We spend the next few minutes organizing the logistics. He’ll send me their flight details, planning to arrive in a couple of days. When we hang up, I lean back into the couch, eyes on the ceiling.
Jay squeezes my hand. “Are you okay?” he asks, curling into my side and resting his head on my shoulder.
I wrap my arm around him and breathe him in. I’m so grateful to have him by my side. The next few days are going to be rough, but I know, without a doubt, he’ll be beside me every step of the way.
“I don’t even know how I feel,” I admit. “I’m excited to see my brothers and my mom. It breaks my heart that they’re going through this. But I’m furious with my father for being such an asshole. I knew that about him, but I didn’t expect this. He alwaysmade himself seem so perfect. I guess all that shiny perfection was covering some filth underneath.”
Jay sits up and kisses me. “I’m here for whatever you need. I’ll take the day off from work so I can go with you to the airport. Where will we have them stay?”
“I have an idea for my mom, but that will wait for the moment. James, Shelly, and Luke can stay in the apartment next door since it isn’t rented yet. It’s a good thing we furnished it. It just needs some bedding and towels.”
A knock on the door halts our conversation. I’d nearly forgotten Ronda and Heather were coming. Jay gets up to let them in, while I head to the kitchen to finish prepping the food.
After exchanging hugs and greetings, we fix our plates of food and sit down at the round kitchen table in the open-concept living area, chatting for a bit about what’s happening in everyone’s lives before I bring up the subject.
“I got a phone call earlier that I wanted to tell you about.”
“Oh? Who from?” Ronda asks as she takes a bite of her taco.
“My brother, James.”
She freezes. She understands the weight of that name.
“Wow,” she says softly. “How’d that go?”
I start from the beginning: James’s voice on the phone, the shock of hearing it after all this time, his questions, his anger, and then the bombshell about our father. By the time I’m finished, Ronda looks pale. Heather looks like she’s about to flip the table.
“Yet another fucking man preaching to the masses how they’re all sinners and going to hell, and he’s out doing worse,” Heather rants.
I’m not surprised she went straight to her soapbox.
“Sweetheart, that’s not helpful right now,” Ronda says gently, patting her on the arm and giving me a sympathetic look. “Aiden, what can we do?”
“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” I take a deep breath. “James said my mom hasn’t told them much. Just enough for them to know this has happened before.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you be willing to let her stay with you? I think she really needs a friend right now, and I can’t think of anyone better.”
Heather starts to say something, but Ronda silences her with a look.
Then she turns to me, her face full of compassion. She sighs softly.
“I’d love nothing more than for her to stay with me. Losing her as my friend was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through, even worse than my divorce.” She pauses, looking down at her hands for a moment.
“I don’t think I ever told you this, but right before we left, she had suspicions that your dad was cheating.” She swallows, a shadow crossing her face. “I always wondered what happened, and I worried about my friend.”
Her steady eyes meet mine again. “Besides me, she didn’t have anyone else to confide in. Being the wife of the lead pastor meant constant pressure to appear perfect, to submit, and to keep quiet. I can’t imagine what she’s been through.”
My stomach churns. “But that was years ago. Do you think it’s been going on that long?”
Ronda nods grimly. “He changed when he got into politics. He was gone all the time, surrounded by temptations and filled withhis own ego. I’m sure it didn’t take much for him to go down that path.”
He condemned me to hell, called me a disgrace, and cut me off from my family…all while he was breaking one of the Ten Commandments like it meant nothing.
What a crooked man.
After going over the details of their arrival and coordinating the logistics, Ronda and Heather eventually head home. I thank them both, and when the door closes behind them, I finally let out a long breath.
Today has wrung me out. All I want now is to crawl into bed and wrap myself around the man who’s stood by me through every second of this.
