Winter (Four Seasons #1) Read Online Free

they’d even finished shoveling the soil
into my dad’s yawning grave. She didn’t go to the funeral. It was
just Brandon and I. The priest banged on for twenty minutes about
the grievous sins committed by people in this life, and how we
needed to beg for repentance if we were ever to be accepted into
heaven. That had scared the crap out of me when I was younger. My
dad hadn’t been religious, and I was haunted for years by the idea
that he was burning up in hell because he hadn’t had the
opportunity to repent. After that, I spent a long time angry,
hoping that he really was burning in hell. Now…now I just don’t
know what I think anymore.
    The subject
bar on mom’s email is blank as usual. Her message will be the same
script she sends me at the beginning of each month, detailing that
she’s deposited my allowance in my account. She always manages to
make it sound like I’m not grateful—not grateful that she is paying
my way at college, not grateful that she finally helped me escape
Breakwater once and for all, when she was the person who abandoned
me there in the first place.
     
    Aviary,
    Find attached
a copy of the remit for your allowance. Remember to keep hold of
these for your records. I have increased the amount this month in
light of the approaching holidays. You might like to do something
with your friends at Christmas. I am headed to Hawaii with my
sister. She’s had some troubles with her new husband and wants to
go snorkeling to take her mind off things. I assume you’ll be
headed back to Brandon’s for Thanksgiving?
    Hope you are
well,
     
    Amanda.
     
    Aviary? I
choke back a dry laugh. She can’t even spell my new name. That
error could be forgiven by the fact that it’s new and she is still
learning to use it, but the other things, the other hurtful aspects
of the email, make my blood boil. She’s heading to Hawaii with her
sister for Christmas? Oh, I wasn’t under any illusion that I’d be
spending Christmas with my mother despite the fact that we live in
the same city now. No, I am more stunned by the way she said my sister instead of your
Aunt Clare. And going to Brandon’s for Thanksgiving? The real piece
de resistance is her sign off, though. Amanda. At least she used to admit to
being my mother. Now it appears that her sister is no longer my
aunt, and she is going to be Amanda from here on out. Tears prick
at my eyes as I stare at the screen, refusing to blink until the
text starts swimming.
    I clear my
throat and screw my eyes shut for a moment. When I open them, I hit
the delete button. I am stronger than this now. I can’t let her
affect me anymore. The next email is from Brandon. I open it
wearily, and my temper spikes. Mom blind-copied Brandon into the
email she’d sent me. That was obviously her way of letting him know
that I was being foisted off on him for yet another
holiday.
    Brandon had
been my dad’s best friend since elementary school. They’d played
football together through college and they’d fallen in love with
and married sisters. Brandon’s wife, Mom’s younger sister Melanie,
died from cancer when I was two, and Mom hasn’t been able to handle
Brandon ever since. She says he reminds her of Aunt Mel, so she
keeps him at a distance. Apparently it’s a repeating pattern of
hers, neatly bundling together all the things she wishes she could
forget.
     
     
     
    Hi
Avery,
    Looks like
your mom’s going to be busy this holiday. Want to come and join me
in my non-celebrations? You know how I don’t go in for that sort of
thing anymore, but it would be great to see you. We can burn some
pumpkin pie and smoke some crack just like the good old days. Let
me know if you need anything, kid. I’m only on the other end of a
telephone.
     
    Love
Brandon
     
    I’ve never
smoked crack in my life, let alone with my Uncle Brandon, but he
has a wicked sense of humor and he’s convinced the college monitors
our emails. He thinks it’s funny to set off some ‘red flags’