Page 63 of Echoes of Eternity

Arriving back at her parents’ that night, she was sitting on the couch reading some Scripture when her phone rang. Her lips and heart smiled at seeing Ryan’s name.

“Hey, you.” Her voice was soft.

“Hey. How’s it going? The kids around?”

Glancing toward the stairwell leading up to the bedrooms, she said, “Yeah. But I wanted to see how you are. How’s everything going up there?”

Seeing her mother walk in, she stood and went up to her bedroom and shut the door. Lying on the bed, she looked at the ceiling as she imagined him lying next to her.

“Good. I’m going to talk to the whole town tomorrow at the town meeting Bill called. He’s about to reveal the secret, and I want to give them a message about God, about Dad, about everything. Oh, and Jason and I are going on Sunday for him to meet Tiffany.”

“Who?”

“Linda’s daughter. Our half-sister.”

All of Emily’s joy in talking to him melted away in a moment. She had forgotten not only her name, but the pain of his deception with the transfers and his meeting them on the day of the car accident. It all came rushing back in a moment. “Really?”

“Yeah. Why do you sound upset?”

Sitting up on the bed, she shook her head. “Are you really surprised, Ryan? You hid the money and the fact you went to see them the day of your accident . . . It just feels like you don’t care how I feel about anything.”

“I’m being open and honest about what is going on and you’re still upset?”

“Yes. It just feels like you’re going to do whatever you want regardless of how it makes me feel. Just because you tell me doesn’t mean it’s fine. Why don’t we talk about it and figure something out? Together?”

Ryan sighed and then asked, “Are the kids around? I want to talk to them, not fight with you.”

The pain of that statement radiated through her heart. All of the missing of her husband turned hard in an instant, and the hope she had clung to of them working out in order to make it through the nights vanished.

“Sure, I’ll get the kids.”

Counting down the cash drawer in the office that evening while Steven closed the lobby, Ryan’s phone buzzed with a text message.

Slipping his phone out from his pocket, he saw it was from Linda. She agreed to the visit for Jason to meet Tiffany. He lifted a prayer of thanks as he continued counting the cash drawer.

Steven walked into the office.

“Everything is good out in the lobby.”

“All right, man. Have a good night.”

“Before I go, I have felt obligated to say something to you about this whole situation with Emily.”

He had let Steven in on what was going on with his family life, including their recent disagreement over the phone. Motioning to the chair beside him, he set the cash drawer on the desk and turned toward Steven.

“Do you remember what you told me when I was going through that junk with Marissa?”

Ryan attempted to recall, but he failed to retrieve his own words in the moment. “I don’t.”

“You told me I can’t expect to work on my marriage when I’m apart from my wife. That weekend, I went and saw her, and she came home with me. I’m not telling you what to do here, but I wanted to remind you of your own words. You can’t work on a marriage when you don’t live together. I don’t know what that means for you since your wife is in California, but yeah, I felt like I should share it.”

The weight of his own words coming back to him felt like a knife through the chest. It cut through the layers of frustration and severed the artery of pride within his heart. “Now that you mention it . . . I do remember. Tough words.”

“That advice changed everything for me.”

“Thank you for the reminder.” Ryan smiled as he laughed a little. “It’s funny how our own words can come right back to us. Isn’t it?”

“It is.” Standing up, he looked at the doorway. “I'd better get home to my family.”

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