Sunrise at Sunset (42 page)

Katrina rolled her eyes and smirked at the playful vampire, while Caleb looked up at Katrina with a silent inquiry in his expression.

“Not anytime soon,” Katrina chastised mildly as she made a final pass over the list of items they would need to shop for that evening.

As the last of the music played, Caleb snuck down into Katrina’s room to make one more selection. Coldplay’s “Green Eyes” sounded through the house, and he momentarily paused at the computer as the lyrics began. As the song continued, he turned and walked to the top of the stairs to exit into the main hallway. He felt a sudden presence behind him, and Katrina’s arms enfolded his shoulders. Her body pressed against him from behind as she held him closely and quietly while the song continued.

He felt her lips at his ear. “Is that song about me?”

“Yes,” he murmured as her lips softly touched his neck.

“A declaration, perhaps?” she whispered.

“Just that I love you,” he thoughtfully replied as the song continued. “And that I need you.”

Her lips lightly kissed at his supple neck and soft cheek as she reveled in his reply. “You don’t know how happy that makes me,” she beamed as she turned him towards her and passionately kissed him.

They embraced each other until the tune had nearly finished and then walked with their arms wrapped around each other’s waists into the main living room as the song ended. Paige looked up at Caleb with a wistful expression as she lounged on the couch, while Alton continued to make some notes in a small daily planner perched on his crossed leg.

“A romantic selection of music, young man,” Alton noted without looking up. “I approve.”

Caleb smiled at the dark-haired vampire as Paige popped up on the edge of the couch with an excited grin. “Okay, enough crooning. It’s almost dark, folks. Time to put our shopping groove on!”

Alton stopped writing in his planner long enough to look over at the blonde vampire with a withering expression. “I’ll stay here, thank you,” he insisted calmly. “I have some phone calls to make, as well as some Internet activities to tend to. I may take a stroll later this evening, as well.”
Paige merely shrugged as she took Caleb by the arm and dragged him towards the front of the house. “Ditch the T-shirt, you hobo,” she urged as she dragged him with her. “We’re going out tonight!”

Katrina just shook her head and raised an eyebrow as her mate was taken in tow by the perky vampire. She glanced down at her own faded jeans and sweatshirt with a sigh and departed to change clothes.

After changing into fresh jeans and shirt, Caleb grabbed his leather jacket. Paige changed into a denim skirt, blue satin blouse, short denim jacket, and black leather boots. Katrina appeared from the sublevel room wearing black, low-rise knit slacks and a stylish, burgundy, long-sleeved, cowl neck top with a long, trendy leather coat. They all piled into Katrina’s Audi, and Paige was kind enough to allow Caleb to sit in the front next to Katrina. He anxiously anticipated his first journey away from the estate in what seemed like forever, and the two vampires easily detected the excitement rolling off of him.

“Please grab him if he tries to flee from the car at any intersections,” Katrina dryly instructed Paige.

Caleb just shook his head as the car pulled from the garage and down the driveway. He stared appreciatively out the window at the night-laden surroundings as the vehicle made its way to the front of the edition. As soon as they pulled out onto the city streets, Katrina gunned the engine for his benefit, and they sped down the road as alternative rock music played. He certainly appreciated being out in the real world again.

Paige swayed to the music in the back seat as Caleb’s mind began to wonder about the information that Katrina had shared with him about their journey to stop Chimalma. The idea that the renegade vampire had hired so many mercenaries between the retreat facility and the attack against him and Paige at the estate caused him to wonder about plans she may have arranged that simply hadn’t been activated yet.

Then again, perhaps his imagination was simply running away from him after all the pent-up stress from their experiences. He sighed quietly as the music played and tried to gaze absently out the car window while appreciating the feeling of traversing the open road. He failed to notice that both vampires were observing him closely.

“I bet that our boy’s hungry. He didn’t eat much for lunch today,” Paige ventured from the back seat.

Katrina glanced over at his subdued manner and frowned slightly. “What do you think, Caleb? Hungry?”

He smiled at her and replied, “Sure. How about –”

“And what is it we’re avoiding tonight?” Paige interrupted.

He appeared momentarily perplexed, but smiled as he recalled a previous topic with her. “Garlic: no Italian.”

“Good boy,” she complimented with a quick pat on his head.

Katrina narrowed her eyes while driving as she tried to determine the nature of that exchange and glanced over at Caleb.

“Um, how about a steak house?” he ventured, changing the subject.

“Done,” she replied simply. “But after the home improvement store.” She quickly pressed some buttons on the GPS and called up the nearest location.

At Builder Mart, the three grabbed a shopping cart, and Katrina read from the list of items they needed. She pushed the cart to the aisles with the larger items, while directing Caleb and Paige to grab smaller things as they passed. He found it amusing that both Paige and Katrina were getting a number of interested looks from a variety of men they passed by, and he adopted a proud expression as he walked with the two beautiful vampires. His manner and expression weren’t lost on the two women, either.

“How about if I paw at you a little bit, kiddo?” Paige teased. “That’ll really get those guys stirred up.”

He grinned, but Katrina frowned and countered darkly, “Yeah, and I bet half the women in here will throw tools at us too.”

Paige chuckled as she called off more items for retrieval.

As Caleb went up a small aisle to get rolls of masking and duct tape, he saw a group of people at the back of the store watching an in-store how-to seminar. He looked away, grabbed the rolls of tape, and rounded the corner to head back to their cart. Suddenly, he heard a series of quick popping noises sounding like small gunfire and jolted in place as he ducked down abruptly. Then he realized the in-store demonstration was showing how to use a nail gun, and he sighed irritably.

“Crap,” he muttered with a sheepish expression as he turned to walk to the shopping cart, noticing both vampires staring at him intently. He approached the cart feeling a little stupid at his reaction and dropped the items into the cart without looking at either of them.

“It’s okay,” Katrina offered gently with a gentle brush of her hand on his back. “It’s normal given what you experienced.”

Paige glanced up at her with a narrow-eyed expression before he noticed, and she smiled while demanding in a mock southern drawl, “Come on, old lady. Keep rattling off that list. My boy’s hungry over here.”

Katrina rolled her eyes and called off more items as she steered the cart down another aisle. However, she watched Caleb more closely while they were in the store.

Paige suddenly appeared at her side, dropped some paintbrushes into the cart, and whispered, “Between the two of us we can keep him in sight at all times. But just what are you thinking?”
Katrina considered her answer carefully. “Let him know you’re there, but give him some space. I want him to feel safe without being smothered.”

Paige nodded. “Will do.”

They continued to fill the cart with a series of home improvement supplies and proceeded to the appliances area. Caleb pulled a small list from his back pocket containing preferred models of refrigerators and began trolling the refrigerator aisle. Eventually, they selected a standard white model as a replacement for the damaged one at the estate, and Katrina arranged for a delivery at the sales desk.

“And what time is best for delivery?” the sales clerk asked.

“Evening would be best,” Katrina replied.

Caleb spoke up, “Hey, I’m not teaching until next month. I’ll be available for daytime deliveries.”

Katrina wanted to avoid his being the person answering the door at daytime when vampires were most vulnerable, but she allowed it. “Fine,” she replied. “Daytime will be fine.”
They arranged for a morning delivery in two days time.
At least it will be on the shady side of the house during the morning
, Katrina mused as she finalized the arrangements. She would be able to maneuver tactically if needed and still not catch the sun fully.

After they loaded the items into the Audi’s small trunk and packed one side of the back seat with the remaining packages, they were on their way to the nearest steak house.

“Kind of cramped back here now,” Paige complained as she shoved a plastic bag of items away from her and leaned forward between the driver and passenger seats.

“Better than the trunk,” Caleb quipped and glanced over to smirk at the petite vampire.

“Go ahead and laugh, smarty pants,” Paige teased with a playful smirk. “I’ll shove your butt back here on the way home.”
By the time they arrived at the steak house, Caleb’s appetite was considerable. His mouth watered at the scent of grilled steak as he exited the car and held the seat forward for Paige to exit. Paige squeezed past him and quickly swatted him on the butt.

“Time to round up some beef for my man,” she drawled and scanned the parking lot while he shut the door.

A pickup truck parked in front and to the left of their vehicle had a rough-looking man sitting in the driver’s seat, and Caleb noticed the fellow staring at him in the side view mirror as he shut the car door. His eyes strayed to the shotgun hanging in the back window of the pickup, and he paused as Paige slipped her arm around his.

Paige’s eyes focused on the man in the truck, while Katrina had already noticed Caleb’s stare and stood at the front of their car in a relaxed stance. They gave the truck a wide berth as Paige placed herself on the side towards the truck, and Katrina followed behind them both.

“Hungry, tiger?” Paige asked as they strode across the parking lot.

“Sure,” Caleb replied in a distracted fashion as he started to glance back over his shoulder.

But Paige leaned up and kissed him on the cheek to keep his head from turning around, and she felt the muscles stiffen in his arm. “No problem there, kiddo,” she reassured him with a smile. “People in the south just love their shotguns.”
He did his best to chuckle off-handedly and lied, “Hey, I’m not worried. I mean, that’d be silly and kind of paranoid anyway, right?”

A young man appearing to be a restaurant employee stood finishing a cigarette not far from the entrance next to a decorative ashcan and nodded politely as they passed. Caleb reached out to open the front entry door to the restaurant and courteously let Paige enter before him, but Katrina placed her hand behind his back to usher him before her.

As they stood amidst the crowd waiting in line to be seated, Katrina bent down to whisper in his ear, “You’re not silly, Caleb. And don’t forget a little fear can be healthy sometimes.”

He smiled slightly and nodded as she quickly kissed him on the cheek from behind and placed her hand on his shoulder. Paige looked deliberately back over her shoulder at Caleb and flashed her bright blue eyes and a white-toothed grin.

“Ditto, kiddo,” she whispered. “Your babysitter’s always on duty.”

An older woman standing next to them glanced at Paige with a frown. But Paige gave her a level, unfriendly stare, and the woman quickly looked the other direction as she stepped closer to the man appearing to be her husband.

After a short wait, they were seated at a table in the corner of the large dining room, with the vampires placing Caleb between them so they could see anyone approaching the table. After a few minutes, he relaxed somewhat. It helped that his hunger advanced to the point that his anxiety was outweighed by his desire for caloric intake. He also appreciated the light-hearted southern hospitality of the waitress and the seemingly upbeat customers around them.

Katrina and Paige both ordered salads, while Caleb ordered a large sirloin steak with baked potato and side salad. He also preordered a piece of the restaurant’s signature blackberry cobbler. In addition, they each nibbled at the complimentary rolls, though he ate three of them while the women each picked at their roll without actually consuming much of it. As they sat at the table, Caleb noticed the ladies were receiving some tentative glances from nearby male patrons.

“I’m the luckiest guy in this place,” he commented earnestly with a proud tone as he buttered one of his rolls.

“We’re just happy to make you look good,” Paige offered with a smirk as Katrina grinned.

Both women were happy that his mood had improved significantly.

Very soon, their meals arrived, and Caleb dug into his with a vengeance. Katrina shook her head while Paige’s eyebrows rose with some surprise.

“Don’t forget to chew, kiddo,” Paige teased as she smiled over at Katrina, who merely shrugged.

After about twenty minutes, Caleb decided to ask something that had been on his mind all evening. “So, are we really in the clear now?” he asked. “I mean, Kat killed Chimalma, and only one attack on the estate was actually mentioned on the digital recording at the retreat facility. Are we getting back to normal now?”