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"Ah-ah-ah-h. Deliberate destruction of precinct property is against regulations, Kermit." Leaning one shoulder against the doorframe, arms folded and feet crossed, she grinned at him.
Jumping sheepishly, he feigned innocence. "What're you talking about, Sweetcakes? I was just blowing the dust off my keys." To prove his point, he puffed once at the keyboard still in his hands, setting it down gently.
"Yeah, right. And I came to work today because I just wanted to get out of the house." The dark-haired detective entered Kermit's office and sank into a chair while flashing her gamin grin. "So what's eating you?"
Kermit leaned back in his chair and kicked a desk drawer shut with one foot. Propping up both feet on his desk, he tipped back his seat at a dangerous angle. "It's just too damned quiet around here," he complained. "How am I supposed to get any work done without loud cursing and slamming doors?"
Skalany laughed out loud. "Relax, Kermit. Peter and Kacie are due home this afternoon, and unless I miss my guess, they'll check in today, and Peter will be back at his desk tomorrow."
"You've gotta be kidding, Mary Margaret." Kermit stared at her over the top of his sunglasses. "After two weeks in warm and sunny Florida with his woman, you really think the kid will be that anxious to get back to police work?"
Skalany studied her nails nonchalantly, crossing her legs and swinging one foot. "Betcha a new modem he shows up any minute."
Kermit started to agree to the wager, but closed his mouth quickly, shaking his head. "No bet. Once Peter gets back in our time zone, he'll probably start wondering which cases are coming to court when." He sighed, and a speculative expression crossed his face. "I wonder if everything's OK with those two. Nobody's heard a word, have they?"
Skalany shook her head. "Nope." A slow grin spread over her face. "But Caine assures me that they're OK."
Kermit regarded her dubiously. "How does he know that? The guy doesn't even have a phone."
Skalany's grin broadened. "I asked him the same thing. He just shrugged his shoulder and said --"
"--I do not know." Kermit finished for her. Locking his fingers behind his head, he stared vacantly at his computer screen. "You know, seeing those two so happy together almost makes me feel there's some hope for the world."
"Come on, Partner, let me buy you a cup of coffee." She got to her feet and jerked her head to motion him to follow.
"Where are we going for that?" he asked sourly, even as he automatically started to tag along. "If you're talking about that mud out there, it's not worth what we pay for it."
"It's free."
"I rest my case."
The two strolled out to the coffeepot, where Skalany poured them each a mug of the muddy looking brew. Hearing a mild disturbance at the front desk, the pair turned to see Broderick greeting a hand-holding dark-haired couple.
"Told ya," Skalany gloated, sipping at her coffee before making a face at the acrid taste.
The pair smiled as they watched Peter put an arm around Kacie's shoulders, and she slid her arm around his waist, hooking her thumb in his belt loop. They chatted happily as they headed for Captain Simms's office, and their smiles grew bigger as they saw the two detectives at the coffeepot. Changing their path, they met Skalany and Kermit for an impromptu conference, exchanging hugs and handshakes.
"Wow! You guys look great!" Skalany enthused, as she looked them over appreciatively.
"Your pictures could be a promotional ad for vacationing in the state of Florida," Kermit agreed, more relieved than his facial features revealed at the improved appearance of the couple before him. {God, I can't believe it's the same two people.}
The pair indeed looked tanned, healthy, and relaxed. Peter's hair had sun-bleached to a lighter brown, and his face shone with an animation that had been missing for weeks. Kacie's dark tresses were streaked with reddish highlights, and the haunted look she had worn for the past month had disappeared. Her intense blue eyes sparkled as she cuddled up contentedly to Peter's side.
Hugging her husband around the waist, she smiled happily. "We made sure we got plenty of sun while we were in Palm Beach, especially after we heard about the kind of weather you were having back here."
"Twelve inches of snow, and never above 25 degrees." Kermit sighed mournfully, perching a hip on the corner of Peter's desk and relaxing.
"Ah, not a cloud in the sky, and never a daytime temperature below 80." Peter's voice was nearly as smug as the expression on his face.
"What about the nights?" Kermit asked archly, winking slyly at Peter, who smiled a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile and kissed the top of his wife's head.
Kacie astounded them all by tossing off flippantly, "Oh, they were plenty hot, too."
"Kacie!" Peter's jaw dropped and his face flamed as his friends laughed at his wife's unexpected words.
Even though her face was red, too, Kacie remarked shamelessly, "Well, they were." She hid her face against Peter's shoulder as the laughter continued. Her voice was muffled as she mumbled, "I can't believe I just said that."
"I can't believe you did, either," Peter rolled his eyes heavenward. "Two weeks on the beach in Florida have turned my shy, retiring wife into a wanton woman."
"Are you bragging or complaining, Partner?" Skalany asked impertinently, enjoying the couple's obvious embarrassment.
"I refuse to answer on the grounds that that is none of your business," Peter retorted, before kissing his wife thoroughly, an action that had Kacie's complete cooperation.
A cool voice interrupted the merriment. "Detective Caine, are you here simply to disrupt my precinct, or is there another reason for your presence?" Captain Simms stood just outside her office doorway, arms folded across her chest, doing her best to look stern.
"Uh, Captain. Nice-nice to see you again." Peter fumbled in his coat pockets for a paper that Kacie pulled from her own jacket and handed to him. "Here you go, Captain. My-my medical release sending me back here to regular duty."
She glanced at the paper solemnly before looking up at him. "I trust that you are...well rested?"
Kermit choked on his coffee, and Skalany bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud as Peter and Kacie each developed a sudden severe case of sunburn, their eyes finding something totally absorbing about the carpet on the floor.
"You heard what I said, didn't you?" Kacie accused.
"Every word."
Peter looped his arm around Kacie's neck and cleared his throat. "OK, Hon. I think that we have embarrassed ourselves enough for one day." To Kermit and Skalany he announced, "We will be going now. See you at work tomorrow, guys."
Kacie's face still flamed. "I think I will just keep my mouth shut and leave."
They walked away, arms wrapped around one another. Peter let the hand around Kacie's waist slide down to caress her butt, and she promptly slapped his hand. Laughing, he took her hand in his as they disappeared down the stairs.
Simms reentered her office, leaving Kermit and Skalany sipping at their now cold coffee.
"The kid looks good," Kermit observed. "Kacie, too. They had me worried there for awhile; Peter was so sure they were on the verge of breaking up."
"They had everybody worried," Skalany agreed. "It's nice to see them both looking so happy again. They haven't had that loopy look on their faces for a long time."
"You suppose things will stay peaceful around here now?" Kermit wondered out loud, drumming his fingers against his coffee mug.
Looking at each other, they simultaneously shook their heads and spoke in unison, "Na-a-h."