Shaded Amethysts

1. Avery

1

Avery

I was happy that everyone else’s lives were on the right track. Really, I was. I just wished my life would find some sort of direction. My train had left the station and was trying to meander through the woods… blindfolded.

Losing my job as a paralegal at Bernstein and Gray, the only law office in Brunswick Bay Harbor, hadn’t been that bad. We all knew it was because I was outspoken about my brother, Alex’s, innocence in his wife’s disappearance when everyone else believed him to be guilty.

But, of course, they couldn’t admit that was the reason for my dismissal. No, it was because they ‘didn’t have enough work to keep me busy,’ despite the fact that I had worked my a*s off day and night for two years straight for that firm.

Once it was proven that Alex was indeed innocent in Claire’s disappearance, they couldn’t take me back without confessing that had been the true reason they let me go.

So, there went two years of my life down the drain. Well, not really, because now I was determined to take the final steps to become a lawyer, open a kick-a*s practice right here in town, and put those jerks out of business.

I thought about taking a job unrelated to the law to make ends meet until I finish my classes and pass the bar exam, but decided I would get done quicker if I just buckled down and focused on my goal.

No job means no money for an apartment, so I tucked tail and moved back in with my parents. They are paying for my schooling, putting a roof over my head, and making sure I eat. It’s just like I’m in high school all over again, except I’m almost ten years too late.

It wouldn’t be so bad if all of my friends weren’t doing so well. They are all enjoying successful careers, getting married, having babies, and moving forward into their futures, while I keep spinning my wheels.

My love life was rather pathetic before, but now that I’ve moved back in with Mom and Dad, it has withered up and croaked. My parents mean well, but they don’t realize that having to explain to a man in his late twenties or early thirties that he has to meet my parents before we go out is mortifying.

“Their house, their rules.” Blah, blah, blah.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate my parents. I do. So much. Most parents think they’ll be done supporting their kids at 18, or perhaps, if they are really generous, after college. Mine helped me through law school the first time, didn’t freak out when I decided I needed a break, and are now supporting me once again.

They have to be wondering when it will all end as much as I am.

You’d think their daughter, who set her sights on becoming a lawyer, would have an easier time in the real world than their free-spirited son, who followed his pipe dream of becoming an author, but you’d be wrong.

Alex is a successful and loving family man. He’s every parent’s wet dream, aside from the whole murder suspect thing, but that only lasted for about a year, and it’s all cleared up now.

My best friend, Molly, and I used to commiserate about being the last two single, aimless losers in town, but then Grant Chandler––yes, the huge movie star––sped into our tiny town, nearly ran her over, and fell madly in love with her. True story! I couldn’t make this stuff up.

The lights of my life are my nieces and nephew. I might seem like a deadbeat to every adult that spends more than ten minutes with me, but those kids think I’m super-cool Aunt Avery.

It’s my mission in life to take them on great adventures every chance I get. I especially like to get them hopped up on sugar just before taking them home to Alex and Claire. That’s part of the beauty of being an aunt, isn’t it?

Today’s grand plan involved the first ice skate of the season. Alex and I had loved skating at this tiny pond on the outskirts of town when we were little, so I wanted it to be a special place for his kids, too.

Molly, her movie star fiancé, and their son, Scout, were coming to join us. It was sure to be a fantastic time.

When I went to pick up the kids, Alex’s black lab, Pepper, gave me the most pathetic puppy-dog eyes I’ve ever seen––even though she’s well beyond her puppy years. I smiled down at the persuasive animal. How could I resist her when she was so heartbroken to see her kids leave?

“Oh, okay. Go get your leash.” I could swear that dog was smiling as she ran to where her leash hung. Her tail flapped loudly on the ground as she waited for me to pull it from the hook.

As I passed by the kitchen, I said to my brother, “I’m taking the dog, too.”

Rather than responding to me, he leaned close to his wife and waggled his brows. “Mm… We get the house all to ourselves.”

“We can be adventurous,” she purred suggestively before tipping up on her toes to kiss him.

I gave an exaggerated shiver of disgust and said, “Eww. Wait ’til we’re gone.”

It’s really not fair that I have to be surrounded by nauseating lovebirds when I’m all alone. I must have some shitty karma to compensate for, but I sure don’t remember what I did to deserve this.

My oldest niece, Hannah, was a huge help in getting the wiggly little ones strapped into their car seats. With three kids and a dog along for the ride, I needed a soccer mom’s minivan, instead of my little car.

Somehow, we made it work. As soon as I parked near the pond, we all spilled out, like clowns emerging from a tiny vehicle.

Hannah and I put on our ice skates, but I told the little ones it was best to play and learn to glide with their shoes first. The pond’s ice wasn’t as smooth or cleared off as a rink’s would be, so I thought that might make it easier for them than trying actual skates.

We weren’t there long before Molly and her crew showed up. I felt a bit guilty when I saw Grant’s wheelchair stop as Molly and Scout continued toward us. This location wasn’t ideal for his chair, but I had already told the kids what we were doing when Molly called. I didn’t want to risk my ‘awesome Aunt Avery’ status by changing plans on them at the last minute.

We had a blast sliding, twirling, and throwing snow. We all had red faces, except for Pepper. Hers was almost completely white from burying it in the fresh powder along the edge of the pond.

Grant seemed to become distressed about something as he talked on the phone on the shore, so Molly asked me to watch her son, too, as she went to see what was wrong.

I was holding onto Hannah’s hands and teaching her how to do a pair spin when I heard the deafening c***k of the ice.

Hannah and I had been moving slowly enough that I was able to quickly stop us. We both stood there, barely daring to breathe, as we tried to figure out where the weak spot was.

Pepper and the younger kids were still playing, oblivious to the terrifying potential meaning of that particular sound.

My frightened gaze locked with Molly’s from across the distance just before sweet little Scout fell through the ice.