“Yes and no. I did get to cook it, but it was a few days late. I was out of town for the holiday.”
Casey sat up. “You took off? What’d your SO think of that?”
Everyone’s ears perked up, and they watched Kerry with visible interest.
“Mm. Well, Dar knows my job entails a lot of traveling, so she understood.” Sort of. “But as it turned out, she was traveling too, and we both ended up in Chicago together. So, it worked out.”
Time to change the subject.
“I dunno.” Lena sighed. “For two days I had to listen to my folks tell me how I should get a boyfriend. They’re so clueless, I mean, like, hello. Those are not pictures of Leonardo Dumbasa-Fishio on my wall, okay?” She twisted her limbs into a position that made Kerry wonder if she had bones or plastic rods in her body. “You think they’d know, you know? Do I have to paint, like, my whole room in friggin’ rainbow stripes?”
“They’d probably think you were just doing that retro seven-ties thing.” Casey snorted. “My freaking father finally caught a clue when I dumped a box of friggin’ condoms he’d left in my room into his cereal bowl and told him I wasn’t in’erested in letting anything that fit in them fit in me.”
Kerry bit back a snort of laughter. “What did he say?”
Casey shrugged, then laughed without humor. “He said, thank fucking God, at least I wouldn’t go out and get stupid and pregnant, and make him pay for it.”
“Yo, he’d rather you be gay than a slut, right?” Lena remarked. “My folks would rather I be dead than gay.”
Kerry sobered. “You don’t know that.”
“Sure I do.” Lena looked directly at her. “My mom told me that right to my face, after she watched some fucking Oprah shit about gay kids.” She snorted. “She said if she ever found out I was gay, she’d shut me up in my room and gas me.”
Holy crap. Kerry took a breath to steady herself. “I don’t think she meant that. Parents say things like that to scare their kids, Thicker Than Water 11
sometimes.”
Lena shrugged. “Yeah, maybe, but I know why so many gay kids pretend they ain’t. You get so sick of people thinking you’re just so fucked up.”
“Yeah.” Elina nodded. “I was thinking the other day, is it even worth it?”
Kerry sat up and put both feet on the ground. She clasped her hands between her knees as she leaned forward. “Listen.” She spoke slowly and quietly. “My parents don’t like me being gay either, and that hurts, because I love my family very much.” She sorted through her feelings. “I hated having to make a choice between them and the truth about myself.”
“They just don’t get it,” Elina remarked softly. “It’s like they don’t understand it, so they have to hate it.”
Kerry nodded. “That’s true, and believe me, I was scared when I realized I was going to have to face that. I didn’t want them to hate me.” She paused and collected her thoughts. “You know, I never knew what it would be like to fall in love. So when I fell in love with Dar, it was all so much of a surprise to me—how good it felt and what an amazingly powerful emotion love is.”
They all looked at each other, then back at her.
“It’s worth it,” Kerry said simply. “I wouldn’t give Dar up for all the money, or the approval of my parents, or anything else in the world.”
There was utter silence, and Kerry glanced from face to face as they stared. “C’mon, it wasn’t that profound.” She chuckled, then realized they weren’t staring at her, they were staring past her. She turned her head to find Dar leaning in the doorway, her arms folded and a quiet, pleased smile on her face. “Ah, it’s you.”
“Yes, it is,” Dar said.
Kerry was aware she was blushing. “C’mon in. Guys, this is Dar.”
Dar entered, rounded Kerry’s chair, and perched on an arm of it as she regarded the circle of young faces. “Hi,” she said, then turned her attention to Kerry. “You’re late.”
Kerry gave Dar a bewildered look. “I am? For what?”
“You have an appointment with me, some of my stone crab friends, and a tall bottle.” Dar watched the startled delight creep into Kerry’s features. “With lots of bubbles in it.” She turned her head and peered at the girls. “You’ll excuse her, right?”
Five heads nodded.
“Good.” Dar turned her attention back to Kerry. “Well?” She lifted an eyebrow and held out a hand, palm up. Kerry clasped Dar’s hand, their fingers curling warmly around each other’s. Dar stood and tugged, and waited for Kerry to stand up.
12 Melissa Good
“Um.” Kerry faced her group, who were now smiling and giggling at her. “I guess I’ll see you guys next week, huh?” She flashed them a rueful grin. “See? She’s definitely a keeper.”
Still clasping hands, they walked out of the meeting room and through the church, respecting the peaceful silence until they pushed through the large outer door and went from the slightly close air into a cool fall night and a gusty breeze tinged heavily with salt. “Wow.” Kerry regarded Dar’s profile outlined in stars.
“That was a surprise.”
Dar nodded. “I know. I had a tough day and ended up getting through it by planning the night with you. C’mon. Let’s go count stars.”
Kerry smiled and turned her face to the wind as they walked to a nearby small, seaside restaurant, its table candles fluttering in the breeze. Her hand felt warm in Dar’s and the concrete sidewalk seemed to turn into a cloud.
Chapter
Two
“ANGIE?” CYNTHIA STUART looked up as she heard footsteps in the hall. “We’re ready to sit down for dinner. Is Richard back?”
“Not yet.” Angela entered the solarium, took a seat, and straightened her skirt as she tucked her feet under the chair. “He said his meeting might run late. I just put Andrew to bed.” She fiddled with her hair—a dark brown, very unlike her older sister Kerry’s. She was also taller than her sibling, with a thin build that made her seem almost gaunt.
“Well, all right. It can wait a few minutes,” Cynthia replied.
“Your father’s still in conference, at any rate. But I think they are wrapping up shortly. He rang the bell about five minutes ago.”
Angie nodded and they were silent for a few moments.
“Have you spoken to your sister recently?” Cynthia asked.
Angie shook her head. “No. I tried calling there a few times, but I didn’t get an answer. I guess they’re busy.” She looked at her mother. “You know.”
“Mm.” Cynthia nodded once. “They do seem active.” She sighed. “I do wish—”
“Mother, don’t start,” Angie said. “Kerry’s happy, isn’t that enough? Just leave her alone.”
The study door opened and Roger Stuart emerged. Spotting them on his way to the dining room, he changed direction and entered the solarium. “What’s going on here? Are we not sitting down to dinner tonight? I expected to have soup on the table already.”
“We were waiting for you, Roger,” Cynthia responded mildly. “And Richard isn’t back yet. But we can go sit down now.
I’m sure he’ll join us shortly.” She got up and motioned for Angie to join her. “Was your meeting successful?”
“Tsh.” Roger shook his head. “Jackasses, all of them.” He stood back to let Cynthia and Angie precede him into the dining room. As they walked across the corridor the youngest Stuart sib-14 Melissa Good ling, brother Michael, joined them. “Ah. Come to mooch dinner again? They out of Happy Meals down the street?”
Michael colored, but didn’t answer. They all filed into the dining room and took seats. The dining room staff came in silently and placed platters of an orange, creamy looking soup on the table.