A/N Thank you all so much for your encouragement and kind words. I am still greatly stressed but still writing so some good (hopefully) is coming out of it. It warms my heart to see how many folks continue to follow this story - and new readers coming on board all the time, according to the story alert messages I get nearly every day. Thank you to my beta Wanda W., you are the lighthouse at the end of a long journey. Take care misscyn

Chapter 37

The debacle with Minnie meeting the king and consequently confessing her sins to me went down on Thursday night. I didn't hear from Eric or Pam Friday night or Saturday. I broke down and called Fangtasia Sunday night around 11 pm, but a new waitress I don't know yet answered the phone, and told me Pam and Eric were in a meeting and could not be disturbed. She didn't realize who I was, and I didn't leave a message.

Eric and I hadn't gone this long without talking since we'd been officially together. That particular fact, coupled with the way things had gone Thursday night, kept me torn up all weekend. I woke up Monday morning about 4 am with that bad feeling no one ever wants. You know that feeling, when you lie in bed for a few minutes feeling okay and then just exactly how bad your life sucks gradually dawns on you, and you realize the thing which torments you is not a dream. Worst thing about it was I had no idea what to do; no one was talking to me, and I had no game.

I somehow showered, got dressed and slumped to work. I bent my head over my desk and worked furiously, trying to keep the unsettling thoughts at bay. It didn't work for long, and every twenty or thirty minutes or so I'd catch myself looking out the window, wondering, ruminating, remembering…..

Mid-morning the phone rang. Octavia's nearly hysterical crying shook me out of my reverie.

"The bridal shop just called and my gown is on back order," she said. "The wedding is Saturday and I have nothing to wear. And the singer I found emailed me that she has to attend a funeral on Saturday. Someone in her family had the nerve to die the week of my wedding!"

I almost chuckled before I caught myself. Never laugh at an over-worked bride. I felt instantly guilty; I was supposed to be helping Octavia, not wallowing in my own misery. "I'll go see Madelyn at lunch," I promised. "I'm leaving in just a few minutes. You go ahead and leave Bon Temps and I'll wait for you at her shop."

She settled down a little. I called Madelyn and gave her Octavia's measurements; she said she thought she might have just the thing. I worked for a little more and then headed over to her shop. I'd really neglected Octavia, and the wedding was now bearing down on us like a freight train. Maybe I could concentrate on it and try to forget all the Supe crap for a little while at least.

Whimsical Traditions' warm and friendly atmosphere immediately cheered me a bit. Madelyn met me at the door and grabbed my hand. "I just got a new group of dresses in, I know there's something here that she will love," she said.

She pulled me over to the counter, where she'd hung a dress on a mannequin. The stunning gold and burgundy gown literally took my breath away.

"It's a Mary McFadden," Madelyn said with a smile. "Look at the handiwork, all the beads and sequins. The top's a bit heavy, but it's sleeveless, so it won't be too hot for a summer evening wedding."

The dress zipped in the back, and had a very sheer silk chiffon skirt in the same burgundy and gold print. Madelyn produced a gold chiffon shawl and draped it around the mannequin's shoulders. Perfect.

"Oh, she'll love it, I'm sure, Madelyn," I said, just as Octavia burst through the door, breathless and more than a little flustered. I could tell she'd dressed in a hurry, in black yoga pants and a simple orange tee, her face devoid of makeup and her hair pulled back in a multi-colored scarf.

"Is that it?" she nodded toward the mannequin. She walked around it, touching the skirt. Octavia looked like a bomb about to go off. Madelyn and I watched, both afraid to say anything.

"What size is it?" she asked, fiddling with the hem. A slight frown creased her brow.

"It's a 10/12," Madelyn said.

"Let me try it on," Octavia said hesitantly; we pulled it off the mannequin and she went to the back. She came out slowly a few minutes later. The open neckline set off her long neck, the golds complemented her caramel skin and the burgundy brought out the same color blush in her cheeks. The gown hugged her in all the right places, and showed a good bit of leg at the bottom. Octavia's legs are very nice, slim and cut, one of her best features.

"It's gorgeous, Octavia," I said. She twirled in front of the mirror, started to smile and then collapsed in a chair crying.

Madelyn rushed over. "I have other gowns, Octavia," she said. "Here, let me show you what I have…"

"No, no no, it's perfect." Octavia sniffed. "It's just perfect. I love it. I'm just so happy we found something."

"I'm sorry about the other dress," I said to Octavia. She waved me away, "No, I like this one so much more, I picked the other out in a hurry Saturday when I hadn't found anything yet. Really, it's fine. I was just so scared we weren't going to find anything.

"It couldn't be any better, actually. Ruby's my birthstone, and I have beautiful gold and ruby jewelry I never get to wear, gifts from my mother. I want a Renaissance feel and it will work with that. And I did want to use deep red roses, which will go perfectly. It's wonderful, thank you both so much." She smiled and I could feel her becoming more tranquil. She hugged me quickly and gave me a peck on the cheek.

"I have a million things to do, Sookie, I have to run," Octavia said. She paid for the dress and left with it, looking much happier to my relief.

"So what's going on in your life, hmm?" Madelyn asked with a smile. She sat down in one of the overstuffed red toile chairs by the dressing room and pointed to the other seat.

I briefly described the situation now with Minnie and Eric. Madelyn rocked back and forth in her seat with laughter at Minnie's tale. "I cannot wait to spend some time with that lady," she whooped.

When I got to the part about Eric and me, she sobered and patted my hand in a comforting manner.

"Whatever's going on with him will come out in time," she said. "It's most likely something to do with his work and not your relationship. Men are like that, you know, unable to separate one from the other."

"But he should separate them, he should know better than that, as old as he is," I said. "I think he's getting ready to call it quits."

Her eyes widened and she gave a snort. "Nah. I doubt it. You two have been through too much for him to just end it overnight like that, don't you think?" I shrugged under her intense gaze.

"People make the same mistakes over and over. The nursing homes would be stuffed full of Nobel Prize winners and rocket scientists if age were all one needed to be wise. And don't think because he's been around the block a time or two means that he's any smarter in affairs of the heart.

"All the experience and wisdom vampires should have with their immortality, and what would most of them say if you asked them their opinion on love? 'Avoid it whatever the costs,' that's what the vast majority would tell you. They're not really any better at it than we are," she said. "Give it a little time, don't do anything too rash, okay?" I nodded and smiled. She always made me feel better, no matter what I was going through.

"Is he going to be at the wedding?" Madelyn asked.

"He's supposed to be," I said.

She stood up. 'Now, let me show you what I found for you," she said.

She went to the back and brought out a deep royal blue silk gown with intricate beading and rhinestones on the front, fitted waist, full skirt and shelf bust. The cups were boned and the dress was fully lined. Yet another gown that I wouldn't be able to wear anything under, I thought to myself. I tried it on and couldn't believe my luck. It was perfect, beautiful but not too showy; I certainly didn't want to look like I was trying to upstage the bride.

I took the dress and hugged Madelyn. I went back to work feeling decidedly better. I wondered what kind of shoes would go with the dress - I was thinking something strappy with a high heel. I found a pair of dark blue satin high-heeled sandals online and ordered them next-day air.

As far as Eric and I were concerned, there was really nothing I could do but wait; I had messaged him and attempted to call. I just needed to go about my own life and let him come to me, I decided.

I went back to my desk and got to work. About three o'clock Alcide poked his head in the door.

"Hey, Sookie, I need a big favor," he said, giving me that award-winning smile. Uh-oh, something's up.

"I need to go to New Orleans tomorrow, and I just don't have time," he said. "I have meetings and work in the field; but we've got a post Katrina job to do over there, and the permit office is real hard to deal with anymore, after all the fraud. They want someone from the company to sign for the permit, in person, and show ID. Lance nor I either one have time to do it, and everyone else is tied up." He looked at me hopefully. "It's a five-hour drive, so you'd want to stay the night. "

"All right," I said quickly. A little trip might cheer me up. I could probably do some shopping for Octavia while I'm there. She and Amelia were collecting antique Battenburg lace tablecloths and dying them all kinds of crazy jewel-tone colors for the reception. I could scour the consignment shops for some of those.

"Really?" Alcide's eyes lit up. "That's great, Sookie. I'll have my secretary make you a reservation at a vampire-friendly hotel, in case you…..have company." He winked.

I didn't have the energy to tell Alcide that wouldn't be necessary, so I just nodded. Another thought occurred to me - if I'm already in New Orleans, I could run over to Carville and see Catherine. We were still short a wedding singer.

"It's your day to work from home…" Alcide said hesitantly.

"No, that's fine, I'll do it. It's no problem."

Just then Lance stuck his head in the door.

"Hey, Sookie, you gonna take care of that permit thing for us?" he smiled. Alcide walked back to his office. I nodded.

"That's great," he said. "Oh, I went by Fangtasia to have a drink with Pam last night, and Eric stopped by the table and asked me to tell you he said hello."

My face blanched. I felt all the blood rush out of the center my body to my fingertips and toes and then rush back in. I sat dumbstruck. My skin started to itch and then felt like it was breaking out in hives.

He told Lance to tell me he said 'hello'? Is this the way he's going to let me know I've been dumped? Have a co-worker give me some blasé inane pleasantry? I shook my head wordlessly. Lance appeared confused, standing at the door, waiting for my response.

My mind started going a mile a minute. So he's at work, and at least Pam has time to entertain, so I can assume the situation can't be all that critical with Felipe, and that he could have called me. A tide of hurt welled up inside me, only to be stopped by a stone-cold wall of fury. That jackass, that bloodsucking bastard. I will stake him myself; better yet I will castrate him in his daytime stupor with a rusty butter knife if that's all I can find...

"Well, if you see him tell him I am fine, and I hope he is also doing well," I said in my most controlled voice. Lance started to say something, thought better of it, then gave me a rueful grin and walked out the door.

Okay. Now I'm pissed. My internal monologue got hotter and hotter. Were we not beyond this? Can vampires be bi-polar? Octavia's getting married at my house on Saturday and I have a butt-load of work to do. If Eric wants to play vampire games, he can go play them with his damn self. I'm sick of being jerked around like a puppet on a string. I am my own woman. I will live my own life, make my own decisions. I have made concessions as the bonded of my vampire, concessions that haven't set too easily with me at times. But if I am alone, then I answer to no one, and I certainly don't answer to a man who doesn't even have the decency to break up with me properly.

One thing I know, and this I know for sure: Eric's got approximately 24 hours to contact me, or I'm going to Carville alone, come hell or high water.

The after-work ride to Bon Temps did not take long enough. I liked having something to do, liked operating on auto-pilot, something that left my mind free to roam a bit. I wanted to stay angry, to pump up my indignation, to do anything but miss him. I wanted to wallow in the hate, not drown in the hurt.

What I especially did not want to dwell on was the most recent memory, of me lying in 'my spot' – to the left side of his body, spooning his side with my head tucked in his chest and my leg thrown over his, while he toyed with my hair. How I knew how he loved for me to go to sleep like that, because even though he lay awake for several hours more, it comforted him to hear my breathing and feel my heart beat, how the warmth of my body transferred to the coolness of his, and that when we could he liked to lay that way first for a while, so that when we coupled, the warmth and breath and pulse I shared with him when we joined made him feel alive, too.

What I really, really did not want to think about was how I knew at those times together that we transcended our physical selves, that we were more than human and vampire at that point. How all of it was somehow beyond sex, beyond feeding, beyond blood. How when we lay like that I became the vessel to his fountain; how he poured love and tenderness down into my soul; how I swirled it around the basin of my being, and then sent it right back up.

How none of this is ever spoken; how none of it ever needed to be.

I went out to the garden to work and try to soothe myself. With my hands buried up to the wrists in the dark, cool dirt, I did find a little relief, but not much. The garden reminded me of Eric, and I supposed it always would. I sighed as my emotions ricocheted back and forth. I did not want to be one of little faith when it came to my Viking. I also did not want to play the fool.

I needed to talk to Eric about Minnie, but if he's going to act this way, then screw him, he could just find out on his own, I told myself darkly. Something about Minnie had been niggling the back of my brain since Thursday night, something that did not add up. I worked in the garden and tried to sort through it in my head. Minnie had always looked good for her age, but she was looking better Thursday night than she had at the Pure Cupid party. And she didn't always stand up that straight; her posture had improved, I was sure of it.

I dusted the dirt off my hands and knees and walked back into the house. I found myself standing in front of the bookshelf in the living room, looking for something. After a few seconds I found it, the family photo album, thick with faded papers and pictures. I went back through the photos for a few pages and then stopped at the one for which I had unknowingly been searching. Christmas 1986. My mom must have taken the photo, because there we were, Dad, Gran, Jason and me on the sofa. I smiled at Dad's depiction. He looked so much more carefree than I remembered, so relaxed. At five years old I still wore pink plastic barrettes in my hair, and my Barbie footie pj's looked downright cozy. Jason was all snaggle-toothed, and appeared to be holding a brand new BB gun.

And there, in the old orange flowered armchair to the right, sat Minnie, looking a good ten years older than she had Thursday night. I sat down on the sofa and stared, unwilling to accept what was right in front of me. How could it be? That photo was taken more than twenty years ago.

It appears that my dear Aunt Minnie has even more secrets to share than I'd thought.

********

As always, I'd love to hear from you. This is a transition chapter, I have much to accomplish in a short period of time, so shorter, more frequent chapters are what's working for me right now. Don't worry, all will be revealed in good time.....misscyn

PS link to Sookie's dress is on my profile. I had a link to Octavia's dress, but apparently the dress was sold and they took down the photo. I would say my diet news is updated, but the only news is, I suck at dieting :)