I was as pleased as punch. "Thanks, Winnie. I'm glad I've gotten to know you and Edna and Sam."

The only sound was our legs splashing in the water. "He is a really nice man," she said evenly.

"Sam, nice? Nice isn't a tenth of it. Sam is handsome and smart and responsible and he always says exactly the right thing." It wasn't until I'd spoken that I realized the extent of my respect for him. "How do some people know how to say the right thing all the time? It boggles the mind. I am boggled."

Winnie laughed. "It is boggling. Okay, he is a lot more than nice and he always says the right thing."

"You're like him that way."

She swirled in the water and then asked casually, "What do you think of Oswald?"

Previous "He's nice," I said carefully, and when she laughed I added, "You two seem so different."

"That's true," she agreed. "But in the most important way, we're perfectly compatible."

She must mean that they have incredible sex. I felt insanely jealous because I was trying so hard to be sincere and serious.

Winnie didn't have to try. She was naturally serious and sincere and she also got to boink her sophisticated brains out. With Oswald.

When I spoke, my voice was warm to reflect the real fondness I had for the pale sylph nearby. "Winnie, when is the wedding?"

When she named a date only a month away, I was as shocked as a toddler playing with a fork and an electrical outlet. "But there has been no planning! No one said anything to me." Had our espiritu de los cocteles been only a meaningless, gin-fueled illusion?

"We've gone back and forth on it," she said. "Oswald wanted to wait until things are settled here, but who knows when that will be? I want to have children..." She gave a resigned sigh. "My mothers been making all the preparations. We're going to be married in Prague."

I didn't know why I was so upset. "And where will you live after you're married?"

"Here, of course."

"Winnie, don't you think that Oswald's place is too small?"

"Oh, we'll only be in the cottage until this blows over. That was one of the reasons we thought of waiting. When Edna and Sam leave, we'll move into the house."

Perhaps this was just Sam's country house. "You mean Sam doesn't live here all the time?"

Winnie stopped kicking and turned to look at me. "He usually doesn't live here at all." She told me that he had his own town house in the City.

"So this ranch..." I trailed off.

"It's Oswald's."

It was clear that I knew nothing at all.

Sam was waiting for us outside the house, a flashlight in his hand. "The moon is full tonight," he said with a plaintive tone that I'd never heard from him before. He caught my expression and laughed. "No, you don't have to worry about werewolves. There's no such thing."

Winnie began, "But there are documented cases of-"

"No more medical discourse for tonight, dear doctor. I only wanted to ask if you ladies wanted to join me on a walk."

Upset that I'd been so wrong about so many things, I said I was going to bed. I hoped the dedicated physician and the somber lawyer would stray from their usually serious conversations and find a topic that amused them both.

The next day I was simmering with so much frustration that I couldn't enjoy the new growth in the garden, the shrubs leafing out and buds appearing on the annuals. When Edna came outside, I whined, "Edna, no one tells me anything around here."

"I have no idea what you're talking about.""I mean no one told me that Oswald was really a doctor and no one told me this was his place and no one told me you drink blood and no one told me that Winnie and Oswald are getting married next month. What else don't I know?"

"Young lady," she said with a sigh, "I simply don't have time to tell you all the things you don't know." And with that she walked away.

I didn't stop working until Winnie came home from the clinic. Her pale lilac suit made her eyes sparkle. She was so cheerful and happy that I thought she must have cured some putrefying disease.

When we entered the kitchen, Edna was doing something unseemly to a chicken. I said, "Hey, Edna, I believe what you're doing to that chicken is illegal in forty-eight states."

Her left eyebrow rose slowly like an opera curtain and the right corner of her lips turned down infinitesimally as she put one shoulder back. Genius. "Young lady, do not antagonize a woman with a boning knife." She turned to Winnie. "Your cousin Cornelia called a little while ago."

"Cornelia! What's she doing?" Winnie asked excitedly.

"Why don't you ask her yourself when she gets here? She and Ian are on their way." Edna, jabbed at the chicken. "Ian's staying in town, but since you have an extra bed in your room, I thought Cornelia could bunk with you."

"Who are Cornelia and Ian?" I asked.

"Oh, they're my very glamorous second cousins," Winnie said with delight. "You'll see."

I'd about had my share of glamorous people recently, but I brushed out my hair and dabbed on lip gloss anyway before I went to help Edna in the kitchen. She took green bottles, dewy with condensation, from the refrigerator.

"Champagne?" I asked.

"Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine. This one is dry, but has a nice fruitiness."

Fruity, cookie, nutty, words such as these beckon to me like sirens, enticing me to cast myself upon the rocks.

Edna saw me open my mouth and said, "Not a word, young lady. Pour it in flutes. Add a raspberry to each if you feel so inclined."

Oswald, dressed in a soft ecru shirt and olive slacks, came into the kitchen. He noticed the Prosecco and said to his grandmother, "Is this from the crate that the wine shop sent you?"

"Maybe," said Edna with a small smile.

"You and your admirers," Oswald said with a grin. "Smells terrific. A special meal for the beautiful Cornelia?"

I suddenly felt like day-old guacamole.

Winnie, dancing and humming like a child, helped to carry our drinks out to the terrace and I carried a platter of appetizers.

"What has gotten into you, Winsome?" I asked.

She smiled zanily. "It's just such a beautiful day! Don't you think it's a beautiful day?"

"I agree one hundred percent.""And I'm not going to let anyone ruin it for me."

I held up a skewered prawn to her mouth and she took a bite. "Anyone who would ruin your fun would be a monster."

Or, to be more precise, a couple of vampires.

The gleaming ebony Mercedes arrived so silently the dogs didn't notice. It stopped in front of the terrace and a painfully thin woman stepped out of the driver's side. She was dressed head to foot in black: black boots, black skirt, black sweater, black sunglasses, and a black jacket. Her dyed black hair was cut in a perfect Louise Brooks bob. Her red lipstick was stark against her ivory skin. She practically took the fizz out of my Prosecco.

Then the passenger door opened and a sturdy but dashing man got out. The fluid lines of his beautiful suit made him appear taller than his average height, but it was his face that caught my attention. His features were lush, decadent, sensual. His mouth was wide, with full, curved lips, and his large eyes were hooded and shadowed. He had black curly hair and was as swarthy as his sister was pale.

"Ah, the beautiful Cornelia!" Oswald shouted as he walked to her. He lifted her effortlessly off the ground and twirled her around. Her boots were so pointy, he could have hurled her like a javelin and done some damage. Her sophisticated, low laugh rippled through the air.

I stood back as the vamps exchanged greetings with kisses all round. When Cornelia came to Winnie, she held out her praying mantis arms and crooned, "Dearest."

I wanted to scream, "No, Winnie, don't! They mate, then kill!" but I thought that would be impolite, so I sat still and awaited my introduction. Ian, too, stood back and watched.

"Cornelia," said Edna, "you never age."

The younger woman did have an eerily preserved look to her pallid face. She removed her sunglasses to reveal eyes rimmed in so much kohl and mascara that it would have embarrassed a transvestite. "Dearest Edna, always a delight." The women exchanged air kisses.

"What a wonderful surprise!" Winnie said.

"Yes," said Cornelia, "Ian and I were on the coast and we thought, why not give little Winifred a treat?" Her accent was indefinable, not American, not English, not from any specific European country.

"I'm so happy to see you," Winnie said. "You are always so chic!"

Cornelia held out her arms, displaying herself. "It is what I do, no?"

Oswald slipped his hand around Cornelia's tiny waist. "As svelte as ever," he said. "Most of my patients would die to look like you."

I was pretty sure this look could be easily achieved by dying and waiting three months.

"Oswald, don't," Ian said. "Flattery just spoils her." He turned to me. "Hello, I'm Ian Ducharme," he said in a warm, liquid voice. He took my hands in his dry, firm ones and held them for several seconds too long. He wasn't a handsome man, but he made handsome seem irrelevant. He looked as if he was in his thirties, but something about him seemed ancient and powerful.

"This is Milagro De Los Santos," Sam said. "Our friend."

"Say hello, young lady," Edna ordered."Hello," I said.

Cornelia turned to me and said, "Why, she's adorable!" The full force of her attention made me feel like being adorable had been my life's dream.

"Delectable," Ian said. His eyes were full of dangerous meaning.

Cornelia plucked Sam's drink from his hand, tossed it back, and gave him a sultry look. "Edna, when did Sam become so utterly devastating?" Sam blushed at the attention.

"He's always been a good-looking fellow, Cornelia. You were just too busy to notice."

Cornelia examined Sam again and I knew what she meant. Dealing with CACA had brought out very interesting qualities in Sam. The oblivious mathematician had been replaced by a brooding and complex Sam. Cornelia smiled and said, "I'll take especial care to notice from now on."

Edna turned to Ian. "Have you really decided not to stay with us?"

"Alas, I am a creature of the night, ma chere. I would disrupt your household."

"I'm sure you're right," she responded.

The conversation flowed as quickly as the wine. Cocktails became dinner as we moved from the terrace to the dining room.

Cornelia told wonderful stories about their travels and mentioned their chateau, villas, city apartments, and even a boathouse.

She spoke of the famous and infamous with the same amused air that she mentioned shopkeepers and locals. Oswald seemed to know a great many of her friends, too, and I wondered how long he had traveled in her circle.

Ian listened attentively to his sister, but also turned to Winnie beside him, drawing her out about her move to the country and plans for the future. Occasionally I caught him watching me, a smile playing on his lips.

Someone must have told the brother and sister about my situation, because they weren't surprised when Sam began talking about CACA. "Gabriel's contact in the organization is about to deliver. If all goes right, we can get them to back off very soon."

"That's wonderful, Sam!" Winnie exclaimed.

"Sam, I never know what you mean when you say 'soon,' " I said. "And what is it exactly that you're doing to CACA?" I didn't expect him to provide any real answers. The vampires generally ignored my questions, but I felt obligated to keep asking anyway.

"Must you badger Sam at dinner, young lady?" Edna sniffed.

"By very soon, I mean within weeks," Sam said.

Ian reached across the table and refilled my wineglass. "Young Lady," he said, and everyone laughed. "I hope you are not planning to rush away."

That's exactly what I was planning on doing, getting away from Oswald and the rest of the vampires as soon as possible, even though the prospect filled me with unwarranted regret. "I will be leaving as soon as Sebastian Beckett-Witherspoon has been stopped."

Cornelia looked at me and said, "Sam tells me that you know him. Is he as handsome as his photos?"

"More," I said truthfully. "All golden and light. However, he is morally bankrupt.""You say that like it's a bad thing," Cornelia said with a laugh. "Not that I find blond men especially handsome. I prefer men with dark hair, dark eyes." She smiled at Sam. "So much more intriguing."

After dinner, I trailed behind as the vampires walked to the I barn. Ernie had put his newest creations on the sideboard of the tasting room. There was a delicate calf recently weaned and Tibetan lamb flavored by a diet of thyme and sage. We each got a few drops of blood from squirrels that had been fed on hazelnuts.

Cornelia regaled the family with a story about a rubber dynasty heir who had followed her from one luxury resort to another, proclaiming his love.

Ian said, "My sister neglects to mention that insanity runs in his family."

"True," said Cornelia, "but he had exquisite taste in jewelry." She reached under her collar and lifted up an ornate gold and topaz necklace. "The foolish fellow gave me all his family heirlooms in exchange for a few dates."

"Cornelia," said Edna coolly, "you could have bought those trinkets yourself."

"Ah, but that is too easy. It isn't the cost that makes something dear, Edna. It is the torment that accompanies a gift." Cornelia laughed as innocently as a schoolgirl.

As the blood cocktail slid down my throat, I felt a current run through me. It tasted the way a lagoon looks, rich with life, dark with mystery, textured and layered. I felt as if I was evolving into something more than what I had been and this mood was still upon me as we walked back to the house.

Sam and I were at a distance from the others, and I felt an urge to confide in him. "Sam, do you think there is some secret to finding a partner who is both intellectually and physically satisfying?"

"What serious question, Young Lady," Sam said. "I don't know that it's a secret so much as recognizing an opportunity. How many people bypass their soul mate?"

"Like Winnie and Oswald," I said. "I used to think they were mismatched, but they're both doctors and she told me last night that they have an incredible physical relationship."

He looked shocked at my unladylike gossip.

"I shouldn't have said that," I added quickly. "It was wrong of me to share a private conversation."