{"id":12632,"date":"2025-06-23T20:19:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T01:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/?page_id=12632"},"modified":"2026-02-22T19:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:22:13","slug":"king-of-ephyra","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/extras\/vignettes-outtakes\/dirty-little-secrets\/king-of-ephyra\/","title":{"rendered":"King of Ephyra"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

JUNE 2008<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Bryants 3p tomorrow<\/span><\/p>\n

what did i do this time?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

GISELLE DIDN\u2019T BOTHER to answer that. It was enough that Knox knew he was in trouble.<\/p>\n

She and Bryce were sitting at a table waiting for him when he walked in, and waited longer while he got in line to get his food.<\/p>\n

Eventually, he approached with his tray, threw himself in the chair, and immediately shoved French fries in his mouth. \u201cWell, I\u2019m early and you\u2019re here already and you\u2019re both pissed. Are you going to make me guess?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy I saw at your house at BYU?\u201d Giselle snarled.<\/p>\n

To her utter rage, he grinned. \u201cFinally!\u201d he crowed, then looked at Bryce. \u201cA memory you lost in the fire?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryce nodded. \u201cWe had a \u2026 stressful moment that triggered it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you have to make everything so fucking hard<\/em>?\u201d Giselle demanded of her cousin, stabbing her brisket.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I do the best I can with the information I\u2019ve got.\u201d He pointed his fork at Bryce. \u201cFifteen years ago, you were not in any emotional or familial position to dump your wife and go after her.\u201d He pointed his fork at Giselle. \u201cAnd your self-esteem would never<\/em> have accepted that he wanted to see you naked.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shoved meat in his mouth with a benign smile of great satisfaction when neither she nor Bryce could refute that. She sighed in resignation and picked at her food.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou<\/em>,\u201d he directed at Bryce, \u201cneeded to grow up and you,\u201d he directed at Giselle, \u201cneeded to glow up. Not for each other. For yourselves. If you\u2014\u201d Bryce again. \u201c\u2014hadn\u2019t chased me off when that cunt told you a completely unbelievable story, this could have been solved seven years ago because I have been trying to figure out how to get you together as soon as she died and Giselle started wearing bikinis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giselle was shocked. \u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally. I sat there at my kitchen table that night and watched him take one look at you and his heart broke. That was fucking painful. It occurred to me that you might do well together, but there was way too much in the way, not the least being his wife<\/em>. The best I could do was keep him away from you. If I\u2019d known you\u2019d been pining for him for the last fifteen years, it just would have complicated everything even more. When you told me about that, it shocked the hell out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you say anything then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat for?\u201d he asked as if she were stupid. Maybe she was. \u201cObviously, you didn\u2019t recognize him because it\u2019d been fifteen years and a house fire and he was out of context, but I already knew he didn\u2019t remember it at all. I thought once you were aware of each other, it\u2019d be fine and I wouldn\u2019t be part of your equation anymore and it wouldn\u2019t matter if you remembered or not. But nooooooo<\/em>. I was pissed at both of you that it had been a year and a half since your first meeting and I still<\/em> had to step in after<\/em> all that because you wouldn\u2019t talk to each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou<\/em>\u2014\u201d Bryce \u201c\u2014fucked up at Leah\u2019s funeral by not talking to me, then again at Hale\u2019s when she practically begged you to ask her out because you were pissed at her<\/em> because you made stupid assumptions and you<\/em>\u2014\u201d Giselle \u201c\u2014fucked up when you pulled a gun on him to turn down dinner and then kept<\/em> running from him because you were afraid of getting your wittow feewings hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stuffed more food in his mouth and talked around it. \u201cI made it happen. And then<\/em> the vasectomy got in the way so I had to put my two cents in for the third<\/em> time. Either you\u2019d remember BYU or not, but by that time, it was irrelevant because I had to keep squirting SuperGlue all over you. You\u2019re welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giselle felt Bryce sigh when she did.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d Giselle muttered, \u201cyou might have had to do it a fourth time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked confused.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knox stopped chewing immediately and looked at Bryce. \u201cYou didn\u2019t,\u201d he growled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not<\/em> think she cheated,\u201d he said solidly, but sighed again and lifted his hands in helplessness. \u201cBut \u2026 I was<\/em> pissed. What I did<\/em> think \u2026 It\u2019s stupid. I thought \u2026 she just wished so hard she made it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knox\u2019s jaw dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy vasectomy failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTell him,\u201d Giselle snarled at her husband.<\/p>\n

Bryce took a breath and muttered, \u201cThat procedure was new at the time and turns out, it had an eighty-percent failure rate. I knew that. Made a lot of money off it. It was irrelevant for so long and I had put that company out of business a long time ago and I forgot, then I didn\u2019t want to think about it, so \u2026 I didn\u2019t do anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knox pursed his lips. \u201cWhat am I supposed to do with this information? Because this genie has granted you your three wishes. This is not my problem. You\u2019re adults. Not stepping in again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe \u2026 \u201d Bryce gestured to Giselle. \u201cGave me an ultimatum. Therapy or divorce, so, therapy it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knox nodded in approval and started eating again. \u201cI have lots<\/em> of traumatized people in and out of my office, and about half of them are women with abusive men they can\u2019t or won\u2019t get away from. Husband, boyfriend, father, brother, uncle, son, whatever. Often it\u2019s sexual. Even if they could afford therapy, it wouldn\u2019t start working for years, but they can\u2019t. Afford it, I mean.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour dad really put you through the wringer\u2014and remember, I was there<\/em>\u2014and then you put up with Meryl for eleven years, then your fire, the coma, jail, your criminal trial, the lawsuits \u2026 A lesser man would have broken a quarter of the way through the marriage, but of course, you didn\u2019t because that\u2019s who you are. I mean, if I knew then what I know now, I\u2019d have told you to go see somebody the week after we moved into the dorm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only abused men<\/em> I get in my office are ones whose woman accused them<\/em> and the cops just went with it and they tell me their story. Men are never<\/em> gonna step up and say, \u2018Hey, I need some help here,\u2019 because they know they\u2019ll lose everything because the system\u2019s stacked against us. But after Eric, I do not take a woman\u2019s word for it and if I could, I\u2019d throw the book at accusers who are lying. I\u2019m thinking about writing some statutes and taking them to Jeff City. But you know, I don\u2019t believe the men, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen<\/em> I get the guys who\u2019ve seen combat and snap, first responders who self-medicate with the hard stuff.\u201d He paused, and muttered, \u201cHad to deal with the most vile shit the most evil people imaginable can come up with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giselle\u2019s heart hurt for him in ways it never had. He<\/em> had had to sort through the pictures of Parley\u2019s handiwork. He<\/em> had had to go to the crime scenes. He<\/em> had lost his soul, and the only thing that touched Giselle was simply putting the finishing touches on the mess he\u2019d cleaned up.<\/p>\n

Knox cleared his throat. \u201cAnyway. You were angry when I met you and you\u2019ve only gotten worse. It\u2019s because of you that I can spot when a man\u2019s so broken it\u2019s only a matter of time before he eats a gun, and of all those men, you have the worst<\/em> case of PTSD I have ever seen. You\u2019ve been through hell, you\u2019ve never<\/em> had a support system, you don\u2019t know what to do with people who actually love you except push them away\u2014\u201d Giselle sighed. \u201c\u2014and I don\u2019t blame her for demanding therapy. No kid deserves a shellshocked dad and you<\/em> don\u2019t deserve to go through life alone. It\u2019s not a punishment, so don\u2019t get pissy.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was silence but for the diners around them.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you ever get therapy?\u201d Giselle asked Knox suddenly.<\/p>\n

His eyebrows rose. \u201cSort out my trauma with a mandated reporter? Fuck no.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh. Right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what you\u2019re for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot for the important parts. So \u2026 are we all square? Giselle gets her romance-novel hero and<\/em> a child with him. Bryce gets the love of his youth and<\/em> his shit off-loaded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Giselle and Bryce grumbled in unison.<\/p>\n

BRYCE DIDN\u2019T SPEAK for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n

When they got home from Bryant\u2019s, he changed clothes immediately and went out to mix concrete. He had no projects. He\u2019d just mix concrete until he worked out whatever was troubling him, then let it dry so he would have something to sledgehammer when he got angry.<\/p>\n

Giselle didn\u2019t take his silence personally; he got quiet sometimes, went somewhere far away in his head, and only now she realized it was because he\u2019d never had anyone to talk to.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Did no one in his family love him?<\/p>\n

Knox:<\/span> not that i could tell – he had me, that\u2019s it, then he kicked my ass and i don\u2019t know if he had anybody else but i doubt it<\/p>\n

No wonder he\u2019s having a hard time with us. Does he feel as if he doesn\u2019t deserve love?<\/p>\n

Knox:<\/span> he doesn\u2019t know what love is any more than he knows what faith is – he doesn\u2019t expect anyone to think of him at all, just goes through life bearing other people\u2019s burdens without thinking about it<\/p>\n

Who took care of his estate when he was in a coma? It should have been a wreck, but it wasn\u2019t, and the church never checked on him at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

She waited for long minutes, but got no answer, which meant he knew, but he wasn\u2019t going to tell her. If, as she suspected, Knox had<\/em> taken care of him, he couldn\u2019t have done it alone. There would be too many strings to pull and favors to call to keep a comatose millionaire\u2019s estate together and functioning for one person to be able to do it. But Knox never \u2019fessed up to his charitable acts and no amount of hounding him about it would make him tell her who or how.<\/p>\n

The afternoon deepened into evening, and Bryce had not finished. She didn\u2019t know if he preferred she keep him company when he was mixing concrete or not; she\u2019d never asked, figuring he\u2019d tell her if he didn\u2019t want her there.<\/p>\n

But would he?<\/p>\n

She went outside, but he was nowhere in sight. The concrete pile was where it usually was when he left it to dry. Maybe he was in the garage. Nope. She didn\u2019t call out. He was trying to obtain some peace and a shout would shatter it.<\/p>\n

She found him in back of the garage sitting on the ground with his back to it, his knees crooked, his forearms draped over them, his head bowed. She said nothing as she sat beside him, not touching. Yet.<\/p>\n

The sky darkened. The fireflies were out, so the mosquitoes and chiggers probably were too.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome inside,\u201d she said softly as she arose and left him there.<\/p>\n

Twenty minutes later, he appeared in their bathroom, blinking in surprise at what she\u2019d done. The tub was full of steaming water. Candles were everywhere. Sting\u2019s voice was barely audible. He started when she ran her hands up his back, digging her fingernails in, massaging. He dropped his head back and heaved a weary sigh. She knelt to undo the laces of his boots, took them off one by one, tugged his socks off, then rose to divest him of his shorts. Once he was naked, she led him to the tub. He followed, again, wearily, and got in, sliding down into the steaming water with a hiss.<\/p>\n

He closed his eyes and let his hand drop over his face.<\/p>\n

Giselle decided to leave him alone again in case he needed to break down in private, but she wouldn\u2019t be staying away long.<\/p>\n

She hopped in her car and sped to the nearest convenience store she knew carried ice-cold Mexican Coke, bought a few bottles, and ran back home. He was still sitting there with his face in his hand, but when he looked at her, his eyebrow rose when he saw what she had. She popped the top and offered it to him. He took it slowly, warily. She nodded, so he shot the entire twelve ounces down his throat in one gulp.<\/p>\n

She produced another one, which he took with something she thought might be gratitude, and savored that one a little more. She pulled a chair up to the back of the tub and began to work the knots in his shoulders out.<\/p>\n

Maybe they were knots. Maybe they were scars. Maybe they were boulders. She didn\u2019t know, but they were hard as fuck.<\/p>\n

He was Sisyphus. Alone. Forgotten. Cursed to do a thankless, dirty, difficult, pointless task over and over again as punishment for \u2026 something. She didn\u2019t know. It was a wonder he could function as well as he could.<\/p>\n

Knox was right: A lesser man would have broken long before now, and even now<\/em>, Bryce hadn\u2019t broken.<\/p>\n

Yet.<\/p>\n

It was coming. She could feel it. <\/p>\n

It was hard, even for her, to have any faith in the Lord when she delved into why this magnificent, honorable, brilliant warrior had been left alone to navigate a loveless childhood, adolescence, and marriage until he almost died in a fire that killed his children, why the church hadn\u2019t stepped up, hadn\u2019t remembered he existed, his only friend one he\u2019d tossed out of his life because he was trying to be an honorable man in an impossible situation.<\/p>\n

She fetched him some Tylenol PM, which he chased down with a third bottle of Coke. At some point, he hauled himself out of the tub, dried off, and dropped into bed. Even with all that caffeine, he was asleep in no time.<\/p>\n

HE DIDN\u2019T SPEAK for the rest of the weekend. Giselle gave him room to grieve for \u2026 something, whatever he was churning through, but it was easy when she was busy preparing a public rebuke her ward and stake would never<\/em> forget.<\/p>\n

★<\/p>\n

2026022<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JUNE 2008 Bryants 3p tomorrow what did i do this time? GISELLE DIDN\u2019T BOTHER to answer that. It was enough that Knox knew he was in trouble. She and Bryce were sitting at a table waiting for him when he walked in, and waited longer while he got in line to get his food. Eventually, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":39,"menu_order":4135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12632","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12632"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23496,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12632\/revisions\/23496"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}