The First Five Holidays... 5/5
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Chapter 5
Memorial Day
John was taking a break in front of one of the shop fans, wondering briefly how in the world he was going to get through the summer if it was this hot and sticky in the second half of May, when an odd sound drifted over the noise of the fan... it sounded kind of like drums.
Leo looked up. “Damn, is it that time of year again?”
“What time of year?” John asked, frowning.
“Memorial Day parade. The band’s practicing.”
“They practice here?”
“Well, the route goes around the square, so that’s where they’re practicing. But the sound travels, especially the drums.”
“What do they play?”
Leo shrugged. “Americana, usually, some movie themes, some classic rock....” He paused and listened for a moment as the drums were faintly joined by horns. “That sounds like... Magnificent Seven?”
Old Man Mercer stuck his head out of the office. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, please tell me I’m not hearing ‘Zippety Doo-Dah’.....”
Leo hummed along for a moment. “No, it isn’t-no! That’s Sons of Katie Elder!”
“Oh, good. Thought those freaks were doing another Disney montage. Remind me to thank Mayor Velez for banning that.”
Leo laughed. “That was pretty much a disaster, wasn’t it?”
Mercer groaned and headed back into his office.
John blinked. “Disney montage?”
“Back about five years ago, a new band director hit town and thought it would be nice to have a Disney montage in every parade.”
John’s eyebrows shot up. “I take it that didn’t fly?”
Leo grinned. “The band plays classic rock at every halftime. What do you think?”
John laughed. “Lemme guess. They mutinied.”
“And finally reached a compromise. They’d let Cazadore decide. They did the Disney montage for Memorial Day.” Leo laughed. “And the TOWN mutinied!”
John laughed harder. “I can just HEAR Dean’s reaction!”
“The words ‘piece of shit’ did come up a time or two...”
The sound outside fell away for a moment, and then John suddenly heard trombones playing a clear “Na, nanana na, nanana na nana na nana na....”
“Wilson Pickett,” he laughed.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Leo agreed.
“Land of 1000 Dances” ended as suddenly as it had started, but a moment later, the whole band joined in on “Old Time Rock and Roll.”
John smiled and returned to work.
The sound of the band rehearsing rose and fell all afternoon. At the end of the day, John returned home with a song in his heart. And somehow, it didn’t come as a surprise when Dean called after supper.
“You’re humming under your breath,” he teased.
John laughed. “That marching band is good, from what I could hear this afternoon.”
“They are. Sammy worked as a ‘band-aide’ for three years.”
John chuckled. “You kids have plans for Memorial Day?”
“Not really. Other than the parade, which we’re working on you being allowed to come to.”
“I’d like that, thanks. How about a barbeque here afterward?”
“That sounds absolutely delicious!”
“Wonderful! Who all should we invite?”
“Bill and Ellen and Bobby....”
John started jotting notes on the notepad on the wall beside the phone. “Rufus, Jim, Caleb....”
“Jo?”
John sighed. “If you think she’ll come.”
“No harm in asking.”
“True.” John added her name to the list. “Who else? Josh and Tiffany?”
“We’ll ask.”
“Anybody else from here in town?”
Dean rattled off a few names.
John dutifully wrote them down. Not all of them were people he knew well, but there weren’t any names he objected to.
John actually woke up before his alarm went off on the 29th. For the first time since the house arrest began, he found himself really looking forward to having people over-lots of people, not just the kids. There wasn’t too much to do - just make sure the grill was ready to go. The guests were bringing desserts and sides, and the kids were taking care of everything else.
He found himself humming as he got ready for the day. It had been a long, long time since he felt this... carefree.
He just wished Mary could have seen this.
Dean called a little after 9. “Hey, Dad, Frank was wondering whether you’d be willing to help place wreaths during the memorial ceremony.”
There wasn’t an instant’s hesitation. “Yeah.”
“I thought so. It starts at 10, so Frank said he’d pick you up around 9:45.”
“I’ll be here. I don’t have a uniform.”
“That’s not a problem. Usually the only people in uniform are the honor guard. You could wear that Marine Corps shirt we got you for Christmas, though.”
“I’ll find it.”
“Awesome.” Dean’s grin was practically audible.
“See you in a few, son.”
“Later, Dad.” And Dean hung up.
John found his shirt and shrugged it on. He was pulling on his boots when he saw the shape of the lights of Frank’s car pull up. By the time Frank got to the front door, John had his boots on and his keys in hand, ready to go.
Frank grinned. “I see Dean called you.”
John nodded. “Yep. And I’m honored you’d ask me to help out.”
“Can’t think of anyone I’d rather have.”
John rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. “This ‘hometown hero’ business still takes some getting used to.”
Frank laughed.
“But this... this really is starting to feel like home, Frank. I haven’t had that in a long time.”
“Even though you have to check in every day?”
“Yeah. I’ll admit that was hard for me to get used to, but hell, by now it’s just part of the routine.”
Frank grinned. “Let’s go.”
John grinned back and followed Frank outside, not even bothering to lock the door behind him.
The drive to the cemetery was nearly silent. Even though the Boy Scouts had been placing decorations since sunrise, they had barely finished with the Korean War gravestones by the time John and Frank arrived. A host of other veterans of past and present wars had turned out to help, though, so the last flags were in place by the time the ceremony started at 10.
Then the honor guard, Boy Scouts, and veterans processed from the cemetery to the square, where wreaths were laid at the monuments erected to honor the town’s war dead. Mayor Velez had John place the wreath at the Vietnam memorial.
And damned if Taps didn’t still make John cry even after all these years.
He saw his boys, standing there with their wives, supporting them. Their friends were there, too, and even with all the fairground-style booths all over the square and the classic car show set to begin down by the courthouse, it seemed like the whole town had turned out not just to enjoy the holiday, but to pay tribute to the men and women who’d shed their blood to make the holiday possible.
But after the somber part of the proceedings, Mayor Velez announced the Johnson High School Fightin’ Eagles Band-and the mood lifted as the brass filled the air with the rousing theme from The Sons of Katie Elder and the parade began. There were even floats - two of them.
The parade had just turned the corner when the kids came up to John. He smiled at them.
Hey, Dad, Dean signed.
Kids, he responded in kind.
They still lit up when John signed. Enjoying parade? Daphne asked.
He nodded.
Sam grinned. “We’ll meet you back at your place-we still need to get the brisket out of the smoker.”
“Okay,” John grinned back.
Frank had been speaking quietly into his cell phone during this exchange, and he hung up with an exaggerated sigh. “I gotta go chase cows, John,” he said, “so I guess I’ll have to remand you to the custody of my latest reservist.”
“And who would that be?”
“Actually,” said Josh, walking over with Tiffany, “that would be me.”
John laughed. “Reservist Robichaux, I presume?”
“Officer, technically,” Josh returned with a laugh. “Just passed the TCLEOSE a couple of weeks ago; Frank’s still working out where to schedule me.”
“And I am so proud of him,” Tiffany purred.
He grinned and kissed her.
“I’m going with them,” she smiled, straightening his collar. “They need a fifth pair of hands to get things ready.”
“Okay.” He kissed her again. “Mr. Winchester, shall we?”
“Only if you call me John.”
Josh laughed. “Okay, John.”
Josh led John to his personal vehicle. John had barely gotten his seat belt on when Josh turned on the car and the radio blared to life. Hall and Oates were warning the “Rich Girl” she was going too far - and that’s as far as the song got before Josh, not even looking, reached over and changed the channel.
“Why’d you do that?” John asked, curious.
Josh smiled. “Habit. Tiffany absolutely hates that song for some reason. So one of us changes it whenever it comes on. After 4 years of marriage, I guess it’s a habit now.”
“Mary had a few songs like that,” John smiled as warm memories washed over him. This place was magic, he thought. He could remember nice things without wanting to hurt something now.
“I think everyone does.”
John and Josh chatted about various pleasant things on the way to the house, like Tiffany’s upcoming graduation from Rice and Josh’s work for a tech company in Beaumont. Tiffany had already landed a job as a geochemist for one of the oil companies in the area.
“So what are you gonna do?” John asked. “Still that, or go with her?”
“Still that, at least for now. We’re staying in Cazadore, though, and... well, I’m debating whether or not to go full time with the PD. Guess I’ll see how reserving goes for a while first.” He paused, then shot John a sidelong look. “I kinda want to keep my hunts closer to home now.”
“Because of -?”
“Don’t want anything happening to our little girl.”
John drew in a deep breath. “She’s pregnant?”
Josh grinned. “Due right after Christmas.”
He thumped Josh’s shoulder. “The boys didn’t say a word...”
Josh laughed. “They’re the only ones who know, mostly because Sam knew almost before I did. We just now feel safe announcing it.”
“So everything’s... clear... for now?”
“Far as we can tell-Sam and I, I mean. We’re a long way from all-knowing, but... neither one of us has sensed anything since his birthday.”
“This is a good thing, yeah? Cause before, I always was waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Yeah, there is always another shoe to drop. But there’s no sense living in fear, especially in this town.”
After a long moment of silence, John rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I’m still learnin’ that.”
“Old habits die hard. But honestly, now that you’re here? The fact that you’re Sam and Dean’s dad makes you just about as safe as they are. All kinds of people and all kinds of powers are looking out for them... and they are looking out for you.”
John had to look away. He had to.
The emotions that reared up at that were choking him.
“John? You okay?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and tried it again, wrestling his voice down to its normal register. “Yeah.”
Josh didn’t say anything else, just gave John a chance to get a handle on his emotions.
But then they were pulling up at his house.
“You need help with anything, John? I imagine the others’ll be here quicker than I can get over there to help them.”
“Actually, I could use a hand with inventory.”
Josh nodded. “Sure.”
“Make sure I’ve got everything we need.” John walked in and punched in his code while Josh redid the salt lines they’d scuffed.
They were still running through John’s checklist when the Impala drove up. All four kids piled out, laughing and jostling each other. Then Dean gave Tiffany a gentlemanly hand out of the car.
Most of their armloads of stuff didn’t come in the house this time, though. The kids carried things straight to the backyard.
“So what do we need, officer?” John teased.
“To fire up that grill,” Josh laughed.
John went over to do it, only to find himself not doing it to Dean’s exacting specifications. And the brat wasn’t shy about voicing his objections.
“WHOA, Dad! That’s way too much lighter fluid. This ain’t a salt-n-burn, y’know.” Dean poked the charcoal around with a stick he’d apparently brought with him, then nestled the stick in among the briquettes.
“I just wanna make sure the thing lights.”
“It will light, Dad. Geez, how long has it been since you’ve done this?” Dean snatched the matches away from John and lit the fire carefully.
“Uh... Sammy was two months old?”
Dean blinked. “Wow. Didn’t know it’d been that long.”
“Yeah. They needed that much fluid then.”
“Three cheers for Kingsford, then. Glad I caught you before you put on enough to burn your beard off.”
“Wouldn’t have been the first time,” he chuckled.
Dean laughed and watched the fire until the stick in the middle caught. Then he nodded and went back to unpacking hamburger, steaks, and chicken from one of the coolers.
“What’s the stick, son?”
“Mesquite. Adds some flavor to the smoke.”
“Hey, Dad!” Sam called from the house. “Want me to make my special sauce?”
“What’s in it?”
Sam just laughed.
“Just don’t blow up the kitchen, son.”
“That was once,” all three boys scowled in unison.
Daphne laughed and walked up with a plastic cup. “Hey, Dad, mind taste-testing this tea to see if it’s sweet enough?”
It was overly sweet. It was like swilling tea-flavored sugar.
Daphne laughed at the face he made. “Good. He’ll drink it straight, then.”
“Who? Bill?” he gasped out.
“Did I hear my name?” Cooper called from the house.
Daphne kissed John on the cheek. “Tea for you, Mr. Cooper!”
“Oh, good! Thanks, Daphne.” He winked at her.
She winked back.
“Keep a few of those steaks mostly raw, Deano,” Cooper continued. “Carol thought she might drop by.”
“Gotcha,” Dean said even as a cold shiver ran down John’s spine. He heard Dean whisper to himself, “What is it with that woman and her mooing meat?”
“Could be worse,” Tricia stated. “At least she’s not a vampire.”
Dean put barely a sear on two of them and set them aside. “True.”
By the time the first round of steaks were actually cooked, most of the guests had arrived. There were cakes. There were pies. There were deviled eggs and potato salad and coleslaw and fresh corn on the cob.
There was a Robichaux who kept getting his fingers slapped for trying to sneak deviled eggs.
There was enough food to feed an army, and a veritable army of friends on hand to eat it. There was laughter-so much laughter, John caught even Jo and Kali cracking up a time or two.
He imagined he could feel Mary laughing and her slender hand between his shoulder blades. He missed her so. She would have loved this.
But he never had time to dwell on the past; someone was always turning to him to draw him back into the conversation.
When the party started breaking up shortly after dark, he felt tired but satisfied. Between the number of guests and the length of time they’d stayed, the food was all but gone. Only a few slices of Dean’s mesquite-smoked brisket and a small amount each of beans, potato salad, slaw, and cake remained for Daphne to put in John’s fridge.
“Thanks, Daphne.”
“Welcome, Dad.” She kissed his cheek.
He walked them to the door. “Take care, kids.”
“You too, Dad,” they chorused, each giving him a hug on the way out.
John stood by the open door for a long time, watching the Texas night deepen and lost in thought. He was jarred out of his reverie by his cell phone ringing. Laughing at himself a little for letting bugs in, he closed the door and went to answer it.
“Winchester.”
John heard the voice on the other end and froze, a greater chill than he’d felt at Kali’s arrival running down his spine.
“What the hell do you want, Walker?!”
Chapter 5
Memorial Day
John was taking a break in front of one of the shop fans, wondering briefly how in the world he was going to get through the summer if it was this hot and sticky in the second half of May, when an odd sound drifted over the noise of the fan... it sounded kind of like drums.
Leo looked up. “Damn, is it that time of year again?”
“What time of year?” John asked, frowning.
“Memorial Day parade. The band’s practicing.”
“They practice here?”
“Well, the route goes around the square, so that’s where they’re practicing. But the sound travels, especially the drums.”
“What do they play?”
Leo shrugged. “Americana, usually, some movie themes, some classic rock....” He paused and listened for a moment as the drums were faintly joined by horns. “That sounds like... Magnificent Seven?”
Old Man Mercer stuck his head out of the office. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, please tell me I’m not hearing ‘Zippety Doo-Dah’.....”
Leo hummed along for a moment. “No, it isn’t-no! That’s Sons of Katie Elder!”
“Oh, good. Thought those freaks were doing another Disney montage. Remind me to thank Mayor Velez for banning that.”
Leo laughed. “That was pretty much a disaster, wasn’t it?”
Mercer groaned and headed back into his office.
John blinked. “Disney montage?”
“Back about five years ago, a new band director hit town and thought it would be nice to have a Disney montage in every parade.”
John’s eyebrows shot up. “I take it that didn’t fly?”
Leo grinned. “The band plays classic rock at every halftime. What do you think?”
John laughed. “Lemme guess. They mutinied.”
“And finally reached a compromise. They’d let Cazadore decide. They did the Disney montage for Memorial Day.” Leo laughed. “And the TOWN mutinied!”
John laughed harder. “I can just HEAR Dean’s reaction!”
“The words ‘piece of shit’ did come up a time or two...”
The sound outside fell away for a moment, and then John suddenly heard trombones playing a clear “Na, nanana na, nanana na nana na nana na....”
“Wilson Pickett,” he laughed.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Leo agreed.
“Land of 1000 Dances” ended as suddenly as it had started, but a moment later, the whole band joined in on “Old Time Rock and Roll.”
John smiled and returned to work.
The sound of the band rehearsing rose and fell all afternoon. At the end of the day, John returned home with a song in his heart. And somehow, it didn’t come as a surprise when Dean called after supper.
“You’re humming under your breath,” he teased.
John laughed. “That marching band is good, from what I could hear this afternoon.”
“They are. Sammy worked as a ‘band-aide’ for three years.”
John chuckled. “You kids have plans for Memorial Day?”
“Not really. Other than the parade, which we’re working on you being allowed to come to.”
“I’d like that, thanks. How about a barbeque here afterward?”
“That sounds absolutely delicious!”
“Wonderful! Who all should we invite?”
“Bill and Ellen and Bobby....”
John started jotting notes on the notepad on the wall beside the phone. “Rufus, Jim, Caleb....”
“Jo?”
John sighed. “If you think she’ll come.”
“No harm in asking.”
“True.” John added her name to the list. “Who else? Josh and Tiffany?”
“We’ll ask.”
“Anybody else from here in town?”
Dean rattled off a few names.
John dutifully wrote them down. Not all of them were people he knew well, but there weren’t any names he objected to.
John actually woke up before his alarm went off on the 29th. For the first time since the house arrest began, he found himself really looking forward to having people over-lots of people, not just the kids. There wasn’t too much to do - just make sure the grill was ready to go. The guests were bringing desserts and sides, and the kids were taking care of everything else.
He found himself humming as he got ready for the day. It had been a long, long time since he felt this... carefree.
He just wished Mary could have seen this.
Dean called a little after 9. “Hey, Dad, Frank was wondering whether you’d be willing to help place wreaths during the memorial ceremony.”
There wasn’t an instant’s hesitation. “Yeah.”
“I thought so. It starts at 10, so Frank said he’d pick you up around 9:45.”
“I’ll be here. I don’t have a uniform.”
“That’s not a problem. Usually the only people in uniform are the honor guard. You could wear that Marine Corps shirt we got you for Christmas, though.”
“I’ll find it.”
“Awesome.” Dean’s grin was practically audible.
“See you in a few, son.”
“Later, Dad.” And Dean hung up.
John found his shirt and shrugged it on. He was pulling on his boots when he saw the shape of the lights of Frank’s car pull up. By the time Frank got to the front door, John had his boots on and his keys in hand, ready to go.
Frank grinned. “I see Dean called you.”
John nodded. “Yep. And I’m honored you’d ask me to help out.”
“Can’t think of anyone I’d rather have.”
John rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. “This ‘hometown hero’ business still takes some getting used to.”
Frank laughed.
“But this... this really is starting to feel like home, Frank. I haven’t had that in a long time.”
“Even though you have to check in every day?”
“Yeah. I’ll admit that was hard for me to get used to, but hell, by now it’s just part of the routine.”
Frank grinned. “Let’s go.”
John grinned back and followed Frank outside, not even bothering to lock the door behind him.
The drive to the cemetery was nearly silent. Even though the Boy Scouts had been placing decorations since sunrise, they had barely finished with the Korean War gravestones by the time John and Frank arrived. A host of other veterans of past and present wars had turned out to help, though, so the last flags were in place by the time the ceremony started at 10.
Then the honor guard, Boy Scouts, and veterans processed from the cemetery to the square, where wreaths were laid at the monuments erected to honor the town’s war dead. Mayor Velez had John place the wreath at the Vietnam memorial.
And damned if Taps didn’t still make John cry even after all these years.
He saw his boys, standing there with their wives, supporting them. Their friends were there, too, and even with all the fairground-style booths all over the square and the classic car show set to begin down by the courthouse, it seemed like the whole town had turned out not just to enjoy the holiday, but to pay tribute to the men and women who’d shed their blood to make the holiday possible.
But after the somber part of the proceedings, Mayor Velez announced the Johnson High School Fightin’ Eagles Band-and the mood lifted as the brass filled the air with the rousing theme from The Sons of Katie Elder and the parade began. There were even floats - two of them.
The parade had just turned the corner when the kids came up to John. He smiled at them.
Hey, Dad, Dean signed.
Kids, he responded in kind.
They still lit up when John signed. Enjoying parade? Daphne asked.
He nodded.
Sam grinned. “We’ll meet you back at your place-we still need to get the brisket out of the smoker.”
“Okay,” John grinned back.
Frank had been speaking quietly into his cell phone during this exchange, and he hung up with an exaggerated sigh. “I gotta go chase cows, John,” he said, “so I guess I’ll have to remand you to the custody of my latest reservist.”
“And who would that be?”
“Actually,” said Josh, walking over with Tiffany, “that would be me.”
John laughed. “Reservist Robichaux, I presume?”
“Officer, technically,” Josh returned with a laugh. “Just passed the TCLEOSE a couple of weeks ago; Frank’s still working out where to schedule me.”
“And I am so proud of him,” Tiffany purred.
He grinned and kissed her.
“I’m going with them,” she smiled, straightening his collar. “They need a fifth pair of hands to get things ready.”
“Okay.” He kissed her again. “Mr. Winchester, shall we?”
“Only if you call me John.”
Josh laughed. “Okay, John.”
Josh led John to his personal vehicle. John had barely gotten his seat belt on when Josh turned on the car and the radio blared to life. Hall and Oates were warning the “Rich Girl” she was going too far - and that’s as far as the song got before Josh, not even looking, reached over and changed the channel.
“Why’d you do that?” John asked, curious.
Josh smiled. “Habit. Tiffany absolutely hates that song for some reason. So one of us changes it whenever it comes on. After 4 years of marriage, I guess it’s a habit now.”
“Mary had a few songs like that,” John smiled as warm memories washed over him. This place was magic, he thought. He could remember nice things without wanting to hurt something now.
“I think everyone does.”
John and Josh chatted about various pleasant things on the way to the house, like Tiffany’s upcoming graduation from Rice and Josh’s work for a tech company in Beaumont. Tiffany had already landed a job as a geochemist for one of the oil companies in the area.
“So what are you gonna do?” John asked. “Still that, or go with her?”
“Still that, at least for now. We’re staying in Cazadore, though, and... well, I’m debating whether or not to go full time with the PD. Guess I’ll see how reserving goes for a while first.” He paused, then shot John a sidelong look. “I kinda want to keep my hunts closer to home now.”
“Because of -?”
“Don’t want anything happening to our little girl.”
John drew in a deep breath. “She’s pregnant?”
Josh grinned. “Due right after Christmas.”
He thumped Josh’s shoulder. “The boys didn’t say a word...”
Josh laughed. “They’re the only ones who know, mostly because Sam knew almost before I did. We just now feel safe announcing it.”
“So everything’s... clear... for now?”
“Far as we can tell-Sam and I, I mean. We’re a long way from all-knowing, but... neither one of us has sensed anything since his birthday.”
“This is a good thing, yeah? Cause before, I always was waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Yeah, there is always another shoe to drop. But there’s no sense living in fear, especially in this town.”
After a long moment of silence, John rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I’m still learnin’ that.”
“Old habits die hard. But honestly, now that you’re here? The fact that you’re Sam and Dean’s dad makes you just about as safe as they are. All kinds of people and all kinds of powers are looking out for them... and they are looking out for you.”
John had to look away. He had to.
The emotions that reared up at that were choking him.
“John? You okay?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and tried it again, wrestling his voice down to its normal register. “Yeah.”
Josh didn’t say anything else, just gave John a chance to get a handle on his emotions.
But then they were pulling up at his house.
“You need help with anything, John? I imagine the others’ll be here quicker than I can get over there to help them.”
“Actually, I could use a hand with inventory.”
Josh nodded. “Sure.”
“Make sure I’ve got everything we need.” John walked in and punched in his code while Josh redid the salt lines they’d scuffed.
They were still running through John’s checklist when the Impala drove up. All four kids piled out, laughing and jostling each other. Then Dean gave Tiffany a gentlemanly hand out of the car.
Most of their armloads of stuff didn’t come in the house this time, though. The kids carried things straight to the backyard.
“So what do we need, officer?” John teased.
“To fire up that grill,” Josh laughed.
John went over to do it, only to find himself not doing it to Dean’s exacting specifications. And the brat wasn’t shy about voicing his objections.
“WHOA, Dad! That’s way too much lighter fluid. This ain’t a salt-n-burn, y’know.” Dean poked the charcoal around with a stick he’d apparently brought with him, then nestled the stick in among the briquettes.
“I just wanna make sure the thing lights.”
“It will light, Dad. Geez, how long has it been since you’ve done this?” Dean snatched the matches away from John and lit the fire carefully.
“Uh... Sammy was two months old?”
Dean blinked. “Wow. Didn’t know it’d been that long.”
“Yeah. They needed that much fluid then.”
“Three cheers for Kingsford, then. Glad I caught you before you put on enough to burn your beard off.”
“Wouldn’t have been the first time,” he chuckled.
Dean laughed and watched the fire until the stick in the middle caught. Then he nodded and went back to unpacking hamburger, steaks, and chicken from one of the coolers.
“What’s the stick, son?”
“Mesquite. Adds some flavor to the smoke.”
“Hey, Dad!” Sam called from the house. “Want me to make my special sauce?”
“What’s in it?”
Sam just laughed.
“Just don’t blow up the kitchen, son.”
“That was once,” all three boys scowled in unison.
Daphne laughed and walked up with a plastic cup. “Hey, Dad, mind taste-testing this tea to see if it’s sweet enough?”
It was overly sweet. It was like swilling tea-flavored sugar.
Daphne laughed at the face he made. “Good. He’ll drink it straight, then.”
“Who? Bill?” he gasped out.
“Did I hear my name?” Cooper called from the house.
Daphne kissed John on the cheek. “Tea for you, Mr. Cooper!”
“Oh, good! Thanks, Daphne.” He winked at her.
She winked back.
“Keep a few of those steaks mostly raw, Deano,” Cooper continued. “Carol thought she might drop by.”
“Gotcha,” Dean said even as a cold shiver ran down John’s spine. He heard Dean whisper to himself, “What is it with that woman and her mooing meat?”
“Could be worse,” Tricia stated. “At least she’s not a vampire.”
Dean put barely a sear on two of them and set them aside. “True.”
By the time the first round of steaks were actually cooked, most of the guests had arrived. There were cakes. There were pies. There were deviled eggs and potato salad and coleslaw and fresh corn on the cob.
There was a Robichaux who kept getting his fingers slapped for trying to sneak deviled eggs.
There was enough food to feed an army, and a veritable army of friends on hand to eat it. There was laughter-so much laughter, John caught even Jo and Kali cracking up a time or two.
He imagined he could feel Mary laughing and her slender hand between his shoulder blades. He missed her so. She would have loved this.
But he never had time to dwell on the past; someone was always turning to him to draw him back into the conversation.
When the party started breaking up shortly after dark, he felt tired but satisfied. Between the number of guests and the length of time they’d stayed, the food was all but gone. Only a few slices of Dean’s mesquite-smoked brisket and a small amount each of beans, potato salad, slaw, and cake remained for Daphne to put in John’s fridge.
“Thanks, Daphne.”
“Welcome, Dad.” She kissed his cheek.
He walked them to the door. “Take care, kids.”
“You too, Dad,” they chorused, each giving him a hug on the way out.
John stood by the open door for a long time, watching the Texas night deepen and lost in thought. He was jarred out of his reverie by his cell phone ringing. Laughing at himself a little for letting bugs in, he closed the door and went to answer it.
“Winchester.”
John heard the voice on the other end and froze, a greater chill than he’d felt at Kali’s arrival running down his spine.
“What the hell do you want, Walker?!”