gave an unexpected and unwanted flutter. I'd loved him once. Maybe a part of me still did. I just wasn't sure my heart could handle what he'd do to it. Besides, I still hadn't decided anything about Inigo. I gave my heart a stern mental talking to.
"You're a day early," I said as he drew closer. I'd asked him to pick me up in a week.
"I know," he said, nodding to Tommy in greeting. "But I've got a lead on that vampire that attacked you. Thought you might want to come along for the ride. If you're up to it?"
Up to it? I'd been healed for days, and I'd do just about anything to get away from Tommy's ceaseless drills. "Sure. Sounds good. I'll just grab my stuff."
As I took off for the cabin at a jog, I could feel Tommy's eyes boring into me like twin lasers. I knew without a doubt this little training session of ours wouldn't be our last, and that was probably a good thing. Much as I hated them, Tommy's drills had helped me focus. They'd helped me heal. And not just physically.
I wouldn't miss his rock-hard guest bed, though. I grinned as I dumped my suitcase on top of the mattress and started tossing my stuff into it. I hadn't come with much, so I was done and out the door in minutes.
Before I hopped into the truck, I gave Tommy a quick hug. He smelled of sage and juniper and wood smoke. "Thanks for the training. Sorry I have to leave early." I wasn't sorry.
"Liar. Don't worry about it. You'll be back." His eyes promised all sorts of revenge.
"I don't doubt it." I turned to climb up into the pickup, but Tommy's hand on my arm stopped me.
"Remember, there will come a day, very soon, when you will have to make a choice." His eyes were deadly serious. "When that time comes, you must choose wisely. Your choice... it could alter the future."
"Okay." I had to make choices every day. Life-or-death kinds of choices. I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me. He was definitely a little over the top. Alter the entire future? I doubted it. "I'll, uh, do my best."
"Just remember, choose with the heart of a woman, not a warrior. It will not lead you astray."
He let me go then. Baffled, I climbed into the truck, slamming the door shut. As we bounced down the road in a cloud of dust, I craned my head to look out the back window. Tommy was still standing in the middle of the road. I watched him until we turned the corner, and Tommy and the cabin disappeared from sight.
Chapter 16
The wooden sign next to the street proudly proclaimed "Sunnyside Village," complete with curlicues and fake gold paint that was starting to flake off. Beneath the name, neat black letters proclaimed it to be "An award winning community of elegance and style for the retired."
In other words? Old folks' home. And it looked like one, too. Screw "retirement village," this place looked more like a prison. Okay, maybe not a prison, but I wasn't seeing a whole lot of elegance or style. Unless "depressing" was a style.
The building looked like it might have once been a single family ranch-style house. It was long and low with '60s era aluminum framed windows and worn vinyl siding painted a dull gray. At some point, somebody had added a couple extra wings to house the retirees and decided to paint them beige. No doubt beige paint had been on sale. It didn't help with the elegance.
Its saving grace was that Sunnyside Village was perched on the side of a hill overlooking Happy Valley and Sunnyside Road in the hills just outside Portland. It wasn’t a bad view. At least the inmates—I mean guests—didn't have to look at the building. Talk about depressing.
It was weird, too, because Happy Valley was known as a sort of posh place where people lived in huge cookie-cutter houses and drove gas-guzzling SUVs that took up three whole parking spaces. They shopped at snazzy grocery stores that had wide, brightly lit aisles and sold organic food for insane prices. Most everything was new and clean and fresh. Not Sunnyside Village. It stuck out like a
"You're a day early," I said as he drew closer. I'd asked him to pick me up in a week.
"I know," he said, nodding to Tommy in greeting. "But I've got a lead on that vampire that attacked you. Thought you might want to come along for the ride. If you're up to it?"
Up to it? I'd been healed for days, and I'd do just about anything to get away from Tommy's ceaseless drills. "Sure. Sounds good. I'll just grab my stuff."
As I took off for the cabin at a jog, I could feel Tommy's eyes boring into me like twin lasers. I knew without a doubt this little training session of ours wouldn't be our last, and that was probably a good thing. Much as I hated them, Tommy's drills had helped me focus. They'd helped me heal. And not just physically.
I wouldn't miss his rock-hard guest bed, though. I grinned as I dumped my suitcase on top of the mattress and started tossing my stuff into it. I hadn't come with much, so I was done and out the door in minutes.
Before I hopped into the truck, I gave Tommy a quick hug. He smelled of sage and juniper and wood smoke. "Thanks for the training. Sorry I have to leave early." I wasn't sorry.
"Liar. Don't worry about it. You'll be back." His eyes promised all sorts of revenge.
"I don't doubt it." I turned to climb up into the pickup, but Tommy's hand on my arm stopped me.
"Remember, there will come a day, very soon, when you will have to make a choice." His eyes were deadly serious. "When that time comes, you must choose wisely. Your choice... it could alter the future."
"Okay." I had to make choices every day. Life-or-death kinds of choices. I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me. He was definitely a little over the top. Alter the entire future? I doubted it. "I'll, uh, do my best."
"Just remember, choose with the heart of a woman, not a warrior. It will not lead you astray."
He let me go then. Baffled, I climbed into the truck, slamming the door shut. As we bounced down the road in a cloud of dust, I craned my head to look out the back window. Tommy was still standing in the middle of the road. I watched him until we turned the corner, and Tommy and the cabin disappeared from sight.
Chapter 16
The wooden sign next to the street proudly proclaimed "Sunnyside Village," complete with curlicues and fake gold paint that was starting to flake off. Beneath the name, neat black letters proclaimed it to be "An award winning community of elegance and style for the retired."
In other words? Old folks' home. And it looked like one, too. Screw "retirement village," this place looked more like a prison. Okay, maybe not a prison, but I wasn't seeing a whole lot of elegance or style. Unless "depressing" was a style.
The building looked like it might have once been a single family ranch-style house. It was long and low with '60s era aluminum framed windows and worn vinyl siding painted a dull gray. At some point, somebody had added a couple extra wings to house the retirees and decided to paint them beige. No doubt beige paint had been on sale. It didn't help with the elegance.
Its saving grace was that Sunnyside Village was perched on the side of a hill overlooking Happy Valley and Sunnyside Road in the hills just outside Portland. It wasn’t a bad view. At least the inmates—I mean guests—didn't have to look at the building. Talk about depressing.
It was weird, too, because Happy Valley was known as a sort of posh place where people lived in huge cookie-cutter houses and drove gas-guzzling SUVs that took up three whole parking spaces. They shopped at snazzy grocery stores that had wide, brightly lit aisles and sold organic food for insane prices. Most everything was new and clean and fresh. Not Sunnyside Village. It stuck out like a
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