register by the door. The decor was what you’d expect from something out of the fifties: red-andwhite color scheme, gingham napkins and drapes, waitresses in skirts with ruffled shirts and aprons. The menu was posted above the counter, individual jukeboxes were at every seat, and there were glass compartments full of pie slices on plates by the soda fountain.
Boone wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and she didn’t recognize anyone as being from the species.
The sense that she was out of place on a lot of levels created an irrational panic in the center of her chest, and she considered turning around and walking back out. But then she squared her shoulders and told herself she was staying, even if it meant she got stood up and had to have a piece of pie by herself.
It was beyond time for her to stretch her horizons. Even if it was only so far as a booth at The 24 Hr. Diner.
An older woman with a name tag that had “Ruth” on it walked over. “Mornin’, darlin’, you ready to sit?”
The Southern accent was a surprise. But then again, Helania had never heard one in person before.
“Um, I’m supposed to meet some friends here?”
“They come in yet?”
Helania looked around again. You know, just in case she’d missed three vampires sitting in and among the humans. “Ah, no. I don’t think so.”
“How many you be?”
At least that was what she thought the woman said. “I’m sorry, what?”
Falling back on old habits, she lip-read the answer that was given to her: How many do you be?
“Three?” Okay, so this whole question-as-answer thing she was rocking was annoying. As if the woman was in a position to confirm the number psychically in the event Helania had it wrong? “I mean, four. In total. Three plus me.”
The smile that came back at her was so unexpected and so . . . kind . . . that Helania nearly teared up.
“You’re nervous,” the woman said. “You meetin’ a man?”
“Um . . . well, yes. Yes, I’ve just started . . . um . . . seeing someone.
And he and his friends are meeting me here—a couple. I mean, there’s another couple coming. With him.”
“Oh, a double date! Come on, y’all can sit over here where it’s quiet.”
Helania followed the waitress down to a booth at the end of the lineup opposite the counter. As she skootched in so she was facing the door, “Ruth” brought over four glasses of water and leaned a hip against the free side of the padded bench.
“So, tell me about your beau,” the human said.
Well, he’s a vampire and he kills the undead for a living. He’s also a great kisser.
“We’re just getting to know each other.” Inside and out, in her case, she thought with a blush. “And he’s a really nice guy.”
“Honey, you’re makin’ sense then. I was married to my Merv for fifty years and I liked him just as much when I buried him as when I walked down that aisle to him.” The woman leaned in and dropped her voice. “Mark my words, the nice guys are the ones you want to take home and keep. Bad boys just break your heart, and that’s a rite of passage a smart woman only goes through once. The nice guys? Those are who you settle down with.”
Ruth gave Helania a wink as she straightened. “You want coffee?” Do I? Helania wondered.
“Yes, please?” God, again with the frickin’ question mark. “I mean, yes. Please.”
“Cream and sugar? And listen, we don’t do none of that almond milk or soy silliness, so don’t even ask. Our cream is from cows. The rest of that crap just ruins perfectly good coffee.”
As Helania didn’t know how she wanted anything at this point, she just said she’d take it black. And while Ruth went off to rustle up the caffeine, Helania rubbed sweaty palms on her jeans. Figuring that her parka wasn’t helping the hot waves going through her, and knowing she was going to have to shake hands pretty soon, she stripped out of her jacket and crammed the down folds in between her thigh and the wall of the booth.
Just as she was checking out the table-sized jukebox, her senses fired and she looked up.
A very nice-looking couple were coming through the door. The female was blond and truly striking, possessing the kind of double take attractiveness that turned her casual jeans and wool coat into formal wear. The male beside her was very