Dar studied her from behind her wraparound shades. "To give Americans a taste of what it's like to deal with them overseas?" she suggested mildly.
"Huh?" The girl frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You ever been in another country?" Dar inquired.
"No," the girl replied. "Why would I want to go to another country?"
"Doesn't matter. How much?" Dar indicated the register. She watched the total come up, and swiped her ATM card through the reader, punching in the code with an impatient motion. The machine hesitated, and then regurgitated her receipt, which she snagged along with her purchases from the clerk's hands. "Thanks."
"Bye." Now bereft of customers, the clerk waggled her fingers at Dar. "Have a nice day."
KERRY HAD AMUSED herself by trying to make up stories about the people she watched coming out of the store while waiting for Dar's return. The first man who had come out seemed to have gotten something he wasn't too sure about based on how he kept looking inside the bag he'd carried out as he walked to his car. She decided it was a choice between hair growth formula, some feminine products, or birth control.
She watched him until he got into his car, whereupon he drew something out of the bag and took a bite of it, skewing her theory.
She hoped.
The next two women who exited were apparently together, talking non-stop in Spanish as they walked right past the Lexus and got into a maroon station wagon right next to her. They started their car and without breaking their stream of discussion, began to pull out.
Kerry's eyes widened as she realized the car's front wheels were turned sharply to the right, aiming the vehicle right for the passenger side door inches from her. Reacting instinctively, she leaned over and slammed her hand on the Lexus' horn, closing her eyes and sprawling half over Dar's seat as she waited for the crunch and impact.
After a moment's silence, however, she opened her eyes and peered over her shoulder. The maroon station wagon was gone, and as she straightened up and looked behind her, she spotted it pulling out into traffic with a squeal of tires.
A blue Jeep barely missed sideswiping it. Kerry blew her hair out of her eyes and faced forward again, deciding the women had probably picked up either legal stimulants or prescription sedatives or maybe a combination of both.
Another customer stormed by the front of the Lexus, walking with short, furious steps. She banged into a trashcan on the sidewalk, and shoved it away from her with a audible curse even through the closed windows of the Lexus. She gave the can a vicious kick, before she continued on and around the corner of the store to the other side of the parking lot.
Didn't like her one hour photos? Kerry wondered. She had little time to consider it, because the woman was followed almost immediately by another, equally upset looking, who seemed almost in tears. She walked over to a small four-door car near the entrance and spoke to the man inside it, showing him something she had in her hands.
The man grabbed it and then shoved her backwards with an angry snarl. He pushed the car door open and headed for the door to the drugstore, leaving the woman behind. She looked unhappily at the car for a brief moment, then went around and got into the passenger side, pulling down the sunshade and peering anxiously into the mirror.
Now, what was the story there? Kerry wondered, but not for long because her peripheral vision was filled with an approaching figure that captured her attention fully as she turned her head to watch Dar walk over to her.
Just the sight of that angular face made her smile. Kerry could feel her facial muscles responding, and she watched Dar react and return the grin as she opened the door and slid inside bringing a puff of hot, moist air and the scent of the apricot scrub still lingering on her skin. "That didn't take long. Thanks for getting my stuff."
Dar handed her the bag. "No problem. Careful, there's a jug of..."
"Ice cream in here," Kerry finished, peering inside. "And...what in the..." She removed something from the bag and held it up, letting the plastic bag drop down to the floor between her hiking boots. "Dar, what is this?"
Dar was concentrating on removing the Lexus from the parking lot and keeping the body of the car intact while she did so. "Um...it's a hamster."
Kerry tapped the small, furry foot, and the stuffed animal started to dance to the tune of "Over There..." "It's a dancing hamster," she observed, dancing a little in her seat along with it. "It's a dancing hamster in a sailor suit, Dar."
"Yeah." Her partner peered fiercely through the windshield. "You were calling me a hamster the other day so..."
A giggle worked its way out of Kerry's chest. She set the creature on her lap and tapped its foot again, watching it dance and squiggle in its white outfit and hat. "Is this supposed to be you?"
Dar cleared her throat. "I thought you'd think it was cute."
"Hehehehehehehehe." Kerry let out a long, low chortle. "Oh, you're so right, I do." She danced with her new little friend. "Wait till your dad sees it."
Dar turned her head and gave her a look over the tops of her sunglasses.
"I'm going to put this on my desk," Kerry decided.
"At work?" Dar's eyes nearly popped.
Kerry reached over and turned her head back forward, as the light turned green and they were free to proceed across to the causeway home. "Don't be goofy. Of course not at work. At home."
Dar settled back in her seat, relieved. "Yeah, well...I had some time to kill at the register. They were short handed."
"Though it might be a great ice breaker at new client meetings," Kerry mused.
Dar turned to stare at her again, only to find mischievous green eyes waiting in knowing silence. "You're lucky I love you," she mock growled.
Kerry's smile softened and gentled. "Don't I know how lucky I am," she replied. "And I will find us a different church, Dar. I like belonging to something like that. It gives me a sense of community here. But not at the expense of you being uncomfortable with it."
Dar fell silent as she directed the car onto the ferry base. "Does it have to be a church?" she asked as they pulled up to the cones. "Maybe we could join a computer club or something?"
Kerry rested her chin on her fist. "We spend enough time with nerds," she disagreed. "Hey...how about a biker club?"
Dar covered her eyes with one hand.
"Vroom, vroom."
NOW IT WAS Kerry's turn to be a couch potato, and she readily took advantage of it, tucking the light, worn childhood quilt she'd brought back from Michigan around her as she watched the late news. She had a cup of hot blackberry tea on the table nearby, and sufficient quantities of painkillers to render her acceptably comfortable, at least for the moment.
They had paused at the Island Market on the way home and gotten some fish filets, which Dar had insisted on cooking. Much to Kerry's surprise, and also to her partner's she suspected, the relatively simple broiling experiment had turned out very tasty. After that, and some of Dar's newly purchased ice cream, the stresses from the party had finally dissipated.
"Nothing." Dar looked up from her perch sprawled across the love seat. "I don't get it. There's nothing here." She lifted a hand and let it drop, shaking her head at the screen of her laptop. "No mention, no little notes in the paper, nothing in the trades...a major contract falls through, and all you see is news about rugby."
Kerry chuckled softly. "I don't know, sweetie. I think I like those priorities for a change." She took a sip of her tea. "Oh well. We'll find out eventually what the deal is. Once we get to those ships, someone'll talk. They always do, Dar."
"Mmph." Dar was rattling away at her keyboard.
Kerry returned her attention to the big screen television, where an overly earnest reporter was relating the day's news in serious, emphatic tones. The shot cut away to a nighttime scene, with flashing police lights, and after studying it for a minute, she frowned. "Hey, Dar? Look."