“Say it again?”

“That we need to talk?”

“That you bought Grayson Wines. No. Wait. Don’t say it again.” She pressed her index fingers into her temples.

“Lauren….”

She put up a silencing hand to him. “Just tell me this is one of your sick jokes? Tell me that you aren’t the owner of Grayson.” Lauren stepped back. Her foot bumped her opened toolbox stopping her retreat.

“I am.” He said gently.

Her eyes flipped up. She locked on his admission. They narrowed with suspicious indignation. Here it comes. Dylan expected a tantrum: a screaming, shouting, bitch fit. It’s what Chet predicted. It’s what Marsha predicted when he finally came clean and revealed his reasons behind the costly investment of the stubbornly resistant Grayson Wines. He made the owner of the company an offer he couldn’t refuse, more capital than he’s sunk in any other venture. Everyone predicted his doom. But he was a gambling man. That’s how he made his fortune in just six years. There was something about Lauren Bishop that made him want to roll the dice. Buying Grayson may have been extreme, intensely irrational, but so was the two years of the insufferable rejection he’s received from her. She treated him like a pariah. He wasn’t exactly a stranger.

Lauren continued to glare. In fact she just stood there, silent, expressionless. Each passing second ticked on like an eternity. Silence wasn’t something Dylan expected. He didn’t know what to do with a silent Lauren Bishop. The last time they locked horns she damn near tried to castrate him. Maybe he was right? Maybe he wouldn’t be seen as the devil. Maybe even she had to admit that she needed his help. He stepped toward her, his hands shoved down the pockets of his slacks. “It was an investment that could save you…”

Lauren abruptly walked out. Dylan grabbed his travel bag and ran after her. “Lauren! Lauren, wait!”

Lauren whirled on him. The spark of defiant confidence in her smirk stopped him in his tracks. Was she angry or glad? He couldn’t tell. Several of her day laborers heading to the fields stopped to stare. Then she made her feelings clear. “I don’t know what you think you’ve done, but I’ll tell what you haven’t. You haven’t defeated me. Not by a long shot!”

“Defeat? You don’t understand…”

“I understand Dylan.” She crossed her arms. The sun behind her, added luminance to her dark wind swept hair, and made the brown of her flawless skin bronze. Two years hadn’t aged her a bit. In fact she looked fresh, young, alive. Things he couldn’t accomplish by spending 12 hours a day behind his desk. Lauren wore faded blue jeans and a short sleeve cotton shirt with grease stains to the front. Her tennis’s were caked in dirt around the soles. Dylan put every detail of her radiance to memory. Chet was right. He was fucked. The woman had him out of his head, and he couldn’t explain why.

“Hello!” she snapped her fingers in his face to bring him out of it.

“Hear me out.” He swallowed. “This was about helping not hurting you. I tried to meet with you.”

“Really?”

I can’t help but admit my love for this show. TruBlood is the greatest antidote for all the Twilight Fever that seems to have made friends and associates of mine sick with nauseating love. The first season was by the far the best, and though season 2 had it’s moments, the zombie-orgy crap had me doubting its ability to hold my attention for long.

Now we’re moving toward episode three and the character I love to hate seems to be getting a story that I might be able to sink my teeth into. Check out her interview above and tell me what you think. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Franklin Mott will be the alpha male to rival all bad ass Vamps we’ve seen so far. Let’s face it, the King and Queen are laughable. Godric had that whole Anne Rice I’m-depressed-to-be-a -ampire thing going. Eric is getting a softer side, and Bill’s off somewhere moping. Franklin and his agenda’s might prove him to be the master manipulator. That’s ultra sexy.

2. Tara will reach her breaking point this season. Listening to Rutna talk about how far they will push the character I’m hopeful that means that the bad-ass energy of hers will finally be harnessed for more than smart-mouthing rednecks at local bars. Here’s to wishful thinking.

3. Tara’s family history might be delved into. We may finally get to know why Lettie Mae is an alcoholic and why Lafayette mom’s crazy. There’s some darkness in the family that should be explored. Rutna doesn’t say this, but I’m assuming that if the directors are focusing more on the sibling bond between Tara and Lafayette we will learn more about their family. This is fodder for my muse. Yes, I do fanfic TruBlood and already I’m itching to pen my own spin. We shall see.

All in all I found the first two episodes a slow simmer for what is to come. I’m patiently awaiting more. Well maybe impatiently waiting more. LOL!

May 2010

“Muffin, come here baby.”

For Lauren the soft pants and paw shuffles from her golden shaggy-haired cocker spaniel as she navigated the darkness that is her life was a comfort. Escaping the tension in the sitting room Lauren waited and listened. Muffin hurried over the hardwoods after some mischief, headed for the kitchen. She stopped briefly to sniff at Lauren’s toes with her cold nose, give her a doggy smile, then walk over to her bowl.

“Can mommy get a thank you?” Lauren asked, in the sing-song voice she used only with her pet. Muffin slobbered up meaty chunks of Gravy Train barely looking up.

“You’re welcome greedy.” Lauren shook her head smiling.

Muffin was older now. Her blindness once just a nuisance had overnight become a dangerous handicap. For that reason she stopped allowing her out into the fields, even though Muffin’s sense of smell would always lead her home. Lauren had a scary incident where Muffin wandered off chasing a critter or a butterfly—something she frequently enjoyed. Somehow she’d managed to fall down a sinkhole. Hector searched all night before he found her. The thought of anything happening to Muffin gave her panic attacks. But Lauren never shared that with anyone, no one knew of her panic attacks.

“LB!”

Lauren eyes lifted to the kitchen entrance. She leaned against the counter with her smoky cup of coffee warming the palms of her hands.

“LB?!”
“In here…” she said.

Dena came in. Vibrant, full of spunk, her friend’s natural beauty kept the workers doing double takes. This morning she was dressed casually, which was a requirement for a resident of the valley. In the city Dena who would never be seen without a pair of four-inch high heels and a designer micro-mini had learned to adapt quick. Lauren warned that living with her on the vineyard would bring about this change. Within two weeks Dena was walking around in a pair of Lauren’s cut-off shorts and thong sandals—point proven.

Lauren smiled, eyes dropping to Dena’s feet—bare.

“You feeding Muffin, you said you would just get a cup of coffee.” Dena huffed. Before Lauren could answer she noticed the dreaded documents in her best friend hand. Lauren cut her eyes away. She turned to the sink and poured out her coffee, her appetite and mood now soured. She closed her eyes and listened.

“I’m out here waiting on you and you’re ignoring me. Would you please come back in so we can finish this?”

“I can’t.” Lauren mumbled.

“We talked about this last night,”

“…and you didn’t listen….”

“….you don’t have a choice LB.”

Lauren whirled on her friend, her lips pressed together into a tight thin line. “See that’s where you’re wrong. I have a choice. I can let this place go under, it’s my damn place! I can do whatever the hell I want to do!”
Dena smiled. “But you won’t. You won’t let Maria and Hector who’ve been loyal to this place and you lose their homes, their jobs. You wont let those contract workers lose the only jobs they have. The reason why you’re near bankrupt is because you wouldn’t pull out when you knew things were headed south. Because you love your vineyard, and chica I love you. So stop your bitching, okay.”

“Bitching? The reason why I’m bankrupt is because I’ve mortgaged this place up to my eyeballs to keep it running, love or no love it’s evident I’ve lost control. Hell D, I never had control. Look at Monty…” her voice broke. Even now Monty’s betrayal made her want to throw something, smash something, or just crawl inside of herself and disappear.

Lauren eyes dropped away from Dena, for fear she’d see how raw the shame of her failed romance remained for her. Was it the loss of love? She had gotten used to the hypocritical way men expressed love. Every man she’s ever known has failed her at one time or another. No, this was her. How could she have been so willingly blind, so stupid, so needy. She suffered, because all of it she brought on herself.

“LB?”

“I used every dime I had to buy out Ray Shepherd and Monty’s contract. Because….” Her eyes stung with tears that she hadn’t let drop since she threw Monty out of her life. “….of me this place failed. I failed.”

Dena approached arms lifting to offer support, and Lauren stepped aside. The bitterness swelled under her breasts, her pride blasted away any chance of weeping. “I’ll figure something out Dena, I always do. Stop pressuring me to make a decision.”