Chapter 30

All That And A Piece Of Pie

It was two in the afternoon when I woke up again. The foil over the windows kept the house dark and cool. My head was throbbing, my throat was raw from the screaming and sobbing I had done last night and I was starving.

I made my way to the bathroom first and looked at the train wreck in the mirror. My face was still swollen and had tiny blisters all over it. I remembered the searing heat I had felt as the sun had met my skin and felt amazed that the damage wasn't worse.

I rummaged through Jason's fridge. He'd told me that there was pizza and wings in here but had neglected to disclose that they had been in here long enough to gain a green fuzzy exoskeleton. I was about to close the fridge when I saw the piece of pie. The nice old lady, what was her name? Grace, she had told me that this pie could cure my broken heart. Whether it could or not, I was ravenous and it seemed to be the only edible thing in the house besides a can of stewed tomatoes and okra.

I found a semi clean fork and scrubbed it in the sink before sitting down with the pie at the kitchen table. I had needed to clear two weeks worth of moldy take-out off of it before I could see the crusted top of the table.

I took the first bite of pie. My word! It was absolute ambrosia, heaven in my mouth. My Gran had been a hell of a fine cool but I can't recall ever having had something so delectable before. I wanted to gobble it down greedily it was that good. But instead I ate it slowly, savoring every bite. Now I knew for sure I would be paying Ms. Pickering a visit again. Sly old woman.

I was better than two-thirds through the pie when there was a knock at the door.

I opened the door just a sliver to avoid any direct sunlight. There was a man in a blue suit standing on the porch.

"Ms. Stackhouse? His accent was not local and I felt wary although he was thinking nothing malicious.

"Yes, that's me."

"I have a delivery from Mr. Northman."

I made a move to slam the door in his face but his foot was faster, lodging itself between the door and the door jamb.

"Please, Ms. Stackhouse," his voice was terrified, a look at his face revealed he had started sweating profusely, "I must deliver this to you. I can't fail, I...."

He had been glamored and threatened horribly against failure. Eric was ruthless and I felt disgusted with him.

"Okay, I'm sorry, just give it to me. You'll have to hand it to me inside the door." I wasn't sticking my hand out for anything. The blisters were itching and reminding me how painful contact with sunlight would be.

He handed a small black velvet box inside to me and then scrambled back to his car. He was out of the driveway mere seconds after I had closed the door.

I sat the box across the table from me and plopped into the chair to finish my pie. I refused to look Eric's delivery, I wouldn't be denied relishing the last bites of this delectable treat. As I scooped the last of it into my mouth I noticed Grace's spidery scrawl on the disposable plate.

Dear Sookie,

I know you said you didn't want it, but this is Quinn's cellular telephone number. I really do think you two would make a delightful pair.

She had written the number more carefully than her note. She really wanted me to call him, it seemed.

That just wasn't going to happen. I steeled myself as I reached to pick up the delivery and opened the box. Inside of it was a tremendous ruby and diamond ring. It was so beautiful it took my breath away. Then I got really, REALLY mad. He thought that I was so vapid that he could buy my love and forgiveness? For someone as old as he was, he sure was dense about what women needed. A simple phone call telling me how sorry he was would have been a great start, but instead he insults me with this. I would have taken a slap in the face better!

I took the ring out of the box and dropped it down into Jason's garbage disposal. The sound of the ring getting crunched, mangled and battered into pieces was satisfying. Fuck that damn vampire and his expensive shit apologies. He knew nothing about me apparently.

With the disposal still chewing it's pricey lunch, I picked up the phone and called Eric's cell. I knew he would still be dead to the world but his voice mail would suffice.

'Eric, you disgusting pig! Did you honestly think sending me this ring would make everything okay? It makes me sick that you think I can be bought! The garbage disposal is eating your little gift as we speak!" I held the phone close to the grinding machinery for effect, "I hope that ring cost a fortune! Kiss my ass!"

I hung up the phone, pleased and a little embarrassed at my display of vulgarity. I called the number back.

"Incidentally, thanks for calling Jason. I wasn't able to get into my house last night and he showed up just in time to save me from getting barbecued. So, thanks I guess. But this doesn't change a thing."

I hung up again, wishing that I hadn't called back. He would take that as a sign of weakness and I didn't want that. I was determined to make him work to win me back. If he was willing to, maybe I could forgive him. I had to think of ways to show him that I wasn't going to sit around and wait for him. He needed to get his ass in gear because as mad as I was, I missed him in more ways than one. I physically ached for his touch and my soul felt like a piece was missing whenever I realized that I didn't know when I would see his face again.

I really don't know what the hell was going through my mind when I picked up the phone again and dialed Quinn's number. Was I thinking about making Eric jealous or about getting an innocent man killed by a vengeful supernatural being? I was about to hang up when a deep, rumbling voice sounded out of the reciever.

"Hello?"

"Hi, um, I'm sorry to bother you, Um I have the wrong number, I think."

"Is this Sookie?"

"How did you know my name?" I was stunned.

"My Aunt Grace called me today to tell me all about you, she said you might be calling. And I have caller I.D., Stackhouse showed up with the number."

Duh!

"Yeah, well, I thought I might do the polite thing to make her happy. She was VERY insistent."

He laughed a deep, rumbling laugh and I smiled in spite of myself.

"That's aunt Grace for sure. Listen, I'm hella busy right now, I'm in training, but I am very intrigued to find out what it is about you that has my beloved aunt all abuzz. Are you free tonight for dinner?"

This was happening too fast. I couldn't think quickly enough. Before I could beg off he took my silence as agreement.

"Great! Can I pick you up around eight? I can do a reverse look up of your number and get GPS directions to where you are."

"Eight is fine." I blurted. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I couldn't decide if it was excitement, fear or both.

"Great, babe. See you then. Dress casual, I know a neat little place I'd like to take you to."

"Okay then." That was all I could manage before I hung up. I sat in stunned silence for quite a while. The next number I dialed was my friend Tara's. She was happy to hear my voice and agreed to bring me something to wear on my date that night as well as some things I asked her to retrieve from my house. I had to figure a way to get back into my own home soon. Living in this disgusting pigpen with my brother was not the most ideal situation.

I glanced at my skin and realized that the blisters had all but disappeared. Thank heavens for small favors.