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"Talked to who?" I asked, unable to process the fact that the Morgans were back in town.
"The Morgans," she said. "Mister Donnie and a few of the boys came in earlier. Beck and Casey were there, and Beau. I talked to them about the house."
"Casey was here? Is Charlie here?" I asked.
Charlie and Casey were brothers. They had a third brother named Caleb—the Florida boys, as we called them. "Charlie wasn't with them today, but I asked about him for you. They said he's here."
"He is? He's here? What's going on? Why are they back?"
I helped her by organizing the condiment and napkin holders on nearby tables. But I was curious about Charlie. My heart was racing, and he was nowhere in sight. I glanced around the dining room just to make sure.
Stacy continued with what she was saying. "I guess their grandpa died a few months ago, and that’s what made them come back to the house. The lady, his wife, Miss Naomi had passed away eight years ago, remember? That's what made him move out of the house in the first place. He's been in Houston with Donnie and Sarah this whole time."
I knew Donnie and Sarah were Beck and Lila's parents. They were the Houston crew. The Houston crew had the last name Morgan and so did the Florida boys, but there was a Chicago bunch as well—the Camerons. Astrid Morgan had married film producer Danny Cameron and they had three kids, so three of the cousins were Camerons instead of Morgans. There were eight grandkids in total. I had spent many holidays with them, and I knew them well.
"I didn't know Mister Morgan had been living in Houston this whole time," I said distractedly as I thought of everything.
"That's what Donnie said," she answered. "They said he wouldn't sell the house, but that he wouldn’t come up here either. He stopped using it, and it just stayed empty for the last eight years."
"Yeah, I remember hearing about Brandon Hall trying to use the swimming pool and getting caught," I said.
"That was a few years ago, I remember that," she said. "Josh told me they used the pool for months before they got caught. Brandon's dad had that pool company and they stole a bunch of his chemicals, remember?"
"I remember that," I said, nodding.
"They've had surveillance at the house since then, but none of the family visits. I don't think Mister Don wanted them to. Anyway, he passed away a few months ago, and they've had crews there renovating. They're all spending the summer here—meeting, working, deciding what to do with the property. Beck said it was thirty acres."
I nodded absentmindedly since I already knew how large it was. "Yeah. That's crazy. I can't believe they're all coming back. What do they look like?"
"Uh, gorgeous. A few of them have social media—Beck, AJ, and Rose. I don't think any of the Florida boys have it though. I looked them all up."
None of this was news to me. I had thought of them in recent years and searched for them. From the age of four through fourteen, the Morgans and Camerons were such a big part of my childhood memories that I couldn’t help but be curious about how they all turned out.
"What does Casey look like?" I asked, wishing I had seen them today.
"Amazing," she said. "Like the guy who stars in that surfing movie. He looks just like he used to except grown up and hotter now."
I smiled and shook my head at her, and she laughed.
"He is. They all are. Beck's really good-looking too. And he's on social media. I easily found his stuff because he's famous. He's a painter. He's got like eighty thousand followers on Instagram."
"I know," I said.
"Rose Cameron has a bunch of pictures on her feed, too," Stacy added. "She has some with her brothers on there. AJ plays lacrosse. I think he and Beau both do, but Beau isn't on social media as far as I can tell."
"You sure do know a lot about the Morgans," I said.
Stacy shrugged. "I looked them all up after they came in here earlier."
"When was it?"
"A couple of hours ago," she said.
I glanced at the clock to find that it was a quarter after five. I worked the reception desk at a pediatrician's office, and I had just gotten off. I was hungry, and I had come straight to the restaurant to grab something for dinner. I stopped by here a few times a week because Stacy's family gave me food at cost and they kept a running tab which I paid once a month. Stan, Stacy's dad, was already working on my order in the kitchen.
"I didn't see Charlie earlier when the others came in, but I see him now."
Stacy continued cleaning and made the statement so casually that I looked at her with a confused expression. She smiled at me and pointed at the window like he was about to walk in.
"You're joking," I said staring at her and feeling like I might pass out.
"I'm not," she said, shaking her head at me with a wide-eyed expression. "He's about to—Hey, welcome to The Black Skillet Inn," Stacy said, calling toward the door.
"Thank you," a deep voice called back.
It took me a second, but I finally broke eye contact with Stacy and looked that way.
