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Chapter 2 - Ethan: Icy Heart
My phone buzzed for the third time within the last hour. My sister was relentless. She didn’t understand something called boundaries. She was just like our mother in that respect.
They may have butted heads the majority of the time, but they had been the same person. Jade was the spitting image of our mother. Raven black hair. Striking brown eyes that changed color with the sun. She even inherited our mother’s smile.
I clutched the bouquet of flowers and made my way up the slight hill that led to my mother’s grave.
Fall had finally settled in, and the chill of the air surrounded the small town of Riverroad. The gloomy grey clouds hung up above, a usual in my town. We had more rain and snow than we did sunshine. Having grown up here I got used to the gloomy weather. I actually preferred the sunshine.
I stopped in front of my mother’s tombstone and stared at it. She had left this earth four or so months ago, and I had come here every week since we buried her.
To a loving daughter, wife, and mother. May your soul rest in everlasting peace.
“Hey mom,” the hot air turned to steam as I spoke. “I brought you these.”
I laid down the fresh white lilies. I swept away a few fallen leaves and tidied up the rest of her gravesite. She deserved somewhere that was neat and clean.
Once I was done I stood to my full height. The stray tear fell from my eyes, and I quickly blinked away the rest. I didn’t need to start breaking down here. I felt like I had cried enough to fill the Jordan River.
I looked to the sky trying to get a grip on my emotions. I had so many emotions that I couldn’t explain or express. I was a man who had faced much in my life yet for some reason this was too heavy for me to bear.
I turned my attention back to the tombstone. There were so many things I never got answers to. There were so many things I wished she would not have done.
My phone buzzed again and this time I had had enough. I ripped the phone from my pocket and as expected it was my little sister.
“What Jade?”
“Good morning to you too.” Yep, I was in no mood for this at all.
“Jade it’s seven in the morning and you have already called me three times. You better be dying, injured, or being held captive.”
“Can’t I just call to say hello? I miss my big brother. I was thinking maybe we could grab some coffee at Pop Pops. You know, like old times.”
I sighed. She had been trying to get our relationship back to what I used to be but I did not. Well, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to but I just had a lot of stuff going on with me I couldn’t handle taking on my sister too.
Just like with my mom there were a lot of feelings that I had toward my sister that I just hadn’t processed properly yet. I had considered therapy but that required tapping into places I did not want to go.
“I actually have an early morning house call. Maybe next time?”
“Oh,” she sounded deflated, “yeah sure. I will email you some documents that you need to read over in terms of the deed of he land, for your case.
This case had been on going for months now. The land that my practice was on was under threat and my sister had been helping me keep what was rightfully gifted to me by our mother.
“Mhmm,” I rushed out. I hung up without even saying goodbye.
I didn’t like being mean to my little sister but I also can’t pretend that everything is sunshine and roses when it is clearly not.
I pocketed my phone and headed back to my car. It was a Sunday, so I had nothing to do. I didn’t want to be in my house, but I also didn’t want to see anyone.
My phone buzzed again. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the name flashing on the screen.
“Dammit Marcus,” I cursed. Marcus was an old childhood friend, but he was also a major pain in my ass when he wanted to be.
I answered the call. “What?”
“Good morning to you, too.”
“What do you need Marcus? I’m busy.”
