The Purity of Blood: Volume I (77 page)

SARA

I
saw my father come out of
the basement just after the kids stopped screaming, and held my breath until
Daniel’s face finally appeared behind him.
 
Dad didn’t look happy when he glanced my way.
 
He kind of rolled his eyes and went for more
pie.
 
I’d seen that look before.
 
Whatever happened down in the basement
couldn’t have been good.

“Any more ice
cream, Vivy?” he asked.

When he emerged
from the basement, I took Daniel by the arm and walked over to the coat rack by
the back door.
 
Grabbing my jacket, I
yelled over my shoulder “I’m going to show Daniel the beach,” and pulled him
out the door into the cold November air.

Getting in his
car, we headed down Overlook Drive and out of the neighborhood.
 
After we turned up Sound Road and I felt like
we were a safe distance from the house, I asked “What happened in the basement?
 
I was freaking out waiting for you.
 
It’s not that big a shop.
 
It shouldn’t have taken that long.”
 

He had to be
feeling my anxiety.
 
It felt like it was
consuming me whole at that moment.

“We had a talk,”
he answered a little too calmly.

“About what?”

Without answering
me, he reached over and gave my hand a squeeze as he pulled into the town beach
lot and parked.
 
As he walked around and
opened my door for me, he wore a cryptic smile.
 
It did nothing to alleviate my rising anxiety that he’d avoided
answering my question.

Under the
overcast sky we walked onto the rocky sand and down to the shoreline.
 
Not a soul was in sight.
 
Not terribly surprising given that it was a
holiday.
 
The wind coming in off the
sound was freezing on my exposed skin, yet somehow I didn’t mind.
 
As we started to walk along the shoreline
towards the big rock at the base of the cliffs, he took my hand, causing me to
look up and see the smile he wore as he looked down on me.
        

“I asked your
father for permission to date you,” he finally answered.

I stopped in my
tracks.

“You did what! –
Well, what did he say?”

Of all the things! – No, I never saw that
one coming.
 

Which of course
made me feel like a complete idiot.
 
Now
that the words were out of his mouth, it seemed like the most natural thing in
the world for him to do, my hundred and twenty-four year old boyfriend.

“He said
yes.
 
Rather reluctantly I might
add.”
 
Reaching out, he put his arm
around me.
 
“But he said yes, and that’s
all that matters.”

“Please tell me
he didn’t threaten to shoot you.
 
He’s
kidded me about that before.”

He stopped and
looked away trying not to laugh.

“Gees, he did,
didn’t he.”

“He loves you,
Sara.
 
You’re his little girl.”
 

He pulled me
closer allowing me to breathe deeply, inhaling his clean Daniel scent.

“Why did you ask
him anyway?
 
This is really going to
complicate my life around here.”

He smiled again
and maybe stood up a little straighter.

“Because this is
the proper way to do things – the way I do things.
 
I respect you too much not to ask your father’s
permission to continue our relationship.
 
You’re one of the most valuable things in his life, and I may ask to
take you away from him permanently someday.
 
How could I not ask?”

“Permanently?” I
smiled up at him.
 

Did he just say permanently?
 

My heart skipped
a beat.

“Maybe … someday
… Besides, it’s better this way.
 
I don’t
want to lie to your parents about us.
 
We
shouldn’t have to sneak around like we’re doing something wrong.
 
I’m in love with you, Sara Donnelly and I
want them to know that.”

Gees, it was
hard to be mad at him when he seemed so damn sincere.
 
Him and his stupid blue eyes … Was I ever
going to win an argument with him?

“Alright, but
please don’t tell them that today.
 
I
don’t think my Dad could handle any more of this right now.
 
I’m thinking the only reason you got out of
the basement was because he was full of turkey.”

He laughed to
himself as if picturing what would have been a futile attempt on my father’s
part.

“Hey, don’t sell
me short.
 
I can be a pretty persuasive
guy when I want to be.”
 
Then he leaned
down and gave me a little kiss on the forehead.

“Don’t I know it,” I mumbled back as I reached around and
hugged him.
 
I was in for it when he
left, but deep down I knew he was right.

After an hour of walking up and
down the beach, the cold finally made its way into my bones and Daniel took me
back to the warmth of the house.
 

When we pulled
in the driveway, my father was watching out the front windows expectantly, arms
crossed in front of him.
 
He didn’t stir
until Daniel opened my door and he saw me get out of the car and start towards
the front door.
 
I wanted to laugh, but
in the end wasn’t sure how funny it really was.
 

After Daniel
said his goodbyes to the family, I walked him back outside.
 
Unfortunately I still had another week of
vacation before returning to New Paltz to be with him … and of course go to
school as well.
 
Before he got in his
car, he leaned over and gave me a long hug then a gentle kiss, a long gentle
kiss, before I watched him get in his car and back down the driveway.
 
With my arms wrapped around myself, I stood
there until he disappeared around the block.
 
I wouldn’t see him for another week.
 

Boyfriend?
 

The word seemed
so woefully inadequate for what that man meant to me.

When
I finally turned around, I saw my father standing in the kitchen window again
shaking his head, a deep frown on his lips.
 
One thing I knew for sure was that he wasn’t going to tell my mother
what Daniel had asked in the basement.
 
He seemed more than a little conflicted about his yes, which seemed
confusing to me.
 
I knew he wanted me to
be happy.
 
Surely even with me pretending
we were only friends, he must have sensed how happy Daniel made me.
 

It would take
time, I mused as I walked back inside.
 

My mother on the
other hand, I think must have had an inkling as well, but had she known the
real reason for Daniel’s visit, I’d probably have been chained to my bed and forbidden
to return to New Paltz under any circumstances.
 
In the end, my father’s silence was what I was most truly thankful for
this year.

I walked back in
the house, sat down on the sofa and pretended to watch the end of the game, but
my mind was too occupied with Daniel to pay it any real attention.
 
Feeling his absence by my side, I missed him
already – so much so it hurt.

Eventually the
cards came out and Roger, Lauri and my parents started up a game while the kids
fell asleep down in the basement. When Lauri and my mother started talking
about how attractive my friend Daniel was, I excused myself and hid in the
kitchen to finish cleaning up.
 
It was my
way of evading any questions about him I didn’t want to lie in response
to.
 

My mother came
in a few minutes later and pulled the last of the pie out of the refrigerator.

“I swear I don’t
know where your father puts it,” she said.
 
“He should be fat as a house the way he eats.”

She took the
last slice and put it on a dish.

“Your friend
Daniel seems like a very nice boy.
 
He’s
very nice looking too.”

“Yes, I suppose
he is,” I said trying to sound nonchalant as I dried the dishes I’d just washed.

Carrying the
plate, she walked over to my side and in a hushed tone said “Don’t play coy
with me, young lady.
 
I know there’s
something going on between the two of you, but I’m not going to tell your
father.
 
I don’t think he’d approve.
 
Daniel seems a little old for you, but … I
think you’re just about old enough now to start making some of these decisions
for yourself.
 
Just … well, just don’t do
anything I wouldn’t do.”
 
With a worried
look on her face she kissed the side of my head and went back into the living
room.

She never ceased to amaze me.
 
It was times like this that I understood what my father saw in her.

For
the rest of break I pondered Daniel’s use of the word
permanently
on the beach.
 
I
liked the sound of it, but my mother was right, I was young, probably too young
to be thinking along such permanent lines.
 
Daniel was older than me, a lot older, much older than my parents could
have imagined.
 
Perhaps that would be
more of an obstacle for us down the line than it seemed right now.
 
After all, how well could we possibly know
each other after such a short time?

As I turned into the parking lot
behind Capen Hall and pulled my bags out of the back, I wondered what life
would be like for us after I graduated.
 
We had the next three years here in New Paltz together, but after that,
what?

It was Sunday,
and after dropping my bags in my room, I drove up to the house on the mountain
and found Randall hard at work preparing quizzes for the next week.
 

“No peeking,” he
said archly, covering them with his arm as I approached.
 

With a smile and
a roll of my eyes, I dropped down on the sofa and sighed as if I were
tired.
 

“So how was
vacation?
 
How is Vivy?” he inquired
casually, turning back to his work.

“Good.
 
Mom’s fine.”

“So, I
understand you had a visitor,” he commented, looking up to see my reaction.

“He told you,
did he?”

“Who do you
think he asked first?”
 
Now he was
smiling.
 
Secretly pleased I think that I
looked surprised.

I sat upright
and stared at him.
 

“He what?”

“Well, I
am
your grandfather, Sara.
 
In this case my permission was a little bit
more important than your father’s, who in reality has no idea who he just gave
it to.”

It sounded
weird, but I couldn’t argue with his logic.
 
My father had said yes to the human Daniel, but only Randall could say
yes to the vampire.

Daniel came out
of the hallway and smiled causing me to sigh.
 
Did his eyes always sparkle like that or was it only when he looked at
me?

“Let’s go for a
walk,” he said, reaching out for my hand as he approached.

Over my shoulder
as we headed out the back door I thought to Randall “
So, I’m assuming you said yes?”

As he went back to work at his desk, I saw him smile and
shake his head as if amused by my question.

Without a word Daniel gently
pulled me in the direction of the path up the hill.
 
As we started up the now familiar trail, he
asked how my drive had been and a few other polite inquiries about my family.
 
After he finished his questions, we lapsed
into comfortable silence as we walked up the well-worn path through the
forest.
 
I was just glad to feel the
sense of tranquility I felt when his hand held mine.
 
But something also felt a little off, like maybe
he was holding something back from me.

As we walked along,
my mind wandered back to my father and how odd it seemed that after our one
short conversation about Daniel, he’d never mentioned him again.
 
Later that night, long after Daniel had left
Wading River and my mother had gone to bed, Dad came and found me in my
room.
 
I’d already said my goodnights and
had curled up in bed with my book for the night.
 
He quietly tapped on my door, then came in
and sat down on the edge of my bed.
 
He
looked tired, or was it sad, I couldn’t tell which.
 
As he sighed, he put his hand on my
knee.
 

“I love you,
Sara.
 
I don’t think I tell you that
often enough.”
 
Then he sighed again.

“I know,
Dad.
 
I love you, too.”
 

“I’m worried
about you.
 
I’m worried that you’re so
far from home and I don’t know what’s happening in your life anymore.
 
I feel like I’m losing you.”

Oh, Dad.
 
What was I supposed to say to that?
 
That’s what supposed to happen
wasn’t going to sound comforting to him, and I think that’s what he needed
right now, comforting reassurance that I was still his little girl.