Page 14 of Dawn Caravan
Superfast, huh? Ben bet Dema loved that. The minute he’d clapped eyes on the man, Ben had pegged him for far more than a driver. The way he moved had the same efficiency that Dema had, the same efficiency Ben had cultivated when he’d been human.
“Are you from LA?” Ben sidled over to the counter.
Zain looked up. “Houston originally. I’ve been here for about six years now. My mother worked for Caspar and Gio back in the day.”
“When I heard he’d moved to Los Angeles, I ruthlessly stole him from Ernesto.” A cultured voice spoke in a posh British accent from the door. “One of my finer negotiations, if I do say so.”
Ben turned to see Caspar walking in from the breezeway. “Caspar.”
“Of course, the hardest part was convincing Zain to move away from the beach.”
Ben walked over, memories rushing like a waterfall.
“Come here and let me look at you.” The old man was using a cane these days, and his shoulders were significantly stooped. But his voice and his eyes were strong.
Walking behind him came Ben’s uncle, Giovanni Vecchio.
“Baba!” Sadia wiggled down and ran to her father to be picked up, carefully swerving around Caspar as Ben walked to meet him.
Caspar had been Giovanni’s child once. Then his ward, his driver, his day person. His security and confidant. His friend. And one of the few people in the world Ben had trusted almost immediately, not that he’d made it easy on Caspar when he’d been a punk twelve-year-old convinced everyone was out to get him.
“I missed you.” Ben stood in front of Caspar and the old man looked up. Once, Ben had been the one looking up.
Caspar clapped him on the shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes. “It’s a fine thing.”
Is it?Ben said nothing.
The old man patted his cheek as if he’d been reading Ben’s mind. “A fine thing,” he said slowly. “In the end you’ll see.”
“I really missed you.” Ben put his arm around Caspar’s shoulders and guided him toward the kitchen table.
Beatrice rose and took the glass pan of enchiladas to the kitchen, sliding them in the oven as Giovanni moved to her and greeted her with a kiss. “Can I help?”
“Oh, please don’t.” Beatrice smiled. “We’d like dinner to be edible for Ben’s first night home.”
Sadia leaned on Giovanni’s shoulder. “Baba made me macaroni and cheese last night.”
“Did he?”
“Yes,” Giovanni said pertly. “I did.”
“Was it from a box?” Beatrice asked.
“Yes. A blue box. And it was this big” —Sadia held out her hands— “and I ate the whole thing.”
Ben sat next to Isadora and leaned over to kiss her cheek.
“It’s about time you said hello to me,” she said. “Turning into an immortal better not have ruined your manners.”
“I promise it hasn’t. But it has spoiled my appetite.”
Isadora dearly loved cooking gigantic meals for Ben when he was growing up. He ate like a horse, and Isadora delighted in feeding him.
“Then I will only say that it is a very good thing that Zain moved in.” Isadora clasped his hand in her fine fingers. “I’m teaching him all my recipes, and he eats like a grown man and not a vampire.”
“Good.” Ben smiled. “What have you been painting?”
“Tenzin sent us a lovely picture of your birds, so I’m painting a watercolor for Sadia’s room since she likes them so much.”
