Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
E ach mile marker they passed brought another measurement of uneasiness to Ryan. He didn’t know how Jason would handle meeting the woman with whom their father had been intimate all those years ago. Recalling his own experience, he knew it wouldn’t be easy or comfortable. Then on top of it, meeting their half-sister, Tiffany.
“You doing okay?” Ryan glanced over as Jason’s gaze stayed locked out the passenger window at the passing trees and scenery.
“I’m fine.” Lifting a fist to his mouth, he bit his thumbnail.
“You seem nervous.”
He pushed out a fake laugh and looked over at Ryan. “I am a little nervous. But I’m fine. How are things with you and Emily? Any hope there yet?”
“We haven’t talked today. I tried reaching out last night, but she ignored my call and texted later saying she was at a Bible study.”
“You seem upset. Are you okay?”
Gripping the steering wheel a little tighter, Ryan glanced at his brother for a moment, then back at the road. “Honestly, Brother? A part of me feels like I’m losing my family. And that scares me.”
Jason seemed to welcome the distraction from where they were headed. He relaxed and repositioned himself in his seat, facing him more.
“What are you going to do about it?”
Sighing, Ryan frowned. “Possibly move to California. But I don’t want to think about that right now.”
“What? And leave the grill?”
“This town hates me, anyway.” Ryan scoffed. “You can have the grill if I leave and it’s not in financial ruin.”
Jason peered again out the window. They were finally entering Spokane. He shook his head and sighed. “Ryan, I don’t want the grill.”
“What? Why?”
“I never did. I just like helping with it. It was always your and Dad’s thing. Whatever you choose to do, I hope you’re praying and asking God for direction.”
“I am seeking Him. More than ever right now.”
Jason smiled. “Then maybe all of this happened for a reason, to bring you closer to God.”
Silence lingered for a moment. “That’s tough to accept, Bro.”
“Sometimes truth is difficult for us to accept. If you do go back, I want you to know having you here, even for a while, was a precious gift to me.”
“Same here.”
Pulling into the apartment complex a few moments later, Ryan parked in one of the stalls near the steps leading up to the apartment. He turned to Jason.
“Listen, it’s not pretty in there. Don’t be rude.”
“Why are you coaching me?” Jason shook his head. “What are you worried about?”
“I just don’t want things to get weird.”
“Well, we’re far beyond weird already. I’m going to meet my dead father’s mistress from fifteen years ago and my half-sister I never knew about.”
“True.”
When Tiffany opened the door to the apartment, Ryan noticed a gash on her forehead.
“What happened to your head?” he inquired as she let him and Jason inside. She ignored the question as they took seats on the couch.
Linda came in from the kitchen.
“She was with that rowdy girl Athena again. They were running from the cops after tagging a gas station two nights ago.”
“It’s art, Mom!” Tiffany folded her arms and sat on one of the recliners.
Linda shook hands with Jason. “I’m Linda.”
“I’m Jason.”
She sat down on the armrest of the recliner where Tiffany was sitting.
Ryan noticed Jason’s eyes jumping around the room to the various items that concerned him too on his prior visit. The past due bills on the coffee table along with the trash, and then his least favorite—a picture of their much younger father on the wall with Linda.
Jason rubbed his hands together and then opened them.
“So, tell me about yourselves. Where do you work, Linda? What do you love in school, Tiffany?”
“Across the street at the diner up until yesterday. That jerk Garrett cut my hours to zero.” Linda looked as if she were about to cry. She shook her head and covered her mouth. “Sorry. I don’t mean to get emotional.”
Jason frowned and shook his head. “It’s okay. I’d be upset too.” His eyes fell over to Tiffany. “And school?”
“Good.”
Linda smacked her shoulder. “Remember what I said about one-word responses? It’s rude.”
“What do you want, Mom?” Tiffany looked up at her. “School is school. Boring.”
“Any subjects you enjoy?” Jason lifted an eyebrow.
Tiffany stood up. “No. School is the least important part of my life right now. Hey. It was nice meeting you and all, but I have to go meet with some friends.”
As she walked toward the door, Linda jumped from the armrest on the recliner. “You’re not leaving.”
Opening the apartment door, Tiffany turned and looked over her shoulder. “Watch me.”
She exited.
Linda cursed and chased after her outside, leaving Ryan and Jason on the couch in the apartment and in an awkward situation.
“We must’ve caught them at a bad time.” Jason’s comment brought laughter to Ryan’s lips.
“I wish that were the case. There seems to be an issue in their life every time I interact with Linda.” Ryan stood up and glanced in the direction of the open apartment door. “It’s not a good situation here for either one of them.”
“And Dad thought this was adequate to provide for them?” Jason looked disappointed.
Rubbing his neck, Ryan shrugged as he turned toward him. “I guess. Money was the only thing he could offer them.”
Jason shook his head lightly as he looked to be contemplating the statement.
“Right?” Ryan fixed his gaze on his brother. “I mean, what would you have done?”
Peering up at Ryan, Jason shook his head. “I wouldn’t have had sex with someone who wasn’t my wife. Even if I was separated . . .”
“Right. But I meant in the situation.”
Sighing, Jason shook his head again. “I have no idea, Bro.”
Linda burst back into the apartment and grabbed her purse from the coffee table. “Sorry to cut things short, but I need to go stop my daughter from being stupid. Can we do this another time, maybe?”
On the drive back to Cedarwood Creek, Jason kept quiet for a lot of the drive. As they neared their exit, he started to open up about the short visit.
“Their life isn’t in a good spot, Ryan.”
“I know.”
“You know . . .” Jason smiled as he shook his head a few times and looked over at him. “I get why you did what you did now. I feel like I want to help in whatever way I can.”
Scoffing, Ryan shook his head. “Be careful. I lost my family because of it. And now I’m probably losing the grill and being run out of town.”
“You can’t take that all on as your fault or because you helped.”
“I do, though.”
“You were trying to honor Dad and at the same time help others.”
“Yeah, a lot of good that did . . .”
“And Emily left you because you lied, not because you helped Linda.”
“Lying was part of it, me working too much was another part of it. Also, I’m pretty sure she didn’t want me to help them or have anything to do with them. She preferred I just cut Linda and Tiffany off entirely. I couldn’t do that. You heard Linda today. She just lost her job . . .” Ryan rubbed his forehead, the weight of Linda’s situation pressing on his mind.
“We can’t just keep giving her money. We need to figure out a way for her to make money, and enough of it to get the two of them out of their situation and environment.”
Emily took Thursday off the next week, and she, along with all three of her children, arrived at Brittany’s apartment at just after ten o’clock that morning. Luckily, Brittany found some men from the men’s shelter in town to help her with the move. As the guys were unloading a pickup truck full of donated furniture from the local rescue mission, Emily saw some garbage bags of clothing in the back of the truck and handed one to her daughter, Elizabeth, and some smaller boxes to each of the boys.
“Take them inside.” Emily pointed to the open doorway of the bottom apartment.
Walking with a garbage bag in hand, Emily followed her children and went inside. She found Brittany in the living room showing the men where to set the couch.
Upon seeing Emily, Brittany smiled and let out a gleeful sound as she ran over to her. “I’m so happy you came!”
Giving her a hug, Emily then handed her the bag of clothing.
“What can I do?”
“My friend Carla took the kids, so I have something else for you. Come with me.”
Following behind Brittany, they went into the master bedroom. Frames leaned against a wall on one side. “I have some personal pictures in here of family and then random art stuff that came from my place with Todd.”
“Who’s Todd?”
“My husband who’s in prison.” Sighing, she shook her head as she turned toward Emily. “I know he seems like a dud of a guy, but I promise you, he’s a great guy who has made some mistakes along the way.”
“Sometimes, people make mistakes and regret it, but then still have to deal with the consequences.”
“ Exactly. You get it.” Covering her mouth as she became teary-eyed, Brittany shook her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Wiping her eyes, she took a deep breath. “Just the opposite. It’s right . I feel like your showing up here this morning proves to me something I prayed to God for. . .”
“What’s that?”
“I prayed that God would give me a friend.” Reaching over, she grabbed a hammer and a box of nails and handed it to Emily. “He loves us so much, Emily.”
She smiled. “Yes, He does.”
“If only the church were full of people who cared about the struggling like you do. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met some nice people at church recently . . . but it’s like a switch they flip on for Sunday morning. They’re not around the other days of the week.”
Conviction weighed on her heart as she thought about Ryan and her attitude about giving Linda and Tiffany money. He had lied about it, yes, but he also showed up for a mother and daughter in need. Had Emily been in the wrong for being against it all along?
Snapping out of her thoughts, she asked Brittany before she left the room, “How do you want these pictures and paintings hung up?”
She shrugged and smiled. “Just however you think is best. There’s nothing that can’t be undone. I can always fix it after if I decide to change it.”
A tingle ran up the length of her spine. She had spoken of hanging pictures, but Emily heard a message much deeper to her soul. There’s nothing that can’t be undone, God can always fix it . . .
That evening, back at her parents’ house, while Emily and the kids were laughing and discussing all the work they had accomplished at the dinner table, her father interjected into the conversation.
“How much did you make helping this lady move?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. We volunteered.”
“All of you?” Her father raised his eyebrows, glancing at the kids along with Emily. “Free labor?”
“Daddy. It was a young lady with a bunch of children. She’s in need. Pregnant.”
“Where’s her husband?”
Touching her forehead, Emily looked at her plate, purposely shifting her eyes from him. “Prison.”
“Wow.” He wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin as he shook his head. “Sounds like she’s going places in life.”
“Why are you talking like that? Wait, do you think you’re better than her?”
Her mother interjected, heat in her tone. “Emily Kathleen Curtis!”
Emily narrowed her gaze at her mother. “It’s Fitzgerald .”
Richard chuckled and then said, “No wonder you got along so well. You both have bad taste in men.”
Emily turned to her three children. “Kids, go to your room, please. You’re excused.”
Jack piped up, “But I’m not done with my chicken and?—”
“Now.”
Rising to her feet, Emily leaned with both hands on the table as she looked at each of her parents. “Don’t you ever speak about their father like that again in my presence or in theirs. You got it? You might’ve given birth to me, but you have no right to badmouth my husband.”
As she turned to leave the room, her father’s voice stopped her. “If you walk out of this room, we’re done. You hear me? You'd better find a different place to live within the week.”
Turning around, she looked at both of them, letting the silence invade the moment. “What does it mean to be a Christian to you?”
“I won’t let you disrespect me in my own house.” Her father stood up.
“Let?” She shook her head. “Who’s in charge of your life, Dad? Because if I’ve learned anything by staying with you for this little while, I’ve learned it’s not God, it’s you .”
“What? How could you even possibly come to that conclusion?”
“It’s all about you. What we eat, what we do, what we talk about. Every single thing has to benefit you or originate with you, or you have no interest. Even us moving away from California. You were upset because it affected you and your life.”
“Come back and preach at me after you’ve raised a family. You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
“I’m sorry if I was disrespectful, but something had to be said. Thank you for the hospitality you’ve shown me, but I can’t stay here even if you were to let us.”
Emily left the dining room with a calmness in her heart that she hadn’t known before. Though she had no clue where or what she’d do, she knew God would take care of her.
As she packed her bag that night, she got a text from Sarah back in Cedarwood Creek.
It was a video of Ryan talking in front of a crowd.
Listening intently to the words he shared, she touched the screen as tears slipped onto her cheeks. She realized more than ever in that moment—she had been a fool. His lies were forgiven by God, so why couldn’t she forgive him? He was trying to do the right thing. Both with Linda and with the grill. He hadn’t changed like she had thought he had since losing Frank. At his core, he was still the crazy good guy she had married all those years ago. She had just been too blind to see it before. Lifting her heavy heart toward Heaven and with tears running down her cheeks, she prayed and asked God to forgive her.