fishing department – was a long and basically uninteresting waste of time for Blake, but he couldn’t think of anything else.
The entire eight-page menu at the Beach Haven Diner was being tested by the back table of nine, who were eating everything from chicken parmigiana to eggs Benedict to cheesecake with strawberries. Full menu turnover is always a problem at diners, as many fresh ingredients pass their prime without being ordered. Owner Stavros Marlos was delighted to have cleaned out kitchen pantries for a change and was thinking about closing the diner early for the first time on a non Holiday.
Just about the time that half the cows in the region were about to be rounded up to support the effort to feed the Brewster family at Beach Haven Burger, the place started clearing out. One table at a time of diners left the restaurant, some with their food in tow and some without. When the people behind the counter walked out and the kitchen staff followed the owner, who locked the front door on his way out, Cal finally stopped eating for a moment.
“Is it just me, or is there something really weird going on here?”
Thad put his fully-stacked burger down and said, “Yeah, it’s starting to give me the creeps.
Emily held her stomach and added, “I think I’m going to be sick.
Drew was always easily influenced and had still not come out of his trance, “Can I have your fries if you’re not going to eat them?”
The other three looked at Drew with disdain as Emily reluctantly agreed to his request. He grabbed the fries and shoved them in his mouth as if he hadn’t eaten in days. A familiar masculine voice could be heard from the kitchen coming forward into the front room.
“You always did have an active appetite, Andrew. There were nights when one bottle of formula wasn’t enough and I had to prepare a second bottle while your mother slept.”
The sight of Randy Prince made Cal Brewster say, “What the…”
Emily said, “Randy?”
And Thaddeus exclaimed, “Oh, there goes the neighborhood!”
Randy Prince walked straight over to his son, Andrew Brewster and once their similarly-shaped eyes connected, Drew’s obsessive thoughts of various indigestible foods were replaced by scenes of the early years between dad and son.
Drew finally realized who was standing in front of him, because he never really remembered his dad and hadn’t heard many stories from his mom, uncle or grandpa’.
“Dad?”
“Yes, it’s me son.”
Thaddeus rubbed his eyes to make sure they weren’t deceiving him.
He looked at Cal and said, “You were there. Hartwell cut him in half when he tried to get active in the family business.”
Cal mocked Randy like he always had by laughing, “Yeah, he wasn’t very good at fighting.”
Randy took his loving gaze off his son for a moment and then glared at Cal with glowing orange eyes, “Why don’t you test me now, hunter?” he said as he stood up and was about to make a move at Cal.
“There will be plenty of time for that, Randy,” an experienced female voice said from the other room.
This voice was familiar to all of the people in the room, and instantly wiped the smug smiles off the faces of Cal and Thad, who stood up while Emily sat quietly in shock and whimpered, “Mommy?”
“Mom?” Cal said as if he could not be convinced of actually being able to see his mother again unless they met in heaven.
Mary Brewster, less gray and old and definitely more vital than she was last seen on her death bed, emerged from the shadows of the back room and entered the light of the main room. She looked over at Cal and said, “Yes, it’s me Calvin.” Then she nodded at Thaddeus and said, “Good to see you again, Thad.”
Thaddeus was speechless for one of the few times in his life as his dead wife walked passed Emily and kissed her on the forehead whispering, “Hello, my sweet girl.” Emily was always her mother’s favorite and she made no bones about her affinity for her girl over her twin brother, who was so much like his mother that they often butted heads. Tears flowed out of Emily’s eyes much as they did when her mother breathed her last breath years earlier.
“Give your mother a kiss,” Mary said trying to work just about every angle of the room.
Cal kissed his mother on the cheek and she whispered in his ear, “It’s been a long time since I have been able to drop you over my knee and give you a good spanking.”
He smiled as he felt the strength of his mother and it was similar to that of the man he eventually swatted in the ocean, Gabriel Billingsley.
Thaddeus took a healthy step back from the woman that used to be his wife and said, “You died. I watched you die,” as he tried to fight back the tears from memories of perhaps the worst day of his life.
Mary Brewster was in great spirits, “Does it look like I’m dead, Thaddeus?”
He said nothing and all of his thoughts and energy shifted to protecting his real family.
“Well, we will be seeing you around this lovely town that you now live in. Give Hartwell my love,” she said as she grabbed Randy’s hand and the two walked out the way they came in.
All of the supernatural events and reveals were going on at the same time, which meant that Beach Haven Bagel also cleared, save for Nicole, Sharon and Garrison. The front door was locked and a familiar voice could be heard ascending from the kitchen area.
“You know, when you put too much in your mouth you get indigestion, dear,” a motherly voice bellowed and then came forward.
Sharon looked at her father Garrison like she needed confirmation that she wasn’t hearing things. He was just as flabbergasted and for some reason they looked at Nicole, who had already left her seat and ran to the spot where her grandmother had walked to just behind the counter.
“Grandma!” she yelled as she embraced a woman that looked in the prime of her life.
Nicole stepped back and said, “You look so beautiful!”
Eloise Philips looked over her granddaughter and said with pride, “Oh how you have grown, Nicole, into such a beautiful woman.”
Sharon stood up but Garrison remained in his seat, guided by years of dealing with such things. Sharon hugged her mother as tears streamed down her eyes, “You took up with a hunter and for that indiscretion you will pay,” mother whispered into daughter’s ears.
Daughter stepped back and then looked back in horror at her father, who already knew the homecoming was about to get dirty.
“You should have stayed buried under the ground, El.”
She shrugged, “Not like I had much of a choice now did I, Gar?” as she nodded her head and then walked out of the back of the store.
Brandon Justice was reading the last book in the huge stack and was interrupted by a voice that had always been the bane of his existence when he was a mortal.
“You could read every book in the library and you’d still be a loser, BJ.”
Brandon looked up and saw his annoying father, Gregory Justice, and his mother, Julie Justice standing next to him.
“We wanted to come back and thank you for burying us in the ocean years ago,” Julie stated.
“No thanks needed,” Brandon replied for a lack of better words.
“Payback’s a bitch, BJ,” his father said as he and his wife’s eyes glowed in neon orange.
Brandon was now out of his book haze and stood up in an act of defiance, “You call me BJ one more time old man and I’ll put you straight through that wall.”
“You better watch who you call ‘old man’ squirt,” the high school bully and abusive father said to his son, and then he and his wife smiled in defiance as they walked away from the aquatics sections and out of the library.
The last of the visits from the great beyond took place at Beach Haven Sporting Goods, where Agent Blake Wallace was trying to move a muscle, any muscle, and remove himself from the hunting and fishing department. He only had one person work with him on his FBI task force focused on a
ll things Hartwell, and he was back to repay an old debt.
“You should have told me that you were doing all of that to keep an eye on your daughter,” Agent Terrence Carter said. “There was no reason to put me in harm’s way, Agent Wallace.”
Blake said “Agent Carter?” although he was still unable to move.
Carter emerged from a row of fishing rods with a crossbow fully cocked and he was aiming it at Blake, who said the first thing that came to mind.
“Don’t do anything you will regret, Terry.”
“I don’t live with regret anymore, Agent Wallace” as he shot the silver-tipped arrow straight through Blake’s heart and it emerged from the other side of his body. Agent Carter grabbed Blake and sped to the back alley of the store, tossing him in a dumpster before anyone noticed and just as Blake was taking his last breath.
THIRTEEN
The nine people at the Beach Haven Diner were frozen in time and eating like it was their last supper. And as all of this madness was going on, Hartwell was paid a visit by a couple of old friends that had a fresh score to settle with him. There would be nothing else that could be set into motion within the family until the action at Hartwell’s house was completed. His life was once again the only trigger that could end a battle, and he continued to give the appearance of not caring as danger entered the room, although he knew what was coming his way a few minutes before it even happened.
“Hello Thomas,” the deep voice said from behind him in the sun room.
Hartwell didn’t