“Hey, Kerry!” Susan trotted up. “Nice sunburn.”
Kerry laughed and tugged on her T-shirt. She had it tucked into a pair of older jeans and was wearing her hiking boots. “Yeah, I was in Orlando the past few days. Got a chance to get out into the sun for a while.” She glanced at Susan. “How are you doing? I hear you’re heading up the new programming project.”
Susan nodded her head, her silvered chestnut hair dancing in the light.
“Yep, it’s actually pretty cool. I’m really enjoying it, nice programming environment, and they got me a killer developmental machine—a dual processor Pentium.”
“Ooo, listen to the geekazoid.” Ray came up on the other side and rubbed Kerry’s arm. “Vaya, chica. What’s up with the pinky stuff?” He stepped back and looked at her. “Have you been on vacation already? You look great.”
Kerry rolled her eyes. “No, for the hundredth time already, I was at a meeting in Orlando the past couple of days. I just got a few hours off, that’s all.” She put her hands on her hips. “Not like you guys would get your faces out of your screens long enough to go to the beach yourselves, I noticed.”
“Well, we’re not all snooty executives,” Ray teased. “So how is El Chupa?”
“Yeah, has she made you eat any raw meat yet?” Susan added with a grin. “I heard yesterday that she hides small children in her office closet for afternoon snacks.”
Kerry didn’t smile. “She’s fine. Actually, you’ll get to see for yourselves.
She’s supposed to be here today.”
“What?” Susan snorted in disbelief. “You’re joking, right? El high and mighty power suit doing grunt work?”
“Nah, she’ll show up and tell everyone what to do, I betcha.” Ray Tropical Storm 221
laughed. “I can see it, in those spike heels, too.”
Kerry glanced over his shoulder and let a grin edge her lips. “Um, not quite.” She watched as the Lexus pulled to a quiet halt, and the door opened, allowing Dar to emerge into the sunlight.
“Huh?” Susan followed her glance and fell silent. So did Ray.
By some weird coincidence, the executive had chosen to wear almost a carbon copy of what Kerry had on. Her company-issued T-shirt was tucked neatly into faded blue jeans, and she wore practical work boots not unlike the ones the blonde woman was sporting. The sleeves on the shirt were rolled up, exposing her toned arms, and she’d tied her hair back into a loose tail. Her pale blue eyes stood out against her tanned skin, and she had a watchful, guarded look on her face. Until her eyes met Kerry’s, and then a quick grin lit up her visage and just as quickly disappeared. She went to the work coordinator and quietly gave her name.
“Huh,” Susan muttered, obviously surprised.
“Mamacita. She’s buff!” Ray whispered to Kerry. “And she’s young!”
“Hey, is that the Popsicle Lady?” Colleen had come up on the other side and poked Kerry. “Certainly looks different than I remember her.”
“Be nice, guys.” Kerry tore her eyes from the dark-haired woman with some effort. “She’s my boss, remember, okay?” She was aware of Dar’s moving closer, and she lifted her gaze to greet the older woman with a smile.
“Hey.”
Dar had reached them, and she gave the group a civilized nod before she let her eyes meet Kerry’s. “Morning.”
Kerry smiled in reflex. “It sure is that. Dar, this is…”
“Susan Barnes, Ray Ramirez, and Colleen McPherson,” Dar interrupted quietly, giving Susan and Ray a polite nod and inclining her head towards Colleen. “You’re at Barnett, correct?”
They all blinked and Colleen looked uncharacteristically rattled. “Um, yeah. I don’t think we’ve met, but I’ve seen you at the bank once or twice.”
“Over the tape stream incident,” Dar replied crisply. “I remember.” She turned to Susan and Ray who were frankly gawking at her. “I don’t believe we’ve spoken since you transitioned, but I hear things are settling down there.”
“Everything’s all right, yes,” Ray answered a little stiffly.
A faint, wry expression crossed Dar’s face and she backed off a step.
“Well, I’ve got some painting to do.” She gave Kerry a nod and a ghost of a wink before she turned and headed for the small group of people assigned to help paint the side of the building. “Later, Kerry,” she called over her shoulder, giving her a casual wave.
“Well, color me plaid,” Colleen blurted, giving Kerry a look. “I surely didn’t expect her to remember me, that’s a fact.”
Kerry watched the tall figure walking away, her snug jeans and T-shirt showing off her lithely muscular body to admirably good effect. “She does a lot of amazing things,” she said. “She’s certainly surprised me these last few weeks.”
Susan let out a low whistle. “I don’t remember her being that…um, she’s different than I remember,” the programmer muttered.
222 Melissa Good
“Me, too. She sure looks different in that than she did in a suit,” Colleen agreed. She looked at Kerry, who was regarding the grass thoughtfully. “Well, we’re the garbage detail, right?” She handed around bags. “Let’s break up—
you guys want to get that side of the yard, and we’ll get this side?”
“Sure.” Susan shook her bag open. “Let’s see who finishes first.”
Kerry let her body work mechanically as she and Colleen scoured the schoolyard, picking up cans, bottles, and other, more sinister debris. Her mind roamed all over, but chiefly settled on the tall figure perched on a ladder, one leg swung over the top as she neatly covered part of a wall with a color most kindly called puke green. Quite a few people were painting, but to Kerry’s eyes, no one could come close to Dar’s casual grace with a paintbrush, and the easy balance she had on the ladder was obvious.
“Why do they pick such a disgusting color for a school?” she commented to Colleen.
“Well, it wasn’t that upchuck brown or Pepto Bismol pink, so I guess we should consider ourselves lucky,” Colleen replied, watching Kerry’s eyes with a quickly stifled grin. “You stuck on the paint or the painter?” Kerry scowled at her and went back to her trash picking in silence. “Just kidding, Ker,” her friend apologized. “If it’s any consolation, you’re not the only one looking.”
Huh? Kerry glanced around furtively, and realized Colleen had a point.
More than one set of eyes were fastened on that tall, lanky figure and she experienced an odd spurt of relief and resentment so strong it nearly made her sneeze. She rubbed her nose in irritation. “Jesus. I think I’m coming down with something.”
Colleen picked up a crushed can and dropped it into Kerry’s bag.
“Nothing a nice tall glass of Florida juice wouldn’t cure, I’m guessing.” She patted Kerry on the hip and continued searching, leaving her friend to stand sputtering in the sun.
They worked all morning, finishing up the garbage detail and moving to work inside the building, peeling old posters off the walls and removing broken furniture from classrooms that had seen hard use. Many of the desks had gang slogans carved into them, and Kerry found herself shaking her head as she traced the many angry statements written in rough letters in the aged wood. “Jesus.” She exhaled. “What are we teaching these kids here? The worst thing I remember seeing when I was in school was rhymes about underpants.”