The beach was mostly deserted at this time of the evening. Most vacationers were inside eating dinner or starting their drinking binges, since, after all, tins was an all-inclusive resort. But they also served out on the beach at this time of the day if you requested it. A bit begrudgingly, but they did have a policy of the customer always being right. I hadn’t planned on going there. After everything that had happened, it hadn’t exactly felt right just to pick up and go on vacation. But I needed to get away. Clear my mind. Get over the drama, the sadness, the pain. I figured that I deserved it. The waiter gingerly made his way over with the drink tray balanced in his hands. He smiled politely and handed me a tequila sunrise. I took an enthusiastic sip.
“Delicious. Muchas gracias.”
“De nada. And your cranberry juice, sir?”
Thierry reached out to take the drink from him. “Gracias.”
“Hope you’re both having a wonderful vacation,” the waiter said.
“Oh, we certainly are.” I smiled at Thierry. We clinked glasses as the waiter wandered away.
“What shall we toast to?” I asked him.
He met my eyes and smiled back at me. “To new beginnings.”
We drank to that, and I snuggled against his fully clothed body. I hadn’t convinced him to go the swimsuit route yet, but just give me time.
Amy and Barry were still on their extended honeymoon in Niagara Falls. Thierry had shut down the club for a few weeks and given everyone—well, Barry, George, and the new waiter—time off with pay. The place was up for sale, since the location was well known by the hunters who had ended up escaping. Thierry was looking into some property for a brand-new vampire club in the Beaches area of Toronto. Very chic.
Quinn was happy that Thierry and I were together. Or, at least, that’s what he said. In private he told me that one day he’d win me back. Which was kind of funny, since he’d never really had me in the first place. I just nodded and told him he should find someone else in the meantime. I didn’t know he’d take that advice to heart. To get over me, he’d launched into a passionate romance with Veronique. He’d even learned to speak some French, at least the dirty words, anyhow. Believe it or not, they were coming down to
Mexico to join us for the weekend. Weren’t we just the happy little family? Yeah, things were good. I gazed at Thierry as he watched the multicolored horizon, and then he met my eyes. I was doing my very best to keep him happy to be alive. And so far I’d received no complaints, thank you very much. I took another sip of my drink as I watched the rest of the sunset. Maybe after all was said and done, vampires actually could be the stars of fairy tales and get the chance to live happily ever after.
Who knows? Then again, maybe that was just the tequila talking.