Part 2 (1/2)
”Honey, it's been ten years. Everyone needs to let it go.”
Deo clenched her jaw. ”Then someone should tell them that.”
”I know, you're right.”
”And Christ almighty, wait until everyone hears about Joey. It'll be Gabe all over again.”
”My mother is not going to get hysterical and blame you,” Pia said. ”And it isn't your fault. Joey had an accident.”
* 25 *
RADCLY fFE Deo shook her head as she turned onto 6A and headed west toward Reese and Tory's home. ”He got hurt working for me. I'm supposed to be looking out for my crew. It was my fault.”
”Joey is a carpenter. These things happen.”
”Let it go, Pia.”
Pia sighed and patted Deo's leg. ”So, who are you dating now?”
”What, now you want to fi nd me a girlfriend?” Deo grinned. ”I don't think our tastes run in quite the same direction.”
”You don't think KT's hot?”
”Jesus, Pia, don't put me on the spot here.”
”Come on, admit it,” Pia teased. ”She's got a gorgeous body, a face to die for, and a mouth that can make a girl's cli-”
”Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa!” Laughing, Deo stuck out one arm as if to cover Pia's mouth. ”None of that. Jesus, I don't want to look at her and have those pictures in my head.”
”Well we used to share things about our girlfriends.”
”Yeah, maybe when we were sixteen! Besides, you never did anything except kiss, as I recall, so there wasn't much to tell.”
Pia blushed. ”You were doing enough of everything else for both of us.”
Deo shot her a glance. ”You really didn't...you know, get it on with anyone before KT?”
”Well I wasn't living in a convent, but, no. Not entirely.”
”It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know,” Deo said gently. ”KT is a lucky woman. She knows that, right?”
”Yes, cousin, she knows, so you don't have to defend my honor.”
Pia stroked the top of Deo's hand where it rested on the gear s.h.i.+ft between them. ”Do any of your girlfriends know what a big softie you are?”
”Don't spread nasty rumors about me,” Deo said, pulling into Reese and Tory's drive. ”They've got enough reason to be p.i.s.sed off at me when I don't marry them.”
”Someday someone's going to see through that tough girl act of yours,” Pia warned playfully. ”Then you'll be in trouble.”
Deo didn't bother to argue. She defi nitely didn't feel like explaining that what had once been an act had long since become second nature.
Life was simpler that way.
* 26 *
Winds of Fortune y ”I take it that's your sister,” Nita said to Tory, indicating a fair-haired, blue-eyed woman in a sun dress and sandals who bounced a laughing Reggie on her knee. ”She looks a lot like you.”
”That's Cath,” Tory said. ”My brother-in-law just took their two kids down to the beach. And that guy over there,” she pointed to a husky, middle-aged man with dark hair shot-through with gray ensconced in a wooden Adirondack rocker and deep in conversation with Reese, ”is Chief Nelson Parker, Reese's boss.”
”Wait a minute. Parker. Isn't that the name of that skinny, black-haired walking hormone with the adorable little blond girlfriend?”
Tory laughed. ”You mean Bri? The one leaning against the railing in the corner over there while her girlfriend tries to climb inside her skin?”
”Oh my,” Nita said, after sneaking a peek. Sure enough, Bri, in tight black jeans and a sleeveless black T-s.h.i.+rt that accentuated her wiry frame, had her arms around her girlfriend, who wore nothing but itty-bitty white shorts and a pink halter top. The little blonde was wedged between Bri's thighs with her arms around Bri's neck and the two of them looked like they might need to be hosed down any second. She shook her head. ”I'm not all that much older than them but they make me feel ancient.”
”Believe it or not, Bri and Caroline have been together almost six years and as far as I can tell, they've still got the non-stop hungries for each other. Bri's an offi cer in town, too. Caroline's an artist, studying in New York City.”
”Well I'll say one thing for this place,” Nita said. ”You've got drop-dead gorgeous cops of all species.”
”Mmm,” Tory said, watching Reese. ”We do.” She glanced at Nita. ”You've got cops in your family, right?”
”Everywhere you look,” Nita said fl atly.
Tory regarded her curiously. ”Did they pressure you to carry on the family tradition?”
”You couldn't exactly call it pressure. I don't think anyone ever considered that I wouldn't. It was pretty much a given. My grandfather, my uncles and aunts, my older siblings-they're all cops. One renegade sister is a fi refi ghter, but close enough.” She wrapped her arms around * 27 *
RADCLY fFE her middle and stared down toward the harbor, remembering the astonishment on her father's face when she had announced at seventeen that she wanted to go to medical school. She had thought he would be proud. Looking back, she didn't know why she'd expected that. She had never been as tough as her brothers and sisters, not in the obvious ways, at least. Knowing that she couldn't measure up to her physically compet.i.tive brothers and sisters, she had worked tirelessly to excel in the only way she could. She had been fi rst in her cla.s.s year after year, but it never seemed to be enough. No matter how good she was academically, she didn't measure up. ”One of my brothers went to a two-year college before entering the academy, but all my other siblings went straight on the job after high school. I was the odd one out.”
”Breaking with tradition that deep is hard.” Tory couldn't help but think about Reese, raised by her father to follow in his footsteps in the marines. Reese had done everything her father expected. She had been willing to sacrifi ce anything, including her life, for her duty, but all that paled in his eyes when he learned she was a lesbian. Tory shook her head. ”Sometimes the people who love us are our toughest critics.”
”I've gotten used to the fact that I'm a disappointment to them.”
Nita wished it were only her choice of careers that set her apart from her family and wondered why she was thinking about those mistakes now. She'd been very careful in the last year not to repeat them. As she glanced around, she realized it was probably just the family atmosphere of the gathering that had her thinking of the past. Even when she went home for obligatory visits, she never felt as welcome as she did here, among strangers. Surprised that the realization could still hurt, she scanned the crowd for a diversion to take her mind off her unwelcome reminiscences. The distraction she found was the last one she wanted.
Deo Camara sat on the deck railing opposite her, arms braced on either side of her splayed legs, head thrown back as she laughed at something a pretty young blonde in a cropped T-s.h.i.+rt and hip-hugger shorts whispered in her ear. The sight of the blonde's hand curled around Deo's thigh and the seductive way she leaned into Deo aggravated Nita, and that awareness didn't help her mood. She turned away and refocused on Tory. ”I admire you for being brave enough to have children. I'm not sure I am.”
”I hope when Regina gets older that I have the strength to let her * 28 *
Winds of Fortune live her life however she needs to.” Tory sighed. ”Even if I don't always understand her choices.”
”I think the fact that you even think about it means that you will.”
”Well, I'll have lots of help.” Tory pointed across the deck to where Reggie slumped sleepily in Cath's lap. ”I think the birthday girl needs a nap. I should go collect her.”
”Thanks for the invitation,” Nita said as Tory moved away.