Ceci chuckled and nudged her glass over. “Want some?”
Kerry’s brow contracted a bit. “No…my stomach’s acting up.” She exhaled, putting a hand over the afflicted area. “Or maybe it was just too many stressful meetings. It’s been in a...knot all day.” She finished the sentence softly.
Ceci watched her face, seeing the expression change as Kerry’s focus turned inward. “Kerry?”
After a moment, the green eyes flicked up to meet hers. “Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something.” Her fingers twitched as she resisted the urge to pull out her cell phone and call Dar. She’s not a baby, and you’re not her sitter, Kerry. You can’t call her to find out if she’s okay every time you get a cramp.
Ceci hazarded a guess. “About my daughter?”
Kerry’s eyebrows hiked up. “Um...”
180 Melissa Good
“She gets the same expression on her face when she’s wondering about you,” Ceci remarked mildly. “I think it’s an indication of her fondness for you.”
A faint blush darkened Kerry’s already tanned skin. “It’s mutual.”
She played with the napkin from Ceci’s drink. She recalled Dar’s half-forgotten “fit” before Thanksgiving and decided here, at least, was a person she could broach the subject with who wouldn’t think she was weird.
Well, not too weird, anyway. “Can I ask a question?”
Ceci looked around, then pointed at her own chest. “Of me?”
Kerry nodded.
“Sure,” the older woman agreed, more than a little apprehensive.
“It’s not about motherhood, is it?”
Kerry’s eyebrows went straight up. “Um...no.” She put a hand on her stomach. “Why, do I look pregnant or something? I know I put on some more weight lately, but...”
Ceci chuckled and relaxed. “Not at all...I just used to have nightmares about having ‘that talk’ with Dar.” She cocked her head.
“What’s on your mind, Kerry?”
What was on her mind. Interesting way of putting it. “It’s kind of a weird question,” she replied slowly. “But...did you ever...” Kerry paused, frowning. “This sounds so crazy,” she apologized.
“Not yet, it doesn’t, except you don’t usually beat around in the bushes,” her mother-in-law remarked mildly.
“No, I know.” Kerry circled her knee with both hands. “Okay, well...before Thanksgiving, when Dar and I were both traveling?”
“Hmm.”
“My plane had some real problems during the flight, and I have to tell you, I was scared senseless,” Kerry said.
“Perfectly reasonable,” the older woman stated. “Nothing crazy about that, Kerry.”
“Dar felt it,” Kerry admitted. “She knew something was wrong.”
She stopped speaking and watched her mother-in-law’s face for a reaction.
It wasn’t the one she expected. Ceci cocked her head to one side and then smiled. “And?” she asked with a curious grin. “You want to know if that’s normal?”
Kerry nodded slightly.
“Of course not,” Ceci informed her.
“Oh.”
“But I’ve felt it. I know Andrew has,” the older woman went on.
“When you’re very close to someone, I think it just works that way. You just...know.”
Kerry thought about that for a few minutes in silence while Ceci sucked on her milkshake. “It’s weird,” she finally said. “It’s like...I haven’t felt right all day, and if I call Dar, I bet something is making her upset.”
Red Sky At Morning 181
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Kerry answered. “I think about that and I feel like I’m reading a copy of the National Enquirer,” she admitted, plucking lightly at the seam on her denims. “But I know what I feel, so...”
Ceci chuckled softly. “Must have freaked my daughter out.”
“Uh-huh.” Kerry looked up and smiled. “She thought she was going nuts. I can’t blame her, though. If she felt half as scared as I did, I would have thought I was going nuts too,” she added. “But it’s also sort of nice.”
“That you care enough about someone to feel that?” Ceci asked.
A light blush appeared on Kerry’s face, making her pale brows stand out suddenly. “Well, it’s mutual, I think.”
“No, really?” Ceci chuckled. “I’d never have guessed. You two keep it hidden so well.”
Kerry’s blush deepened. “That brings me to another problem, if you don’t mind. I need to get your advice on something.”
Uh-oh. Ceci straightened, feeling a mild sense of alarm. During her years on the base, speeches like that usually presaged breakups and divorces, and she wasn’t ready to hear that coming from Kerry. “What’s wrong?”
Kerry caught the tension in her voice and looked up, her brows contracting a little. “Wrong? No, I don’t think it’s wrong...it’s just something I’m worried about.”
Little alarm bells, the really annoying ones like the ones the Salvation Army collectors used at Christmas time, started going off.
“Now, Kerry, listen.” Ceci leaned forward. “I’ve known Dar a long time.”
“Um...I know that.”
“She has her moments, and I’ve seen most of them, but deep down, I think she’s a good person.”
Kerry’s forehead rumpled. “I think so, too. Listen, Mom—”
“So whatever it is you’re having problems with, think hard, and don’t give up on that kid too easily, okay? I did, and look where it got me,” Ceci told her very seriously.
Kerry’s eyes closed, then reopened, and she reached over to take Ceci’s hands in hers. “Mom.” She drew a breath. “The only thing that’s going to ever make me leave Dar is one or the other of us dying.” She paused. “And even then, I’m not so sure.”
Ceci blinked, now confused. “Oh. Well, that’s fine then,” she murmured. “Sorry, I thought—”
“I should have just talked faster.” Kerry smiled. “No, what I’m worried about is our relationship being front and center at dinner tonight.”
Ceci thought about that. “Oh.” She freed one hand and muffled a laugh. “I hadn’t even...oh, boy. Yeah...” Now the laugh escaped. “Oh, my goddess, those stuffed-up military—” She stopped and cleared her 182 Melissa Good throat. “Ahmm...I mean, well, yes, Kerry, you do have a point there.”
Her face struggled to remain serious. “But don’t worry about it—if they say anything, Andy will pick them up and toss them out the window, and they know it. If there’s one thing everyone at that table already knows, it’s don’t mess with my kid in front of her daddy.”
Kerry nodded in relief. “Okay. I was just worried about it. I know Dar has strong feelings about how she grew up, and I didn’t want to cause her any pain.”
Ceci sighed. “Kerry, you’re so nice you should be regulated by the EPA.” She reached over and patted the younger woman’s cheek. “Did you ask Dar if she wanted you to give this a miss?”
Kerry nodded.
“And she said no, right?”
Kerry nodded again.
“So don’t worry about it. C’mon, let’s go see if Andy’s gotten the seaweed out of his ears and gotten dressed. Then we can take off.”
They stood, and Kerry suddenly took a step around the table and pulled Ceci into a hug. “Thanks.”
Oh, good goddess. Ceci returned the hug and patted Kerry on the back. I’m becoming a mother...Eeeeeekkkk!
THE COFFEE HELPED. Dar had also detoured to her car and tossed back a half handful of Advil, and now she was prowling around the barracks looking for her friend the petty officer.