Chapter Twenty-Six – "To Peace"
It had been over half an hour since Chris left the Matthews-Mitchell house when he walked into The Manor. He smiled at the hostess, a young woman he didn’t recognize. Her name tag read, “Rebecca.”
“Welcome to The Manor,” Becky Davis stated politely. “How many in your party?”
“Nine, I think,” Chris informed her, “but they should already be here. I’ll just go in and find them.”
“But you can’t,” the girl protested before her eyes widened and she covered her mouth. “I mean, I will direct you to their table if you would follow me.”
Chris raised an eyebrow, slightly amused. “The party I am meeting is the owner and her family. My name is Chris Halliwell and I’ve been wandering these halls since I was a toddler. My mom won’t expect you to lead me in, trust me on that.”
“But it’s improper,” Becky protested.
Chris looked at her, trying to hide his growing amusement. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. You really don’t have to, but go ahead.”
She breathed a sigh of relief.
“Have you worked here long?” He asked, wishing Drinka was here.
Becky shook her head. “Only a couple of weeks,” she admitted.
Chris nodded. “You’ll get better.” He smiled. “So why don’t you show me to where my parents, brother, and the rest of my family are.”
Becky nodded. “If you would follow me, sir.”
Chris only just managed to keep from laughing. “Lead on.”
She lead him into the main dining room where he found most of his family seated around a couple tables. In addition to those who had been at Aunt Paige and Uncle Henry’s today, he saw the back of dark head standing between where Piper and Paige were sitting. “That’s them,” he informed Becky.
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Sir? That makes twice she’s called me that. She needs to loosen up. “Thanks, Rebecca.”
“Becky.”
He looked at her questioningly.
“It’s Becky,” she informed him. “Miss Deguilio thought Rebecca looked more sophisticated. I’m not sure why she cared though, she . . .”
“She’s Drinka,” Chris laughed. “You’ll get used to her.”
“I suppose.” She didn’t look so sure.
“Trust me. I’ve known Drinka most of my life. You’ll get used to her.”
“But why does she want sophisticated when she’s so . . ?”
“Flamboyant?”
“Yeah.”
Chris shrugged. “I’ll never know how her mind works, but I suspect it came off of something or other my mom said.”
“Oh.” She looked at him for several seconds and sighed. “I better get back to the entry hall.”
He smiled as he watched her head back. He couldn’t have been more than three or four years or senior, seven on the long side, but she made him feel ancient. He walked over to the table just as his cousin, Ladybug Halliwell straightened and turned around. Seeing Chris she walked over to greet him. “Hi, Chris.”
“No word on your parents?”
Ladybug nibbled on her bottom lip. “I know they said they wouldn’t be in contact while they were gone, but its mom. Can she seriously resist the urge?”
“Maybe they went somewhere without phones.”
She shook her head. “No. It’s not like her. Dad maybe. I mean he loves us, but he loves Mom. And he trusts us. Mom, well, she still thinks we’re little kids.”
Chris cast a wry look at his mom. “Ladybug, I hate to tell you, but that’s parents. My mom will always think of me as her baby. And your mom’s baby is barely in the double digits.”
“So she’s ten,” Ladybug gave him a look. “Cilly is eighteen and I’m nineteen, almost twenty. We’re not babies.”
Chris shrugged. “I’m just telling you how your mom probably sees it.”
Ladybug sighed. “Okay. I know. But you get my point. She’d call. She’d find a way. Or she’d get dad to take her home to check in on us. Something.”
Chris was silent for several seconds. Finally, he nodded. “Yes, I see your point. Is there anything I can do to help.”
Ladybug stared past him across the room. “I don’t know. We’ve tried scrying, but that only works if they’re on earth and Dad’s a cupid. Nothing says they have to be on earth. We tried both of their cell phones. No answer from Mom’s and Dad’s was in their bedroom. We tried just calling them. Didn’t work. I don’t know. Everything that hinders us could be innocent. And everything could horrific. I don’t know.”
“Did you come over to ask for help?”
She shook her head. “Aunt Paige called. She wanted to know how things were going from our end. I decided to come over and update her and Aunt Piper in person. I’m headed to the East coast now.” She frowned. “There is something you can do.” She glanced up. “Ask them. Please.”
Chris gulped. It didn’t take a genius to know who she meant. He nodded. “I will. I find a way to learn if they know anything.”
“Talk to you tomorrow?”
“We aren’t exactly their favorite people.”
“They aren’t exactly ours,” she countered.
He nodded. “Be that as it may, it’s their opinions that count here. I doubt I’ll have anything useful tomorrow. I’ll get back to you as soon as I do.”
She nodded. “Okay. See you later.” She looked around the empty dining room and winked at him. “Aunt Piper really should do something about this lack of customers. You can’t run a business without them.” She glanced around and seeing no one who wasn’t family she disappeared in pink hearts.
Chris stood there for a few seconds, thinking, before he walked over to the table where his brother had saved him a seat. He pulled out the chair and slid in between Wyatt and Henry. “Have you guys ordered yet?”
Wyatt shook his head. “We actually just got her a couple minutes ago, haven’t even seen a waiter yet.” Looking across the table, he asked, “What’s up with that, Mom?”
Piper opened her mouth to say something as the doors to the kitchen swung open and two people walked out. One was Tyson “Ty” Addington, a waiter at the restaurant. The other was Emily. Piper closed her mouth and waited.
Ty lead the way as he and Emily walked over to the table. “Sorry, Mrs. Halliwell,” he said as he stopped next to her. “We didn’t know anyone was here. It’s been dead for an hour. It’s good to see you. I don’t know how I’m supposed to train her when there’s no one here to serve.”
Piper looked across the table at Wyatt and mouth, “Emily?”
Wyatt nodded.
That confirmed Piper turned back and directed her next question to Ty. “Do you know why it’s been dead? I seem to recall there being reservations. This room should be full.”
Ty shook his head. “No. We’ve been getting cancelation starting about an hour ago. And some people just didn’t show. Becky looked spooked.”
“I heard her say something about a car accident on the freeway,” Emily offered. “And we did have three groups in here until fifteen minutes ago.”
Piper gave Ty a look.
Ty shrugged. “Hey, for here that’s dead.”
Piper shook her head and stood. “I’m going to go talk to Becky, see what’s up. Is Callie still in the back?”
Ty nodded. “Yeah, but she keeps mumbling something about you needed to get a new cook.”
Piper sighed. “Tell her when you get back in there that I will start looking for candidates.”
“She’ll appreciate that.”
“Now, start taking orders,” Piper told him before she headed toward the entry hall. As she reached the door, Becky entered with a couple. “Becky, when your done, I need a word with you.”
Becky looked at her worried and nodded.
“Did you see any evidence of a car accident?”
Chris shook his head. “But then, I drove from the museum to Centennial and then to here. You’d have a better chance of seeing something between here and the house.”
“We didn’t drive,” Wyatt whispered.
Chris scowled at him. “You are going to get in trouble for that one of these days. I’ll drive you to the museum later, so you can pick up your car. No orbing,” Chris ordered him in a low voice just before Ty and Emily reached them.
“May I get you a drink?” Emily asked Chris.
“Ice tea, please,” Chris requested. “And the chef’s special.” He grinned. “And tell Callie my order with exactly those words.”
Emily cocked her head sideways. “Why’s that?”
“’Cause Callie doesn’t admit she’s a chef,” Ty informed her. “You have to know Callie.”
“Aren’t you going to write it down?”
“Ice tea, chef’s special,” Emily repeated, holding out her pad of paper and turning it for him to see.
Chris chuckled. “Predictable am I?”
Emily looked at him innocently. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Who told you my order ahead of time?”
Her eyes shifted across the table for a second and then she just shrugged. She unfolded the paper so he could see what was written on the bottom of the paper.
Chris’ eyes widened as he realized that that Wyatt’s and Hank’s orders were already written there as well. Then, he started to laugh. “Hey, Wy, were you going to order a milk shake and pasta with white sauce?”
Wyatt turned to look at him surprised. “How did you know that?”
“Chocolate on the shake?”
Wyatt nodded. “Why?”
“’Cause someone told the waitress here?”
“Lanna,” Hank declared blandly.
“Was it?” Chris asked curiously.
Alanna said nothing as Emily shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“One of the twins over there?”
“I’ll never tell.”
Hank looked across the table at his sisters. Janice winked at him, causing him to start laughing. “Apparently it was Jani.”
“So this order is accurate?” Emily asked Wyatt.
Wyatt looked at the paper and nodded. “It is, Emily.”
She looked at him surprised and then frowned. “I don’t have a name tag and I didn’t mention my name.”
Wyatt didn’t answer for a moment. Then, he pointed at where his mom and aunt sat. “That’s my mom over there.”
“She mentioned me?”
“We discussed your interview,” Wyatt admitted.
But she wasn’t the one giving information.“I see. In that case, pleased to meet you. I’m Emily Colson.”
Wyatt grinned and held out his hand. “Welcome to The Manor. I’m Wyatt Halliwell.”
“Do you work here?”
He shook his head. “I don’t cook.”
“And even the boss’ son would have to?”
He nodded. “Oh yeah. Chris could work here, but not me.”
Chris’ eyebrows shot up and a thoughtful expression crossed his face.
“Well, it’s nice to meet both of you.”
Wyatt nodded, but turned his attention to his brother as she walked over to confirm that Janice had accurately given her Hank’s order. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
“The look on your face.”
“What look?”
“The one when I said you could work here.”
“Oh, that look.”
“And?”
“I quit.”
Wyatt frowned. “You quit?”
Chris nodded. “I turned in my notice today at Centennial.”
“We have rent to pay,” Wyatt reminded him.
“I know. I’ll pay.”
“So what was with the look?”
“It just made me remember that Mom’s been after me to work here forever. Maybe I should take her up on that.”
Wyatt glanced over their mom and back at his brother. “You sure about that?”
Chris nodded. “Yeah.” He inhaled and looked to where Piper was approaching the table after her talk with Becky. “Mom?”
Piper looked up. “Yes?”
“You know that job Callie wants you to fill?”
“For another cook, yes.” Piper looked at him curiously as she sat back down.
“I’d like to apply.”
“Over dinner?”
“Just letting you know.”
“Over dinner?”
Wyatt chuckled. “Chris, drop the subject. She won’t hire you if you . . .”
“Yes, she will,” Callie’s voice called from the kitchen.
Chris laughed. “I’ll drop it for now, but I’ll be over at the manor, the other one, in the morning.”
Piper eyed him for several seconds. “If anyone is interested, Becky told me that no one was reported badly injured from the accident, just a lot of cars and the road was blocked off.” She looked over her shoulder at the closed kitchen door. “Let’s focus on dinner for now.”
“The dinner we don’t have, because we just ordered,” Alanna rolled her eyes.
“I am not conducting interviews over dinner, not even with my son.”
“He didn’t request one,” Alanna argued.
“Leave it be, Alanna,” Paige instructed her oldest.
“Just hire him and be done with it,” Alanna pressed. “He’s your son. You know his qualifications.”
“On paper he’s not much to look at.”
Chris looked at his mother, slightly insulted.
Alanna waved it away. “On paper you can’t taste the food he can make. You know he’s qualified.”
“It’s . . .”
“You’re the owner and he’s more than qualified to be a chef here.”
Leo smiled a little as he looked between the two. He already knew how this argument would end.
Emily glanced down at the paper in front of her. In a whisper she asked Ty, “Should we get back to kitchen?”
Ty nodded. “Yeah.” As they walked away he added, “He’ll be working here by the end of the week, the end of next at the very latest.”
“Can he cook?”
Ty nodded. “He’s come in a few times, when we were swamped, to help out in the kitchen. Yeah, he can cook.”
She nodded. “Well, let’s get this order in to Callie.”
Ty didn’t say anything as they headed back to the kitchen.
“So how did you spend your day off school?” Henry asked his three kids.
“Getting ready for prom,” Alanna told him. “At least until Aunt Piper showed up.”
Hank groaned. “Prom? That’s months off.”
“We’re seniors,” Alanna shrugged. “Prom’s important when you’re a senior.”
“How am I even related to these girls?” Hank bemoaned.
Wyatt put his arm around his cousin’s shoulder, a grin on his face. “Siblings are just something you have to put up with. For you it’s the twins. For me,” he indicated Chris with his chin, “it’s that guy.”
Chris gave him a little shove. “And I don’t have to put up with your legendary messes and take out dinners?”
“They are not legendary,” Wyatt protested. “Kali’s opinion does not qualify as legendary.”
“What about . . ?”
“Grandpa’s family,” Wyatt interrupted. “He doesn’t count for this.”
“Or maybe . . ?”
“Seth wouldn’t say anything against me, ever.”
Chris shook his head, grinning. “Boy do you have a short memory. Why I remember . . .”
“Wasn’t me.”
“It sure wasn’t Seth.”
“He lied.”
“He’s . . . never mind. He couldn’t have done it.”
“I am not answering these charges.”
The others at the table watched with interest. “I’m not even sure what these charges are,” Janice whispered to Alanna.
Alanna shook her head. “I wouldn’t try. Not with those two.”
Ty and Emily came in with their drinks. “Apparently you are predictable,” Emily commented. “Callie had these ready.”
Chris laughed as she put his ice tea down on the table. “Thank you, Emily.”
She grinned back before she handed Wyatt his shake.
When the two were headed over to the other table to take their couple’s order, Paige lifted her glass of ice water. “I propose a toast. To cooperation and no more identity crisis.” She smiled as she added, “To peace.”
There were smiles around the table and one by one eight more glasses lifted toward the center of the table. “To peace.”
THE END
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