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I wished I were a thousand miles away. I longed for the ability to walk out, get into my own car, and drive to my own home. Of course, I couldn’t. At least I had the use of a car, and I explained that to Bill.

“Then I needn’t have gone to the trouble of coming to get you, and you two could have continued uninterrupted,” he said in an absolutely lethal tone. “Where are you going to spend the night, if I may ask? I was going to go to the store to buy food for you.”

Since Bill hated grocery shopping, that would have been a major effort, and he wanted to be sure I knew about it. (Of course, it was also possible that he was making this up on the spot to be sure I felt as guilty as possible.)

I reviewed my options. Though I never knew what I’d walk into over at my brother’s, that seemed my safest choice. “I’m going to run by my house to get some makeup out of the bathroom, and then I’m going to Jason’s,” I said. “Thank you for putting me up last night, Bill. I guess you brought Charles to work? Tell him if he wants to spend the night at my house, I guess the, ah, hole is okay.”

“Tell him yourself. He’s right outside,” Bill said in a voice I can only characterize as grumpy. Bill’s imagination had evidently spun a whole different scenario for the evening. The way events were unfolding was making him mighty unhappy.

Sam was in so much pain (I could see it hovering like a red glow around him) that the most merciful thing I could do was clear out of there before he gave into it. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sam,” I said, and kissed him on the cheek.

He tried to smile at me. I didn’t dare offer to help him over to his trailer while the vampires were there, because I knew Sam’s pride would suffer. At the moment, that was more important to him than the state of his injured leg.

Charles was behind the bar and already busy. When Bill offered accommodations again for a second day, Charles accepted rather than opting for my untested hidey hole. “We have to check your hiding place, Sookie, for cracks that may have occurred during the fire,” Charles said seriously.

I could understand the necessity, and without saying a word to Bill, I got into the loaner car and drove to my house. We’d left the windows open all day, and the smell had largely dissipated. That was a welcome development. Thanks to the strategy of the firefighters and the inexpert way the fire had been set, the bulk of my house would be livable in short order. I’d called a contractor, Randall Shurtliff, that evening from the bar, and he’d agreed to stop by the next day at noon. Terry Bellefleur had promised to start removing the remains of the kitchen early the next day. I would have to be there to set aside anything I could salvage. I felt like I had two jobs now.

I was suddenly and completely exhausted, and my arms ached. I would have huge bruises the next day. It was almost too warm to justify long sleeves, but I’d have to wear them. Armed with a flashlight from the glove compartment of Tara’s car, I got my makeup and some more clothes from my bedroom, throwing them all into a sport duffle I’d won at the Relay for Life. I tossed in a couple of paperbacks I hadn’t read yet—books I’d traded for at the library swap rack. That prompted another line of thought. Did I have any movies that needed to go back to the rental place? No. Library books? Yes, had to return some, and I needed to air them out first. Anything else that belonged to another person? Thank goodness I’d dropped Tara’s suit at the cleaner’s.

There was no point in closing and locking the windows, which I’d left open to dissipate the odor, as the house was easily accessible through the burned kitchen. But when I went out my front door, I locked it behind me. I’d gotten to Hummingbird Road before I realized how silly that had been, and as I drove to Jason’s, I found myself smiling for the first time in many, many hours.

10

MY MELANCHOLY BROTHER WAS GLAD TO SEE ME. The fact that his new “family” didn’t trust him had been eating away at Jason