”We got that point,” Duks informed her. “Yes, we understand we are not to leave any of our colleagues behind.”
”Right...okay...well, go on. We’ll have dinner waiting for you guys when you get back.” Skippy made shooing motions with her hands.
”Wait, you want us to walk for ten miles?” Eleanor objected. ”You must be joking.” She glanced around for support. ”That’s ridiculous.”
”It’s not that bad,” Kerry told her kindly as she moved closer to the Marketing VP. ”Really.”
”Oh no, no, no way.” Eleanor backed away from her. ”I’m sorry.
I’ve had enough.”
”Look.” Skippy clasped her clipboard to her chest. ”This is the important part of the seminar, okay? I have to write a report on your group for your leadership team, and it’s based mostly on this exercise.”
“Yes,” Steven spoke up suddenly. “You don’t want to be the one with the bad marks in that report, do you, Eleanor? We know YOU
don’t want this to be a failure.”
Dar’s eyes narrowed.
Mariana exhaled. ”Come on, Eleanor. God knows I’m not up to walking ten miles, but we’ll get through it.” She glanced over at Dar.
”Let’s get going. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish.” She shouldered her pack. ”We can rest along the way, right?” This she directed at Skippy.
The guide smiled in relief. ”Right. There are benches and things for you to rest on. It’s not an endurance race or anything,” she assured them. ”And there are water fountains.”
The group moved off reluctantly and approached the path, passing the sign and entering a tree lined, fairly well marked lane covered in sand and pine needles.
A grumpy silence held over them and they strung out a little on the path, with José and Steven deciding to set the pace and Dar choosing to bring up the rear. Kerry casually dropped back next to her.
The wind picked up a little and blew the leaves against each other, whistling lightly around them and isolating their conversation.
”Having fun?” Dar inquired.
”Mm, not really, but did it seem to you like Mary Sunshine back there was awfully glad to get rid of us?” Kerry asked, adjusting her canvas pack to settle around her slim waist, instead of over her shoulder. ”Here, let me get yours. It’s easier to carry this way.” She adjusted her companion’s pack, slipping her arms around Dar for the moment needed to fasten the straps.
Well, slightly more than the moment, but not long enough to attract 74
Melissa Good
attention from their grousing coworkers stomping ahead of them.
”Yeah.” Dar glanced around. ”I don’t think we’re going to rate a good report from her. We’ve been sort of uncooperative.” She took a breath of the cool air and felt her temper settle a little. ”This is kind of nice, though.”
”Wait until we get to the obstacles.” Kerry chuckled, rolling her eyes. ”Hey, you know, I had the weirdest dream last night.” She missed the sudden, startled glance in her direction from Dar. ”We were riding a horse and you were wearing armor.”
”What?” Dar started laughing. ”You’re joking.”
”No, no, really.” Kerry chuckled too. ”I know, it was really strange, but it was really vivid, too. I could smell the horse and the leather stuff you were wearing, and the armor was some kind of brass.”
Dar didn’t reply. She went silent for a moment and paced along, thinking. ”Well,” she finally said. ”I guess it was the atmosphere then. I had a pretty strange dream too.” Then she fell silent.
Kerry waited for a long minute. ”What was it about? Was I in it?”
she coaxed, interested.
”Yeah,” Dar responded. ”We were on a hill, someplace I didn’t recognize really, over some river. It was warm out and we were just out there, watching the clouds go by.” She paused. ”You were sleeping. You had your head resting on my leg.” She tapped her thigh.
Kerry waited. ”And that’s strange?” she queried, puzzled. ”I don’t get it.”
”You were pregnant,” Dar said, very softly. ”That was the strange part.” She walked on a few more paces before she realized she was walking alone. With a start, she stopped and looked behind her. Kerry was standing on the path, staring at her. ”Hey, it was just a dream.” But she felt the question in her own voice and knew Kerry had heard it.
Kerry took a breath, then started forward, breaking into a trot and catching up with Dar. They continued walking in silence for a little stretch.
”That is strange,” Kerry finally said. ”I mean, it’s kind of a shock to hear that, it’s something I...” she hesitated. ”I know I don’t have to worry about that anymore, unless I want to...um...you know.” She looked up at Dar’s face, seeing the odd hints of tension around her eyes.
”Uh, have you...I mean, do you want...um...”
”No, no.” Dar lifted her hands and let them fall. ”Kids and me, they don’t mix well,” she stated firmly, then hesitated. ”I mean, well, I um...I mean, if you wanted...someday...I think...um...” She fell silent, then peered at Kerry. ”You know?”
Kerry’s face wrinkled up into a confused grin. ”I think so, but it’s not in my plans anytime soon, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
”I wasn’t worried,” Dar replied instantly. ”Not at all. I was just saying that...um...it’s possible to get used to anything, if you know what I mean.”
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Now, Kerry smiled. ”I know what you mean,” she reassured her boss. ”But that’s a strange image, for a dream.”
”Well, what about me in armor?” Dar asked, glad to change the subject. ”Maybe it was those sandwiches we had last night. I’m still not sure of what they were.”
”Maybe,” Kerry agreed softly. ”Jesus, I haven’t thought about being pregnant for...” A pause. ”A while.”
A gust of wind blew past them, lifting up dark and pale hair and whipping it around both their faces. They’d let the group get a short distance in front of them and the winding path had isolated the two of them briefly.
Dar glanced over and saw the look of quiet, grim introspection on her lover’s face and she debated with herself, whether or not to push Kerry on the subject. Finally she sighed, and flexed her shoulders. ”You, um,” a light shrug, ”Want to talk about it?”
Kerry regarded the passing trees thoughtfully. ”Not really much to talk about. It was just mostly stupidity on my part, when I was home last year,” she related, in a quiet tone. ”They were giving me a hard time. I felt lousy,” A slight pause. ”I felt ugly,” Kerry wryly corrected herself. ”And I went to a party with some old friends from college, got drunk until I didn’t know half of what I was doing, and ended up in bed with some guy I hadn’t seen for five years.”
She studied her boots, remembering just how disgusted she’d felt when she woke up. ”I wasn’t on the pill, of course,” she snorted softly.
”I got lucky, nothing happened.”
Dar snuck a look ahead of them, then settled an arm around her companion’s shoulders, pulling her close. ”That’s lousy. Sorry you had to go through it,” Dar stated gently. ”I can’t tell you how mad that makes me.”
”That I’d do something that stupid?” Kerry asked bitterly. ”Yeah, well, I was pretty mad at myself too.”
”No.” Dar kissed her head. ”That your parents made you feel that bad about yourself.”
”Don’t put the blame on them, Dar.” Her lover shook her head.
”They didn’t make me go to that party, or get plastered, or jump in bed with that guy.”
”I know,” the executive agreed, with a sigh. ”But I think you did that as a reaction to how you were feeling. When that guy came on to you, it made you feel better about yourself, didn’t it?” She felt Kerry’s shoulders move a little in a shrug. ”Didn’t it? I bet he was good looking.”