Page 25 of Graced
Grace softly laughed.He enjoyed the sound of it.It was warm and vibrant.
“Oh, heck, no.She moved out when she and Bobby got married.I’m still there.Fortunately, I earn enough to be able to live by myself.Now your turn.”
“Not married, although I was engaged once.A long, long time ago.”
“Oh?”
“She died in an accident.”Rhyne held up a hand.“I’d rather not discuss it further.”
“I’m sorry, Rhyne.”It was an honest and heartfelt apology.
“Thanks.I live with my brothers.We have a rental house here in town.”
“How many brothers?”
“Two.”
He caught her glancing at the clock above the coffee kiosk.“Time for you to get back to work?”
She gave him a small smile.“Yeah.”
They got to their feet and dumped their trash in a nearby receptacle.As he walked her back to her office, he tried to find a way to ask if he could see her again.Grace must have been on the same wavelength and beat him to it.
“Any chance you might come by again for coffee?”
“Actually, I’d like to take you out to eat.Maybe take in a movie while we’re at it.Or if you’d rather not go see a movie?—”
Her smile brightened.“I’d like that.When’s your next day off?I work Monday through Friday.I’m free every weekend.”
“What time do you usually get off work?Five?”
“Yes.”
“My weekday schedule varies, but I always work weekends and the evening shift.If we do this, it’ll have to be after you get off work one day during the week.”
“Or…” She wagged a finger at him.“It could be during the day on a Saturday or Sunday.What time do you have to clock in?”
“One o’clock.”
“Mmm.”She made a face.“Orrr, we could do brunch.Or breakfast.Or an early lunch.”
“We could do that.Just let me know.You got something I can write on so I can give you my number?”They’d reached the office.
“Wait right here,” she told him and vanished inside.She quickly returned and held out a notepad and a pen.When Rhyne reached for them, she flinched.It was a barely noticeable movement, but his enhanced vision caught it.He thought nothing of it until he glanced down at the pad.More specifically, at the indentation left in the pad.It was a phone number.One that he immediately recognized.Pretending not to notice it, he covered it with his own cell phone number, then held both pen and pad out to her.She carefully took them from him before giving him another smile.
“Call me when you’re ready to meet up again,” he told her, giving her the option to either accept or reject him.
“I will,” she replied, and at that moment he knew she would.
A nod, and he left the hospital.He didn’t have to check behind him to know she was watching him.
Once he was outside and out of sight, Rhyne paused next to his bike.He needed some time to assimilate what had happened.
Everything he’d told Grace was true.What he hadn’t revealed was that Sidra’s death had occurred over a hundred years ago.On that night when she and he had been attacked by a vicious nest of vamps.When they were drained and left to die.Somehow, miraculously, he’d survived, but Sidra hadn’t.She’d been fed on first and drained too quickly.By the time the nest had turned on him, the three men were already full.They thought they’d drained him, too, but he’d recovered, only to discover he had become one of them.
He never found the vamps who’d killed her and tried to kill him.The nest who’d turned him.But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t stop looking.He’d never stop looking.
His conversation with Grace had brought it all back to the surface, along with memories of the pain, both physical and emotional.However, at the same time, he felt a calmness come over him, like being smothered with a warm salve, and he knew it was because of her presence.During those few minutes he’d shared with her, he’d forgotten who he was, or rather what he was.In all the years since Sidra’s murder, he’d had no compunction to meet or be with another woman, yet Grace changed all that.It was as if a little voice inside him told him he’d grieved enough, and it was time for him to be happy again.To seek solace among the living.
