Sookie Stackhouse Boxed Set (Books 1-8) - Charlaine Harris [941]
“I guess I understand,” Sam said, though he sounded a little doubtful.
“Plus,” I said very quietly, “it’s nice to be valued for the very thing that makes regular people think I’m just a crazy girl.”
“Definitely understand that,” Sam said. “But there’s a price.”
“Oh, no doubt about it.”
“You willing to pay?”
“So far.”
We chugged up my driveway. No lights on. The witchy duo had gone to bed, or else they were out partying or casting spells.
“In the morning, I’ll call Dawson,” Sam said. “He’ll check out your car, make sure you can drive it, or he’ll get it towed to his place. Think you can get a ride to work?”
“I’m sure I can,” I said. “Amelia can bring me in.”
Sam walked me to the back door like he was bringing me home from a date. The porch light was on, which was thoughtful of Amelia. Sam put his arms around me, which was a surprise, and then he just snugged his head in close to mine, and we stood there enjoying each other’s warmth for a long moment.
“We survived the Were war,” he said. “You made it through the vampire coup. Now we lived through the attack of the berserk bodyguard. I hope we keep up our record.”
“Now you’re scaring me,” I said as I remembered all the other things I’d survived. I should be dead, no doubt about it.
His warm lips brushed my cheek. “Maybe that’s a good thing,” he said, and turned to go back to his truck.
I watched him climb in and reverse, and then I unlocked the back door and went to my room. After all the adrenaline and the fear and the accelerated pace of life (and death) in the parking lot of Merlotte’s, my own room seemed very quiet and clean and secure. I’d done my best to kill someone tonight. It was only by chance Sigebert had survived my attempt at vehicular homicide. Twice. I couldn’t help but notice that I wasn’t feeling remorseful. This was surely a flaw, but at the moment I just didn’t care. There were definitely parts of my character I didn’t approve of, and maybe from time to time I had moments when I didn’t like myself much. But I got through each day as it came to me, and so far I’d survived everything life had thrown at me. I could only hope that the survival was worth the price I’d paid.
Chapter 20
To my relief, I woke up in an empty house. Neither Amelia’s nor Octavia’s throbbing heads were under my roof. I lay in bed and reveled in the knowledge. Maybe the next time I had a whole day off, I could spend it completely alone. That didn’t seem a likely occurrence, but a girl can dream. After I planned my day (call Sam to find out about my car, pay some bills, go to work), I got into the shower and really scrubbed. I used as much hot water as I wanted. I painted my toenails and my fingernails, and I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and went in to make some coffee. The kitchen was spanking clean; God bless Amelia.
The coffee was great, the toast delicious spread with blueberry jam. Even my taste buds were happy. After I cleaned up from breakfast, I was practically singing with the pleasure of solitude. I went back to my room to make my bed and put on my makeup.
Of course, that was when the knock came at the back door, nearly making me jump out of my skin. I stepped into some shoes and went to answer it.
Tray Dawson was there, and he was smiling. “Sookie, your car is doing fine,” he said. “I had to do a little replacing here and there, and it’s the first time I ever had to scrape vampire ash off an undercarriage, but you’re good to go.”
“Oh, thanks! Can you come in?”
“Just for a minute,” he said. “You got a Coke in the refrigerator?”
“I sure do.” I brought him a Coke, asked if he wanted some cookies or a peanut butter sandwich to go with it, and when he’d turned that down, I excused myself to finish my makeup. I’d figured Dawson would run me to the car, but he’d driven it over to my place, as it turned out, so I’d need to give him a ride instead.
I had my checkbook