From Dead to Worse (Sookie Stackhouse #8)(72)
Author: Charlaine Harris

He did a little bit of staggering himself.

Those that had noticed the bit of aggravation began applauding. "Good for you, Sookie," Catfish called. "Hey, jerkoff, leave the waitresses alone."

Arlene was flushed and angry, and she almost exploded then and there. Sam stepped up to her and murmured something in her ear. She flushed even redder and glared at him, but she kept her mouth shut. The taller FotS guy came to his pal’s aid and they left the bar. Neither of them spoke (I wasn’t sure Shorty could speak), but they might as well have had "You haven’t seen the last of us" tattooed on their foreheads.

I could see where the vampires’ protection and my friend of the pack status might come in handy.

Eric and Pam finished their drinks and sat long enough to prove they weren’t skedaddling because they felt unwelcome and weren’t leaving in pursuit of the Fellowship fans. Eric tipped me a twenty and blew me a kiss as he went out the door – so did Pam – earning me an extra-special glare from my former BFF Arlene.

I worked too hard the rest of the night to think about any of the interesting things that had happened that day. After the patrons all left, even Jane Bodehouse (her son came to get her), we put out the Halloween decorations. Sam had gotten a little pumpkin for each table and painted a face on each one. I was filled with admiration, because the faces were really clever, and some of them looked like bar patrons. In fact, one looked a lot like my dear brother.

"I had no idea you could do this," I said, and he looked pleased.

"It was fun," he said, and hung a long strand of fall leaves – of course, they were actually made of cloth – around the bar mirror and among some of the bottles. I tacked up a life-size cardboard skeleton with little rivets at the joints so it could be positioned. I arranged this one so it was clearly dancing. We couldn’t have any depressing skeletons at the bar. We had to have happy ones.

Even Arlene unbent a little because this was something different and fun to do, though we had to stay a bit later to do it.

I was ready to go home and go to bed when I said good night to Sam and Arlene. Arlene didn’t answer, but she didn’t throw me the look of disgust she usually awarded me, either.

Naturally, my day wasn’t over.

My great-grandfather was sitting on my front porch when I got to the house. It was very strange to see him in the front porch swing, in the odd combination of night and light that the security lamp and the dark hour combined to create. I wished for one moment that I was as beautiful as he was, and then I had to smile at myself.

I parked my car in the front and got out. Tried to walk quietly going up the steps so I wouldn’t wake Amelia, whose bedroom overlooked the front. The house was dark, so I was sure they were in bed, unless they’d been delayed at the bus station when they delivered Bob.

"Great-grandfather," I said. "I’m glad to see you."

"You’re tired, Sookie."

"Well, I just got off work." I wondered if he ever got tired himself. I couldn’t imagine a fairy prince splitting wood or trying to find a leak in his water line.

"I wanted to see you," he said. "Have you thought of anything I can do for you?" He sounded mighty hopeful.

What a night this was for people giving me positive feedback. Why didn’t I have more nights like this?

I thought for a minute. The Weres had made peace, in their own way. Quinn had been found. The vampires had settled into a new regime. The Fellowship fanatics had left the bar with a minimum of trouble. Bob was a man again. I didn’t suppose Niall wanted to offer Octavia a room in his own house, wherever that might be. For all I knew, he had a house in a babbling brook or under a live oak somewhere deep in the woods.

"There is something I want," I said, surprised I hadn’t thought of it before.

"What is it?" he asked, sounding quite pleased.

"I want to know the whereabouts of a man named Remy Savoy. He may have left New Orleans during Katrina. He may have a little child with him." I gave my great-grandfather Savoy’s last known address.

Niall looked confident. "I’ll find him for you, Sookie."

"I’d sure appreciate it."

"Nothing else? Nothing more?"

"I have to say… this sounds mighty ungracious… but I can’t help but wonder why you seem to want to do something for me so badly."

"Why would I not? You are my only living kin."

"But you seem to have been content without me for the first twenty-seven years of my life."

"My son would not let me come near you."

"You told me that, but I don’t get it. Why? He didn’t make an appearance to let me know he cared anything about me. He never showed himself to me, or…" Played Scrabble with me, sent me a graduation present, rented a limousine for me to go to the prom, bought me a pretty dress, took me in his arms on the many occasions when I’d cried (growing up isn’t easy for a telepath). He hadn’t saved me from being molested by my great-uncle, or rescued my parents, one of whom was his son, when they drowned in a flash flood, or stopped a vampire from setting my house on fire while I was sleeping inside. All this guarding and watching my alleged grandfather Fintan had allegedly done had not paid off in any tangible way for me; and if it had paid off intangibly, I didn’t know about it.

Would even worse things have happened? Hard to imagine.

I supposed my grandfather could have been fighting off hordes of slavering demons outside my bedroom window every night, but I couldn’t feel grateful if I didn’t know about it.

Niall looked upset, which was an expression I’d never seen him wear before. "There are things I can’t tell you," he finally said. "When I can make myself speak of them, I will."

"Okay," I said dryly. "But this isn’t exactly the give-and-take thing I wanted to have with my great-grandfather, I got to say. This is me telling you everything, and you telling me nothing."

"This may not be what you wanted, but it’s what I can give," Niall said with some stiffness. "I do love you, and I had hoped that would be what mattered."

"I’m glad to hear you love me," I said very slowly, because I didn’t want to risk seeing him walk away from Demanding Sookie. "But acting like it would be even better."

"I don’t act as though I love you?"

"You vanish and reappear when it suits you. All your offers of help aren’t help of the practical kind, like the stuff most grandfathers – or great-grandfathers – do. They fix their grand-daughter’s car with their own hands, or they offer to help with her college tuition, or they mow her lawn so she doesn’t have to. Or they take her hunting. You’re not going to do that."