A/N: Here it is, the last installment of Dead and Blonde. I hope you guys enjoy it! As usual, many thanks to my beta, Northwoman. You have helped me and supported me so much throughout this journey - never a negative word, even though I've gone weeks and weeks between updates. I love your Northern Encouragement! *kisses*

And: Thanks, Ms. Harris for these awesome characters.

Epilogue

Thursday was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky and a light breeze kept the Louisiana sun from being too oppressive. The smell of bacon and biscuits woke me around 9:30 and by ten, I could no longer resist. Gran and I had a quiet breakfast, then I showered and dressed so I could make my trip to see Sam.

I walked in the front door at about eleven; I didn't want to have to compete with the lunch rush for Sam's time. He was standing behind the bar, wiping it with a bar rag, and he looked up when I came in. "Hey, Sook," he said with a grin. "Glad you made it home."

I smiled back, but kept my voice detached. "Can we talk in your office, Sam?"

He nodded, motioning for me to go on back. Once we were inside, Sam shut the door behind us and I waited for him to sit. Instead of his chair, he rested against the side of the desk and held his hand up to keep me from speaking. "I know what I said to you yesterday was wrong, cher, and I'm sorry. But I can't let you keep working for Northman, Sookie. You can't even imagine what he would do to enslave you for the Queen."

I felt like he had just slapped me across the face. "Sam Merlotte!"

His face was red and screwed up with emotion. "I could take better care of you, if you'd let me," he said quietly, looking at the floor. Sam was a harder read than most, but I could see the image he had in his mind of me in a white dress walking down the aisle to meet him.

My mouth opened and closed, like a fish out of water. This was the last approach I had expected. "Now you wait one minute, Sam," I said tersely, staring a hole in his forehead since he wouldn't meet my eyes. "We are here to talk about my job, as a waitress in your bar. Not any personal relationship we maybe could have. If you need me to still sling beer for you, fine, but I will not let you undercut my relationship with Eric. You don't know anything about him!"

He met my eyes, then. "He's a vampire, Sookie! What do you see in him?"

"Well for starters," I shot back, "Everything he's wanted from me he's been honest about it from the beginning. And for your information, he's the one that made sure my contract with the Queen was fair. I tried to talk him out of a million benefits, but he wouldn't let me!"

"Sookie, I can see we're not going to get anywhere. Why don't you just calm down and let me get you a Coke. We can talk about this later," he said, moving toward the door.

I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what kind of torch you're carrying for me, Sam, but you gotta get over it. It won't ever work between us; you're too good a guy to be pining over me. You just need to tell me if I still have shifts here, or not."

He rolled his eyes, jerking his shoulder away from my hand like I'd burned him. "If you're going to be working for Northman with his amazing salary and benefits, what's the point, Sookie? He'll just be calling me all the time for you to take off so he can get what he really wants." The picture in his mind of Eric and I was a little vivid for my tastes.

That was too much for me. Before I could stop myself, I pulled my hand back and slapped Sam full across the face. "That's for implying I'm cheap, Sam Merlotte. You can take your bar and shove it!" I whirled around and stormed out of the bar, slamming my car door when I got in. I sat in the parking lot for a minute, breathing hard and whacking my steering wheel a time or two.

Finally, adrenaline spent, tears began to fall down my face and I pulled out of the lot and onto the highway toward Hummingbird Road. I was still crying when I walked onto the porch where Gran was sitting on the porch swing, knitting a baby blanket for God only knows who. She patted the seat beside her when she saw me, and I sat down, leaning onto her shoulder.

"The talk didn't go so well with Sam, Gran," I whispered softly. "He thinks I'm cheap and Eric's using me."

She paused her work to pat my hand. "Change is hard for a lot of people, Sookie. Sam will see in time that this job is better for you."

"But what if it's not? What if it all goes terribly wrong and I hate it?"

She gave me a stern look out of the corner of her eye. "Stackhouses don't worry about 'what ifs,' Sookie. We're doers, not worriers. If this job doesn't work out, the good Lord will have another one waiting for you. Just look how long it took this one to come along."

"You're right, Gran," I said, closing my eyes. There was so much comfort here – the slight lilting of the porch swing, the breeze stirring gently around us, the feel of Gran's solid shoulder under my cheek. But I couldn't help feeling it wasn't enough. I was missing strong hands and a playful smirk that made me feel triumphant.

Eric had ruined me; my home in Bon Temps was no longer enough. I wanted to get out and see the world, the other kinds of people (and creatures) that it had to offer. I wanted to be more than the waitress at the local watering hole; I wanted to use my disability to help people. Eric had given me that opportunity and I vowed to myself I wouldn't waste it.

So, hours later, after dinner was eaten and the dishes were done, when I sat down on the stool in the kitchen to call Eric about an hour after first dark, I did it with a kind of silent trepidation, hoping the last few days hadn't been a dream.

"Fangtasia, the bar with a bite."

"Hey, Pam, it's Sookie. Can I talk to Eric?"

"Of course. He's been anxiously awaiting your call. He keeps pretending to work, of course, but I know that he hasn't read a single email all night."

I giggled, but it was cut short by that silken voice. "Hello, Lover."

"Hi, Eric," I said, rolling my eyes. He was such a drama king. "How has your evening been?"

I had figured this would be a run of the mill conversation for us – me being embarrassed by his lewd suggestions – so imagine my surprise when he said, "I hope you are not too tired from New Orleans, Sookie, because I have found us another adventure." I held my breath. So soon? Another excuse to see new places with the vampire I couldn't get out of my head? He continued. "Are you interested?"

"Interested?" I repeated. "Am I ever!"

Signing off, ~Math Princess.