“It’s my day off.”
“Hey, you pretty much bought into the business. You gotta pul your share of the weight.”
I mouthed a very bad word at the phone. “Okay,” I said, sounding just as irritated as I felt. “I’m coming. But I’m not staying.”
I strode through the employee entrance as if I were on my way into a bul fight ring. The
“you in your office?”
“Yeah, come here,” he cal ed back. “I think I found the problem.”
I flung open his office door and everybody in the world shrieked in my face. “Oh my God!” I said, shocked to the core.
After a throbbing moment, I understood that I was having a surprise birthday party.
JB was there, and Terry and his girlfriend, Jimmie. Sam, Hoyt and Hol y, Jason and Michele, Hal eigh Bel efleur, Danny and Kennedy. Even Jane Bodehouse.
“Tara had to stay with the babies,” JB said, handing me a little package.
Terry said, “We thought about giving you a puppy, but Jimmie said we better check with you first.” Jimmie winked at me over his shoulder.
Sam held me so tight I thought I’d quit breathing, and I thumped him on his shoulder. “You creep,” I said in his ear. “Missing cases of beer! I like that!”
“You should have heard your voice,” he said, laughing. “Jannalynn said to tel you she was sorry she couldn’t make it. She had to open at Hair of the Dog.”
Sure, I believed she was real y unhappy at not being here. I turned away so Sam wouldn’t see my face.
Hal eigh apologized for Andy’s absence, too; he was on duty. Danny and Kennedy gave me a kind of group hug, and Jane Bodehouse gave me a highly alcoholic kiss on the cheek. Michele held my hand for a moment and said, “I hope you have a wonderful year this year. Wil you be my bridesmaid?” I grinned wide enough to split my face and told her I’d be proud to stand up with her. Jason wrapped one arm around me and handed me a beribboned box.
“I didn’t expect presents. I’m too old for a present party,” I protested.
“Never too old for presents,” Sam said.
My eyes were so ful of tears I had a hard time unwrapping Jason’s gift. He’d given me a bracelet my grandmother used to wear, a little gold chain with pearls set at intervals. I was shocked to see it. “Where was this?” I asked.
“I was cleaning the pie-crust table I got out of the attic, and it was pushed way in the back of that shal ow drawer, caught on a splinter,” he said.
“Al I could think of was Gran, and I knew you’d wear it.”
I let the tears run out, then. “That’s the sweetest thing,” I said. “The nicest thing you’ve ever done.”
“Here,” said Jane, as eagerly as a child. She put a little gift bag in my hand. I smiled and dug my hand in. Jane had given me five “get a free car wash” coupons from the place her son worked. I was able to thank her sincerely. “I’l use every one,” I promised her.
Hoyt and Hol y had gotten me a bottle of wine, Danny and Kennedy had gotten me an electric knife sharpener, and JB and Tara had regifted me with one of the five slow cookers they’d gotten when they got married. I was glad to get it.
Sam handed me a heavy envelope. “You open that later,” he said gruffly. I gave him a narrow-eyed look. “Al right,” I said. “If that’s what you want.”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s what I want.”
Hal eigh had made her version of Caroline Bel efleur’s chocolate cake, and I cut it so everyone could have a piece, Dairy Queen Blizzard be damned. It was marvelous. “I think that’s better than Miss Caroline’s,” I said, which was close to heresy in Bon Temps.
“I put a pinch of cinnamon in,” she whispered.
After the party I went out the front to get birthday hugs from India, now on duty, and Daniel e, who was working in my place.
Hal eigh wanted me to come over to her house to see the nursery, which was completely ready for its expected occupant. I was so glad to be with a happy person who had no agenda. The visit was a real treat.
After that, I had a quick supper with my grandmother’s friend. Maxine, Hoyt’s mom, had been a couple of decades younger than Gran, but they’d been tight. Maxine was so happy about Hoyt’s wedding that I was feeling real y cheerful after this visit; plus, Maxine had told me some funny stories about Gran. It was nice to remember that side of Gran, the familiar side, instead of thinking of her affair with Fintan. Dang, that had knocked me for a loop. Thanks to Maxine, I had a nice hour remembering the Gran I’d always thought I knew.
It grew dark as I drove home. Today was so much better than yesterday. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have such good friends. The warm night seemed benevolent instead of scorching. I had a good time singing along with the radio since there was no one to hear my awful voice.
I’d hoped to at least get some phone messages from my vampire friends—of course, I’d been hoping to hear from Eric most of al . But my cel phone didn’t chirp on the drive back to my place. I stopped briefly at the end of the driveway to col ect my local newspaper, and then I drove up to the house.
It wasn’t a total surprise—but it was a total relief—to find that they were waiting for me. Pam’s car was parked at the back of the house, and Bil , Eric, and Pam were sitting in lawn chairs in my backyard. Pam was wearing a low-cut flowered T-shirt and white cropped pants as a nod to the season—not that the temperature made any difference to her. Her high cork sandals were a great finishing touch.
“Hi, you-al !” I said, gathering al my gifts up out of the backseat. I gave Pam a special nod to
