Page 43 of Echoes of Eternity

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Well, you did. More than if you would’ve just been honest. And Jason was so upset.”

Ryan froze. “Wait, what? Jason knows?”

“You’re the one who told him.”

Ryan shook his head as he touched his forehead. “I thought that was a dream.”

“Nope. You spilled the family secret you thought was so important to hide. You see? You can’t just hide in your lies; they find you out.”

Shoving the blankets off, he got out of bed and searched for his jeans.

“What are you doing?”

“I have to go talk to him.”

“What about me, your wife?”

He stopped and looked at her. He wanted so badly to fix things between the two of them. “I love you, Emily. I just felt like I needed to help her. She was behind on rent, and I couldn’t help but feel like it was the right thing to do. She had called me that morning when I was at the grill, and she was crying hysterically talking about the eviction notice. She said that she and Tiffany were getting evicted unless they came up with the rent for the three months they owed. She was going to get kicked out onto the streets.”

Emily shook her head. “You should’ve told me, Ryan.”

“And you would’ve said what?” He pulled his jeans up over his boxers awkwardly with one hand.

“I . . . I don’t know. But you took away my choice. Do you get that? You took away my ability to respond when you just did it in secrecy.”

“Okay. Don’t help others. Got it. Can you help me with my shirt?”

Emily helped him get his shirt on. “Ryan. Helping others isn’t the issue. It’s the fact that you hid it from me. You broke my trust.”

“I’m sorry.” He sighed and then looked at the door. His mind was fixated on his brother knowing the family secret. “I can’t believe Jason knows. This is a mess. How’d he seem?”

She shook her head. “You don’t even care about us.”

“I do care but we will get through it. We’ll find a way. My brother? His world is turned upside down and backwards at this revelation.”

Going over to the closet, Ryan pulled down a box and retrieved an envelope.

“What’s that?”

“The letter.” He shoved it into a back pocket of his jeans and walked over to Emily. Grabbing her arm gently with his free one, he peered into his wife’s eyes. “Listen, I know I’ve made some dumb choices lately. A lot of them. But I promise things will be different now. God taught me some stuff while I laid on my back for two weeks. First of all, this relationship right here comes first.”

“That’s a little hard to believe right now . . .”

He shook his head. “I know, but it’s over, all the lying.”

She tilted her head. “Good. ’Cause I can’t take another disappointment.”

“I know.” Leaning in, he kissed her. “I love you, and I’ll be back in a bit.”

Driving over to his brother’s house, Ryan tried calling several times with no success. Knowing his brother, he probably took the day off to process. Pulling up to Jason’s house and seeing his truck in the driveway, confirmed Ryan’s suspicion. Pulling into the driveway next to his truck, he got out and went to the door. Rapping his knuckles against the door a few times, Ryan waited.

No answer.

He knocked again but didn’t stop until his brother finally answered.

Swinging the door open, Jason glared at him. “Can’t you take a hint?”

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