”You,” Dar sent her voice as low as it would go. ”Are between me—” She kneed him in the groin and watched his eyes roll up into his head. ”And Dairy Queen.”
She let him drop and he collapsed, grabbing his parts and making a low, whining sound. Dar turned and glared at the two beer guzzlers, who had picked up their rifles and started to hop over the side of the Hurricane Watch
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truck. She leveled her gaze on them and stalked towards them, her hands flexing and unflexing into fists.
They stopped in mid motion, one falling over and landing on his head and the other falling back on his ass in the truck bed. The one who had fallen out of the truck scrambled to the driver’s side, pulled the door open and got inside, then hastily started the truck and threw it into gear. He stepped on the gas and it took off, its tires bumping in the dirt and tossing the man in back up and down like a frog on a hot car roof, his desperate yells following the truck’s engine sound out of the camp.
Dar turned and looked at the man she’d hit first. He crawled out of her sight and off the porch, rolling under it and startling the camp dog, who scooted out barking in outrage. Then her eyes slowly swept up and pinned themselves on Skippy. ”Where’s the bus driver?”
The girl opened her mouth and closed it several times before any sound came out. ”Oh, uh...I...he's...um...I...”
”Find him,” Dar growled.
”Yyyyes ma’am.” Skippy fled.
It was quiet then, only the sound of Kerry’s hiking boots scuffing across the sandy ground broke the silence as the blonde woman crossed the area and hopped up on the porch. ”Well,” she murmured, putting her hands on her hips.
Dar regarded her wryly. ”Sorry I took off like that. You okay?”
Kerry pursed her lips and regarded the moaning man on the floor.
”Um, yeah, I guess.” She waved the rest of their group forward. ”You all right?”
Dar leaned back against the wall as their group arrived, giving her wary, respectful looks. ”Yeah, I’m fine, actually,” she remarked. ”I just want some ice cream.” She walked to the bench outside the door and sat down on it, stretching her legs out before her and exhaling.
Skippy came back, eyeing Dar nervously. ”He’s on his way.”
”Good,” Dar said, her eyes closed. ”Do you have first aid stuff here?” She turned her head. ”A sinkhole opened up underneath us.
Those four got tangled in poison ivy.” She nodded towards Steven, Eleanor, Charles and José, who glared at her.
”Uh.” Skippy glanced between them. ”Maybe I’d better call the paramedics.”
Eleanor gave her an evil look. ”Will they keep us here?”
”I...I don’t know, um, probably,” the guide responded weakly.
”Just put us on the damn bus,” the Marketing VP snarled. ”My lawyer will do the rest of the talking.”
”Mine too,” José chimed in.
”I am a lawyer,” Steven added. “And boy, I hope you guys have insurance,” he snapped at her. ”This was disgraceful, not to mention dangerous.”
”Yeah.” José grunted.
”Hold it.” Kerry stood up and walked between them, seeing that 96
Melissa Good
Skippy was about to burst into tears. ”Stop yelling at her. It’s not her fault.” She gave the guide a quietly sympathetic look. ”She’s just doing her job.”
Skippy gave her a tremulous smile. ”Thanks.”
Kerry grinned warmly back.
”Shut up, you whore,” Steven spat disgustedly.
Kerry turned to look at him, aware of the sudden motion on the peripherals of her vision. ”Excuse me?”
”You’re Dar’s whore. We all know it, so just shut up, and go lick her or some—” He never even saw the fist that hit his face, sending a sharp crack across the porch. Steven’s body slid down onto the ground, bonelessly.
Kerry shook her hand out. ”Ouch.” She winced. ”That hurt like heck.” Everyone was looking at her in shock including Dar, who had stood and started to walk over. ”And for the record. I’m not anyone’s whore.”
An awkward silence fell. Finally, Skippy cleared her throat. ”Um, would anyone like some cookies?” she offered with desperate cheerfulness. ”We’ve got three kinds, and some juice, while we wait for the bus. I mean, I’ve asked the camp manager to get your things from the cabin, and I, you know, we’ve never had anything like this happen before, and we’re really sorry. Really, really sorry. Can I get you all some juice?”
Long pause. ”Cookies?” her voice cracked a little.
Mariana, mercifully, came to her rescue. ”That would be great, and if you have Calamine lotion. I’m sure it wasn’t your fault. Let’s see if we can find some Band-Aids, too.” She ushered Skippy inside the hall as Kerry walked back over and sat down next to Dar, somewhat self-consciously. Her hand hurt like hell and she cradled it in her other one, staring down at the swelling knuckles as though they belonged to someone else.
Jesus. She’d hit someone. Worse, she’d hit the assistant vice president of marketing for the company she worked for. All over a couple of words. Ashamed, she glanced up at Dar.
Warm, proud blue eyes gazed back at her, over lips that held a definite, gentle smile.
”I shouldn’t have done that,” Kerry whispered.
”No, but it’s all right,” Dar told her, deliberately reaching over and taking her hand, examining the bruises carefully. ”That’s going to hurt for a few days.”
”Mm.” Kerry absorbed the warmth of her lover’s fingers around hers. ”Looks like yours did that night,” she murmured, glancing around at the rest of the group, who were studiously looking elsewhere. ”This is really messed up.”
”Don't worry about it,”
Dar told her. ”We’ll get through this, trust me.”
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Liquid green eyes gazed up at her. ”I do.”
Dar nodded a little reassuringly, then sat back and exhaled, willing that driver to hurry.
Chapter
Eight
IT WAS DARK by the time they headed back after two stops on the road to pick up medical supplies and another stop at Dairy Queen, which gave up not only Dar’s ice cream, but burgers and all the trimmings to the exhausted group. Even Skippy left her perky manner at the camp and joined in, munching her burger in silence, and trying to avoid the baleful stares from the three riders suffering most.
Steven had remained quiet after he’d woken up, nursing his grievances in moody silence and scratching ceaselessly. Most of his exposed skin, like Eleanor’s, and José’s, was a patchy red and they each took possession of a large bottle of lotion, applying it so thickly they began to resemble creatures from science fiction.
Mark had reclaimed his Harley and headed back ahead of them, taking Mary Lou with him on the back of the bike. Duks and Mariana were both snoozing, having finished their dinner.
Dar was sprawled in a seat near the back, biting off pieces of chocolate and licking melting drops of vanilla ice cream with an absorbed expression on her face. Kerry was in the seat across from her, nursing a large hot fudge sundae with extra cherries.
”You know something, Dar?” She looked up, sucking on a stem.
”Mm?” Blue eyes looked up over the half eaten chocolate bonnet.
”Ice cream does make you feel better,” Kerry admitted. ”Why is that?”
Dar nibbled a bit more chocolate. ”I have no idea.” She chewed contentedly. ”And I don’t much care. I just know whenever I’ve felt really lousy an ice cream cone always makes me feel better.”
”Mm.” Kerry worked around a mouthful of hot fudge. ”Probably because it’s so bad for you.”