Chapter 166
Des Moines, Iowa, 1998
Janette lived in a stately Queen Anne in a lovely part of town, and when Elliott pulled his motorcycle to a stop in her driveway, he couldn’t help but feel that this house seemed to suit her. Older but well maintained, proud, lovely, strong. Those words fit her in every way possible.
He made his way to the porch, but she had the door open before he even knocked. “Elliott! So nice to see you!” she said, embracing him before he crossed the threshold. “Come on in, won’t you?”
The décor fit the exterior of the house, lots of antiques and period pieces. He noticed some expensive pieces of artwork on the walls as well. It smelled like apple cider, which went well with the autumn season, and he imagined this was a cozy place to visit most times of the year.
“I don’t want to keep you long, dear, but I wanted to chat with you in person. Would you like anything to drink or eat? I have chocolate chip cookies, fresh out of the oven.”
“That sounds amazing,” Elliott replied. Most Guardians didn’t eat much. He could count on one hand the amount of times he’d seen Aaron consume anything in the last thirteen years. Elliott was different. He’d never lost his love of food, especially not baked goods.
“Why don’t you have a seat on the sofa, and I’ll be right back.” She smiled at him and headed off for the kitchen, and he settled into the velvety green couch.
“Here you go, dear,” she said placing a platter of chocolate chip cookies and a glass of cold milk on the coffee table. “Milk okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He sunk his teeth into a bite of chocolatey goodness and had packed away three large cookies before he even realized he was wolfing them down. “You not gonna have any?”
She laughed. “No, those are for you.”
He couldn’t help but notice how different she looked now than she had the first time he saw her. Since Jamie had given her the re-Transformation serum, changing her back into a human, she had begun to age again at a regular pace. He didn’t quite understand why she’d chosen that path, but then, she had lost the love of her life, and maybe she wanted to get back to him as quickly as possible. That was something he might’ve been able to relate to if he’d spent more than one night with the woman who had stolen his heart. He tried not to think about Amanda now, though, as he did most every day, and he returned his attention to Janette.
“What is it you wanted to see me about?”
“Well, darling, I have a favor to ask you.” She smiled at him, looking up through her thick glasses, and Elliott assumed whatever it was, it was going to be a doozy. “A few months ago, I met with Aaron. We had a lot to talk about, but most importantly, I wanted to check in with him on that special assignment I’d given him a few years back. You know the one, don’t you?”
Elliott raised an eyebrow, suddenly figuring out where this was going. He knew the assignment well, and he remembered being thankful he wasn’t the one asked to perform it. “Yes, ma’am.”
Janette nodded. “I think things are going well. I’m certainly not worried about him fulfilling the duties I’ve asked him to perform. But, you see, there’s another matter at hand now, one that is of equal importance. So… while he was here, I asked his opinion about who should be the one to fulfill this new special assignment. Sure, a few names had already come to my mind, yours among them, but when he said he thought you were the man for the job, well, I had to agree.”
Elliott wiped his hand on the napkin Janette had brought out with the platter of cookies, no longer hungry. “Janette, listen, I know how important this assignment is to you, and I’m flattered that either one of you would consider me the man for the job, but I honestly think I’m the last person you should consider.”
“Oh, hogwash!” she proclaimed. “Don’t you start telling me you can’t do it, Elliott. Of course you can. It’s not that time consuming. I only ask that you check in on her every few months, make sure that the local team is doing everything they can to protect my family, and then show up when important life events transpire. That’s all.”
“Janette, you’re asking me to be a Guardian for your granddaughter—your infant granddaughter. You’re talking to one of the worst parents in the universe. My kids hate me. How in the world do you expect me to keep a baby safe?”
“Your kids only hate you because that Nancy poisoned their minds against you, Elliott. And you most certainly are not the worst parent in the world. You don’t think I saw how you took care of your brother Jimmy?”
“Yeah, and look what happened to him!” It had been decades since Jimmy’s death, and he still couldn’t think about his kid brother without feeling like someone had punched him in the gut.
“That wasn’t your fault, Elliott.” She reached out and put her hand on his arm. “Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we can’t save everyone.”
“True, but, I don’t think I’m the one to ask to save anyone, no one important anyway.”
“You save people every day. You protect Guardians. You keep Vampires away from people so that they never even know the danger they’re in.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
“It is a good thing. Can you imagine this world if people were just walking around, knowing exactly what’s out there? It would be pandemonium. Elliott, Aaron could’ve picked any Guardian in the world for this assignment, any of the thousands, and he picked you. And it’s not because you’re his best friend, either. It’s because he knows you’re the man for the job. And so do I. So… what do you say? Will you keep my granddaughter safe?”
Elliott stared at the woman for a long time, seeing the sincerity in her eyes. For some reason, she truly did believe he was capable of protecting this precious child. And even if he wasn’t a good parent, he was good at protecting people. With a sigh, he said, “Fine. I’ll do it.”
She smiled and clapped her hands together. “I’m so excited to hear that. I know my grandbaby couldn’t be in better hands.” She reached over and hugged him, and Elliott enjoyed the motherly feel of it until she pulled away, and he returned his attention to the cookies.
Four more disappeared while he listened to Janette talk about how amazing both of her granddaughters were, and Elliott pretended to be impressed, even though he wasn’t sure anything she described couldn’t be ascribed to any four-year-old or infant by a doting grandmother. When she paused to take a breath, he realized he hadn’t asked an important question.
“What’s her name, anyhow? The baby?”
“Oh, it’s a beautiful name. I just love it. Her name is Cassidy Elizabeth Findley. Isn’t that the cutest thing?”
“Cassidy?” He repeated. Sounded like a decent name to him. He ate another cookie, wondering if Cassidy would ever even know he existed.
