Sam rubbed her eyes as she got out of bed the next morning, the hang over not terrible but wasn't necessarily pain free either. She expected Bryce to be with her, getting up with a huff. Picasso wasn't here either, making her walk down the hallway. "Bryce?"

Nothing.

She walked down the stairs, finding the house quiet. "Did he leave me?"

She reached the bottom step. "Bryce?"

"He'll be right back." a new voice rung as she looked over quickly, seeing a man in the kitchen. "You are?"

Sam took a second to realize that she'd seen him before, on photos from Bryce's phone. His dad, Eli's dad. Her eyes widened, her unkept curls and smeared makeup, half asleep state coming into realized. Sam opened her mouth hesitantly. "I'm Sam."

"Well, Sam-" he held out a glass of orange juice. "-looks like you need a morning kick start."

"It's literally not funny at all." Sam looked at Bryce in disbelief as he continued to laugh. "How many family members do I have to meet looking like a mess?"

"Leave a memorable impression." he shrugged with a small grin her way. "Besides, they are all so embarrassing, that was nothing."

"Still." she pointed out, walking toward the row of boats near the dock. "Which one are we going on?"

"Which one do you wanna go on?" he shrugged his shoulders.

Sam gapped. "They're all your grandparents?"

"All four of em." he nodded his head. "One for us, one of Demetri and Eli, one for Karter and her moms, then my grandparents, dad, and step mom."

"How does your family have so much money?" Sam looked at the four, trying to decide which one seemed best.

"Own a lot of bakerys." he shrugged in response. "Up to you, lady."

"Let's do that one." she pointed toward the one closes toward the end. "How do you think Picasso will do on the water?"

"I think he'll be okay." Bryce shrugged his shoulders, leading the two toward the boat. "I mean, he was okay in the car."

Sam waited for Bryce to get in the boat to hand him Picasso, letting him down as he curled up on the seat. Bryce smiled. "See? He's the coolest dog around."

"Oh, for sure." Sam agreed, taking Bryce's hand to step onto the boat. "So, at this wine making place, are we not suppose to taste it?"

"Well, we get like-" he held up his index and thumb to show a small space. "-that much to taste it. But, we get an entire bottle to take home for 'our parents' so it'll be fine."

"I wonder what my dad is doing." Sam said honestly as she sat down on the seat. "He was so mad when I left."

"He acts like i'm gonna, like, purposely put you in danger or something. I mean, i've known him almost a year and I haven't done anything once." Bryce said as he started the boat up, pulling two sets of sunglasses out, handing her one. "And, we bonded, why does he all of a sudden not like me?"

"He likes you, he just think you're the reason I'm entitled to be my own person." Sam rolled her eyes as they floated off into the water. "He doesn't get it."

"He's acting like you went off and robbed a charity center or stole drugs from the hospitals." Bryce give the boat a small kick as the speed kicked up. "But, good news is we still have all of today, and all of tomorrow before we get a lecture."

"That's pretty good news." Sam smiled as she held her hand out as the water splashed up onto her hand. "How long have your grandparents lived out here?"

"My whole life." he called back, steering as he saw Eli and Demetri close behind them. "Pop brought Lolly out here for their honeymoon back in 74'. He had a tiny boat and they floated down the chanel, just looking at all the house. Once they passed the one they have now, she said she loved that one. Two years later, the business is doing good, and he buys it for her."

"That's so sweet." Sam gushed as she grinned. "When did they have your dad and aunts?"

"78'." he said in return. "Only planned for the one, then got triplets."

"I like it out here." Sam looked around. "Mr.Miyagi use to take me and my dad fishing, it reminds me of those times."

"Sounds like a cool dude, from what i've heard." Bryce said in return, flashing her a minor grin. "I wish I got to meet him."

"You would have liked him a lot." Sam nodded her head, petting Picassos head. "I love The Valley, but something about being away from everyone, having the entire lake, your neighbors miles from you, it's just comforting."

"I use to come up here a lot when I was younger, well, my mom and I. It was nice. Like, a slice of the world that's just for you." he explained with a nod, side eyeing a route he was hesitant to drive down.

"Why'd you stop?" Sam asked.

"My mom got pretty bad off in drinking and stole a lot of wine from Pops wine cellar. Some dated back all the may to the 70's and meant a lot to him." Bryce shook his head, slowing the boat down. "So, it was pretty clear she wasn't welcomed here anymore. And, I don't know, I felt like I owed it to her to not come visit as much."

Before Sam could say anything, Eli and Demetri came up next to them. "Why'd you stop?"

"I'm gonna take Sam down Mayberry then we're gonna meet you there." Bryce nodded his way. "Will you tell dad?"

"Yeah, just don't take too long or they won't let us in." Eli said as Bryce nodded, letting him drive off first. "Fasten your seatbelt, Samantha."

"What's Mayberry?" she gave a curious look.

Bryce smiled, but didn't answer her, turning the boat to float down a more narrow route. Sam looked around, coming across a few houses. "What's the population out here?"

"In Clearlake or just in this area?" he hummed.

"This area." she said in return.

"I'm not sure how many people but I know there's not more then thirty houses for miles until you get back to Clearlake." he said to her, keep the boat slow. "And your neighbors are so far you don't realize they're neighbors."

"So, what's so special about Mayberry?" she gave a questionable look, a little grin on her lips. "Where you come to dump all the bodies?"

"Definitely." Bryce agreed. "I mean, it was gonna be a surprise, but if you wanna spoil who dies in the end."

"I mean, we all kinda saw it coming." Sam went on with a nod. "You're a very obvious ghost face."

"There's always two though." he pointed out. "It's definitely Demetri."

"Definitely." Sam agreed with a laugh. "I- woah!"

"I know, right?" Bryce smiled as he pulled onto the side of the dock. Sam stared up at the large, old house. It was clearly once beautiful, still truly being so, just unkept. The weeds were overgrown and the exterior was old and needed major work. But, it had about five balconies and rocky steps that lead you to the door. "Come on."

"Who lives here?" Sam asked, Picasso got off the boat and went to roaming. He wouldn't go far, they both knew so ever since he managed to enjoy roaming, but always smelling his way back to base.

"No one." Bryce helped her off the boat as he dropped the keys into his pocket. "It's been on the market for years now, the prices have dropped tremendously."

"Why does no one want to buy it?" Sam looked around as Bryce lead her through the high weeds and bushes, pushing them out of the way.

"Because the people that live out here have money, and they don't want to have to pay to remodel everything when they can just move into a new, better house." he nodded, the two coming close to the back door. "The original owners had it taken by the bank a while back, the husband got fired for tax fraud and they were out of money."

"How long has it been up?" Sam gapped as Bryce opened the front door with ease.

"Few years, almost five, I think." he said, the two walking in. The place had dust on the original dust, spiderwebs in every corner. The interior wasn't updated, not like Lolly and Pops, but the house had an underlining beauty. The staircase was wooden with a balcony that circled at the top, the ceilings high is what caught her attention first, the living room and kitchen connected.

"It's so pretty." Sam looked around. "I don't understand why anyone doesn't want it."

"I know." Bryce agreed with her. "With a deep clean, some polish, lay some new floor, and have a hell of an interior, it could easily be just as nice as the rest of the houses."

"How much are they even asking for it?" Sam looked cursively, running her finger over the dusty staircase.

"A little over 250k, I think." he hummed, grabbing her wrist to pull her. "Come look at this."

She followed him to the back door, they were like Lolly and Pops, both opening to reveal a backyard. It had a pool, that was nearly black now, with a back porch that had a build in bar and kitchen, a green house over on the other side of the pool, and one single wind chime. "No one's taken it?"

"It's stayed up this whole time." Bryce shook his head as Sam touched it, the little chime coming from it. "Six bedrooms, four full bathrooms, one half."

"It's perfect." Sam admitted as she turned back around. "Have you toured the entire place?"

"Yeah." Bryce smiled at her. "Wanna see the rest?"

"Yes!" Sam gushed with a laugh, following him inside as they heard Picasso running through the front door to stay with them.

•

kylie speaks

love it when history repeats
itself.