Sunrise at Sunset (14 page)

She was a vision of beauty, and his mind seemed to forget she was anything but the attractive, intelligent woman who had begun to win his heart. She wore a pair of form-fitting gray pocket pants, a silver and white patterned silk blouse, and a pair of strappy, silver, high-heeled shoes. Her neck was adorned with a simple silver necklace, and her hair was pulled back tightly into a ponytail with a sterling hair clasp.
One thing for certain, Katrina’s a fashionable vampire
, he mused.

Caleb mirrored her bright smile and offered, “Good evening, Katrina.”

“Please come in, Caleb,” she invited by standing aside as she held the door open. “I’m really glad you agreed to see me again.”

He entered with a polite nod and took a moment to appreciate the grand interior. A large banister led up to the second floor to the right and wound upwards in a semi-circle to reveal a large open area, allowing someone to look up into the part of the second floor walkway that accessed the other rooms. The lighting was subdued enough that he didn’t feel like it was blaring at him, instead providing a warm, welcoming atmosphere. The floors were richly tiled in the main areas, but he could see into a nearby room, which contained an elegant blend of carpeting.

His attention returned to Katrina, and she gestured towards the sitting room to his left, directly across from the grand staircase. The room sported a high ceiling and a series of large windows looking out onto the front yard and circle driveway in front of the house. The furniture was contemporary and mostly earth tones, tastefully accenting the lighter carpeting in the room. Mediterranean artwork decorated the walls.

He considered the large couch, smaller sofa, and two reading chairs expertly placed to allow a grand view of the room and chose to perch on one end of the couch. He glanced at the oak end tables and coffee table, which added a classic touch. A small fireplace stood against the far end of the room on an exterior wall, though likely it didn’t receive a lot of use considering Georgia’s generally mild winters.
Nice place
, he thought.

She sat next to him, though with enough distance between them that he didn’t feel uncomfortable. He admitted to feeling somewhat anxious and noticed his pulse increase slightly. Though not necessarily scared of her, he still felt a little wary. His eyes studied her at length as if seeing her for the first time, and very much liking who he saw. He wasn’t really sure why he should have expected something different in her appearance from earlier last week, but still found himself doing so.

“Can I offer you something to drink?” she asked with a smile, well aware of his closer inspection of her. She assessed his body language for the second time that evening, having heard his increased heart rate the moment she opened the front door. It was habit with her normally, but her skills took on special meaning that evening because she wanted to make sure there were no unpleasant misunderstandings. She was glad to see him, grateful he’d seen fit to allow her another chance for them to visit openly before making any decisions regarding their possible future together.

“Thanks, not just now,” he replied with a more supportive expression than he felt.
I’m a little too old to have butterflies in my stomach
, he chastised himself irritably. He felt like a timid school boy on his first date. “I want to start by thanking you for saving my life the other night,” he began and then added sheepishly. “I suppose the park isn’t necessarily ‘Caleb-safe’ just yet.”

She found his awkward manner somewhat amusing. “Yes, I emailed the neighborhood association suggesting that a guard fence should be installed soon. Children could easily get hurt by falling over the incline.”

“Adults too,” he amended in a respectful tone.

“Well, fleeing blindly into dark, foreign areas could be dangerous for anyone,” she replied with a slight edge. He winced at the mild admonishment.

Easy Katrina
, she warned herself. She was annoyed because she cared for his safety, and he’d acted somewhat recklessly that night.

“Nevertheless, thanks for helping me from a possibly bad fall,” he offered sincerely.

“You’re welcome,” she accepted in a more conciliatory tone. “And I’m sorry if you were handled a little roughly during the event.” She had tried not to hurt him. She hoped he understood that she merely endeavored to calm him that night, never mind being nearly breathless with shock as he went over the edge of the ravine.
Glad that I was able to move quickly enough to grab his leg before he fell.

He rubbed absently at his right shoulder where she had pinned him that evening. “No problem. But I admit I’ve still got a sore shoulder from that.”

“Um, remember the tree branch?” Katrina asked pointedly. In all her years, nobody ever tried to wallop her with a tree branch. Still, she supposed it was amusing from a certain perspective.

He adopted a withering expression and sighed. He felt rather embarrassed by the chain of events in retrospect. “I’m really sorry about that,” he insisted. “Please understand. I’m not a violent guy. I was just --”

“Scared?” she prompted gently. She easily recalled the intense fear in his eyes that night and regretted that she had been the source.

He shook his head slightly in resigned fashion and confessed, “Exactly.” Following a silent pause, he asked, “How’s your arm?”

“My arm?” Katrina replied vaguely, before quickly adding: “Oh, the tree branch. I’m fine, no problem at all.”

“Oh, good,” he responded as his eyes widened a little with surprise. “But I swung really hard at you. You know, while hardly major league-worthy, I was a pretty good home run hitter in college. So, I imagined it must have been pretty jarring at least,” he prompted.

“Not really,” she replied. “Although my jacket sleeve was scuffed up a bit.”
I’m a tough little vampire
, she silently congratulated herself.

He considered his evaluation of the tree branch and how it would have injured most anybody else under similar circumstances. “Sorry about the jacket,” he apologized. “I’ll be happy to replace it.”

“No need,” she countered quickly.

A few silent moments passed as he mulled her responses over in his head. She maintained an amused expression, having anticipated the tree limb incident must have made an impression on him.
Let him think about that a minute or two
, she mused.

“Okay, so you’re telling me you didn’t even register the hit?” he pressed a little defensively.

“Look, are you happy I’m not injured or not?” she retorted with a hint of annoyance. “Because it sounds to me like you’re more upset your ‘little smack’ was ineffective. It’s going to take a lot more than a swinging branch to make an impact on someone like me.”

Now he’s just being egotistical
, she thought irritably.

A shiver went up Caleb’s spine briefly as he considered her reply. He held up his hands in a surrendering gesture, realizing his ego needed to take a back seat really quickly. “No, you’re absolutely right. I’m sorry, that was way out of line,” he conceded earnestly. “I’m very happy you weren’t hurt and that you’re so durable.”

There was another lengthy pause. She smiled with increasing amusement, covering her mouth with her hand as she stared into his gentle eyes.

“Something funny?” he inquired warily.

“Oh sorry,” she replied. “I was just thinking back to the shocked look on your face after you hit me with that tree branch and it broke in half.”

His shoulders slumped forward, and he conceded, “Maybe we should just try and forget the whole event.”

“Perhaps,” she agreed good-naturedly, but with a smug expression.

He sat still for a moment and found he was once again staring into her beautiful green eyes. He looked away suddenly, awkwardly wondering what he should say next.

She considered him for a moment as he stared at her and frowned slightly when he looked away. Katrina realized that she needed to lay her cards on the table so she would know how to proceed further with him.

“Caleb,” she began, noting his eyes darted to meet hers at the sound of her voice. “I’m sorry if I scared you, and I know you have a lot of questions for me, which I’ll be happy to answer. But I need to know what happened last Friday night. The degree of terror in your eyes looked overwhelming, and I can’t think of what I could have done to scare you so badly.”

He swallowed hard as the memory of Friday night washed over him again. “It was your eyes. They glowed so brightly,” he explained. “And something flashed in my mind, like a memory, but less tangible. Only, I knew at that moment I needed to be afraid -- no, terrified for my life. The emotions came over me like a lightning strike from nowhere, and all I could do was run as fast as possible. I couldn’t even think clearly. Everything was like a blur in my mind.”

Katrina considered his explanation, which rang true by his body language. She wondered if it were some bizarre reaction related to her hypnotic attempt on him as a child after she had killed his father right in front of him. “Are you scared of me now?” she asked, although she wasn’t sensing fear from him so much as nervousness.

“Do I need to be?” he asked cautiously. He really wasn’t sure what he was supposed to feel. All he knew was that he very much still cared for her.

“Scared or afraid? No,” she clarified. “Careful? Yes.”

He nodded. “Well, maybe I am still scared, a little bit. But what do you mean by needing to be careful?”

She considered him for a moment and reached out to touch his hand that rested on top of his knee. He flinched only slightly, but his reaction still saddened her. However, she proceeded to softly cover the top of his hand with hers.

“I won’t intentionally seek to hurt you, Caleb,” she assured him, “except in the case of a couple of rare instances.”

“Such as?” he asked carefully as his pulse increased.

She still gently held her hand atop his and explained, “There are a few important rules if you’re really serious about any long-term relationship with me, Caleb. A couple of them are ‘deal breakers,’ in a manner of speaking.”

He thought seriously about her explanation and ventured, “Like when you told me not to tell anybody about you.”

Katrina nodded affirmatively. “That’s the biggest rule of all, yes,” she stated firmly but with gentleness in her eyes.

He took a deep breath. “I suppose I can appreciate the importance of a rule like that,” he conceded.

“Good,” she explained. “Because that rule is what protects me from humanity.”

They fell silent for a brief time before she returned to a previous topic. “This won’t work between us if you’re always afraid of me,” she ventured quietly. “Do you understand?”

He considered her statement carefully. As he gazed at her face, so soft and lovely, he had a hard time imaging being afraid of her, despite his actual feelings.

“Yes,” he nodded slowly. “I understand.”

“That’s good,” she said with a hopeful smile.

He considered the statement a moment longer. “But you need to explain things so I’m not afraid. Information defeats fear of the unknown.”

She nodded, impressed with his mature assessment. The evening was going about as well as she could have hoped, so far.

“What do you need for me to do or say to help inform you better?”

“Well, I have a few questions, you see,” he ventured hesitantly. “If that’s not a problem, of course.”

Okay, here come the questions
, she thought with resignation. On the few occasions during her lengthy existence when the few men she revealed herself to wanted to understand her better, they all presented a host of questions, some intelligent, others outrageous. She sighed and nodded. “Ask your questions.”

But he sensed something resigned, or perhaps melancholy in her reaction to him. It bothered him, and he realized he didn’t want to be a source of unpleasantness to her.

“Never mind, Katrina,” he offered gently. “I’ll just find out over time. You’ll tell me when, or if you’re ready.”

Her eyebrow arched high.
Nobody’s ever responded like that before
, she recalled.
They all had insistent, sometimes insulting, questions in the past.
How oddly refreshing
.

Caleb rose, abruptly deciding that he should leave. Their meeting had gone well, but he didn’t want to press his luck. Besides, he wasn’t sure he could keep from asking a litany questions if he stayed much longer.

“Wait,” she said with concern as she rose to stand before him. “Where are you going?”

“Well, home,” he replied. “Maybe we could see a movie later tomorrow night or something?”

Her eyes widened slightly and she adopted a slightly confused expression. She was suddenly feeling compelled by some very strong emotions.

“No,” she insisted in a non-threatening tone. She was somewhat shocked by the depth of strong feelings washing over her at that moment. She didn’t want him to go and suddenly didn’t care about his potential questions. She just knew that she wanted him to stay.