“Are you okay?” Hayden inquired from the other side of the closed door.
“Uh huh,” Kenzie groaned as she caught her breath, stood up, and flushed the toilet. She quickly made her way to the sink and washed her mouth out.
“It doesn’t sound okay,” Hayden persisted. Kenzie closed her eyes and tried not to let him hear her groan. That would only make him more worried than he already was. And she was scared enough for the both of them.
When she finally emerged, Hayden was looking at her questioningly.
“I’m okay,” she tried to reassure him.
“You’ve been getting sick a lot lately,” he observed. “What’s going on?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“My first thought was it was something you ate, but it’s been weeks now, hasn’t it?”
“Hayden, I’m fine. Maybe it’s just the flu.”
Hayden wrapped his arms around Kenzie consolably and she gratefully fell into them. He felt so helpless when his mate, the woman he loved more than life itself, was suffering in any way and there was nothing he could do to help.
Suddenly, Kenzie’s cell phone rang. Her caller ID indicated that it was her best friend, Jillian. She answered it with a friendly, “Why, hello, there.”
“Hey, girl!” Jillian’s chipper voice sounded on the other end of the line. “What’s up? How are you adjusting to life in Moonlight Falls?”
“Pretty good,” Kenzie replied. “I’m still working on trying to sell the house in Riverview. I got an appraiser to give me an estimate on what it’s worth, so hopefully I’ll get enough out of it that we can build onto this place.”
“Build on? Why?”
“Hayden thinks I need an office, and it’s not the worst idea for him to have one, too.”
“Well,” Jillian replied, “it probably would come in handy to have an extra room just for your work.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
“I suppose. Isaiah’s dad’s manor has a lot of extra rooms we don’t need, considering it was built for him and his brothers. We converted the entire attic into a studio for me, but before that, we turned one of the spare bedrooms into a design studio, and another one into a sewing room.”
“You can sew?”
“I can now. It’s pretty necessary to know at least some stitchery if you’re running your own fashion business.”
“So…you’re still doing okay in Midnight Hollow?”
Jillian blew a raspberry into the phone. “Of course I am! Ken, I really wish you’d quit worrying about that. So I’m a vampire. Big deal. I have eternity to make a name for myself in the fashion industry, and to spend it with the guy I love.”
“I’m glad. I really am, Jill.”
“Good. I have to let you go, now, though. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Later!”
*********************************************************************************
Jillian hung up her cell phone and put it back on the passenger seat of her car. Kenzie didn’t know it, but she wasn’t at home in Midnight Hollow. She was making her way to Appaloosa Plains, completely lathered up in vampiric sunscreen.
She did feel guilty that she’d fibbed to Isaiah in order to let her go alone. Her story was that she was preparing for a photo shoot with a western theme for some new outfit designs, and it would be better to see the town during the day than at night. She would do that while she was there, but her primary reason for the journey was something else.
She’d called Kenzie essentially to confirm her suspicions. And Kenzie’s masked distraught had done just that. She knew what she wanted and what she had to do. She only hoped it would work.
But Jillian had something else on her mind. Kenzie was a detective, a trained observer in areas including body language and voice tone. She hoped she’d sounded convincing to her friend, who was still riddled with guilt over something that wasn’t her fault. Just because she was the one who’d been with Isaiah when his mother was killed, Kenzie thought that she should have been the one in Jillian’s position now.
At last, Jillian arrived at her destination. She hoped her uninvited and unannounced arrival wouldn’t cause any upset.
Jillian parked her car and made her way to the front porch of the spacious house. Austin was doing very well for himself, having been one of the scientists to develop vampiric sunscreen. There was a major demand for the stuff, and it was considered one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in history.
That was the basis for Jillian’s visit. That, and the fact that Austin was the smartest person she’d ever known.
After she ascended the steps, Jillian took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. Since it was Saturday, everyone should hopefully be home. In a matter of moments, the door opened and Jillian found herself face-to-face with Austin Crowley.
“Jillian?” he asked, as though unable to believe his eyes. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
The situation was growing awkward quickly since they were both standing there in silence. She might as well drop the bombshell now before she lost her nerve.
“Austin, this isn’t exactly a social call. I need to ask you a favor.”
“Okay…”
“I need you to help me. It’s about this whole vampire thing.”
“You need some vampiric sunscreen? Why come directly to me? I don’t supply it.”
“No, Austin. I don’t want the sunscreen. I want a cure.”
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