The Reluctant Vampire - Lynsay Sands [94]
Realizing she shouldn’t be thinking about this with the girl so close, Drina pushed the thought from her head, and said, “I don’t know, sweetie. But if so, I’ll be with you. Don’t worry. And it would probably only be temporary until Casey Cottage was habitable again.”
“Right,” Stephanie murmured. She was silent for a minute, and then said, “Sorry to interrupt your bath.”
“You aren’t interrupting,” Drina said with amusement, scrubbing the tomato-soaked cloth over her leg.
“Yeah, but I mean, you probably want your privacy and stuff.”
Drina chuckled at the suggestion. “Steffie, when I was young in Egypt, servants would help me with my bath. They would pour water over me and so on. And in Spain, I always had a maid who helped me bathe. Well, until that went out of fashion. I am not bothered by your being here.”
“Really?” Stephanie asked curiously. “Did they have soap in Egypt?”
“Not the hard bars used today. Ours was a cream made up of lime, oil, and perfume.”
“That sounds nice.” Stephanie sighed. There was a rustle, and then the flushing of the toilet, followed by the squeak of the taps being turned.
Teddy needed some oil on that, Drina thought absently as she continued scrubbing.
“Well, I guess I’ll go back downstairs,” Stephanie announced, turning off the taps. “Do you want to play cards or something when you come down?”
“Sure,” she said easily. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
“Okay.” Drina heard the bathroom door open and thought Stephanie was leaving, but she suddenly said, “Oh, I forgot, Teddy went out to pick up sandwich fixings before heading to the police station. I was going to make myself a Kitchen Sink sandwich. Do you want me to make you one too?”
Drina stilled and asked uncertainly, “What is a Kitchen Sink sandwich?”
Stephanie chuckled. “That’s what my dad calls them because it includes everything but the kitchen sink. It’s tomatoes, lettuce, onions, radishes, green peppers, cucumber, cheese, mayo, Italian dressing, and ham or whatever. It’s basically like a sub sandwich, but on bread.”
Drina was actually salivating by the end of that long list of ingredients. “That sounds delicious.”
“Oh, it is,” Stephanie assured her on a laugh. “So you want one?”
“Yes, please.”
“Okay, see you soon.”
The door closed, and Drina promptly unplugged the stopper and switched the shower on. She was suddenly in a hurry to get downstairs and try this Kitchen Sink sandwich.
“I hear that Lucian finally called.”
Drina glanced up from her cards and smiled at Teddy as he settled at the table with his plate of pork chops, potatoes, and salad. Leonora had made dinner tonight with Drina, Harper and Stephanie basically getting in her way as they tried to help. Everyone else had eaten two hours ago, but Teddy had just gotten home. She suspected the poor man had worked late to avoid coming home to his presently overcrowded house. She couldn’t blame him.
“Yes, he called just before we sat down for dinner,” she said finally, and then smiled apologetically. “Lucian’s going to make arrangements, and then call back. I’m not sure what’s going to happen.” She discarded so that Harper could take his turn, and then added, “Tiny should be waking up soon. He’s calmed considerably and hasn’t needed to be drugged for the last couple of hours. That usually means they’re through the worst of it.”
Teddy nodded as he started to eat.
“Does that mean Leonora, Dawn, Alessandro, and Edward will go home soon?” Stephanie asked, reaching for a card when Harper finished and discarded.
“Yes,” Drina said, and then added wryly, “In fact, I suspect they’ll leave