Page 58 of Echoes of Eternity

Going in, she hurried up into her room and fell into her pillow. Smacking it with a fist, she gave it a good few whacks and then relented, finally falling into it face first. Her heart felt broken, and she had never felt so alone.

Rolling onto her back with tears streaming down her cheeks, she closed her eyes and began to pray. “I’m all out of answers, plans, and ideas, God . . .”

Then she went quiet, just trying to focus on God and His majesty.

After a few moments, a tickle of comfort brushed against her soul, pressing onto her mind and heart an idea, not a voice. Good. Now I can work.

A pounding on his front door pulled Ryan from his sleep on the couch in his living room. Rolling over, he placed the pillow over his head to drown out the annoyance of knocking. He hoped whoever it was would leave his doorstep.

A few moments later, after he had drifted back to sleep, the doorbell began to chime, drawing him once again from slumber.

Lifting himself from the couch, he stepped over the pizza boxes and made his way to the front door.

Unlocking the door, he opened it and saw his brother.

“What do you want, man? Couldn’t get the picture when I ignored the knocking?” Ryan leaned against the door frame as he crossed his arms.

“What’s up with you? You’ve ignored my calls and texts, and Steven said you haven’t come in at all to the grill the last few days. You look like you haven’t showered or shaved in days.”

He shook his head and dipped his chin. “She left me.”

He walked back into the house, and Jason followed behind him.

“Why? What happened?”

As they sat down at the dining room table, Ryan explained what had happened with her discovering the last two transfers to Linda.

“You’re an idiot.”

“What?” Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and opened his arms out on the table.

“I said you’re an idiot. You have a good life with Emily and the kids. Sure, you’ve hit some hiccups here and there, but you have a life I hope to have one day in my own family. Three wonderful children and a wife who cherishes you.”

“You have a kid and a wife, Bro.”

“I know, but I still look up to you and your family.”

Ryan sighed, rubbing his neck.

Jason continued. “Look, I know you meant well helping this gal and her kid out. I get that. Dad would be pleased to know about that if he were alive, but he’s not here. You have to take care of your family and your wife. Breaking her trust over and over again will never get you anywhere, and it’s not a way to honor God or Dad.”

Ryan sighed heavily as he nodded in agreement. “You might be my little brother, but you have a big heart and a lot of wisdom. Maybe I’ll just pack up and move back to California.”

Jason stood up and shook his head. “No way, Brother! You can’t let Bill win. Plus, I need you.”

“You don’t need me. And I don’t see any other way where I get my family. My wife and children are in California, and I’m here. I need to stop fighting it and just go. It doesn’t help that Bill is planning to share our family dirt with the whole town in three days.”

Jason stood up and came over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder as he looked him in the eyes. “Pray, Ryan, and God will lead you in what to do. But lying on the couch and doing nothing isn’t the solution for anything.”

Walking Jason out to his car, Ryan came back inside and got down on his knees in front of his couch and began to pray. “I’m at the end of myself, Lord. Have Your way with me. Your will, not mine.”

It was the same school, same coworkers, same everything, and yet so different at the same time. Emily kept a smile on her face as she went throughout the motions of her day, but the smile hid how she truly felt inside. Her heart was breaking over Ryan. Why? She wasn’t sure. She had been so sick of him by the time she pulled out of that driveway, she couldn’t imagine feeling the way she did now. Was she crazy? She felt like it.

Emily wasn’t sure if the exhaustion that evening was from forcing a smile all day or just knowing she had to deal with her overbearing parents that night. Regardless, she was tired and on edge.

As she and the children sat down at the dining room table with her parents to eat, Emily fought back the tears that were welling in her eyes.

Her mother touched her arm after setting the platter of chicken in front of her. “Are you okay, dear? You look tired.”