Hartwell froze the frame, “How is this possible?”
Maggie put her hand on his shoulder and said, “You know, things are a lot different this time around.”
Hartwell laughed, “You can say that again.” “Something definitely protected her,” Garrison said.
“Do you mean physically?” Blake asked.
“No, I think he means corporally,” Maggie interjected. The group looked over at Max.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Hartwell stepped back and pulled Garrison with him. “We have to set up a meeting.”
“All right, I’ll get it done,” Gary replied.
Garrison always saw Thaddeus in town and the two would even acknowledge each other on occasion. On this day, however, Gary was going to make sure to stop and talk to Thad.
Thaddeus was coming out of Beach Haven Bagel and Garrison made a point of timing his entry to his counterpoint’s exit.
“What time?” Thaddeus said to Garrison with no level of surprise in his voice whatsoever.
“Isn’t it great?” Gary replied. “I knew you where you were once I left the drug store.”
“Yeah, I picked you up somewhere in between the whitefish and the drug store,” Thad kidded and then they both laughed.
“How about six o’clock at the diner?” Thad asked.
“Let’s do five. We have the kids and the dinner crowd to contend with.”
“I thought we gave up the Early-Bird Special?” Thad asked. Gary looked at Thad in amazement.
“It’s turkey dinner night.” “$10.95?”
“$10.95,” Gary affirmed.
“Yeah, I’m up for that… they have that inspiring cranberry sauce.” “And that stuffing is divine,” Gary added.
They shook hands and smiled. “See you later,” Thad said. “Later,” Gary replied.
NINE
“Table for 16,” Garrison said as they arrived at the Beach Haven
Diner at 4:59 p.m.
Predictably, the hunter party was less than a minute behind the vampire group, because it was their legacy to always be in pursuit of their foes.
The female maître di looked like a little girl that was let loose on her mother’s makeup. But she could see over the raccoon-like usage of mascara that there were eight people standing in front of her. Well, seven
people standing and one sitting in a baby seat, and then she walked them back to their table.
“Party of 16?” she said to the hunters upon their arrival. “That gets you the special, private back room.
Cal looked at Hartwell as he entered the room, knowing full-well that the mind trick was his doing.
Hartwell returned the parental glance with a devilish smile, which inferred that he had gotten away with something. Cal sat across from Hartwell.
“You know, they usually have cameras in this room, too.” Hartwell stated.
Cal gave an inch finally, “That I didn’t know,” and nodded in appreciation for the privacy.
“The main thing is that we never fight around the children,” Hartwell said casually, knowing that his baby was a strategic mastermind. The hunters still didn’t know that Kayla possessed powers of protection, so they were definitely dealing from an imperceptive point of weakness.
Nicole and Carla wanted nothing to do with each other, so they sat at opposite ends of the huge rectangular table, with their babies on one side and their husband’s on the other.
“Let’s talk business later,” Thaddeus said.
“Yeah, let’s eat!” his contemporary, Garrison concurred.
On one side of the table were the hunters, from left to right: Aaron, Emily, Thaddeus, Sharon, Andrew, Carla and Kayla.
Kayla was sitting in her detached car seat placed on top of a wooden high-chair turned upside-down, just beyond the edge of the table.
Across from Carla sat Belinda, and from right to left Blake, Maggie, Hartwell, Garrison, Daniel, Nicole and Maxwell.
Garrison felt awkward in his own skin for the first time in decades, sitting across from his daughter Sharon, who was now literally sleeping with the enemy.
Sharon looked ahead trying to make eye contact with her father, who was undoubtedly disappointed in her. Gary looked down at Hartwell, because Hartwell was telling him internally to acknowledge her and get it over with.
He turned and locked eyes with Sharon, as she saw the pain and burden of the generations in his eyes. He, in turn, looked in her clear, sparkling eyes and realized that the only choice for his daughter was love. This revelation made him feel better, even if that partner in love was the dreaded Calvin Brewster.
What appeared to be a large family gathering was actually a meeting to hash out the articles of war. Food was ordered as if the group was anticipating an extended stay in an underground bomb shelter. Max was busy playing with the hanging plastic rings on his seat when he heard Thaddeus say, “My great-granddaughter Kayla is a big girl.”
“Kayla? Who’s Kayla?” Max asked his group.
“That’s Andrew and Carla’s baby,” Maggie said. “She was born a few minutes before you.”
The waitress came swinging through the doors of the private room about ten minutes after her first appearance, and was accompanied by a team of three helpers, all holding silver trays stacked with as much food as they could humanly carry. With everyone’s attention on the baked, fried and grilled offerings, Maxwell decided to venture out on his own and take a peek at the newest Brewster.
Max detached his seat from the upside-down high-chair and floated toward the area behind the hunters. He then unhinged Carla’s seat and had her take a similar journey.
The two car seats rested softly on the carpet facing each other, as
Max knew he had only a small window of time for them to get acquainted.
“Hi, you must be Kayla,” Max said trying to be all suave and sophisticated.
“What? a confused Kayla replied. “Where’s my mommy?” “Hold on there, little lady,” Max said trying to calm her down. “Please put me back. I think I’m going to cry,” Kayla said in a
moment of panic.
Max didn’t want to get noticed, so he calmly floated Kayla’s seat back toward her base. Her confusion subsided, and she finally took a good look at Max for the first time and smiled.
“See you later,” she said as her arm sort of rose up and waved to him.
Max was so smitten that he almost forgot to get back to his spot before being noticed. He clicked back into place as the conveyor belts of food had settled in their temporary resting place.
He thought he had gotten away with it until Nicole looked at him and said, “She’s cute, isn’t she?”
Maxwell would have blushed if that was within his physical capabilities. Instead, he humbly replied, “Yes, she is.”
Carla had not established communication yet with Kayla, primarily because she had no idea she could do such a thing.
“Mommy, why does that boy’s mommy and daddy have rings on their fingers and you and daddy don’t?”
Carla heard the voice in her head and naturally went to answer
Kayla’s question out loud.
“Well, honey…” Carla started saying, and then realized she was answering a question from a newborn.
“Did you say something?” Drew leaned over and asked.
She whispered in his ear, “I thought I heard Kayla talking to me.” Drew pulled back and replied, “You gotta’ get out more.”
Carla looked at Kayla, who was gumming her right fist and drooling all over it, shook her head in disbelief, and then went back to eating her delectable chicken parmesan.
A few seconds later, it started again.
“Mommy! Didn’t you hear me?” Kayla invaded Carla’s thoughts. Instead of talking out loud, Carla tried a more inward approach. “Kayla, is that you talking to me?” she asked while looking at her
baby.
“Yeah, can I have a piece of what you’re eating?”
/> Carla went to cut a really small piece of her flattened chicken but then looked at Kayla’s lack of choppers.
“Soon. Would you mind asking your father the same question you asked me before?”
“The one about the rings?” Kayla asked. “Yes, the one about the rings,” Carla replied.
“Daddy! Why do that boy’s parents have rings and you and mommy don’t?”
Drew went to answer Kayla and then looked at his wife, who was giving him the evil eye.
He had a huge bite of burger that hadn’t cleared the throat’s horizon yet, and it became lodged in his windpipe. He couldn’t speak but Carla didn’t realize it.
“Aren’t you going to answer your daughter?”
Drew pointed to his windpipe and was lucky that Daniel was still connected with his cousin and had better-than-bionic hearing. Daniel flew around the table and performed an upgraded version of the Heimlich maneuver on Drew even before anyone could move. The two-inch slab of burger dislodged and headed across the table at Hartwell, who calmly took his napkin off his lap, caught the flying piece of meat, smiled, and then placed it covered on the table.
When the commotion calmed down and Daniel was thanked properly for his good deed, Drew pulled him aside and asked, “When did you get married?”
“Well, we’ve done it twice now. The first time was just before Max was born in the hospital, and then again last week on the beach in Maui.
“Next time give me a head’s up,” Andrew stated.
Daniel looked at him like, “Dude, we’re not exactly on speaking terms.”
Drew and Carla had their baby and did not get married initially, because they were waiting to see if Nicole’s baby was his. Then the fighting started and Drew got swept up in all of it. Carla always knew Drew would marry her, but he hadn’t even asked yet. It was almost like they had made a business deal and sealed it with a handshake.
Andrew knew he had messed up. He neglected to take care of the one person that loved him the most in the whole world. Daniel could see the look of pain and desperation on Drew’s face and, although they were now supposed to be enemies on opposite sides of the aisle, he still had love for his cousin.
Daniel left the room, saying that he had to go to the bathroom to wash his hands, which appeared to be a logical excuse for a tidy vampire.
Instead, he sped into New York City to a diamond guy he knew on 47th
Street. Daniel did all of the craftsmanship on the ring himself, adding
'diamond designer' to his list of extensive competencies.
He was back in the private room at the diner within 10 seconds, and nodded at Drew to come out of the room and talk to him. Andrew was still a little standoffish as he rose from his chair and walked out of the room, even though Daniel saved his life a few moments earlier.
“What’s up?” a coy Drew asked.
Daniel was diplomatic as usual, “I know this isn’t the way you planned it, but if you don’t do it then it will probably get real ugly real fast.” He
pulled a small blue suede box out of his pocket
Drew took possession of the box and then opened it, “What the… Danny! What am I supposed to do with this?” a flustered Drew stammered.
Daniel put his arm around Drew and walked him to the small window that gave a view back into the room.
“Go back in there, get down on one knee, and then ask that goddess to marry you.”
Drew’s knees were knocking as he followed his cousin back into the room.
Hartwell looked over at Daniel and smiled a proud fatherly look.
Nicole asked, “Is everything all right?”
Daniel watched Drew walk slowly toward his end of the table. “We’ll know in a few minutes.”
Andrew sat back down and looked at his daughter before resuming his meal. He was moving food around on his plate more than actually eating, while getting more and more anxious by the second.
“Are you okay?” Carla asked him, while putting her hand in love on his forearm.
Drew lifted his locked gaze off the destruction occurring on his plate and looked deep into Carla’s eyes.
“Carla-bear, there’s something I have to ask you.”
And just as he was going to drop down on his left knee, the team of table cleaners walked in and started removing plates.
“Are you done, sir?
Andrew was going to be all dramatic and reply, “No, we’re just beginning,” but he wasn’t a corny guy by any stretch of the imagination.
“Yes, you can take it,” Drew said about his shockingly half-eaten plate. Even though Drew was petrified, he was still a voracious eater at heart.
“On second thought, you can wrap that up. Thanks.”
The waitress came in a few moments later and took dessert orders. She used up two order slips and then departed, leaving Drew with the opening he coveted. Instead of making a grand public gesture in order to gain the favor of the other diner-goers, Drew put his hand on Carla’s arm and motioned for her to come closer so he could whisper in her ear.
He moved his chair back and dropped down on one knee, while securing the ring from his pocket.
“Carla Perkins. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” Andrew asked simply as he revealed a massive diamond engagement ring that must have improved the reception throughout the diner's TV monitors. The satellite-dish-sized diamond almost blinded Carla as non-emotion changed quickly into shock, which then transformed into a combination of pure joy and love.
She started crying and mouthed “Yes,” while nodding her head.
“That was a yes?” Drew said out loud as he attracted the attention of everyone else at the table.
He slipped the ring on her left hand ring finger and then they kissed while clapping and congratulations echoed throughout the room.
“We’ll need a few bottles of champagne,” Thaddeus said to the waitress, who reentered the room when she heard the excessive noise.
“What’s going on?” Max asked as he detached his seat from its base and was going to float to the other side of the room to take a closer look.
Nicole was quick to act, “Stay down, little man. I’ll tell you what happened later.”
What you weren’t privy to were the ‘soft’ articles of war negotiations over dessert. Everyone was in such a good mood that fighting became a mere afterthought. The standard conditions of no fighting during the day and never in someone’s house, especially with the babies being born, were still in play.
Everyone was saying their goodbyes when Carla waited for the exact moment when Andrew cleared the doorway with Kayla in hand, to look
back at Daniel and gratefully mouth the words, “Thank you!” knowing that he was the Cyrano behind her man’s romantic action.
Nicole was busy gathering Maxwell’s stuff and readying him for the trip home, so she didn’t see the flirtatious gesture, but Hartwell and Maggie did.
“Oh boy,” Hartwell said.
“That can’t be good for business,” Maggie added.
“Are you going to talk to Daniel?” Maggie asked, as she was inexperienced with such matters of peace and war.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring attention to it,” Hartwell replied. “So, your strategy is to just ignore it?”
Hartwell countered his wife’s challenge with a straight faced, “Yes. If
I bring attention to it, he’s going to start thinking about it.”
“But that look on her face said a lot more than just ‘thank you,'" Maggie stated
“Let’s hope not, or we’re all going to be back to square one,” Hartwell replied.
TEN
The story of Brandon Justice was definitely a journey of extremes. On the one hand, he was a bloodthirsty vampire that enjoyed toying with his prey, but, on the other hand, he learned to love as a respectful, mortal teenager.
The vampire Brandon had become fed up with his abusive parents and decided to bury them in the Pacific Ocean.
So, maybe he had a lot more to atone for when Andrew Brewster took his life that day in the park.
It made sense that Hartwell sired Justice at a young age, because at the rate he was going he wasn’t going to make it very long. Charles Darwin would have enjoyed the young lad, who was as unfit as he was intelligent.
The day in question - Brandon’s last in Beach Haven - started rather innocently with a car-ride to school with his girlfriend, Valerie Winters.
“If you had to leave here and never come back, where would you go?” she asked, even before she said good morning and kissed him.
“Good morning! Can I kiss you before I answer such a weighted question?”
She obliged because the answer, while not completely necessary, would help clear her head on a day when she had to be at her best.
“Not that I plan to go anywhere, but you know how much I love the
West Coast,’ he finally replied.
Victoria smirked and Brandon noticed. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m just thinking about colleges,” she calmly stated. He knew what she was thinking, “Stanford?”
“Yeah, either that or Cal Berkley.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he said. “So, the East Coast is out? Kinda’
thought I would go to school near the family.”
Valerie gave pause, “That’s what I was thinking.”