Louise Ch. 06

Kevyn listened to Barb and wondered if she realized that she had just admitted to being a gold digger.

"Have you told him how you feel about him?" Barb asked. "If not, then why? What are you waiting for?"

Louise didn't reply. She let Barb talk until she fell silent.

"Thank you for helping me with that." Louise said softly. She had to admit that there was a lot of merit in what Barb said and it was well worth considering.

"You're welcome... You sneaky little mouse!" Barb exclaimed half amused, half angrily.

"Don't you feel better?" Louise asked as she reached for the glass of cola that Kevyn had already poured for her.

Barb laughed, "They say that you have to watch the quiet ones."

"I really did want your advice." Louise said. "But I think that while you believe the things that you said about mom and dad, there was more to it and you know what that is without me saying it... you admitted to it while you were talking. I'm not judging, it's your life but I'm going to use a piece of the advice you offered now."

Barb and Kevyn looked at Louise and waited.

"I want you to stay away from Nathan. I don't know where we're going yet but I want to find out without you complicating things. Did I state my position clearly enough?" she asked in a clear, strong voice

Kevyn almost dropped the bottle of cola that she was holding, Barb just stared at her as the verbal, and psychic command hit her making her head ache again.

"I get it." Barb said rubbing her temples. "Damn my head hurts again, maybe I need to go get checked out."

The sisters spent that night and the next in the apartment and had a conference all with Juliet twice during that time. By the end of the second night, they had reached an understanding. Kevyn wasn't going to introduce Barb to any of the Sinclaire men but what she did was her business. It was then that Barb informed them that she did not intend to return to Pittsburgh or Connecticut.

"I hate the weather there and I love the weather here. I have to find a place to live and unfortunately a job until I meet someone but I have enough money to live on for a few months."

"The rent around here is pricy." Kevyn said, "Just how much money do you have?"

Barb didn't answer but looked around the small efficiency apartment.

"How much for something like this?" she asked.

"This was nine-hundred a month plus utilities but I thought you considered it a dump." Kevyn replied.

"I still do but it will do for the time being. When is your lease up?" Barb replied.

"It's paid up for another six months but Barb; there are jobs available but not the kind that you would want." Kevyn said.

"There's got to be something other than what you did." Barb hesitated, "Look, I know that you didn't want me here and that I have no right to ask for any favors but could I stay here until the lease is up? I really want to stay in California. There really is nothing for me back home."

Kevyn looked over at Louise who she knew was listening to Barb's every word trying to detect a lie. She didn't trust Barb any more than she did.

While Barb waited for an answer, she thought about the conversations of the past days and wondered how Louise knew the things that she did. She had to admit that she felt better but that didn't change the fact that she still believed that she was entitled to the things that both Kevyn and Louise had. As for Louise, she would keep her word and stay away from Nathan but she would keep watch for any signs that things weren't working out. She jumped when she realized that Louise was looking at her.

"Alright, I don't see why not." Kevyn said. "But I would be remiss if I didn't tell you to be careful. This isn't that quiet little town that you lived in back east."

"I know that." Barb said a little tersely showing that she was still there.

Kevyn was going to warn her about the property owner but decided not to. He wouldn't put up with Barb and her demanding 'the world owes me' attitude but she would warn him. She wished that she could be a fly on the wall to watch their first confrontation.

They took Barb back to the hotel themselves instead of calling Ollie. Barb settled in the front seat and looked at the dashboard.

"Nice car but why aren't you driving something new? He can afford it."

"Why do I need a new car? This one is fine and the one that we usually use." Kevyn replied.

"Oh I see," Barb said, "rich but trying not to look it."

"So Barb," Louise said changing the subject, "what kind of job are you going to look for?"

"Something in an office I think which reminds me, I have to have someone pack up and send me my clothes."

The problem was that she had no real friends and her best friend really wasn't a friend at all. They just had the same goals and if she asked her to pack up her things, she would show up on her doorstep just as she had shown on Kevyn's and that simply wouldn't do. The house wasn't a problem, she could sell it and it would be all profit after all of the fees were paid. Warren Simpson her ex had paid cash for it and had given it to her just to be rid of it and her. She began to make a mental list of what she needed to in order to make the move. She decided to call the realtor first and then Juliet to ask her to pack up her clothes and ship them. She would have to pay her but she would go pack up her clothes and send them without too much fuss.

Once at the hotel, she got out of the car, grabbed her bag and walked away without as much as a goodbye. She had gotten what she wanted. She could feel Kevyn's glare on her back and she simply didn't care. She could and would play nice when she had to.

Kevyn almost called out to her but Louise stopped her.

"She isn't going to change so choose your battles carefully."

"She manipulated us!" Kevyn replied.

"She thinks that she did." Louise replied, "You were going to offer her the use of it anyway weren't you?"

"Yeah, but why does it feel like she got over on us?"

"Because she didn't give you the chance to make the offer." Louise replied.

"You know, Barb is right." Kevyn said, "It is the quiet ones that bear watching. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go home, I miss Patrick."

********

Patrick and Nathan took turns peeking out of the window looking for the Hyundai to pull into the driveway. It had been a long two nights and the frequent but short phone calls did nothing but to make them miss the women even more. Of the two of them, Nathan was having the harder time only because he and Louise hadn't mated and they couldn't communicate telepathically. During the time that Louise was gone, he had gotten the foundation of the house laid doing quite a bit of the work himself.

As soon as he got the phone call that Louise and Kevyn were going to be back in the morning, he rushed to the florists, ordered bouquets of various kinds of flowers and arranged for an early morning delivery. The next thing was to enlist Patrick's help in making a welcome home breakfast.

"Breakfast?" Patrick asked incredulous. "Food is the last thing on my mind." he added but then apologized. "I'm sorry; I forgot that you and Lou aren't at that point yet. So what's on the menu?"

"No, I'm sorry." Nathan replied, "I wasn't thinking."

"Nathan, there's nothing to apologize for so... how about that breakfast casserole?'

It was two hours before Nathan spotted the car as it pulled up to the gate. It seemed that once he saw the car, time slowed. The car appeared to be moving in slow motion as it cleared the gate and moved toward the garage. He and Patrick were in the garage long before the doors opened.

As soon as the car was inside, Patrick was at the driver's side and he was at the passenger side opening the door, pulling Louise out and into his arms.

"I've missed you." he murmured with his lips pressed against the top off her head. "Never again." he added, "we will never be apart like that again."

Louise heard him but made no comment, she had missed him too. When he pulled back and looked down at her, her breath caught at the intensity of his gaze.

"I missed you." he repeated before kissing her. As before, Louise found her arms around his waist with no memory of putting them there. When they broke the kiss, they found themselves alone in the garage. Louise blushed and then looked back up at Nathan. "I hope that you're hungry, we made breakfast for you and Kevyn."

Kevyn and Patrick were already gone by the time they reached the kitchen. The remainder of the casserole was on in the oven waiting for them.

"I still don't get how you guys can eat so much and not be as big as a house." Louise said when she saw the size of the pan that the casserole had been made in.

Nathan looked at her and made a decision.

"Sweetheart, are you up for a talk?"

"Sure... I feel better now that things are more settled between us and Barb." Louise replied.

"I'm glad to hear it." Nathan said, "Sit down and tell me about it while I fix our plates."

While they ate, Louise gave him the highlights of the time spent with Barb.

"So anyway, I think she feels better too and you don't have to worry about resisting her charms."

"That was never a problem." Nathan said, "But how do you feel about her moving here?"

"I think that as long as we accept her for what she is and don't try to change her, it'll be fine." Louise replied. "We all know that she'll continue to search for that rich man to take care of her and all we can do is to warn her to be careful."

"You and Kevyn are good sisters but what about the other one? Juliet? What is she like?" Nathan asked stalling but also aware that Louise had never been this free with information about her family.

"Juliet is kind of like Barb but not as bad. Her attitude is that if it happens it happens. She has two kids that I used to baby-sit for on the weekends..."

"In addition to taking care of your mother?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah well, mom liked having them around; they took her mind off of dad."

"Did Juliet help you with your mother?"

"No, not really, she worked and had the kids..."

"I'm sorry," Nathan said, "if she could find the time to go out, why couldn't she spend a few hours with your mother? Of your siblings, who did help you?"

Louise wasn't prepared for the anger that she felt coming from Nathan but she answered the question.

"Other than Kev and my brother who died, I would have to say Leon. I didn't call him as much as I should have because he worked nights at the steel mill and picked up all the overtime that he could but when I called, he came without question, if I needed help in paying for mom's prescriptions, he did it and never asked to be paid back. There was Gene but he had his own issues and I tried not to call him unless I had no other choice."

Nathan was silent for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Do you have any idea of your true strength?" he asked.

"That wasn't strength," Louise replied, "It was doing what needed to be done."

"I beg to differ, from what I have heard and seen, you have always handled any situation that you found yourself in with dignity and grace. You blamed no one for your circumstances and you harbored no ill will toward the siblings that did nothing to help you. You didn't turn to hu... vices such as drugs or alcohol; you drew on an inner strength. I think that you are ready to hear what I need to tell you. But first, let's get a few basic's out of the way, what's your favorite color?"

Two hours later, Nathan knew that Louise's favorite color was green, that she abhorred lima beans, she liked most kinds of music and that she had always loved cooking. He told her that his favorite color was blue, he hated green beans, he liked all music but favored the blues and that he enjoyed cooking.

"Why don't we go to the den?" he asked when there was a lull in the conversation, "I want you to be comfortable for this."

Louise helped clean up the kitchen and followed Nathan to the den. She knew that whatever he was going to tell her, it would be even more life changing than her move to California.

Nathan made sure that she was comfortable and sat down beside her. "Wait, I'll be right back." he said and rushed off toward the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later with an ice chest filled with ice and juices. He had no idea of what her reaction would be and he wanted to be ready.

********

Hans knew that Barb was back only because the atmosphere of the hotel had changed. The staff was back to being on pins and needles with several of them refusing to take care of her at all. Ollie confessed to him that he left her alone in the parking lot of Kevyn's apartment building and explained why.

"She looked at me as if I was the worst smelling shit that existed and I'm not driving her stuck-up ass anywhere else."

Hans understood and didn't argue with him. He also wasn't going to assign her another driver, if she wanted to go somewhere, she'd either have to walk or take a cab. At night, it would fall to him and he wouldn't take her any place that he deemed unsafe no matter how angry she got.

There was still the matter of an apology to Nadine. She still owed the staff as a whole an apology but her treatment of Nadine had been worse than the treatment of the others and he knew why. Nadine was quiet and easily moved to tears and it gave people like Barb Simpson a feeling of power knowing that they could hurt someone so deeply. Before Barb left, Nadine was going to have her apology.

Hans was keenly aware that while he wanted Barb to be safe, he really didn't care about her as a mate should in fact; he felt nothing. Hans sighed and got ready for his days rest... maybe....

********

Barb tossed her bag on the bed and began making her phone calls starting with the realtor. The next call was to Juliet.

"Jeesh! Yes, I'll pay the gas and yes, you can stay at the house while you pack my clothes but keep the kids out of my room...yes you can take the food... absolutely not! Sleep in the guest room with the kids and make sure that you clean up your mess. Her next call was to check on the status of her 401k, she planned to keep from working as long as she could.

"That much?" she asked surprised, "I want to cash it out... yes... I know, just do it."

She added up her asserts and including the alimony payments from Warren, the projected sale of the house, her 401k money and what she had in the bank, she could wait a year to look for a job; longer if she was careful. That she wouldn't have to pay rent or utilities for six months was a big bonus... all she had to do now was find the man who would take care of her without complaint.

The last phone call that she made was to the credit card company. She paid off the balance and now had something to fall back on in case of an emergency. Things were beginning to look up. She admitted that she was still jealous of Kevyn and Louise and admitted that she would never change unless the hand of god himself reached down and touched her but she was fine with that. The mouse had been right, it was something that she needed to admit, own up to and accept.

She flipped through the menu and planned her meals for the day and evening before flipping through the television channels and setting the reminders for her favorite shows for the evening. Tonight was going to be a stay in and relax kind of night; she could only imagine what was happening in Kevyn's bedroom. She didn't think about Louise, she just couldn't see her as someone that a man would want sexually or even her being brave enough to allow a man to touch her. In the back of her mind, she held hope that Nathan Sinclaire would tire of Louise's insecurities and turn her loose.

*******

Nathan took Louise's hands in his and played with her fingers unsure of where to start. Then he decided to start with what he was and to go from there.

"Louise... I'm not human. Neither is Patrick ... no one in my family is human."

Silence.

"I... we all look to be in our thirties to forties but some of us are much older than that. Uncle Patrick is several centuries old as is my father and well you get the picture. We stop aging anywhere from our twenties to our forties and in human years, I'm in my early forties.

Silence.

"Most of us have mates that we never know when or where we're going to find them and for the most part the mates are human. Kevyn is Patrick's mate and you are mine."

"Kevyn is a vampire?" Louise asked.

Nathan let out a sigh of relief that she didn't seem upset about the vampire revelation.

"No, she is immortal and will always be as she is."

Louise was at a loss for words, she didn't know what to expect but this wasn't it. It never crossed her mind that he was lying to her, he wasn't, but she has never really thought about the existence of vampires or other beings.

"Louise? Are you alright?" Nathan asked.

"I... I just wasn't expecting this, I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this... this is why you don't go out during the day isn't it?" she asked as things began to make sense. "And why the drapes are drawn until the sun goes down but... but you can eat."

"Yes, but there are those who can't." Nathan replied. "So you believe me?"

"Yeah but... how? And why me?" Louise asked.

"No one knows." Nathan replied, "But Louise, had I been human, I still would have chosen you. And like now, there would have been nothing that Barb or any other woman could have done to change that. You are mine just as I am yours, you only have to accept me."

"Accept you? How?" Louise asked nervously.

"For now, a simple yes will do." Nathan replied not wanting to overwhelm her.

Louise didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to do as Barb had suggested and claim what was hers but the shy reticent part of her held her back.

Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed as understanding dawned on her. She had read enough vampire novels to know what Nathan was getting at- he was asking her to marry him.

"I know that this seems sudden," Nathan said, "but I knew who you were from the moment I saw you and whether you know it or not, you knew me. I fully understand if you need time to think about and process what I've told you and I will answer any and all questions honestly."

"Does Kevyn know?"

"About us? Yes and I asked her not to say anything before we had a chance to talk." Nathan replied.

"I think that I need to go to my room." Louise said softly, "I have to think about this... I'm not saying no but...."

"Louise," Nathan interrupted, it's all right, take all the time that you need. Talk to Kevyn if it will help but remember that in the end, the decision is yours and mine alone."

Nathan stood, pulled Louise up to him and kissed her before leading her up to her suite. At the door, he stopped her from going in, "Louise, it's alright to be frightened but know that I would never harm you in any way and that you can come to me no matter the time and talk."

Louise slipped into her room, leaned against the door and slid down to the floor. She knew that Nathan was standing on the other side of it; she could feel his concern for her. Slowly, she stood up, turned toward the door and opened it.