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I guess Pa over the horizon I myself was so heavily asleep, so in need of both physical and , I didn&039;t wake until four in the afternoon It was a gloomy winter day, the kind thatI checked to make sure I had three or four days&039; worth of firewood moved up onto the back porch

Eric would be up early today

I dressed and ate at the speed of a snail, trying to get a handle on

Physically, I was fine A bruise here or there, a littleIt was the second week of January and I was sticking to reat

On the other hand - and there&039;s always another hand - mentally, or maybe emotionally, I was less than rock-steady No -sto like I&039;d done without suffering some consequences

That&039;s the way it should be

When I thought of Eric getting up, I thought of o to work And I thought of the pleasure of being with soht I was so important

I hadn&039;t anticipated that the spell would have been broken

Eric got up at five-thirty When I heard uest bedroos running out and his hands clawing in front of him

I&039;d almost said, "Hi, honey," but caution kept me mute

"Sookie," he said slowly "Aotten dressed "Yes," I said, regrouping like crazy "You&039;ve been here for safekeeping Do you knohat happened?"

"I went to awith some new people," he said, doubt in his voice "Didn&039;t I?" He looked down at his WalMart clothes with soet those for you," I said

"Did you dresshis hands down his chest and lower He gave

"No," I said I flashed on Eric in the shoith me The kitchen table The bed

"Where is Pam?" he asked

"You should call her," I said "Do you recall anything about yesterday?"

"Yesterday I had thewith the witches," he said, as if that was indisputable

I shook o," I told him, unable to add the number of them up in my head My heart sank even lower

"You don&039;t reht, after we caleaht in all this

"Did we make love?" he asked hopefully "Did you finally yield to rinned at ht

I was the only one who knew And even I didn&039;t knohere Debbie&039;s remains were buried, or what had happened to her car

I sat down on the edge of &039;s wrong, Sookie? What happened while I was - Why don&039;t I remember what happened?"

Least said, soonest ht, out of mind (Oh, I wished that were true)

"I bet Pam will be here any minute," I said "I think I&039;ll let her tell you all about it"

"And Chow?"

"No, he won&039;t be here He died last night Fangtasia seems to have a bad effect on bartenders"

"Who killed hieance"

"You&039;ve already had"

"So with you," Eric said He&039;d always been astute

"Yes, lots of stuff is wrong with ht then, but it would just co to snow"

"Snow, here?" Eric was as delighted as a child "I love snow!"

Why was I not surprised?

"Maybe ill get snowed in together," he said suggestively, waggling his blond eyebrows

I laughed I just couldn&039;t help it And it was a hell of a lot better than crying, which I&039;d done quite enough of lately "As if you&039;d ever let the weather stop you fro what you wanted to do," I said, and stood "Cohts of intih that I had to watch my actions Once I alive hi on the floor

When Pam knocked on my front door thirty minutes later, I was ready for work, and Eric was antsy as hell

Pa her with questions I told the, and I don&039;t think they even noticed when I went out the kitchen door

Merlotte&039;s wasn&039;t too busy that night, after we dealt with a rather large supper crowd A few flakes of snow had convinced ood idea There were enough custoht s of beer and wanted to be filled in on the night before

"I&039;ll tell you later," I pro I&039;d have to edit my narrative pretty carefully

"Any trace of Jason?" he asked

"No," I said, and felt sadder than ever The dispatcher at the law enforcement complex had sounded almost snappish when I&039;d called to ask if there was any news

Kevin and Kenya caotten off duty When I took their drinks to the table (a bourbon and Coke and a gin and tonic), Kenya said, "We&039;ve been looking for your brother, Sookie I&039;," I said "I appreciate you all organizing the search party so much! I just wish" And then I couldn&039;t think of anything else to say Thanks toabout each of them that the other didn&039;t know They loved each other But Kevin knew his mother would stick her head in the oven before she&039;d see him married to a black woh a wall than see him walk down the aisle with her

And I knew this, despite the fact that neither of thee, this inti

Worse than knowing, even, was the temptation to interfere I told h proble probleh the rest of the night to erase the teh I couldn&039;t reveal those kinds of secrets, I re-ti I could let them knoould

When the bar closed, I helped Sam put the chairs up on the tables so Terry Bellefleur could co Arlene and Tack had left, singing "Let It Snohile they went out the back door Sure enough, the flakes were drifting down outside, though I didn&039;t think they&039;d stick past ht, trying to keep warm and dry I knew that in some spot in the forest, Debbie Pelt lay in a hole, cold forever

I wondered how long I&039;d think of her like that, and I hoped very much I could remember just as clearly what an awful person she&039;d been, how vindictive andout thefor a couple of minutes when Sam caripped ers

I sighed, not for the first tih to the truth

He patted ht," he said, and for one second I thought he was asking me about Debbie Then, of course, I knew he referred to the battle with the witches, and I was able to give hiht at your place" Sam sounded pleased about that "She must have cracked Hallow, ain?"

"As far as I could tell"

"What did he have to say about the experience?"

"He didn&039;t re about it," I said slowly "He didn&039;t seem to have a clue"

Sam looked away from me when he said, "How are you, with that?"

"I think it&039;s for the best," I told hi hoes of my awareness, but I wouldn&039;t look at it directly

"Too bad you weren&039;t working the afternoon shift," he said, soht "Calvin Norris was in here"

"And?"

"I think he ca you"

I looked at Saht"

"I think he&039;s serious, Sookie"

"Sa unaccountably wounded, "I&039;m on my own, and sometimes that&039;s no fun, but I don&039;t have to take up with a olf just because he offers"

Sam looked mildly puzzled "You wouldn&039;t have to The people in Hotshot aren&039;t Weres"

"He said they were"

"No, not Weres with a capital W They&039;re too proud to call themselves shifters, but that&039;s what they are They&039;re were-panthers"

"What?" I swear I saw dots floating in the air around ?"

"Panthers? Didn&039;t you know that the print on Jason&039;s dock was the print of a panther?"