“Huh! You’ve got years yet, Stella. Not like me. I sometimes wonder if I’ll die in here.”
If Mom continued her felonious lifestyle it was more than probable. Stella stayed another half-hour and by the time she left felt thoroughly depressed, torn between annoyance at Mother’s moans and complaints and guilt at her irritation. It was always like this. From the “You’re late!” greeting to Mom’s parting, “I suppose you’re glad to be going, aren’t you?” visits always followed the same pattern. She should be used to it by now. Truth was, Stella was glad to be going, to leave behind the locked doors and the stale air and walk away. Something Mom couldn’t do.
As Stella headed south, she tried to turn her thoughts from Mom to Sam. Beggars’ Night was coming and with it the problem of paying for the costume. It had to be beyond her pocketbook, whatever Justin might say.
Now there was a man to fill a few idle daydreams—and get her heart broken, she didn’t doubt. Good looking, sexy as all get-out, and enough charm to lure the birds out of the trees. For a few miles, she let herself indulge in the fantasy of Justin asking her out on a date. It would be nice to spend the evening with a cultured, educated grown-up. Just a few hours listening to Justin speak would be better than a week’s R & R. Right! Talking wasn’t what a man like him had in mind! As if he’d want her for her wit and polish! Stella chuckled. More likely, a little diversion to liven up his vacation! Once upon a time she’d have been right there with him. Now she had more important things in her life, or rather one very important person.
Back in town, Stella decided to drop by the Vampire Emporium and settle up with Dixie. If there was any difficulty, she didn’t want Sam knowing. Better sort it all out herself and if Justin was there…
He wasn’t. Neither was Dixie.
“She won’t be in until later, but I’m Kit, her partner. Can I help you?”
Did every man she met these days have a smooth, British accent?
Stella looked across the counter at the dark-haired man wearing a leather eye patch and hoped she wasn’t staring. “I wanted to settle up with her,” she said. The man was slender, but looked stronger than the oak counter between them. “I owe her for a vampire costume.”
“You’re Stella Schwartz.”
“Yes.” Why be surprised he knew her? They were partners, weren’t they?
“Does the costume fit your boy? Think it will do? Dixie was afraid it might be too big.”
“It’s perfect—other than needing shortening so Sam doesn’t trip on the hem and a taking in of the waist. In fact, that’s why I came in. I need to pay for it.” She paused. “Justin wasn’t sure how much…”
“Yes, now…right…” Kit shuffled through a stack of papers in a file folder. “Dixie left a note somewhere.” He handed Stella an invoice. “Here you are.”
She stared at the figures. It couldn’t be this cheap. “Isn’t this a mistake?” Like a decimal point in the wrong place.
Kit shook his head. “I don’t think so. Dixie doesn’t make mistakes.”
“But surely it cost more than this.” She knew what a yard of cloth cost and this was velvet!
He nodded. “Yes, it probably did originally, but it’s useless now. The original order was canceled and not many people want pint-sized capes.”
“It’s not just the cape. There were the pants as well.”
He stared a minute. “Oh! The trousers!” He shrugged.
“Sorry, have to do instant translations a lot.” He gave Stella a searching look. “To be honest, you’re doing me a favor taking it out of the house. I’ve been telling Dixie for ages we need to have a clearance sale. We’ve got three bedrooms and two are chock-full with old stock.”
Justin slept in one of those bedrooms. Did he climb over trunks and boxes to get into bed at night? Did she care? She counted out the money and pocketed the receipt. “Thank your friend Justin for dropping it by.”
“I’ll be sure to pass your message on. He’s away right now.”
Why the rush of disappointment? The man didn’t live here, after all. “He’s gone home?”
“Just had some business to attend to.” Kit looked almost worried for a split second. “He’ll be back.”
When? None of her business! Time to get back to Sam. “Tell him I said ‘hi’ and give Dixie my thanks.”
“I will. Be sure to come by the shop on Beggars’ Night. Dixie’s planning something special.”
“We will.” She stopped herself from asking if Justin would be back by then. It wasn’t important and besides, Justin’s business was not hers.
That didn’t prevent her from wondering as she drove home, and telling herself she was not disappointed he wasn’t there. The man had a life didn’t he? About time she got one that didn’t include fixating on sexy, smooth British accents and dark eyes warm enough to melt your bones.
“I’m glad you’re back.” Dixie gave Christopher a hug as he came in the door.
“Nice to be welcomed home. What do you have in mind? Hunting or…?” He glanced up the steep stairs.
“Both! But first come talk to Justin. He won’t tell me a thing.”
Her partner grinned. “And I thought you were welcoming me for myself.”
“I am. Every molecule of you, after you get Justin to tell what happened.”
“He didn’t say anything?”
“I asked him if things went well and if he’d worked things out and he replied, ‘No and yes, or perhaps yes and no.’ Didn’t see much sense in persisting after that. I might not have any breath to waste, but I do have energy.”
“Where is he?”
“Out in the backyard watching the moon. He’s been out there a while.”
“I’ll wait for him to come in.”
“Christopher!” Now she had a hard time staying patient.
“Tell him you’re here.”
He shook his head. “I’m not disturbing him at prayer.”
Dixie knew better than to be surprised. Praying to the moon? Why not? Artemis, Diana, or some Druid deity? “He might be out there all night.” She needed to rest and wasn’t sure she could wait another whole day before knowing what transpired between Justin and his old enemy. Especially if, as he and Christopher both intimated, the outcome directly affected their life here in Ohio.
“He won’t. He knows I’m home.” An insecure woman would be disturbed by the strong bond between these two men and Tom, the third of the group. Dixie found it irked her. She was part of the blood bond, but not as enmeshed as the three men and unsure she ever wanted to be. “Stella came by the shop this evening,” Christopher added.
“Everything okay?”
He nodded. “Yes. She bought the story about an unclaimed order and the flaw in the cloth. Clever idea, that.”
“Good. I’d like to see Sam in it. First time I’ve made a kid’s costume.”
“She promised to bring him round the shop on Halloween. It really is a big deal here, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She still couldn’t get used to the idea of British children not having exactly the same as she’d grown up with.
“You need to get Justin to talk about Samhain.”
“I need to get Justin to talk