The Accidental Vampire(94)

He shook his head. "My day off. I arranged the schedule that way so I could help out at

the fair."

Elvi nodded. As fire department chief he had that freedom and often took advantage

of it. Mike was as involved in local charities as she had been before her turning.

"How are the pies coming?" Mike asked. "Karen said you'd forgotten all about them."

"Yes, thank goodness she reminded me. I had forgotten," she admitted. "They're

mostly done, though. I'm just baking the last of them now, but I thought I'd come out

and see how much work there is to do in the gardens."

"We'll see you out here more often, then." Mike smiled. "Good. We've missed our

chats over the fence."

"So have I," Elvi said solemnly, and it was true. That was one of many things she'd

missed over the last five years.

"Do you want some help with the garden?" Mike asked, pausing in his scooping to peer

at her. "I'd be happy to help get it back in shape. Karen probably would too. In fact, I've

had to hold her back from doing so before now. She was so upset to see all your lovely

work go to seed these last five years."

Elvi chuckled at the claim, not doubting it for a moment. Karen and Mike kept a

beautiful home and yard and could always be found outside mowing, raking, or

working in the garden. Their yard was never less than impeccable and she knew the

house wasn't either. It must have driven the poor woman mad to see Elvi's own garden

slowly go to ruin. Mabel had hired Owen to mow the lawn and such, but had let the

garden go.

"No, that's okay," she said as Mike moved to hang up his net. "I'm just looking today to

see how bad it is. I'm thinking I might hire a landscaper to get it back in shape if there's

too much work. Actually, I might have to have them redo it so that there's less

maintenance. I can come out now, but its better if I'm not out too much I guess. It

means I have to have more blood."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," Mike said, his expression concerned.

"I suppose it's better than nothing," Elvi murmured and turned to head toward the

stairs leading down into the yard.

"Elvi?" Mike called, bringing her to a halt. When she turned back, he hesitated, and

then asked, "Are you happier?"

She blinked in confusion at the question. "Happier?"

"Yes." Mike moved toward the fence. "Mabel once said that you wished you'd never

gone to Mexico and never turned into a… er… vampire. She said you were miserable."

"Yes, I did say that. Many times," Elvi admitted quietly, and it had been how she'd felt

then. But then she'd thought she couldn't eat, had slept in a coffin, and avoided

daylight like the plague. Things had gotten much better since the arrival of Victor and

the others in her life. She supposed that was what everyone was hoping for and why

the men had been invited.

"I'm sorry."

Elvi tore herself from her thoughts and peered at him with surprise. "What for?"

"For helping to pressure you into going to Mexico when you didn't want to," he

explained. "The lot of us have felt horrible about it ever since Mabel explained what

had happened at the town meeting Teddy called when you guys got back. We never

would have pressured you so if we'd known—"

"Don't be silly, Mike. I know that," Elvi interrupted. She'd known for years that the

reason everyone had been so accepting of her new status was because many of them

had felt bad for talking her into taking that trip when she hadn't wanted to. Elvi had

intended to cancel the trip to Mexico after the accident, but everyone from Teddy,

Mabel, the Knights… even Dawn, the grocery store clerk, had all insisted she should go.

"We were hoping that Mabel's plan with the single's ad would help make things

better."

Elvi smiled faintly and opened her mouth to tell him it had, then paused and glanced

toward the driveway as the sound of a car engine caught her ear.

"Oh, Teddy's here," she said. "I'll talk to you later."

Giving him a wave, Elvi moved to the end of the deck and descended the stairs to greet

Teddy as he got out of the car and retrieved a cooler from the trunk.

"How is she?" Teddy asked grimly as he stomped up the sidewalk toward her.

"She was sleeping when I checked on her," Elvi said, hurrying ahead of him to open the

door. Teddy carried the cooler inside, slammed it on the counter, and whirled to face

her.

"How could you let this happen? After all she's done for you?" he asked furiously.

"I didn't let anything happen," Elvi said quickly. "I wasn't even here. DJ turned her

and—"