Page 42 of Echoes of Eternity

As the sliding glass door shut, Jason shook his head. “Did my Dad cheat on my mom with that Linda woman in Spokane?”

“Uh . . .”

Jason took a step closer to her. “Tell me what is going on, Emily.”

“I don’t know.”

Jason turned away from her. “I thought of you like a sister.”

His words sliced through her heart and caught her in a moment of weakness. “They were separated when he slept with her, but it was fifteen years ago.”

“My father slept with another woman? The deacon? The pillar of faith in our family and this town? Come on . . .” Jason shook his head, sorrow filling his expression more by the moment. Then he asked, “Why was he sending her money?”

“Listen, I don’t know why you’re asking these things.”

“Ryan told me.”

Scrunching her eyebrows together, she shook her head as confusion filled her thoughts.

“Yeah, he was loopy on painkillers and let it slip. I can’t believe you both lied to me. Does my mom know?”

Sighing, Emily felt there was no way out of the conversation. Walking over to the chair at the patio table, she sat down. She explained everything she knew about the situation. The letter, the transfers, the fact that their mother knew, and even that Tiffany was their half-sister.

Jason was quiet and distant as he looked off. Silence lingered in the air to the point of awkwardness. Then, he looked over at her. “So, what Ryan said makes sense now.”

“What do you mean?”

“He said the $6,000 he withdrew from the bank the morning of the accident was to help them out with rent. They were going to get evicted.”

Her eyes widened.

“Oh. You didn’t know that piece of the puzzle?” Jason scoffed and let out a sigh as he stood up. He glanced toward the sliding glass door. “My brother, your husband, is a sneaky and untrustworthy man. Good luck with that whole thing. I’ll keep you two in my prayers.”

As he went out the side gate, Emily was left alone with her thoughts. Ryan had lied about losing his memory. Not only that, he helped Linda behind her back.

Tears from her broken heart spilled out onto her cheeks as a breeze pushed through the back yard and patio. Her heart broke into tiny little pieces as she felt not only betrayal from her husband, but also the fact that the last two weeks had just been a façade, done probably out of some guilt he felt for lying to her. Who was this man she was married to now? She felt her husband had been buried right along with his father. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. He wasn’t the trustworthy man she had married and committed herself to all those years ago. No. He was different, he was changed, and she didn’t like him at all.

CHAPTER 11

Waking to his wife sitting on the edge of the bed the next morning, Ryan sensed an uneasiness in her. He sat up and scooted himself against the headboard as he waited for her to speak.

She looked over at him, her eyes swollen and red. It was apparent she had been crying for some time.

“What’s wrong, Em?”

“You gave her money and hid it.”

Heaviness filled the air between them, and he lowered his gaze to the comforter over his body.

“And you lied about your memory of that day.”

“Wait.” Ryan looked at her, lifting his one good hand. “I didn’t remember right when I woke up. That wasn’t a lie.”

“Great.” She stood up and shook her head. “Is that supposed to make me feel better or something? That your memory came back, and you didn’t tell me?”

“No . . .”

Emily wiped her cheeks of tears as she looked up at the ceiling of their bedroom. “I’m trying so hard, Ryan. And it feels like you’re not trying at all. I can’t understand your choices. We used to be so close. We didn’t hide anything, ever.”

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