The Reluctant Vampire Page 0,9

open once more. Frowning, he sat up and listened more intently, but the house was silent, without even the sounds of creaking stairs or floorboards reaching his ears. No one was moving around inside the house, he decided, but then another laugh reached his ears, and he turned toward the window, where he was sure the sound had come from. Harper peered at the blinds for a moment and then slid out of bed and padded across the floor to the window, which looked out over the garage and driveway at the back of the house. Sunlight streamed in the moment he tugged one of the slats down, and Harper blinked against it, squin ng un l his eyes adjusted. He then scanned what he could see of the driveway and backyard. It was a moment before he found the source of the sounds he'd heard, and then Drina came into view on the sidewalk beside the garage. She was slip-sliding her way toward the driveway, her running shoes giving her no trac on on the icy concrete. Her clumsy efforts elicited another peel of amusement from somewhere out of sight.

Stephanie, Harper decided, sure it was the girl even though he couldn't yet see her. Turning his gaze back to Drina, he frowned as he took in her winter wear. She wore jeans, which were fine, but the running shoes were completely unsuitable, and her coat was far too lightweight for this weather. She also had no gloves or hat on, which suggested to him that she hadn't been prepared for a Canadian winter when she'd set out on her journey from Spain.

She'd probably thought she would just a end the weddings in New York, spending most of her me in the hotel, the church, or cars and wouldn't need heavier gear, he thought, and then winced as a snowball suddenly shot from somewhere off to the side and slammed into the back of Drina's head. The hit took her completely by surprise and made her jerk. In the next moment, her feet went out from beneath her and she was on her behind on the icy concrete. She was also cursing a blue streak in Spanish that he could hear even over Stephanie's uproarious laughter.

Concern rushing through him, Harper let the blind slat slip back into place and hurried out of the room, pausing just long enough to pull on a pair of jeans as he went. Once downstairs, he almost rushed outside bare-chested and in just the jeans, but the chill that hit him when he opened the kitchen door, and the sight of the snow-laced screen door, made him rethink that and hurry to the closet in the pantry. S ll, he was quick about pulling on boots and a coat, and didn't bother doing up either before rushing back through the kitchen and out onto the deck.

The walkway was empty, and there was no sign of either female as he crossed the deck. For one moment, Harper could almost have believed he'd imagined the whole thing he'd seen from his window, but then he spo ed where the snow had been disturbed by Drina's fall, as well as the footprints leading around to the driveway. He followed them quickly around the garage, and stopped abruptly. Stephanie was in the front passenger seat of the SUV, bent over and peering at something under the driver's side, but it was Drina's derriere waving around in the open driver's door as she fiddled with something under the dashboard that brought him to a halt.

The woman's bu was snow-covered and bobbing about like an apple on a river's surface as she worked at whatever she was doing. It was an interes ng sight, he decided, and then gave his head a shake and continued forward, becoming aware of their conversation as he approached.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Stephanie was asking, half-amused and half-worried. "I could always just creep in and find the keys."

"I have done this before," Drina assured her from under the dashboard, her voice sounding annoyed. "I can do this. It is just that your cars seem to be wired differently than ours in Europe."

Stephanie snorted at the claim. "I hardly think they wire them differently. How long ago did you last do this?"

"Twenty years or so," Drina admi ed in a mu er, and then cursed in Spanish, and added determinedly, "I can do this. We will go shopping."

"Is there something I can help