Shade of Avocado - Part 45
Twists and Revisions
Welcome to the final chapter of Shade of Avocado! Thanks for coming along with me on this journey for the past six months. I hope you will let me know how you enjoyed this serial novel and will return to see what I come up with next. If you missed any or all of the preceding parts of the story, please click the button below for the entire list:
(Piper)
Back at the house, it was just me and Avery again. I opened the refrigerator, looking ahead to making dinner.
“Quite a weekend, wasn’t it?” commented Avery. “Guess we can unwind now.”
“Oh, I should tell you,” I said. “I invited someone to dinner tonight.”
“Okay. Who’s that?”
“Brooke. Her conference was going to end too late to fly home tonight. You didn’t have much of a chance to catch up with everything else going on. So, when we were in the restroom, I asked her if she’d like to have dinner with us tonight.”
“Wow. What a surprise. I would never have dreamed. But, thanks, it was nice of you.”
“Maybe part of it was me being a little selfish. I wanted to make a gesture to show you how much I trust you. I’m sorry it took me so much time, but I do trust you, Avery.”
Avery came over and wrapped both arms tight around me. “And I have no hesitation in loving you and you loving me. You’ve healed the hole in my heart I got when you moved away.”
Brooke came for dinner about six-thirty and Avery opened a bottle of Chateau Chevaun Chardonnay to enjoy while the roast finished in the oven.
“So, what was your reception at the conference like as a newly minted Nobel Laureate?” Avery asked Brooke.
“A little overwhelming for the introvert I am,” Brooke said. “Once people recognized me, I collected a huge throng who wanted to offer congratulations. Then, when I was introduced to give my presentation…well, I didn’t time it, but the standing ovation went on a lot longer than I wish it had!”
“Like when my tenth graders hear the last bell before summer vacation,” I added.
“It got worse,” Brooke continued. “The applause at the end went on longer. I was mortified. No, I guess I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t believe it.”
“I can imagine how uncomfortable it would make you, Brooke,” said Avery. “You haven’t been used to that kind of attention.”
“No, not at all,” she agreed. “But then, something else happened that was more surprising.”
“What?” both of us asked simultaneously.
“I was offered an appointment as a full professor in the Economics department at the University of New Mexico. They have programs in natural resources management and sustainability. I’m seriously considering it.”
I felt my eyes grow wide open. “So, Brooke…you’d be…in Albuquerque?”
“Yes, if I decide to accept it,” she answered. “It wouldn’t start until next fall. I’d have to look around for a place to live. I guess there would be a lot of options. Even a commute from Santa Fe wouldn't be too bad.”
Avery looked at me, noticing how I reacted. I took a deep breath.
“Well, Brooke,” I said, “maybe you can come and spend some time looking around when you’re ready. I’m sure you can use the guest room if you’d like, and we’d help you find your way around.”
Avery’s subtle smile indicated he must have been proud of my response. If not a bit surprised how I was being so generous with his hospitality.
“Brooke, now that Piper and I are engaged, you can see how she already considers this is her house, too. But I will add my endorsement to her offer. We’d be glad to help you any way we can.”
“That would be so great,” Brooke said. “I’m almost positive this would be the next step for my new beginning. I will take a little more time to think it over. But you two are making the decision much easier.”
After dinner we continued relaxed, casual conversation. At one point, Avery excused himself, and Brooke and I continued talking.
“So, what happened the other night when Avery popped the question?” Brooke asked. “Did you know it was coming?”
“No, I didn’t,” I told her. “It’s funny how we’ve been dancing around it since we came home from our RV trip. Both of us kept talking about how we could live with each other the rest of our lives and love each other forever.”
“Sounds pretty serious.”
“Yeah, but every time, we would drop it. Almost like nothing more needed to be said. Then, that night, he said he believed he could live with me the rest of his life. The next thing he said was, ‘Piper, will you marry me?’ I didn't have another moment’s thought. I told him yes.”
“What a romantic story, Piper. I’m sure you realize it, but Avery is a pretty special guy. I’m sure you two will have an amazing life together. From what you both have told me, it’s been quite an adventure already.”
Avery returned to the kitchen. “Hope you didn’t run out of things to talk about while I was gone.”
“No, dear, we were fine,” I said. “Brooke and I were sharing notes about writing and what to do when your main character just can’t ignore a love interest any longer.”
(Avery)
Piper was at the wheel of the camper van, and I sat in the copilot’s seat. We got a later start on this trip than we had planned due to the fact we had spent some extra time in bed. However, we had packed up and there was no special itinerary, so tonight’s destination would be whatever we may find, whenever we decided it should be. The sun was still hanging above the mountains as we cruised southward.
“How far do you think we should try to go this evening?” Piper asked, expecting me to suggest a geographic landmark, perhaps between Socorro and Las Cruces.
I smiled, looking ahead through my Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses, like the distance traveled didn’t make a difference. “I don’t know. Somewhere between sunset and twilight.”
By the time night fell, we pulled into a rest area. Piper and I sat at the dining table after dinner. With our notebooks and pens, we sketched and outlined to re-write the ending for Pyx and Alfi’s adventure, as they returned from their wedding in the mountain meadow. We had written the tragedy as heartbroken teenagers, and our pain made us forget it. Until we remembered it again under the Avocado Tree, when our heartbreak was healed, and we discovered the story never ended.
Upon seeing Pyx’s Realm being bombarded by the falling of every star from the sky, Alfi magically flew ahead to save it. When he got to her Realm, instead of fiery death and destruction, he found all the fireflies determined to hold back the onslaught, marshaling their luminescence into a glowing dome to deflect the meteoric rain. Alfi spun enchantment from his elven-forged sword and sent mystic pulses of force outward from his shield to protect the Realm while exhorting encouragement to all the fireflies to keep up their defense.
Pyx, Queen of the Fireflies, beat her wings against the air as furiously as she could, to fly as fast as she ever had. At last, Pyx reached her Realm. Inspired by the determination and courage of her loyal subjects and her beloved Alfi, her own glowing radiance, more brilliant than it had ever shined, joined with the rest of the fireflies to stop the star fall.
Piper and I looked at each other with satisfaction. After decades believing Pyx’s Realm lay in ashes at the End of the World, both of us now saw hope that life ahead held every opportunity. Together, we'd have more adventures, more dangers to face, conflicts to resolve, but most of all, love to continue to grow.
Our laughter filled the interior of the van as we caught each other looking at one item we debated whether to bring on the trip. Since our plans were indefinite, the decision landed to take it along. In a glass jar, resting in one of the cup holders, roots had stretched out from the bottom and a green sprout emerged from top of the avocado pit.