Chapter 1-13: Heir Apparent

                After Carrie went home the next morning, Shane decided to spend some quality time with his little brother. He read him some books and also made sure the house would be clean. He put Tanner to be and relaxed a bit, excited that his mom would be home the next day so he could be relieved of extended babysitter duty.

                Sunday afternoon came and went with still no sign of Rebecca. Maybe her flight had been delayed. He was sure she would be home by the time they got up the next morning. When Monday morning rolled around though, she was still missing. Shane was doing his best not to freak out but he couldn’t help starting to worry a bit. However, he didn’t have time to come unglued since he had school that day. Hurriedly, he called Krystal to come sit for Tanner and rushed to the high school.

                After school, he had his debate club and then he had an internship at the business center. It went really well and he now had contacts lined up should he need a job after he graduated. Well, if he chose to pursue a career in business though he still had his heart set on medicine. At last, he arrived home, expecting his mother. Wrong again. He paid Krystal, who had been kind enough to feed and bathe Tanner and put him to bed, and sat down to do his homework.

                Tuesday arrived with no news yet again. Shane was starting to really worry about where his mom could be. Resigned, he called Krystal yet again. Today after school was his debate for the club presidency. He packed a tux and was ready to prove his worth. His attention to detail and impressive intellect quickly won over the members. He headed home with the sweet taste of victory only to realize that it was Tanner’s birthday! How was he 5 already? He knew his mother would not miss her son’s birthday for just anything but he kept his thoughts to himself. It was now or never that he teach Tanner to walk.

With no birthday planned and such a huge task ahead of him, Shane didn’t even think to document the event for his mother’s return. It appeared that the by interpreting his mother’s vacation as abandonment, Tanner developed a bit of a rebellious streak.  

 Hopefully he would soon grow out of it because Shane didn’t want to have to worry about every shower he took!

                Shane quickly realized they would need another bed. He was not comfortable sleeping in his mother’s bed like she wasn’t coming home, and still felt a bit guilty about his tryst with Carrie there last weekend, so he arranged for another bed. Once Tanner had been tucked in, Shane went outside to think and gaze at the stars. He discovered a small orange star that the Holmeberg-Weidler Astronomical Society gave him the chance to name. Without thinking, he chose Rebecca, in honor of his mother.

3 YEARS LATER

                Life had settled into an uneasy routine. Both Shane and Tanner continually told themselves that Rebecca would be back as soon as she could. Each day though, that hope diminished a little. Shane missed his mother terribly and was trying the best he could. Tanner, on the other hand, resented being left. He looked up to his big brother but he needed a parent. He craved attention from her and, every day that went by without it, he became more sullen and rebellious. Shane had to believe that his mother would not have forsaken them and that something must have happened to her.

                One day, Shane arrived home from his club meeting, to see Tanner entertaining a friend. He also noticed that there was a large amount of old papers just strewn in the yard.

He was shocked and embarrassed to have someone in town see their house in such a state and mortified that Tanner would not have thought about this ahead of time. He was lucky enough that child services hadn’t been notified of their mother’s disappearance already. He quickly pulled his brother to the side.

                “Tanner, don’t you see those papers? Doesn’t it embarrass you to have someone see them,” Shane asked.

                “Pfft, whatever. Nobody cares,” Tanner retorted with a nonchalant attitude.

                “I care! Child services would care. We could get put in an orphanage. Clean them up,” Shane shouted.

                “You’re not my dad,” Tanner screamed back, even louder.

                Quickly, Shane realized that Tanner’s indifferent attitude was a cover for his pain. He pulled him into a hug and apologized.

                “When is she coming home Shane,” Tanner asked with tears forming in his eyes.

                “As soon as she can,” Shane replied, for the first time, not believing his words.

                He knew that many families left heirs and people in charge to head up their estate for the future so the next day, he called city hall to find out if his mother had dictated a will. Not only was there no will, there was no savings accounts, no stocks, and no investments. At least she had left most of her royalties at home in the family account. That might have answered someone else’s questions regarding the disappearance since, by all records, she hadn’t prepared for her departure. Shane just figured that, whatever the cause, his mother had not planned to stay gone. Maybe something had happened to her. Maybe having two children and being widowed at such a young age had just been a burden too heavy for her to bear.

                Whatever the case, it appeared that Shane, without intention or desire, had become the Avendale heir.

Chapter 1.12                                                                                                                                            Chapter 2.1