storm surge | Page 6

eating.

“I’d bite my fingers off.” Kerry chuckled. She watched Chino for a minute, then she leaned back against the counter and considered the question of her own dinner. Or more precisely, hers and Dar’s, since Dar was stuck on a late conference call and wouldn’t be home for at least an hour.

Dar would be completely happy if she offered her a bowl of cereal and some ice cream, and Kerry knew it. She also knew she probably would be happy with the same thing, and on occasion that’s what they ended up with when they came home very late together.

If she wanted to order something from the club for them, that would be okay too. Kerry peeked inside the refrigerator, pondered her choices, then she removed a pre-made pizza crust from the fridge and pulled the flat pan it went on from the oven.

She removed the crust from its wrapper, then she went back to the fridge and removed a small jar of marinara sauce, a small jar of olives, some jalapeno peppers, a package of pepperoni, several slices of ham, a bag of mozzarella cheese, and a can of peaches, taking them back over and setting them on the counter.

Whistling softly, she assembled the pizza, putting down a layer of the sauce, then a handful of cheese, then scattering the rest of the items indiscriminately over the surface before she covered it all over with more cheese.

Only then, did she carefully place peach halves on one half of the pie, her face twitching a little.

Once she was done, she popped it in the oven and dusted her hands off, returning her fixings to the fridge and removing a bottle of ice tea from it. She wandered out onto the porch with the tea, settling on the two person swing as Chino joined her. “You finished already, Cheebles?”

Chino licked her lips, and sat down.

“I guess so.” Kerry popped open her tea and sipped it, as she gazed out across the Atlantic ocean. Pushed aside all day, the memory of her conversation and unexpected request now surfaced, and she nibbled her lip, thinking about what on earth she was going to say to a bunch of…

Kids? Like she’d been?

Kerry frowned. The kid she’d been, and the girls she’d gone to school with probably would not have stepped outside the carefully constructed conservative box they’d grown up with to request who she’d become speak at their event.

Just would not have happened. Maybe they’d have talked about it, though she doubted even that much, but to demand it?

So what in the hell was she supposed to say to them? And if they were that confident already, why even ask her to give a speech? Kerry sighed. “Maybe they are interested because I’m a successful businesswoman.” She reasoned. “I mean, I am.”

That idea seemed a lot more appealing than thinking the girls wanted her just for the scandal it would cause the school. Kerry appreciated a good scandal, and she had to admit she was a little bit amused at the request, but she decided she’d come up with a respectable presentation and take the opportunity to visit her hometown without causing any headlines.

She was still going to kick Angie’s ass though. Kerry relaxed against the back of the swing chair, a little ambivalent about the prospect of her sister’s moving. On the one hand, she was glad Angie was getting out of the big house she’d lived in with her ex husband, but disappointed she was moving in with Kerry and Angie’s mother.

She’d half dreaded Angie’s idea of moving down to Miami, for very selfish reasons. But she understood that by moving back with mom, the chances of Angie’s son’s father joining her were pretty much done. Brian’s reluctance had disappointed her profoundly and she truthfully wasn’t looking forward to meeting up with him during the move.

She knew she wasn’t going to be kind. Kerry managed a wry smile. Brian probably knew that too. But you never knew about people, and maybe he’d end up surprising her.

Maybe she’d end up surprising him with a punch to the jaw. You just never knew. Kerry glanced down as her cell phone buzzed. She put the cap on her tea and answered it, smiling when she saw the name on the caller ID. “Hello, oh love of my life.”

“Boy I’d love to have patched you into that god damned conference call.” Dar’s voice emerged from the speaker. “That sure would have livened it up.”

“Anytime.” Kerry could hear the sound of the ferry in the background. “You get out early?”

“Yeah.” Dar replied. “I told them I had to go get fitted for cleats. That pretty much stopped the conversation and everyone said they had to leave.”

Kerry started laughing in reflex. “Oh noo….”

“Hehehe.” Her partner chortled along with