“I haven’t made this much in tips in forever,” Mindy said as she came to stand by the cashier counter with Olivia.
“That makes two of us,” Herbie said as he joined them. “Maybe I’ll hire me a maid in my new place.”
Olivia laughed. “I just plan to take a day off. That will feel more like the world used to be than just about anything.”
A tall, good-looking man in a dark suit came in the front door and headed straight for them. “Olivia DaCosta?”
“That’s me.”
“Darren Stuart,” he said as he extended an envelope to her. “This is the deed and transfer papers for the apartment building next door. As soon as you sign them, the building is yours.”
She accepted the envelope, pulled out the documents and started scanning the text.
“You’ll notice there’s a provision that the property taxes have been waived as long as the building is not used for profit and for its intended purpose, to house the homeless.”
Olivia couldn’t believe how quickly things were happening, and good things this time. As she read the documents in full, Mr. Stuart talked to Herbie and Roscoe about the building and accepted a cup of coffee on the house from Mindy. When Olivia was satisfied that the papers looked legit, she grabbed a pen but hesitated with it over the first signature line.
“Is there something wrong?” Mr. Stuart asked.
“This is just such a big moment part of me doesn’t believe it’s real.”
He nodded. “It’s a good thing you’re doing.”
With that, she signed everywhere he indicated. Then the deed was done, so to speak. She owned a twenty-story apartment building.
Stuart accepted his copy of the forms and gave her a ring of keys about the size and weight of a car tire. Then he slid a business card across the counter to her. A simple elegant off-white card with black ink said simply Darren Stuart above Barnes, Herron and Stuart, Attorneys at Law.
“If you have any legal needs, please let us know. And good luck with being a landlord.”
He smiled, and if she weren’t already in love with someone else, Olivia might have experienced a heart flutter at the sight.
“Thank you.”
He nodded then looked at Mindy. “Thanks for the coffee.” He turned and headed for the front door.
When she glanced at Mindy, she grabbed a napkin and gave it to her friend.
“What’s this for?”
“Your drool.”
Mindy wadded up the napkin and tossed it at Olivia, which set all four of them to laughing again.
They started the end-of-day cleanup, and by the time the last customer left, they were all ready to kick up their feet and relax.
“I’m going to go home and collapse on my couch, eat an entire pizza and watch mindless television until I fall asleep,” Mindy said as she grabbed her coat.
They all waved at Mindy as she headed out the door. Then Olivia eyed Herbie and Roscoe. “How do you all feel about having second jobs, on a volunteer basis at least for now?”
“What do you have in mind?” Roscoe asked.
“She needs help with the new building, getting it up and running,” Herbie answered for her. He got a twinkle in his eyes. “If Roscoe and I can scope things out and pick our places first, we’ll help out with cleaning, maintenance. And tomorrow we can get a lot more people to help.”
“Sounds great.” When she looked at Roscoe, his eyes looked extra watery. “What’s wrong?”
“I just can’t believe I’ll never have to stay in a shelter again.”
She gathered him to her and gave him a big hug. “It’s the least I can do for my two adopted grandpas, right?”
His face lit up, and when she looked at Herbie, he was smiling widely, too. Then he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
“Come on, Roscoe, we got some apartment shopping to do.”
Olivia laughed as she handed over the monster ring of keys then watched the two of them walk across the alley and through the gateway in the fence that led to the apartment building. Finally alone, she dragged her tired body up the stairs to her own apartment and pulled some leftover macaroni and cheese from the fridge. After nuking it, she sat down at the table to eat and watch daylight fade from the sky.
She’d just finished the final bite when Campbell dropped effortlessly onto her balcony.
When she slid the door open, she said, “You know there are less dramatic ways to make an appearance. You can come up the fire escape or even knock on one of the doors downstairs.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“Show-off.” She pulled him to her and kissed him thoroughly.
“What was that for?” he asked after she broke the kiss.
“I had a very good day.”
“Oh?”
“Seems your little TV appearance had a positive effect on my bottom line,” she said.
“Your customers came back?”
“Plus a boatload more. I couldn’t believe it. I kept thinking I was dreaming and I’d wake up and the diner would still be empty.”
“I’m glad business is better.”
Olivia noticed how he was looking at her, as if he was holding on to some important piece of information until she was finished sharing hers. “What?”
He took a step back and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, the one she’d worn the first night they met. “I had a big day myself.”
“Oh? Catch a lot of bad guys?”
“No, still plenty of them around.”
“Wow, thanks for that uplifting slice of news.”
“Sorry. Guess you’ll just have to get used to my shoptalk because I plan to stick around.” He removed his hands from his pockets and turned them palms up. In each lay a thin silver bracelet similar to those worn by Chloe’s brother when he was at the blood bank.
Olivia gave Campbell a questioning look.
“I want to be with you, Livvi, but the only way I’m ever going to feel safe doing that is if I wear these when I’m with you.”
“But you said they make vampires feel ill.”
“It’s manageable, and nothing like the fear that I could hurt you or worse when I’m hungry. And when we made love that last time, my fangs descended even though I didn’t need to feed. That’s never happened to me before.”
Olivia’s face flushed at the thought that she’d caused a sexual reaction in him that he’d never experienced with another woman.
“I still don’t like the idea of you making yourself sick,” she said.
“It’s only if I wear them too long, which I won’t, because I’ll have to split my night hours between you and work I can’t do at headquarters. I either wear them when I’m with you or stop coming by, and that would be odd if I didn’t see my wife sometime.”
Olivia would swear her heart stopped for the span of a couple of beats before it kicked itself in gear again. “Your wife?”
Campbell pulled something else from his pocket and held it up between his thumb and forefinger. She stared at a silver ring that matched his bracelets.
“If you’ll have me,” he said.
Olivia couldn’t believe what she was hearing, couldn’t fathom how her day, which had already been wonderful, had just skyrocketed into new levels of greatness.
“Are you sure?” she asked, silently hoping she didn’t prompt him to change his mind but needing to know he
