Page 104 of Dark Obsession

He nodded once and, still keeping hold of her hand, focused on the meeting again as something long held tight inside him twisted loose a tiny bit.

Demetrius wrung out the mop Margie had purchased, wrinkling his nose at the dark, sludgy water in the bucket. He straightened up, one hand on the small of his back as it crackled, and took stock of the diner.

The dining area was one big open space, the tile floor still stained in some places with dark vampire blood. The busted up tables and chairs and a few of the booths ruined beyond repair had been tossed into the rented dumpster parked outside the back door. His heart clenched at the empty feel of the room, but he reminded himself her new and improved tables and chairs would be delivered in another week, and Biff Gittleson, a handyman out toward Creighton, had offered to rebuild the ruined booths for two dozen meatloafs he intended to freeze and savor over the next year.

Demetrius, Oliver, and Robin had been mopping the last two days, and Vicki Downing had helped the days before. Even with the stubborn sticky patches of vampire blood scattered around the floor, the place was looking a lot better, and the countertop and tabletops of the surviving booths gleamed.

The muted conversation within the kitchen grew suddenly more heated, and he heard Margie say, “Look here, Gordon Gottlieb, I will not have you deny this damage after the money I’ve paid you all these years without a single claim, do you hear me? This was not an act of civil war or riot. This was vandalism, pure and simple. Now, straighten up and tell me what that new walk-in cooler is going to cost you.”

Demetrius looked at Oliver across the room, and they shared a smile. The front door opened and the little bell, which had survived it all, tinkled. Lucia and Gayle came through, Lucia still moving a bit stiffly.

“Hi,” Demetrius said, leaning his mop against the wall. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve got three broken ribs, how do you think I feel?” Lucia said. “Crappy.”

“And crabby,” Gayle added, but she hovered close by while Lucia lowered herself onto a stool at the counter.

Lucia shot her a glare before taking in the room. “It’s looking a hell of a lot better.”

“Figured it was the least we could do,” Oliver said, leaning on his mop.

“Yeah,” Robin put in from the front corner of the room where they were on their hands and knees scraping at a stubborn stain. “Since my company burned down, I’ve gotta keep busy somehow.”

“Your company?” Oliver said with a smirk. “You some business mogul whiz kid all of a sudden?”

Robin rose up on their knees and spread their arms. “I might be. You don’t know.”

“If you are, you’re a pretty cheap ass bitch with your money,” Oliver said, and they all laughed.

Margie pushed out of the kitchen, muttering. When she saw Lucia and Gayle, her face lit up and she came around to the front of the counter. “How are you doing?”

“Crappy,” Lucia repeated, then gave Gayle a long look, prompting her to make a twisting motion in front of her closed lips as if turning the key in a lock.

“The stove, oven, and griddle will be operational tomorrow, but I won’t be open for more than a few hours a day without a cooler to store the meat and produce. That refrigerator back there won’t cut it for my usual hours, and it’s going to take weeks for the new cooler to arrive.” Margie glanced toward the kitchen door before adding in a softer tone, “And fully covered.”

“That’s really great news, Margie,” Lucia said. “We just wanted to stop in and see how the cleanup was going. No pressure to open up again.”

“Oh, I’m pressuring myself to reopen.” She clutched her hands together as she looked around. “I miss the bustle of this place.”

“People are talking about missing Hollow Grounds, the Orchid, and the clothing store,” Robin said, getting to their feet and stretching. “I think Diane is meeting with Gordon later today about how she can get the coffeeshop rebuilt. But everyone, and I mean everyone, says they miss this place the most.”

Diane was the owner of Hollow Grounds. When the firebomb had been thrown through the window, she’d evacuated as many people as possible and received several burns in the process. In a lot of pain, she’d driven herself to the hospital and called 911 on the way.

“People have been asking me when you’ll open again, too,” Demetrius added.

“Oh, you all are going to make me cry.” Margie ran a finger beneath one eye.

“Was the sink actually damaged?” Gordon called from the kitchen.

Margie’s expression changed in a flash, and she whirled to stomp back toward the kitchen. “You’re damn well right it was damaged.”

They all laughed, then Demetrius took a step closer to Lucia. “Congratulations on being appointed sheriff.”

Her smile was brief, there and gone. “Thanks. Not the way I wanted to get it.”

“But well deserved,” Gayle said, squeezing her shoulder.

Lucia blushed. “There’s a difference between being appointed by the mayor to being elected by the population, though.”