Page 272 of Oracle Returns: Time will Stop

This was delicate.

First, she went there.

“We can skip telling you, if you think in any way you’re not able to handle this right now,” Bishop said. “Because it’s something that can wait.”

He lifted a brow.

That confused him.

So, he glanced over at Lucian.

“Is it that bad?” he asked. “Because both of you are tiptoeing around something. Why does Bishop look like she’s ready to cry? Surely, this can’t get worse.”

Lucian did one thing.

He nodded.

Oh, well, now, Ridge was sick to his stomach all over again.

“You said you could skip telling me. Do I need to know?” he asked.

Bishop nodded.

“At some point, yes. We can hold it, if that’s going to help you start to heal. I don’t want to push you over the edge, but I don’t get to control this, Ridge. You have to decide if you want all of the bad news, and then start to heal, or heal, and take another blow.”

And he knew.

Oh, deep down, his gut already told him. As he’d been sitting there, contemplating all of this, the pieces began falling into place.

There was only one thing that was as bad as his wife taking her life.

“She was having an affair, wasn’t she?”

Oh, well, never let it be said that men weren’t just as aware of shit like this happening behind their backs.

“I’m sorry,” Lucian admitted.

He was shaking.

“Jo warned me, and I brushed it away. Only, the birth control pills and the dream I had were very clear. She was apologetic that I was going to find things out and that she couldn’t tell me herself. A few times, I smelled another cologne on her, but I wrote it off as perfume. I rationalized it, because I didn’t want to believe it. Deep down, I knew my wife was having an affair, but I didn’t want to believe it.”

That sucked all the air from the room.

Bishop slowly nodded.

As she did, Ridge’s eyes filled with tears. They overflowed and slipped down his cheeks. The whole time, he never looked away from Bishop.

For some reason, her strength grounded him.

“Hey, we’re here with you,” she said, as he reached for her.

His shaking hand moved, and he needed to hold onto something that wouldn’t let him fall.

“Bish,” he whispered. “Help.”

Moving closer, she pulled the chair directly in front of him on the couch, and their knees touched.

“I’m here. I’ve got you,” she promised.