Page 20 of Shaded Amethysts
I stood in the middle of the road, blinking blankly and not quite able to believe any of this.
16
Avery
Iwas at a complete loss for what to do. After weeks of spending every spare moment preparing for the custody case, I suddenly found myself with an abundance of free time, but no desire to do anything except mope.
After apologizing profusely to Molly and Grant, my best friend had kindly assured me that it wasn’t my fault. The quiet judgment in Grant’s unwavering gaze told me that he didn’t agree with his wife’s generous assessment.
I was almost relieved by his justifiable anger. I deserved his wrath––and much more.What had I been thinking when I inserted myself into such an important, life-altering legal battle? I wasn’t even a lawyer yet. I certainly shouldn’t have been playing with anyone’s life in that manner. It had cost these wonderful people precious time with their son.
When I got home, Mom baked my favorite peanut butter cup cookies, but even they couldn’t cheer me up. I had screwed up in a monumental way, and I sincerely doubted if I would ever be able to forgive myself for it.
Needing to get out of the house, I walked slowly into town. I was so consumed by my own misery that I didn’t even notice when Gage joined me.
“I haven’t seen you in a long time. When I said you deserved a better man than me in your life, I didn’t mean that you should avoid me completely,” he hinted quietly.
Although my heart rate jumped into high gear as it always did when he was near, I couldn’t drum up the enthusiasm to smile at him. Instead, I kept my gaze down at the sidewalk ahead of me and nodded my head.
Instantly picking up on my sadness, Gage asked, “Bad day?”
“Yes, for the past several years,” I answered, only half-joking.
“Ice cream always makes me feel better, and it’s unseasonably warm this evening. How about if I buy you a cone?” he offered kindly.
I tilted my head to the side in a disinterested gesture, but turned in the direction of the red train caboose parked near the marina that sold ice cream.
Rather than going up to the window to order, I went to sit at a picnic bench overlooking the water.
When Gage sat down beside me, he handed me a chocolate ice cream cone. “I wasn’t sure what flavor you might like, but figured chocolate was a safe bet.”
“It’s my favorite,” I said before taking a tentative lick. My stomach was roiling, but I didn’t want to rudely ignore his generosity.
Gage let out a bark of laughter before saying, “You make me so nervous that I just blew on my ice cream as if it were piping hot.”
For the first time since he had joined my walk, I made direct eye contact with him. “I make you nervous? Why?”
It was his turn to look down. “I don’t know… I guess because I want you to like me.”
“I do like you. It’s just that I’m the absolute worst friend in the world.” The last word dragged out as tears began streaming down my face.
“What? No.” Gage said, obviously ready to jump to my defense.
Before I knew what was happening, I was blubbering and sharing the entire story of the custody battle and loss with him. I doubted if he could even understand most of my words through the sobs, but he listened intently as if he were hanging on every word.
“Now, sweet little Scout is stuck with his purple-haired birth mother that he doesn’t even remember, and my best friend lost her little boy… all because of me,” I concluded.
Gage narrowed his eyes in my direction. “The birth mother has purple hair?”
Out of everything I’d said, I was surprised this was what the man chose to focus on, but I answered, “Well, it was mostly bleached blonde, but she had the remnants of some purple dye on the ends.”
Gage’s eyes brightened at my answer. He quickly stood, took both of our barely-touched ice cream cones to the trash receptacle, and then reached out for my hand. “I have an idea. Come with me.”
I definitely needed some sort of distraction, so I placed my hand within his and followed him unquestioningly to his oversized pickup truck.
17
Gage
