Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1)(41)

The whole room had grown so silent you could hear a pin drop.

“He screamed and he moaned. I almost shot him myself, to shut him up, because I knew to venture out to rescue him was suicide. But I could not quite bring myself to kill him. That would be murder, not war, I told myself. But later I wished I had shot him, for Tolliver was less able than I to withstand the boy’s pleading. After two hours of it, he told me he planned to try to rescue the boy. I argued with him. But Tolliver told me that God wanted him to attempt it. He had been praying as we lay in the woods.

“Though I told Tolliver that God did not wish him to waste his life foolishly—that he had a wife and children praying for his safe return at home—Tolliver asked me to divert the enemy while he attempted the boy’s rescue. He ran out into the field like it was a spring day and he was well rested. And he got as far as the wounded boy. But then a shot rang out, and Tolliver fell dead. And, after a time, the boy began screaming for help again.”

“What happened to him?” asked Mrs. Fortenberry, her voice as quiet as she could manage to make it.

“He lived,” Bill said, and there was tone to his voice that sent shivers down my spine. “He survived the day, and we were able to retrieve him that night.”

Somehow those people had come alive again as Bill spoke, and for the old man in the front row there was a memory to cherish, a memory that said much about his ancestor’s character.

I don’t think anyone who’d come to the meeting that night was prepared for the impact of hearing about the Civil War from a survivor. They were enthralled; they were shattered.

When Bill had answered the last question, there was thunderous applause, or at least it was as thunderous as forty people could make it. Even Sam, not Bill’s biggest fan, managed to put his hands together.

Everyone wanted to have a personal word with Bill afterward except me and Sam. While the reluctant guest speaker was surrounded by Descendants, Sam and I sneaked out to Sam’s pickup. We went to the Crawdad Diner, a real dive that happened to have very good food. I wasn’t hungry, but Sam had key lime pie with his coffee.

“That was interesting,” Sam said cautiously.

“Bill’s speech? Yes,” I said, just as cautiously.

“Do you have feelings for him?”

After all the indirection, Sam had decided to storm the main gate.

“Yes,” I said.

“Sookie,” Sam said, “You have no future with him.”

“On the other hand, he’s been around a while. I expect he’ll be around for a another few hundred years.”

“You never know what’s going to happen to a vampire.”

I couldn’t argue with that. But, as I pointed out to Sam, I couldn’t know what was going to happen to me, a human, either.

We wrangled back and forth like this for too long. Finally, exasperated, I said, “What’s it to you, Sam?”

His ruddy skin flushed. His bright blue eyes met mine. “I like you, Sookie. As friend or maybe something else sometime . . .”

Huh?

“I just hate to see you take a wrong turn.”

I looked at him. I could feel my skeptical face forming, eyebrows drawn together, the corner of my mouth tugging up.

“Sure,” I said, my voice matching my face.

“I’ve always liked you.”

“So much that you had to wait till someone else showed an interest, before you mentioned it to me?”

“I deserve that.” He seemed to be turning something over in his mind, something he wanted to say, but hadn’t the resolution.

Whatever it was, he couldn’t come out with it, apparently.

“Let’s go,” I suggested. It would be hard to turn the conversation back to neutral ground, I figured. I might as well go home.

It was a funny ride back. Sam always seemed on the verge of speaking, and then he’d shake his head and keep silent. I was so aggravated I wanted to swat him.

We got home later than I’d thought. Gran’s light was on, but the rest of the house was dark. I didn’t see her car, so I figured she’d parked in back to unload the leftovers right into the kitchen. The porch light was on for me.

Sam walked around and opened the pickup door, and I stepped down. But in the shadow, my foot missed the running board, and I just sort of tumbled out. Sam caught me. First his hands gripped my arms to steady me, then they just slid around me. And he kissed me.

I assumed it was going to be a little good-night peck, but his mouth just kind of lingered. It was really more than pleasant, but suddenly my inner censor said, “This is the boss.”

I gently disengaged. He was immediately aware that I was backing off, and gently slid his hands down my arms until he was just holding hands with me. We went to the door, not speaking.

“I had a good time,” I said, softly. I didn’t want to wake Gran, and I didn’t want to sound bouncy.

“I did, too. Again sometime?”

“We’ll see,” I said. I really didn’t know how I felt about Sam.

I waited to hear his truck turn around before I switched off the porch light and went into the house. I was unbuttoning my blouse as I walked, tired and ready for bed.

Something was wrong.

I stopped in the middle of the living room. I looked around me.

Everything looked all right, didn’t it?