her time getting up, wrapping her hand around the back of Kerry"s neck and giving her a thorough, pa.s.sionate kissing first. Then they eased out of the hammock and went inside, still attached to each other.
SHOWERED AND DRESSED, Kerry perched on the wicker stool next to the kitchen counter and studied the envelope in front of her. She picked up her black, permanent marker and wrote on the manila face, carefully penning a name and address.
When she was finished, she picked up the battered, much folded piece of laminated plastic and spread it flat, pressing it between two pieces of cardboard. She taped it in place, then slid the entire thing into the envelope.
"Bob, I"d like to believe you"re on the up and up, but you know, you"re pretty skunky," Kerry said as she sealed the envelope. "And 368*
as much as you praised your friend Tanya, I gotta wonder about anyone who would either hang out with you, or hire you to do something."
She picked up the stamps she"d gotten at the local post office and affixed the proper number of them to the packet. "So, I figure the one person who actually should get this will probably know what the best thing to do with it is."
Dar came out of the bedroom, tucking a pristine white heavyweight T-shirt into her worn jeans. "Ready?"
"Yep." Kerry held up the envelope. "I need to call Richard and thank him for agreeing to deliver this to the nursing home for me."
"He"s a good guy," Dar agreed, picking up her leather jacket and slinging it over her shoulder. "He"s also agreed to help her out if she needs it. He"s got a criminal guy he works with, if it turns out that way." She gestured to the door. "There"s a mailbox in town.
We can drop it there."
Kerry picked up her own jacket and followed Dar out the door.
The bike was already waiting for them, and she shrugged into her jacket as they walked over to it "Hey. I wanna drive."
Dar paused and eyed her.
"C"mon, c"mon." Kerry handed her the envelope. "It"s just a few miles, remember?"
"Uh huh." Dar held the bike steady while Kerry climbed on, then she settled herself behind her partner, her longer legs able to hold the machine up despite her perch. "Y"know, Ker..."
"I know. I know." Kerry hopped up onto the seat. "Humor me."
Dar chuckled.
"Watch it, Dixiecup," Kerry warned. "Or I"ll have them put tiny tires on this so I can reach."
Dar kissed the back of Kerry"s neck. "You"re so cute." She handed her partner her helmet. "Here."
Kerry started the engine and waited for Dar to wind a long arm around her middle before she started off, heading for the road and turning onto it carefully. "Where"s the post box?" she asked, getting used to the difference in balance with both of them on the bike.
Dar"s hand pointed, and she directed the bike toward it, pausing there long enough for her partner to drop in the envelope.
"That"s that," Kerry called behind her. "Let"s go have some fun!"
She felt Dar"s other arm wrap firmly around her, and she gunned the throttle. "How fast does this go, anyway?"
"I don"t remember," Dar answered. "Why?"
"Let"s find out!" Kerry opened the bike up. With a roar and a back blast of sand, they headed off toward the sunset.