“So, Dinescu, tell us about yourself,” Henry said. “Tessa mentioned you’re in the antiques business.”
“Yes, sir. I’m doing pretty well.”
“You should see his house,” Tessa said. “He has some beautiful pieces. And the house itself is amazing.”
Her father nodded.
“Are you planning a long engagement?” her mother asked.
Tessa glanced at Andrei. “We haven’t decided.”
“I suppose you’ll want to get married in Cutter’s Corner.”
“I don’t know, Mom. We’ve only been engaged a short time.”
“You girls can talk about all that wedding stuff later,” Mr. Blackburn said. “Right now, I’ll bet Andrei would like a piece of that apple pie you’ve got in the kitchen.”
“Of course,” Alice said. “Would you like coffee with that, Mr. Dinescu?”
“Andrei, please. And coffee would be fine. Black, no sugar.”
* * *
Tessa fell back on her bed, arms outstretched.
Andrei sat on the edge of the mattress, his fingers threading through her hair. “I think it went well,” he said. “Don’t you?”
“I guess so. I don’t think they suspected anything. Do you?”
“Not a thing. I almost forgot you were a vampire.”
Lifting her head, she stuck her tongue out at him. “Tomorrow’s Christmas! I’ve got to go shopping! I don’t have a single present for my folks. Or for you . . .”
Stretching out beside her, he drew her into his embrace. “I don’t need anything, dragostea mea,” he said, kissing her lightly. “I’ve already got everything I want.”
* * *
Tessa’s parents were very understanding when she said she and Andrei needed to go Christmas shopping. Before she left, she took her dad aside to ask if he knew of anything her mother wanted, then took her mother aside to ask about her dad.
Her father generously offered to lend them the car.
“So, did you get any ideas?” Andrei asked as they pulled out of the driveway and headed for Omaha, because Tessa said there were a lot more places to shop there than in Ashland.
“Not really. Parents are so hard to buy for. I mean, by the time their kids are old enough to actually buy them nice gifts, they already have everything they want or need.”
Andrei laughed. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
Tessa glanced out the window. Ashland was a small town with a rural charm she had loved while growing up. It had been fun, knowing almost everyone in town, feeling safe and secure. When she graduated college, she headed for the Big Apple, thinking she’d had enough of being a small-town girl. To her chagrin, she didn’t like living in a big city. Not wanting to go back home, she had settled in Cutter’s Corner.
She slid a glance at Andrei. Had she stayed in New York, or gone back home, she never would have met him.
“Pretty country out here,” Andrei remarked.
“Yes.” She turned on the radio and lowered the volume.
“Have your parents always lived in Nebraska?”
“Yes, and their parents, too.” She glanced at a road sign, announcing Omaha just ahead. “Did you know that the TV dinner was invented by a man from Omaha?” she asked, then laughed. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever eaten one.”
“You’d suppose right. But I’ve seen them on the tube.”
“Cake mix was invented there too. And the ski lift.”
They reached Omaha some thirty minutes later. The weather was gray and cold. Although vampires didn’t feel the cold, Tessa had worn boots and a heavy jacket because her parents expected it, and insisted Andrei do the same.
Andrei had never been much for shopping but he loved Tessa, so he let her drag him from store to store while she tried to decide what to buy her parents.
She finally settled on a chess set for her father and a nightgown and matching robe for her mother.
While waiting for the clerk to wrap her mother’s gift, Andrei leaned over to whisper, “Now can we go somewhere and make love?”
* * *
Christmas morning dawned clear and bright and cold. Since there weren’t any kids in the house, no one was in a hurry to get up, for which Tessa was grateful, since no one would think it strange if she slept late.
She missed resting with Andrei but, because she knew her parents wouldn’t approve, she had spent the night in her old room. Andrei slept in the guest room down the hall.
Turning onto her side, she listened to the sounds emanating from downstairs—the drip of the coffeemaker, the quiet hum of her parents’ conversation, the steady beat of their hearts . . .
It bothered her that the scent of their blood called to her. They were her parents, for goodness’ sake! She shouldn’t want to bite them, but the urge to drink from them was strong. Why? Because they were family? She would have to ask Andrei when she saw him.