Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
Troy is taking everyone at the Thorne house to breakfast, even the reluctant Joe Jr. Will things run smoothly? See what's happening in this week's chapter of Bad Karma and the Family Plan! Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
Even as we were working out the details of where to
have breakfast, something kept tickling the back of my brain, something I
couldn’t quite put my finger on. And then I realized with a start what it was.
Today was Sunday. So why wasn’t Reverend Thorne in the pulpit, pontificating
and doing his weekly minister thing?
The same thought must have occurred to Ethan as we
exchanged troubled looks. Sundays to us were usually days of rest, being lazy
as we relaxed around the house (when we weren’t on assignment, of course). Not
being churchgoers, we hadn’t automatically made the cosmic connection between
his father’s being with his family and not being in his church.
Maureen supplied the answer to that mystery when she
commented that having an assistant pastor was very beneficial, and allowed them
to have more family time. Since Joseph Sr. didn’t repudiate her words, we had
to conclude that Ethan’s father was indeed changing. And what a wondrous
thought that was. Too bad the same couldn’t be said for his elder son. But I
also couldn’t help but wonder if Heather was putting the same moves on the
assistant pastor as she had on Reverend Thorne, now that he seemed to be
behaving himself.
Ethan thought it best we coordinate with Anderson as
well, considering we were all under surveillance. We finally settled on a home
style restaurant in nearby Jasper and informed our boss of our plans so he
could notify the agents keeping watch on the house. Since there were ten of us,
we decided to split up into three cars.
Troy, being the absolute gentleman that he is, made
Sarah’s day by inviting her and Alex to ride with him and Brendan. Ethan and I
opted to take Uncle Benny, first making sure our pup was taken care of. That
left Mr. Obnoxious, aka Joey, to ride along with his parents. I wasn’t about to
shed any tears over that arrangement, let me tell you.
I got the distinct impression that Ethan’s brother would
rather not go with us. He sidled in the direction of the stairs, probably with
the idea of escape in mind. I’m not sure where he intended to go as his room
was occupied with Sarah’s and Alex’s stuff, but he was quickly found out by his
mother. Mothers have the maternal version of spidey senses, I swear. Without
breaking a sweat, she told him to forget it. She gave him no choice but to join
us, so for once he wisely held his tongue and got into his father’s car without
a single protest. Troy helped Sarah place Alex’s car seat in the back of his
rental as Ethan and Benny and I got into our own rental.
The skies were slightly overcast as we left, but the
sun showed great promise of emerging in a blaze of glory, probably before noon.
I could live with temperatures in the fifties. Truth be told, though, living in
Virginia was spoiling me. Back in Joliet, this would have been a heat wave.
Gotta love the South.
Once we were all in place, Reverend Thorne led the
cavalcade to the restaurant. I noticed two cars tailed us, but I couldn’t count
the agents through the tinted glass. Not that it mattered. I felt secure
knowing they were behind us.
The restaurant was very warm and cozy, everything
you’d want a small town restaurant to be. As I had predicted, the early morning
breakfast crowd had gone on their merry way and we had no trouble in getting a
table. Two tables, actually, pushed together on the less occupied side of the
restaurant to accommodate our number.
Our server was a chipper thirty-something brunette
with a friendly smile and an attitude that screamed she was glad to see us. She
brought out a high chair for little Alex and fussed over him, proclaiming him
“just the cutest little man”. Alex, of course, ate it up. Especially when she
brought him a small bowl of cereal rings—with his mama’s permission, of course—both
to tide him over until the food arrived and keep him occupied. I suspected she
had kids of her own and knew how to keep them happy and under control.
Speaking of kids brought Ethan’s question to mind,
the one I’d deliberately pushed aside when he asked. Did I want kids? I still
didn’t know, not surprisingly, and tabled the question again…for now, anyway.
to be continued
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