Shadow Dancer (The Shadow Series Book 1) (8 page)

Though Elkhart was a small mountain town, the eatery was bustling with patrons. Monte’s always made out well financially when a storm was about to hit. Much of the seating in the tiny diner was being taken up by Frank’s own workers. Frank approached the workers who were greatly enjoying their lunch. As Frank approached his crew, he cleared his throat. The workers
stood straight up in their seats when they caught Frank’s glare.

“What be the status of my turkey club?!” Frank asked of his workers. Kyle, Frank’s youngest crew member jumped out of his seat and quickly walked to the front counter to order Frank’s forgotten club sandwich. The group, formerly excited about their upcoming Christmas festivities, were now
sullen and cautious as they stared down at their plates.

“You guys sure seem uptight today,” Frank noticed.

The door to Monte’s swung open again, ringing the bell that hung above the door. Bridgette came rushing into the diner, her arms aching from carrying her chubby baby and a large diaper bag. A small dark-haired boy toddled behind her. With a frantic look in her eyes, she searched the room for Frank. Frank’s crew spotted her before he did, and they all craned their necks to get a better view.

“Over here!” Frank called to Bridgette. Frank’s workers eyed Bridgette up and down. Their eyes lingered over her wild curly hair, her curvaceous figure, attractive smile. After a moment, their eyes darted back to Frank’s face, switching between the two, trying
to figure out the relationship between their often grouchy supervisor and this lovely creature. Surely this couldn’t be his wife. She looked like she was a high school student, while he…well let’s just say the nickname Bulldog wasn’t given solely for his surly attitude. Although he was only twenty-seven and she twenty, he looked middle aged, while she was radiant and youthful. Meanwhile the workers who knew Bridgette had already labeled her as something entirely different. Full of hell and always ready for a fight.

Bridgette approached Frank while eyeing the workers. A few of the men smiled at her. The others who knew her kept their eyes focused on the floral pattern on their lunch plate as they sniggered. Bridgette smiled sweetly at the gawking men with just a hint of annoyance showing in her brown eyes.
Noticing that they were still staring at her, she ran her tongue over her teeth. She looked at them and asked teasingly, “What? Do I have something in my teeth?” The men did not answer.

With a confused look on her face, she pursed her lips and looked to Frank.

“Yeah. I need your keys,” demanded Bridgette.

“Huh? Why?” replied Frank in confusion.

“The Gremlin is dead for now. I need your keys!” Bridgette reiterated, becoming impatient.

“Forget it! You’re not going up the Pass by y’self!” exclaimed Frank incredulously.

“I was going to go up the godforsaken mountain in the green piece of crap, so what’s the difference?”

“No you certainly were not! I was going to drive you.”

The conversation had finally reached its boiling point. Bridgette’s face now matched her hair - a vibrant shade of red.

“Keys, Francis!” demanded Bridgette as she held out her hand for the keys, foot tapping
rapidly agaist the floor. Frank stared at her with an amused expression on his face as he let out a hefty sigh.

“I need to make a call. Wait here,” Frank instructed Bridgette, pointing to her seat. Bridgette stretched her lips, as a devilish look appeared on her face. The look can only be described as the appearance a child has after she did something highly mischievous.

"Oh, Francis, by the way..." began Bridgette slyly. Frank turned around with one eyebrow raised. Listening to the tone of voice Bridgette used, he knew to expect some sort of foolishness. Hesitantly, he responded, but not without flashing a ninety-watt smile at his wife. She was a pain, but she lit up his world.

"Yes?"

"Don't forget to get the car seats out of the back seat, and I have packages in the trunk. Oh! And don't forget my purse!" Bridgette quickly explained.

"Packages? What packages?" asked Frank wearily.

Frank's workers perked up at the opportunity to see someone put Frank in his place. They were especially interested to see if this young lady was up to the task.  Bridgette replied sweetly to Frank's question.

"It's Christmas Eve. This is generally what happens every year. In America, it is customary to give presents to family members, especially children. Seeing as how we live with five, soon to be six children, there are a lot of presents."

"I was under the impression that our shopping was done. What did you buy now?!" asked Frank, his voice giving away his annoyance.

"A bumper set for the baby's crib and a pretty homecoming outfit! Also train sets for the little guys, an Atari for Adam and Liam, and a few things for you, too. A new leather coat for Dad, some books for Mom. Wait until you see it all!" exclaimed Bridgette.

“I don’t want to see it all! Don't you think you went a little overboard? You've already purchased that baby a whole wardrobe! And the boys? It looks like a toy factory threw up in the living room!” whined Frank.

"Francis! This is for our godchildren!"

Frank chuckled.
She really knew what buttons to push!
Frank put his hand over his mouth for a moment to prevent himself from screaming. "Bridgette! This is our fifth godchild! Fifth!" Bridgette waved him off with her hand as if she were swatting a fly.

Frank took this as his cue to make the phone call. Bridgette, clearly ignoring Frank, now diverted her attention to her baby who was sitting on her lap and beginning to complain.

“Oh, Shane, you cannot be hungry already! It’s okay, buddy!” Bridgette cooed to her young son.

Frank’s youngest employee Kyle finally returned with Frank’s turkey club and he placed it on the table directly in front of Shane. Frank, who had just hung up the rotary telephone, exclaimed with glee.

“It’s about bleeding time! Thank God. I am starving!”

As Frank was praising the heavens for the delivery of his food, his son Shane was reaching out for his plate. Grabbing the top piece of
bread and a fist full of turkey, Shane happily stuffed it into his tiny mouth. As Frank went to grab the sandwich, he noticed a good portion of it was missing.

“What the hell! The baby! He stole my sandwich!” complained Frank.

“Oh, honestly, Francis!” replied Bridgette. “He is just a baby. What does he want with your ham sandwich or whatever it is? Stuff the rest in your gob and let’s get everything in your truck. I’m sure Gus is ready to pitch a fit.”

Frank grabbed what was left of his beloved sandwich and crammed it into his mouth. Clearly enjoying the experience, he held up his hand to Bridgette to keep her from speaking to him while he ate. Bridgette raised her eyebrows and stared at her husband in disbelief.

“You do realize that we are eating Christmas Eve dinner in less than three hours?” asked Bridgette as she raised her lip in disgust.

Frank and his mouthful of sandwich attempted to respond, “Uh huh, and…?”

Bridgette, firmly ignoring Frank, turned her undivided attention to her son Shane and nephew Blake. Bridgette smiled as the babies attempted to tackle each other.

Frank continued to talk with his mouth full of food.

“Oh, before I forget,” he began, staring at his workers, “Here.” He dug into his coat pocket and took out a stack of envelopes. One by one, he passed them out to his employees. “Now don’t you go around sayin’ that I never gave you nothin’!” With surprised looks on their faces, they each opened up their envelopes. Inside each were their Christmas bonuses. As the workers began to celebrate, Frank piped up, “Now bugger off and don’t bother me ‘til the new year!”

The workers looked at each other with a state of shock. “Did he just give us the week off?!” Frank laughed loudly. “No Kyle!
You
have to work. I will be off for the next week. Enjoy your bonus, don’t spend it all in one place!”

Kyle looked at the check. Written out by Skole County Department of Transportation, Kyle Herron had received a check for $16.27.

“This is an insult!” Kyle yelled, his face turning red as she inspected the check again. Harry Zimmerman, a seasoned member of the DOT laughed at his young colleague. “You should be grateful, last year we didn’t get anything!”

Once again, the rickety doors of Monte’s diner flew open and three young, dark haired boys walked in. The boys had joyously escaped the backseat of Angus’ car. The boys were loud and obnoxious. Bridgette’s eyes perked up at the sight of them and she called them over; the smile returning to her face.

“Guys! Hey guys! Adam, Liam, Tommy! Over here!” she shouted, desperate to get their attention before they got themselves into trouble.

Tommy hit his older brothers in the arm and pointed to where their aunt was seated. The three looked as if they were up to no good, as usual. Like a revolving door, the diner door swung open yet again, as Angus walked in. Bridgette thought he would be fit to be tied with rage; however, she was shocked with
delight to see him with a congenial smile on his face. Angus greeted Rose Marie, the elderly hostess at the front of the diner with a brilliant smile, “Hey doll! How’ve you been? You look nice today.”

Rose Marie smiled from ear to ear as her thoughts exploded with excitement.
Just wait until I tell the girls! A compliment from the renowned Dr. Angus Morrow!’
  Rose Marie patted down her platinum blond dye job with one of her wrinkled hands as she watched Angus walk towards the pick-up counter.

Angus impatiently rang the bell on the counter, waiting for someone to assist him. Joe Piedmonte, owner of Monte’s came to the counter.

“Ay! Merry Christmas, Doc!” said Joe, greeting Angus warmly. “Here to pick up your order?” Angus and Moira were two of Monte’s favorite customers because of the size orders they placed during the holidays. With a nod of his head, Angus wordlessly indicated that he was indeed here for his massive order of food for the next day’s Christmas festivities.

“Hey, Maria! Is the Morrow order ready?” shouted Joe into the kitchen to his wife. Maria emerged with a baby on her shoulder. “Almost ready. We can deliver it
when it’s done, no problem if you wanted to hit the road,” Maria offered cordially.

“That sounds perfect. You guys are the best!” squealed Angus, who was more excited to be hitting the road than at the offering of delivered catering.

Angus’ disposition quickly changed as he approached his family. His crotchety attitude became apparent as he came closer to them. Pulling his arm up to his face to check the time on his flashy designer wrist watch, he let out an agitated groan, “Weather’s getting worse. We have to go now. Bridgette, please round up this band of hooligans!”

Chapter Five

Elkhart, PA

October 7, 1997

Late Afternoon

The 3:00 P.M. school bell cried out as Jack and Adam waited in the truck across the street from the Steeplechase Academy. The pair seemed utterly agitated with each other, which was par for the course, as far as their relationship was concerned. A cigar rested between Jack’s lips as his son glared at him.

“That is a disgusting habit, you know…”

Jack stared back with a nonchalant attitude. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I offend your delicate nose?”

Just as Adam was about to reply, a sea of
gray and scarlet erupted from the school’s front doors, children of varying ages excited to be out of school for the day running throughout the school yard and towards their school buses and parents’ cars. Jack got out of the truck and casually leaned against it, as he puffed on his fragrant cigar. A barrage of students flew past him as the passenger doors swung open.

Jack peered inside the truck to determine whom they were still waiting for. Tommy and Shane were in the backseat practicing their latest handshake, which consisted of a complex series of claps, snaps, and hand motions. Blake was whispering into his older brother’s ear while Adam listened intently. Jack focused his attention to the front of the school again. They were still waiting on Tristan and Liam. Then he spotted them. Liam, leaning against an oak tree in front of Harry’s Hardware was deep in conversation with a pretty blond-haired girl. This was nothing new for Liam. He was abundantly popular with the girls. Jack assumed this must be his newest flavor of the week. As long as she didn’t call the house every twenty minutes, he didn’t care. Meanwhile, Tristan was meandering down the school steps with Cole following closely behind. Tristan turned to Cole and put something in his hand before running away. Jack grumbled to himself. Fifteen was too young to be hanging out with other boys in his opinion. Jack let out a sharp whistle from his lips as both Liam and Tristan came running.

“Sorry, Dad!” said Tristan with a blush. Jack rolled his eyes as he got in the car after his children.

"Yo, Dad. Where are you going?" asked Tommy from the backseat as Jack made his way towards the highway. Jack, looking confused, responded.