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  I laughed at myself. Thinking about graduating in a year and then getting married. It was so far away, but was close enough to think that might be a silly way to look at things. If I loved him why would I wait for it to be normal to marry him.

  “Ahh…I see.” He touched the next picture, one of me on a swing at about seven years old.

  “Unless…I change my mind.”

  “What would make you change your mind?” He looked up at me.

  “I don't know, yet." I played with the belt loop on my jeans.

  6

  On the edge of the water stood an old building on beams, with chipping white wooden siding, holding sturdy water under it. The family who owned it before, knew my dad since he was little and gave him a good deal on it when it was time to sell. He won’t admit it to anyone but, he was waiting for them to want to give it up so he could jump on it. It was a prime spot in our little time, and a lot of other investors and restaurant owners were jealous he got the place.

  There was even a time where a few community members had tried to run him out of business by typing up false reviews, trying to make not people want to eat here. His customer count never wavered, though. They were all loyal to the food and the views. It didn't matter how many fake bad reviews were left, even tourists would stop by for a bite.

  We found one spot left, close to the door. Alex flung my SUV into the space precisely and jumped out to open the door for me. My foot hung down, then dropped onto the concrete. It used to be gravel but when it snowed it was a pain to shovel and plow. It was the only upgrade he had made, beside the renovation of the entire inside which I made him do. If I hadn’t forced it, the decor would be the same as it was in 1922, when the original restaurant opened.

  I pulled open the flimsy wooden doors that had a square window on each of them. It opened right to the host stand, where a bright young red-headed witch stood. I recognized her as being a freshman, when I was a senior.

  “Hello, welcome to Walsh Tavern.” She smiled big, and excited. It looked like she just started, because she was still excited to be standing there.

  “I'm looking for my dad, Shep.” She straightened up when she realized I was the owners daughter.

  “It's okay, I just want to know where he's at.” I forced a smile.

  “He's in the kitchen, did you want me to walk you back there?” It was a kind gesture, but I'd been there as frequently as my own house.

  “No, it's okay I know how to get there.”

  I moved past the stand and clung to Alex behind me. The doors to the kitchen were like swinging barn doors, dark and solid. I helped pick them out because the old ones were grey, plastic, and kind of gross looking.

  I pushed past the swinging doors and saw a mess of chefs making the first rounds of appetizers. A few of them looked up, recognizing me then going back to work. The kitchen was alive with a mess of sizzles and pops.

  “Dad?!?” I had to shout over the noise of the pots and dishes clinking. I waited a second, and then saw his head pop out from behind someone named Raphael.

  Raphael was tall, but not as tall as Alex. His hair was dark brown and he had a round tan face. There were hints of facial hair around his chin and upper lip but nothing that connected. He had bad tattoos that ran down on the sides of his neck, his stocky shoulders and his arms. He was good looking. But, I was still out of his league.

  He was a few years older than me and last year while my parents were on vacation in Bermuda, we had a short fling. We weren't dating, he would just come over after his shift at the restaurant. It lasted only a short time after they got back, and then I never called him again.

  When he saw me his face lit up, then he met Alex's gaze and got red, looking back down at what he was doing. I hadn't shown my face much there after what happened because I didn't want to confront him after ghosting him. We never got any resolve, but I didn't care because I didn't actually have feelings for him. He just made me feel good.

  “Why did he look at you like that?” Alex spoke quietly.

  “We fucked.” I glanced to my right to see how he reacted to it. We hadn't discussed my body count in detail, because it didn't really matter. If he asked I would tell him but he didn't, so I didn't tell. He shook his head disapproving. I didn't think he would be mad about who I’d slept with before him.

  “He's not good looking enough for you.”

  “I know.” I smirked.

  My dad took long strides toward us, and ushered us out of the kitchen quickly with his hands.

  “I saved your favorite spot.” He waved his arm in the direction of the other side of the restaurant toward the long wall of windows.

  We redid the inside of the restaurant the year before. I wanted to keep the aesthetically pleasing part of the original building, like the hardwood floors and the beams in the ceiling. They were dark chestnut, re-stained as close to the original color as possible. We had found old photographs from the first grand opening to reference.

  The walls were painted light grey, and we hung up old family pictures, some of family who lived in Ireland, but mostly of the Irish settling family we had in the United States.

  Among the pictures were various Irish imagery like Celtic knots, and some tapestries big and small. The tables were all made by hand. We contacted a local carpenter to make all of the new tables and chairs. They were rustic looking. The idea was to have them resemble old pub tables.

  The table he saved for us was against the side wall, facing both the harbor and the open ocean. Because of the time of year, the only boats approaching and leaving were large fishing boats.

  I liked to think about the deep churning water and towering blue-grey waves pulling the massive boats up and down. The swaying of the deck as they lose and find their grip again, and again. The instability of the net as they reel it in and collect their hard fought for prize. It was those people's livelihood, and it was dangerous. Even though it wasn't a safe job, it was a well paid one. Most of the crew had families here in town. They left behind spouses and children with the risk they could not come back.

  Alex pulled the chair out for me on the left side of the table, then sat down across from me. Mostly everyone in the restaurant was a witch, I knew because we all had a similar aura. Witches' aura were brighter because we were more spiritually aligned. As I scanned the restaurant, one table in particular stood out to me.

  There were three of them at the table across the room, directly in my line of sight and behind Alex. A small woman with long grey hair, and a monotone outfit to match. Her hair seemed to shimmer even in the dull light of the tavern, making her entire presence seem ethereal. The youngest one was naturally tanned, but spent a lot of time in the sun still. His onyx hair was long and pulled back into a bun at the nape of his neck. He wasn't more than seventeen and seemed highly uninterested in what the other two were talking about.

  The third was an older man with shoulder length silver hair. He had a scruffy beard and his eyes drooped down sad, but attentive. If it weren't for his neatly tucked in shirt and dress shoes peeking out from under his jeans I would have thought he was a biker. He turned slightly from the grey haired woman and our eyes met. I looked down quickly and my cheeks filled with heat in embarrassment. I felt his eyes continue to study me even after I looked away.

  I shook my head and turned my attention back to my dad who was talking Alex's ear off.

  “You kids can get whatever you want, I'll take care of the bill.” He patted the table and smiled at me, then looked over at Alex giving him an approving nod.

  “Thank you, sir.” Alex placed his hand on the table and flipped the menu over.

  I had already eaten everything on the menu at least once. So, I decided on my favorite. My dad's version of fish 'n' chips.

  “What are you getting?” I set my menu down and watched Alex investigate the menu.

  “I think…the shepherds pie.” He sat the menu down and smiled wide. That was one of the most ordered items on the menu, especially beca
use my dad's full name was Henry Shepherd Walsh. He named the dish after himself, 'Shep's pie'.

  As our waitress approached the table, I realized I had gone to school with her, too. She was three years older than me, but we had an art class together my freshman year. Her hair was shoulder length and blonde with a few pink strands throughout. The soft curls touched the outline of her jaw framing her heart shaped face. Her facial features were small and defined, and her nose sat like a button in the middle of her face.

  She had a white v-neck shirt that hung a little bit too low, exposing her cleavage from her large breasts. I suspected they were enhanced, unless somehow she grew three cup sizes between eighteen and twenty-four. It clung tight against her small waist, and she wore tight high waisted jeans that her t-shirt was tucked into.

  Her hips were broad, making her figure that of an hourglass shape.

  “Ashley!" She was startled, and surprised I recognized her.

  “Hey…” She looked ashamed and stuck her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, making her v-neck open a little bit wider.

  “I haven't seen you in a while, how are you?” I tried to sound as upbeat as possible, even though I didn't care to have a conversation with her.

  “Fine, just working here…deciding if I want to go college or not.”

  It had been six years, she probably wouldn't be going back to school. Ashley was never the kindest or the smartest girl, but she had a lot of friends. She was the girl the other girls were envious of because she got invited to the best parties, and had the best weekend plans.

  One weekend she went with a more exclusive group of friends to Montauk and took acid. They talked about it for weeks. Few people later found out her friend Lola never took it, and faked her whole trip. It was all people would talk about for weeks.

  I heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen.

  Ashley jumped up and turned toward the kitchen to try and listen to what would come next. It sounded like someone dropped something.

  ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ It was my dad's voice muffled from the other side of the door.

  “I'll be right back.” Ashley ran off toward the kitchen to help.

  The strange table of people let out a loud cackle, making the entire restaurant go quiet for a half of a second. I felt someone staring at me again, but it wasn't from the table. It was from Alex. I shifted my eyes toward him.

  “What?”

  “You're beautiful.” No one had ever said that to me before. That was the first time he said it to me, actually. I'd always thought of myself as attractive, and I had a lot of sex appeal but never beautiful.

  “Beautiful?” I questioned his motives. He might have been trying to get something out of me, but he could have whatever he wanted from me by just asking.

  “Yes. You don't know that?” His fingers grazed my knee under the table. I shook my head at him.

  “Maybe.”

  Out of the corner of my eye I could see Ashley jogging back toward the table.

  “Okay…sorry about that. They had a little bit of a spill. So…what can I get you guys?" Her breath was short.

  “I'll do the fish and chips, and a coke, please.” I handed my menu to her.

  “What about you?” She flipped open her notebook writing as Alex began to speak.

  “The Shep's Pie please and I'll have a coke to drink too.”

  “Good choice.” She tucked the menus under her arm and skipped away, happier than she was before she ran into the kitchen. Her shirt was untucked in the back like she's shoved it back under the waistband in a hurry.

  “I'm glad I got to meet your dad even if it was only for a few minutes."

  “Why?”

  “Because it's nice that you have family to meet.” I thought about how insensitive I had been about him meeting my dad. He was genuinely excited and I kept pushing it to the side like no big deal. I would never get to meet his family, because they weren't alive. My dad was and even though he wasn't the most involved, I should still have made it a priority to see him and introduce him to my boyfriend because he was still my dad. I should have been more understanding from the beginning. Alex never went into detail about what happened to his parents, and as far as I knew they were dead.

  “Then, I'm glad you got to meet him too.” I reached over, and covered his hand with mine. I noticed the man with the grey beard get up from the table, and the other two followed. They walked toward the door to leave but he headed toward us. My stomach started to churn.

  I was sure he'd be upset about my staring when we first sat down. He got closer to us. My heart started to beat faster and a lump formed in my throat. The bearded man stopped right in front of us, and sat a business card face down on the table. He never looked at us and kept his eyes forward, toward the exit.

  “We know who you are. If you would like to know the same, contact us.” He tapped the card on the table with his index finger twice, before walking away. We both eyed him boldly as he continued out the front door. I tried for a moment to try and remember if I had seen him somewhere, he felt familiar too. Just like Alex had, but much more mild.

  “Do you know him?” Alex leaned over to try and watch him out in the parking lot, but he was gone and so were the people he was with.

  “Uh…what the fuck?” Alex held up the card so that I could see the blank white rectangle better. He flipped it around between his fingers a few times, and there was nothing written on it at all.

  “What do you think it is?” I took the card out of his hand and twisted it on my own.

  I was looking for something embellished, or anything raised on the card to indicate how to get the information off of it.

  “I think it's nothing…and there's no reason to believe that it's anything. He could just be a crazy person, or something.”

  “It could be something, though.” Weird things happened to witches all the time. Nothing out of the ordinary in Rockport that I knew of. We all just kind of lived boring lives out of sight.

  "You're right it could be nothing. Unless you're hiding something.”

  I laughed at the idea of hiding something from Alex.

  “No. Are you?” I knew he wouldn't hide anything from me.

  “No.”

  Ashley returned with a handful of appetizers on her tray. My dad must have wanted Alex to try some other things. She sat a plate down of cheesy Rubens, which were my favorite, and a plate of potato bites. Alex didn't hesitate to grab a potato bite off the plate and shove it into his mouth.

  “This is so fucking good.” His mouth was still full. He grabbed a few more and threw them in his mouth. I left the potatoes to him, and went right for the mini Rubens.

  As I was chewing I eyed the blank card sitting on the table. I wondered about the people that were at the restaurant before us, and how they knew we would be here.

  They said they knew us…but how? They couldn't have known my dad. He mostly kept to himself, especially when it came to stuff about witchcraft. It was weird timing. If it had anything to do with my mom, it wouldn't be a coincidence that she just died.

  My parents had a hideous lack of respect when it came to teaching me magic. I mean, if coming from a long line of witches meant only using magic for simple things, then what was the point? My mom's side of the family was very powerful. They were all great witches who did big things in their lives. That's how the book had been passed down through so many generations, and why it was so big.

  There had to be more power in me. The most powerful witches were those who come from hundreds of years of witches before them. Ashley came back over, with a grey tub to collect our plates.

  “Are you all finished and ready for the next round?”

  “Yes please.” I smiled back at her.

  “You got it.”

  She gathered the empty plates, threw them in the tub and walked away back toward the kitchen.

  Suddenly the card jumped off the table and onto the floor. We both looked at it, then looked at each other.
I reached down to pick it up, when I touched the paper I felt a strange vibration. It sent energy pulsating all the way up, through my shoulder.

  The card shook in my hand, like it had an energy field of it's very own. I'd never felt an inanimate object with this much energy in it. Only people. I looked over and saw Ashley bring out our entrees and set the card back down on the table.

  “He said this was how we contacted them. There has to be something on here that would indicate a phone number, or any other kind of avenue for communication.” I twisted my mouth in deep thought.

  “Unless it wasn't normal communication. Maybe we have to do some kind of incantation on it.” It was the only logical explanation.

  “We'll look when we get back to my place.” Ashley sat my plate down in front of me, then Alex.

  “Your place?”

  “Yes. We haven't been there in a few days and I want to check on my plants.”

  “Okay.”

  We finished our food and Ashley let my dad know so he could come out and say good-bye.

  “You sure you don't want to stay the night, kiddo?” My dad knew I wouldn't, especially with Alex there.

  “Yes. We have...stuff…that we have to do.” I didn't need to keep it a secret that I took my mom's spell book. I could have just asked him, but I didn't want to have to lie about what I was doing with it. I was sure he would find out that I took it eventually.

  My dad grabbed my hand, squeezing it before pulling me into a tight hug. He then pulled away, planting a kiss on my forehead before turning to Alex.

  “It was nice to meet you.” He stuck out his hand for him to shake again.

  “It was nice to meet you too, sir.”

  My dad nodded.

  We slid out the door, my dad watching us all the way down. When we got to the car it had started to snow. Alex shifted the car into gear pulling out of the parking lot, too fast for the quickly changing weather condition. Once we were on the main road I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. Listening to the pitter-patter of the relentless and familiar weather on the aluminum roof.