Lucern turned an amused glance his way, then looked at the picture and shrugged with disinterest. "She's all right. Not as beautiful as Katie, though.»
Bastien snorted. "No one is as beautiful as Katie, in your eyes.»
"You're right,"Lucern agreed, lifting his glass to take a swallow of whiskey before adding, "Kate's perfect in my eyes. No one comes close to her in anything.»
"Forgive me, brother. But I believe the modern expression is 'You got it bad.' " Bastien gave an amused shake of his head. He liked Kate well enough, but she wasn't perfect. Damned near, perhaps, but not quite. "So? What time does this Terri person's plane get in?»
Lucern glanced at his wristwatch, shrugging. "In about an hour.»
"What?"Bastien squawked.
"What, what?"Lucern asked.
"You're joking! She doesn't get in in an hour.»
"Yes, she does.»
Bastien stared at him blankly, then asked, "Which airport?»
"JFK.»
"Dear God.»
"What?"Lucern asked. He looked concerned as Bastien began scanning the tiny restaurant in search of their waitress. Of course she'd disappeared right when they wanted her, probably into the kitchen.
"You could have mentioned this before, damn it,"Bastien growled. "Hell, why didn't Kate mention it? She knows it takes an hour to get to JFK. Where the hell is that waitress?»
"She probably didn't realize how late it was,"Lucern excused Kate. "Besides, she's a little distracted right now.»
"Yeah? Well, it will be her fault if we're late.»
"We'll make it,"Lucern said soothingly as the waitress walked back out of the kitchen. Gesturing her over, he added, "Terri has to collect her luggage and go through customs anyway.»
Bastien shook his head in disgust. Lucern rarely worried about anything anymore, but a couple hundred years in the business world had made him a details man. "She may have to get through customs, but we still have to get the car and drive there. Let's just hope traffic isn't particularly slow today.»
Leaving Lucern to deal with the bill, Bastien took out his cellphone and called his driver. While he drove himself or took taxis at night, when he traveled during daylight Bastien always had a driver. Aside from saving the trouble of finding parking, it prevented his being out in sunlight any longer than necessary-he simply had to jog from the car to the entrance of wherever he needed to go. Not that he couldn't have stood walking a few minutes in sunlight, or even longer than that really, but it meant he would need to ingest more blood, which could be pretty inconvenient at times.
Once assured that the car was on its way, Bastien snapped the phone closed and slid it back into his pocket, then began to consider how best to handle this situation. While he used a chauffeured limo when necessary, his usual driver was on vacation and Bastien really didn't want to spend the hour-long drive out to the airport watching everything he said around the replacement driver. They would have to ride back to the office to collect his car. He'd also pack some blood in a cooler to take with them in case of an emergency, Bastien decided. All of his cars had special window treatments to prevent UV rays from getting in to do any damage, but should the car break down or get a flat tire and they be forced to fix it or walk any distance in sunlight, things could get uncomfortable, or even dangerous.
All of this would take time, of course, and increase the chances that they weren't going to be on time to collect Terri, but if luck was with them and traffic wasn't slow…
"Traffic's slow,"Lucern said a short time later.
Bastien gave a short laugh. "Of course it is. Murphy's law, right?»
Lucern grunted.
"Reach in the backseat and grab my briefcase. You'll have to make the sign.»
"Won't we recognize Terri from the picture?"Lucern retrieved the case and set it on his lap.
"Maybe. But I don't want to count on that. If we miss her, Kate will kill us both.»
Luc gave another grunt. He had never been big on talking. Bastien supposed that was why Kate had wanted someone else along to collect her cousin. The only time Luc seemed to talk was when she was around. It was also the only time he smiled. She brought something out of him no one else could, and which apparently retreated or dropped dead the moment she was out of sight. When Kate wasn't around, it was difficult to get more than a couple of words out of Lucern; a grunt was his response of choice.
"What do you want on it?»
Bastien glanced to the side. Not only had Lucern managed to string more than two words together, he'd pulled a large notepad and pen from the briefcase and was ready to write. "Just put her name on it.»
"Right."Lucern scrawled the name Terri across the paper, then paused. "What's her last name?»
"You're asking me? She's your fiancee's cousin, not mine.»
"Yeah,"Luc agreed, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "Didn't Kate mention it at lunch?»
"No. Not that I recall."Bastien glanced at him. "You really don't know?»
"I can't remember.»
"Well, Kate must have mentioned it a time or two over the last few months.»
"Yeah."Luc was silent for a moment, then bent his head to write on the page again.
Relieved that his brother remembered, Bastien turned his attention back to traffic, then spared a glance at his watch. "If her flight isn't early and customs takes twenty minutes or so, we might just get there before she gives up and hops in a taxi. Where will she go if she doesn't find anyone waiting for her?»
"Probably Kate's office.»
"Yeah. That would thrill Kate. Let's hope the flight isn't early.»
It wasn't.
"Two hours late,"Lucern grunted as they made their way into the arrivals terminal. "All that rushing to get here on time, and we end up cooling our heels for two hours.»
Bastien smiled faintly at his brother's disgust. They had arrived at the airport only to discover Kate's cousin's flight had made an unscheduled stop in Detroit for "mechanical difficulties,"and had stayed there while something was fixed. It was due to arrive two hours late. Bastien had been concerned by the news until he had approached the airline desk to inquire and learned that the problem was with one of the bathrooms on the plane. Not that the clerk had told him that; Bastien had slipped briefly into her mind to find out. It wasn't something the airline wanted to advertise, and the mysterious "mechanical difficulties"sounded better to them than admitting one of their toilets had gone screwy. They didn't want the motto "Fly the crappy skies.»
With two hours to kill until Terri's flight arrived, Bastien and Lucern had retired to a bar, having to make their way into the nearest departure terminal to find one. Now they were returning to the arrival area to await Terri, hoping as they did so that she wouldn't be held up too long at customs. Both were rather weary of waiting, and eager to get out of the airport, what with its buzz of stressed-out travelers and anxious friends and family.
"Here they come,"Bastien announced. The first weary travelers began to appear beyond the blocked off area. "Where's the sign you made?»
"Oh, yes."Lucern pulled the piece of paper from his pocket. The moment it was unfolded enough for Bastien to read, he snatched it incredulously out of his brother's hand.
" 'Terri, Kate's cousin and best friend?' " he read with disbelief.
"I couldn't remember her name,"Lucern said with a shrug. "She'll know who it's for. Hurry and hold it up, a whole load of them are coming out and she might be one of them.»
Bastien glanced toward the arch where travelers were appearing in clusters of three or four. It would seem that customs wasn't holding them up at all. "They must have worked double time to get the luggage out so fast. And customs must have extra people on.»
"Hmm,"was all Lucern said. Bastien raised the makeshift sign over his head to be easily seen. "They're probably rushing them through to try to make up for the delay.»
The two men were silent as several dozen people arrived, were met by happy relatives or friends and departed the arrivals area. Bastien would guess that a good fifty people came and went before he spotted a woman making a beeline for them. He might not have recognized her if she weren't walking toward them with a tired smile of greeting on her face. Without realizing it, his arms relaxed, allowing his sign to lower.
The woman was just as curvy and ripe-looking as she had been in her photo, but her hairstyle had changed. It had been up in a ponytail in the photo; now, it was down and flowing around her shoulders in soft chestnut waves. She still wore jeans, Bastien noted with interest. Tight white jeans, a white University of Leeds T-shirt, and white running shoes made up her outfit. She had obviously dressed for comfort.
"Lucern!"She beamed at Bastien, pausing before him and, after the briefest hesitation, giving him a warm welcoming hug. "Kate's told me loads about you. It's a pleasure to meet the man who's made her so happy.»
Bastien stared down at the top of the woman's head in surprise, his arms dropping automatically to embrace her. Lucern watched with amusement. Catching the grin on his brother's face, Bastien cleared his throat as Kate's cousin released him and stepped back. "Terri, I presume?»