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COULTER

D ad shook his head as he glanced at the conspicuous smear of engine grease across the chest of this year’s ugly Christmas sweater. “You could’ve taken off the sweater before cranking the wrench, son.”

Teal on top and tan at the bottom, the sweater was as ugly as they make them. A portly Santa with grease on his face swung in a hammock strung between two palm trees. Christmas in the Florida Keys. “Santa doesn’t mind. Why should you?” I laughed. “It gives it character.”

Dad chuckled. “You’ll lose points for that.” His judging system for our annual ugly sweater contest was entirely subjective anyway. But it was a Christmas Day tradition that we were trying to keep alive after losing Mom.

“Do what you have to do. But this sweater is hard to beat, grease or no grease.”

Dad’s eyebrows furrowed as his gaze shifted from the grease stains to my face. “Did the repairs go okay? ”

“Yeah, the Ellie II should be good to go for the charter in the morning. I changed the oil, the impeller, and adjusted the timing. She’s purring like a kitten now.

” I kicked at the pea rock gravel in the driveway with the toe of my leather flip flop.

“Do you want me to go with Kai in the morning in case it starts acting up again?”

“Nah, your brother will be fine. Any word from your sister?” Dad looked back at the house where my oldest brother Spencer paced back and forth on the porch, his cell phone held to his ear.

“She’s on her way. You know Ava’s always late. What’s up with Spence?”

“I don’t know.” My father followed my gaze to stare quizzically at my brother. “His phone rang while I was headed out the door.”

As Spence hung up, a grim look etched on his face, a knot tightened in my stomach. I knew that look–like bad news had sucked the life out of him. It was the same look he had when he showed up on my doorstep the day after Easter and told me that mom was gone.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl and I moved slowly, my steps heavy with impending dread.

I passed Kai and Luke’s labradors chasing iguanas, oblivious to whatever had spooked Spence.

The scene felt surreal, like a distorted snapshot of a normal day.

The dogs’ excited yelps mingled with the rustling of hibiscus bushes, sounding far away, like I was hearing them underwater.

My head swiveled slowly when I caught sight of Sheriff Waylan’s cruiser pull up in the driveway.

My stomach lurched. “This doesn’t look good, Dad.” Memories flooded my mind with how he’d broken down with the news of Mom. I prayed silently. It can’t be Ava. Please God don’t let it be Ava.

Waylan opened the car door, slowly swinging out one foot and then the other. He looked old, broken, his steps slow and back hunched. One look at his swollen, red eyes, and panic seized in my chest. The pain in his heart that had robbed him of words was apparent in his stare.

The blood drained from my face, and I felt dizzy with worry as I forced out words. “What is it, Sheriff? What’s wrong?”

“I’m so sorry Coulter,” Waylan’s voice cracked, his steps slow as he turned to dad.

“Spencer, it’s, it’s…” I held my breath, praying that he wouldn’t, but bracing myself to hear him say my sister’s name.

When he straightened and took a deep breath and said, “It’s Kylie,” I was relieved for the fraction of a second it took for my brain to process his words. It wasn’t Ava.

But then the reality of the news hit me. It wasn’t my sister. It was the love of my life.

“Kylie?” I heard myself say as my legs gave way, and I staggered before sinking to the ground, right in the middle of the marina parking lot.

Tears filled the big, burly Sheriff’s eyes. “She drowned last night.”

“That call you got last night was about Kylie?” My father’s voice shook. Waylan had phoned to let us know he wouldn’t make it for Christmas Eve dinner because he was responding to a call about a body found floating in a canal.

“Yeah,” he said weakly and he sucked in a quick breath.

“I didn’t know it was her until I got there.

I was going to call afterward to let you know but I didn’t want to ruin your family dinner.

I came early to break the news before you heard it from someone else first.” He glanced up at Spence heading down the stairs from the porch, pale as a ghost. “Looks like I’m too late for that. ”

I watched from the gravel parking lot, tears streaming down my face, as my oldest brother wrapped Waylan in his arms. Waylan was my dad’s best friend, an uncle to us six kids all our lives.

His niece Kylie had been like family to all of us, too.

And then I’d dated her for nearly a decade.

Everything had changed after we broke up, but our history together was intact.

Fisher, Reef’s chocolate lab came bounding up, his tail wagging furiously as he licked my face.

I slung an arm around the pup, burying my face in his soft fur.

King, Kai’s golden, joined us, adding to the pile of furry, wiggling love that knocked me over.

Memories of Kylie over the years flashed across the blue sky.

High school sweethearts, long distance college romance, and a couple of good years until I made it official and put a ring on her finger.

Back then, I could see us growing old together, a passel of kids I’d teach to fish.

We’d expand the charter business and run the marina together.

But she’d broken it off not even a month later and shattered those dreams.

I sat up, my vision blurred by tears, and wiped my eyes on the gaudy sleeve of my sweater, the fabric rough against my face.

“Calm down guys, calm down,” I commanded the unruly pups.

With a shaky hand I reached for a stick and tossed it, sending the pups running in pursuit.

I hoisted myself up onto unsteady legs and made my way up to the porch where my dad and Spence were seated with Waylan around the glass top table .

Waylan handed me a cold Bud Light. “You probably need this as much as I do.”

“Thanks.” I accepted the icy bottle, taking a long sip trying to center myself before I straddled the fourth wrought iron chair around the table just as Reef and Kai came outside in their absurd Christmas sweaters.

“Hey Sheriff, whose sweater do you think is ugliest?” Kai, the older twin, asked, before seeing Waylan’s face. “Wait, what happened?”

“Kylie drowned last night,” Spence said solemnly, sparing Waylan from repeating the painful truth.

Reef’s concerned gaze swung to me. “Kylie’s dead?” He walked over and laid a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze as he asked Waylan, “How did she drown?”

The sheriff wrapped both hands around his beer, his grip tight, letting out a long breath. “Looks like maybe she was climbing on the boat and slipped, hit her head and fell in.”

“Kylie?” I asked, incredulous. She’d grown up on boats, with me. “That can’t be.”

Waylan set his beer on the table with a clink. “I thought the same, but that’s how it appears.” he said, with a quiver before he dropped his head in his hands. “Detective Pierce is reviewing all the evidence as we speak.”

“Pierce?” I didn’t recognize the name from Waylan’s stories about the police force.

“New Detective down from Miami,” He lifted his head up, and grabbed the beer again, holding onto it like a lifeline. “She's good. Don’t worry, Kylie is in good hands,” he said with a forced confidence that wasn’t the least bit convincing as a fresh tear rolled down his cheek .

“First Ellie, then Kylie,” my father whispered.

I hadn’t drawn the connection until my father pointed it out.

Two drownings in the same year. My forearms prickled with goosebumps as my father continued.

“My wife, and your niece. Are we cursed?” His shaky voice was swallowed up by the wind in the palm trees, gusts kicking up white caps in the basin.

Waylan’s eyes were bleak, filled with a pain that mirrored my own. “I don’t know Spencer. But I don’t see how we can handle any more loss.”

A wave of relief washed over me when I spotted Ava’s Tesla turning into the parking lot, relief that she was alive and well, and relief that she’d be there to share in my grief.

My little sister was the one who had comforted me the most after we lost mom.

She was also the closest to Kylie growing up.

They were more like sisters than best friends.

When Kylie and I started dating, Ava had told me she’d wring my neck if I ever did anything to hurt her.

Turns out she was the shoulder I cried on after Kylie broke my heart. She would need the comfort now.

Ava pulled two bags of gifts out of her trunk and wore a big grin as she joined us, in the ugliest sweater of the bunch. “Beer for breakfast on Christmas morning?” She grinned as she bounded onto the porch. But her smile faded quickly when she sensed the somber mood.

After Kai broke the news, we all cried into our beers. My father’s words echoed in my mind. Maybe our family was cursed.