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“It’s just, I gave up the idea of being able to have children long ago, for obvious reasons. I mourned, but I made my peace with it. I’d never even considered that Dick could … though it makes sense that he did. He always sort of played fast and loose with his, er, companions. How long have you known?”
“A month or so. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. Dick asked me not to say anything.”
“Jane?” Dick came rushing through the door with Zeb on his heels. He skidded to a halt as he saw my tear tracked face, then whirled on Gabriel. “Why is she crying? If you made her cry, I’m going to kick your—”
“Why are you here?” Gabriel asked Dick.
“The clerk at the video store next door saw an ambulance over here and called me,” Dick said.
Zeb made a face. “The porn-store guy has your home number?”
I ignored this disturbing tidbit and wrapped my arms around Dick’s neck. “Dick, I’m so sorry. It’s Mr. Wainwright. He’s gone.”
Dick’s bravado melted away. “From where?”
“The earthly plane,” I said. “He died earlier tonight.”
His face contorted in pain. “I’ve been spending time at the shop—”
“No, no,” I said, clutching Dick’s hands. “Nobody ‘got to him.’ It was just a plain old heart attack.”
“I didn’t get to tell him,” Dick said. “I didn’t get to say good-bye.”
“Actually, he plans on sticking around for a while, so you could tell him right now.”
“Tell him what, exactly?” Mr. Wainwright asked, his transparent form sliding through the door.
It’s embarrassing to be surprised when you have vampire senses, particularly when the person who snuck up behind you is older than dirt. Also dead.
“What?” Mr. Wainwright asked, the gray tufts of his brows rising on his transparent forehead. “What’s wrong?”
“This seems like a private conversation. We should probably leave,” Gabriel whispered to Zeb, though both of them stayed rooted to their spots.
“OK, you two, out,” I told them.
“But, but, but—” Zeb spluttered pitifully as I shoved the pair of them into the office and closed the door behind us.
I waited while I heard Dick quietly explaining the situation. When Mr. Wainright didn’t respond, I poked my head into the room to make sure he was still there. There was an expression of relief around Dick’s eyes as Mr. Wainwright stumbled forward and hugged Dick in an insubstantial manner.
This was so strange, an ancient man calling this thirty-something fellow Grandpa; in a world where logic lived, the roles would be reversed. But years melted off Mr. Wainwright’s face as he studied Dick’s features.
“You have my nose,” Dick said sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s a good nose,” Mr. Wainwright said. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“Thought you’d be better off,” Dick said.
“But I wasn’t,” Mr. Wainwright said. “If you’d been around, if I’d known that vampires were real, I wouldn’t have felt so lonely. It’s no wonder my mother hated my interest in the paranormal. Every time I picked up a book on vampires, she was afraid I was going to turn out like you.”
Dick seemed ashamed, which was something I’d never seen before. “I never told your mother. I think she guessed, but she never asked, and I always figured it was better left unsaid. I’m sorry.”
“I have so much I want to ask you. About your life, about my father, and his father, and your son.”
“I can give you some answers,” Dick said. “The rest you may not want to know.”
“I’m not frightened,” Mr. Wainwright promised.
“This reunion is really touching,” I said, backing toward the office door. “But if I see one of you cry, I may actually implode. So I’m going to go elsewhere.”
