Page 15 of Echoes of Eternity

Setting the broom against the wall, Ryan walked over and bent his knees as he looked into Conner’s eyes. He smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

“Can’t I just go live with Brad? He told me the other day when we were playing that his parents would probably let me live with them.”

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Ryan shook his head. “No. We’re a family and we stay together no matter what happens.”

“I just worry I won’t make any friends.”

“You’ll be okay. Plus, you’ll have your brother, sister, and mom and me.”

Rolling his eyes, he shook his head. “I don’t know, Dad. Elizabeth is kind of a jerk to me. I wouldn’t call her a friend.”

“Hey. You know how I told you about my sisters not liking me much?”

“Yeah . . .”

“That’s because I wasn’t a very nice brother growing up. You have to be careful with the relationships you have, even with your family. You don’t want to make the same mistakes I did when I was younger. Someday you’ll look back and be glad you treated your sister kindly if you make the decision to do so.”

“She’s just so mean.”

“Probably so, but you can rise above that. Treat others like you want to be treated.”

“Yeah . . .”

“That make sense?”

“I guess.”

He stood up and looked over at the garage door his son had entered through. “Go finish your work. Then we’ll get some ice cream.”

“Okay!” Conner hurried out the door and Ryan could hear him telling Jack about the ice cream.

As Ryan stood in the garage and thought about the upcoming move, uncertainty pervaded his thoughts and stirred worry within him. He wasn’t just relocating to Washington, he was changing his entire family’s life and possibly trajectory. Peering up at the ceiling, he prayed. God, I hope I’m doing the right thing . . .

CHAPTER 4

Arriving to Cedarwood Creek in moving truck and his wife driving behind him in their family car, Ryan felt a mixture of relief and pain swirling inside his heart. He had always wanted to be closer to his family, but he never dreamed it’d come after losing his father.

“You okay, Dad?” Jack asked beside him in the seat of the moving truck.

“Yes, I’m okay.”

Arriving to the driveway of the house, he saw his mother Veronica waving and smiling along with his brother Jason. He honked the moving truck’s horn with excitement, and his son Jack beside him giggled.

“We made it! We’re home.”

“We sure are, bud.”

Shortly after arriving they began unpacking the moving truck. Since his mother already had a house full of goods, they didn’t bring much outside of clothing, personal effects and their nice leather couch.

Handing a small moving box to Jack, and then one to Conner, Ryan watched his two little men carry the boxes into his childhood home. Jason smiled as he walked by them on his way back out the front door. Walking up the ramp into the moving truck, he shook his head as his gaze met his brother’s.

“You must be one proud dad.” He shook his head. “I’m just happy when my little Chloe can make it to the potty.”

Chloe was his brother’s three-year-old.

“You’ll get there, Brother. Plus, you weren’t at the hotel last night when those two yahoos were fighting over which cartoon to watch. You’d think it was life or death.”

Jason laughed as he positioned himself on one end of the couch they needed to haul inside. Lifting the couch in unison, they moved it inside and placed it in the living room. As they were walking back outside, Ryan spotted Bill Henderson, the head deacon of First Baptist, peering in through the windows of the house.

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