Unhappy reunion

Bret can sense Angelica switching into business mode, and he lets the personal issues drop. There would be time for that later…the two sisters would work out their difference eventually, and hopefully they’d all be okay. But for now…he needed to go with the system instead of fighting it.

“Okay.” He nods in agreement. “We go downtown.”

He looks Angelica in the eye. “I know you don’t like me all that much… but just for the record… any other time I would have high-tailed it out of here. But I got stuff that’s too important for me to run away from now.”

Bret slips his arm around Charlotte’s shoulders. “I know I’m an accessory to the crimes, but I’ll do what it takes to either clear my record or pay. I trust you… and I’ll do what you say.”

Con gives an approving nod to his friend. “You’re doing the right thing, Bret. Reese?”

Reese nods. “I’ll escort them in. You’re free to go.”

Con offers a wave to everyone, and then a wink to Charlotte. “Take care of your man.”

Bret watches his friend leave, then takes a deep breath. “Okay…I’m ready.”


…The jail cell bars were hard and cold under Bret’s grip. He hated it here…he hated being caged up… he hated the feeling of helplessness. But for now…for a short time, it was necessary. Until a preliminary hearing in three days, he would be held here, under the charges of armed robbery and murder. Then hopefully he would be released on bail.

In the meantime, Charlotte would help Angelica gather proof of their alibi to fight that end of things. After that, it would be Angelica’s job to convince the authorities that if the charges of Bret being an accessory to the crimes could be dropped, he’d help them find the real criminals. There would be another blotch on his record, but it was a lot better than serving time in prison.

Bret leans his head up against the cell bars and looks at Charlotte with apology. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this… I shouldn’t have ever gotten involved with those guys again in the first place.”

He sighs, regret showing through. “Just don’t go back to my place… I don’t want you there alone in case the guys decide to do something stupid.”


“Hey, Mom.” Con grins at Mabel and leans on the counter, tossing his mother-in-law a wink. “Think you can handle a batch of us tonight?”

Carson sticks his head around the corner from the kitchen. “Got a load coming?”

Con chuckles. “You could put it that way. How ya doing?”

“Oh…hanging in there.”

“Good.” Con turns around to Jamie, and nods to the tables. “Since we’re the first ones here, how about we push some of them tables together so there’s room enough for everyone.”

It doesn’t take long, and people start filing in. Jason and Katie, Laura and Nate, Wyatt and others. He takes the liberty of trying to make sure Dalton knows everyone, making an effort to create a comfort zone, even though those from TJY were feeling just a little awkward, and it was obvious that Dalton was too.

Carson keeps his eye on the clock from the kitchen, knowing he was supposed to go meet Jess, but also needing to make sure he helped out enough here until he could leave.

“Yo, Mom and Pop!” Kyle comes bursting through the front door, spotting the group of friends. “Kyle is in da house!” Grinning from ear to ear, he half dances over to the table, finding an empty seat next to Misty. “And how is Miss T tonight, hmm?”

He flops down and looks around the table. “Evening, y’all.” Spotting Katie, his smile widens. “KT, good to see ya. Jase man, you’re back too.”

Jason raises his glass of Pepsi. “You bet.”

“Good deal, ‘cause we got practice tomorrow night, and you better be there. Cryptic is joining us.”

He turns to give Misty a peck on the cheek. “And how are you?”

It isn’t long before laughter rings out over the chatter as the group starts interacting more. Stories are swapped, jokes are shared, and small talk is passed around. Those from TJY try to include Dalton, though at times it’s hard, because so many things revolved around inside jokes, or things that only those in the group knew from the past.

Con sits across from Dalton, a little wary of the stranger at first, but does his best not to come across as anything but friendly. After all, Dalton was working with his wife…he at least needed to be polite for that reason alone.


The door opens, ringing the bell, though it’s not heard above the noisy chatter. The blonde young woman scans the room, a little nervously, though she holds her head high.

Spotting the large group, she looks at the faces, spotting one she knew. Misty. But she was busy with her friends… and the last she knew anyway, Misty was no longer a route to her destination. But hopefully this restaurant was.

She walks across the floor, determination in her step, her shoes clicking on the floor, her leather jacket swaying slightly over her jeans. Getting to the counter, she sits down on a stool and grabs a menu, though her eyes don’t stay on the prices. Instead they wander to where she could see through to the kitchen.

Carson is busy helping Herb make the pizzas when he gets the funny feeling he’s being watched. Though trying to hurry so he could leave in five minutes, he pauses and looks up.

Spotting the visitor, his eyes widen, the blood draining from his face. The bowl of sauce slips from his grip, crashing to the floor in a red mess.

Trying to get his concentration back, Carson is quick to clean everything up and stir a new batch, but he can’t stay for long. Before he goes crazy, he finally excuses himself. “Sorry, Herb. I’ll...I’ll be right back.

Taking off his apron, Carson slips out of the kitchen from the side to come around the outside of the counter. He stops several feet away from the woman, his eyes still wide, filled with rampant emotions. “Dani?”

She turns and throws him a look less than pleased. “Well, I guess you really do work here. Had a hard time finding you. Kind of a winding trail.”

Her irritated tone throws Carson into defensiveness, though his confusion lingers. “What…what are you doing here?”

Dani quirks one eyebrow. “No, ‘Hi, Dani’ no hug, no ‘how you been?’ I thought so.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know.” Dani turns back to her menu. “I don’t even know why I came. You’re busy. Go back to work.”

“No.” Carson steps closer. Half of him wanted to be upset with Dani’s attitude, and half of him wanted to draw her in for a hug. And still part of him felt like running and hiding for the way he’d treated her… or rather his lack of treatment since he’d seen her last. “Why did you come here?”

Dani scoffs and looks back at him. “You think I just happened to come here? Was on vacation and saw an Italian restaurant and decided to stop? Why else would I come but to find you?”

“Well why?”

“I don’t know.” Dani shakes her head. “A while back I would have said it was because I wanted to see you. Now I’m not sure. Maybe I just wanted to look you in the eye one more time and try to figure out how you played me for a fool.”

Carson dares to come even closer, leaning on the counter so he can see his sister’s face. “What are you talking about?”

Dani almost laughs. “You tell me. You’re the one that made promises to see me, but decided to drop off the face of the earth instead. Was it too hard to tell me you were alive? Too difficult to write? To expensive to call?”

Carson glances down, his face reddening as his guilt rises. Why did this have to happen here…in public? “Dani, can we just go somewhere quiet and talk?”

A smile creases Dani’s lips. “No, I don’t think so. It’s rather fun seeing you squirm at the moment.”’ She glances over to the table of people, and spots Misty. Turning back to Carson, she cocks her head. “I’d go say hi to Misty, but I heard you two-timed her. Way to go.”

Carson bristles. “Look, there’s a lot of things you don’t know, and obviously you’ve made some pretty big assumptions. So let’s just go somewhere else where we can talk, okay?”

“No. I’m staying here. Now, if you choose to walk away, that’s fine. I wouldn’t be surprised. You’d just be keeping up with your pattern.”

“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Carson’s voice raises slightly. “I was just…it…I…”

“What?” Dani pushes him further. “You were just what? Too busy? Too arrogant? Too forgetful? I tried for months to get a hold of you! I’ve been worried sick, I’ve stewed about it, and I’ve busted my britches trying to figure out why on earth you’d show up from the dead, just to leave me high and dry again.”

Carson sets his hands on his hips, irritation overcoming the mixed emotions of seeing his sister. “So why now? Why did you pick now to come and yell at me?”

“Because the stars were right?”

“Why?” Carson demands sternly.

“I got fired from my job.” Tears spring into Dani’s eyes. “Figured it was time for a vacation. And I thought, what the hey, as long as the rest of my life is going down the tubes, I might as well come and say to your face what I’ve wanted to for a long time now.”

“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Carson throws up his hands. “I screwed up. There. Is that what you wanted?”

“No!” Dani’s own voices raises, as the public atmosphere is forgotten.


Several eyes from the table look up as voice can be heard. A few confused looks are exchanged as to what’s going on, and who Carson is arguing with. Jason throws Misty a questioning glance. “Hey…is that his sister?”


“Well what did you want then? Do you want me to get on my knees? Apologize ten times? I can’t exactly buy back time.”

Dani slides off the stool to face her brother boldly. “I want to know why you left me high and dry. I want to know why you didn’t call or write or anything. Why, Carson? Why did you claim to have thought the world of me, just to forget about me like that?!”

Carson looks down, shaking his head slightly. He lets the argument pause for a moment before looking back up. His tone reflects anger to cover up his guilt and shame. “Maybe I didn’t feel worthy. Maybe I didn’t think I deserved to be your big brother anymore. Maybe in the beginning I was just plain scared I wasn’t good enough. Then maybe enough time had passed that by then I just figured you were better off forgetting about me.”

“That’s stupid,” Dani counters. “You had the decency to see me when my life was in danger, you could have at least let me know you were still alive.”

“What do you want me to say?” Carson holds out his hands to the side. “Take a good look. I’ve been a drunk. I’ve been an all-around scumbag. I’ve broken the law. I’ve been a liar and a two-timer.” He points toward the back hall. “Down there you’ll find a tiny room with all the stuff I own that will fit into one bag. Why? Because right now, that’s where I live. Why? Because I was stupid. I lost everything because I was a total idiot, made stupid decisions, and now I’m paying for it. I have nothing. Nothing, Dani, don’t you get it? Not a home, not even a car. Why would I want you here to see that? Why would I want to invite you into my life? Into a life that’s…that’s worthless?”

The rising emotions pool behind his eyes and he finally lowers his tone. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. And I guess I made the wrong choice…again.”

Feeling lower than the floor, Carson’s shoulders drop and he simply goes to a nearby booth, sliding in to sit and fold his arms to bury his face. He’d thought about seeing his sister again so many times…this kind of reunion was not at all what he’d pictured. It was just another nightmare… further aftermath of his own decisions.

Dani watches her brother walk away, a tear trickling down her cheek. She turns back to the counter to lean her elbows on it, trying to ignore eyes that she now realized were watching. She could feel Mabel near, and wanted to leave, but her feet felt glued to the floor. She was so angry at Carson… yet she could see that his eyes were clear… it was obvious he wasn’t drinking, and he didn’t even smell like smoke this time. But who was he?


Con’s eyes follow Carson to see him sit down…a scene that would make anyone soften. Con looks over to Nate with question, wondering if someone should interfere or not.

Kyle glances to Misty, then to Dalton who wouldn’t have a clue what any of this was going on, then back to Misty again.