The Deal

The Broken Glass

The women in my family have been cursed for generations.

My great grandmother brought the Lady of Fate down onto us when her husband mysteriously died. Nan was only eight years old, but she remembers finding her father's body with foam frothing at his mouth and skin long cold, lying lifeless on the kitchen floor.

Though he was an abusive, evil man, the town was outraged and my Nan was traumatized.

By the time the coroner discovered rat poison in his system, Eva had already taken her daughter and moved to South France with his life savings in her pocket.

Karma's swift and sharp palm has been striking us down ever since.

My Nan attempted to find her father's ghost in every man she dated. She married three times and each husband turned out worse than the last.

Albert and Nana eloped after only two weeks of dating the summer she turned sixteen. She dropped out of school –much to her mother's chagrin– and they saw the world together. She was madly in love with him and still sighs dreamily when talking about their adventures, her aura tinged with a cloudy pink.

He died in a car accident one year after their elopement. I don't think my Nan ever recovered and she still tries to summon his spirit every time she tries to contact the spirit realm.

Though Nan vowed never to love again, her mother forced her to marry again at 20. He had money and affluence, but the marriage was annulled in six months.

Nana wasn't exactly his type, but they're still thick as thieves and he visits when he can.

My grandfather, Baptiste, saw my Nan on a gondola while traveling in Italy and practically chased her down the river to ask her to dinner, despite the fact that her boyfriend was sitting right next to her.

He was charming and rebellious and loud, as well as incredibly gorgeous. With much pestering and constant affection, he managed to woo my Nan within four months. They married shortly after my mother was conceived to avoid scrutiny and Eva's wrath.

He built their home in southern France and bought my Nan's first shop in town as a gift for their 10th wedding anniversary. He was a kind and gentle soul and women around the country loved him.

And he loved them too.

He broke my Nana's heart over and over again, but she stayed for Juno. Baptiste was my mom's best friend and her hero and Nan didn't want to separate them. Finally, when my mum turned 13 and Baptiste missed the party because he was with one of his many paramours, my Nan told him to leave and never return.

He never has.

The curse took longer to catch up to my mother, who met my father in school and was blissfully married to him for 15 years, until one day she just wasn't happy anymore.

Until, one day, my dad's childhood friend waltzed into our lives and seduced my mother.

My dad was more devoted to his work as a translator for a small publishing company than he was to my mother. When he wasn't at the office until dark had long fallen, he was in his home-office working. He valued his job and my mum thought he loved it more than he loved her.

Maybe he did.

She was a cruel woman; constantly criticizing and blaming him for all that our life lacked. I could never understand what she meant, what more she could possibly desire because I saw my life as completely fulfilled. I had two parents, an incredible home, and had found a best friend in Niall.

This was not enough for my mother. Nothing was ever enough for her.

She had grand illusions of what her life was supposed to look like, and reality fell woefully short.

When Antonio came to visit my dad for a weekend, he was bright and fun and adventurous. He was the antithesis of my dad's hardworking and stoic character. My godfather has always been a wandering soul, spontaneous and wild.

I guess my mother craved that freedom, that vitality.

Even though she had known Antonio her entire marriage, something changed with that visit, something was different in both of them. After that first visit, she was suddenly much more amenable and easier to get along with. Her aura was shinier and less cloudy, her laughter more robust, her affection more frequent.