Love Thy Brother

Gone

When Tamryn woke up the next morning, it was with a big headache. She
took a shower and got dressed. Liam must still be sleeping in his bed. He
never stayed with her last night. She found that very strange and a bit
hurtful. Maybe he didn’t want to disturb her.
She walked into his room to find him and saw that not only was he not
there but his bed was made up as if it was not slept in at all. A small shiver
of fear went down her spine but she ignored it. Maybe he just got up very
early. But how early and why? The sun was barely up. It was almost still
dark!
Just as she turned to leave she saw a letter on the nightstand with her
name on it. Fear gripped her throat. This could not be good. Liam never
wrote letters. Especially not to her. He always said it was a waste of time
because if something was wrong they used to TALK to each other. Letters
was not their thing!
She quickly took the letter and ripped it open. She went to sit on his bed
and noticed that her hands were shaking uncontrollably. She unfolded the
single page and then she started reading:

Tammy, my Love….

Already tears were escaping her eyes. She just knew in her heart this was
not going to be good.

I don’t know where to begin or what to say to you. You’ve been through so
much these last few weeks and I can’t help to think that it’s because of me.
Everything points directly to me: You getting pregnant and then Tristan’s
jealous behaviour causing you to lose our baby.

Before we got together,
you were happy! Your life was carefree!

Now, everything has fallen apart! And I was not there to protect you!

My whole life I’ve been protecting you, but when you needed me most, I failed
you! Last night I thought long and hard. And believe me, this does not
come easy. It’s eating me up inside but I cannot ruin your life a second
longer so I’ve decided to step away. I have an urgent project that needs my immediate attention and is going to
take me out of the country for at least a year. I’m leaving for that tonight.

I’m sorry for leaving like this but to say goodbye to you and look into your
sweet face would’ve changed my mind. And it’s not what is good for you.

Please be happy, Tammy! Find yourself a man who can take good care of
you and who is always there to protect you.

I’m sorry for causing you this
pain again. But in time you will also realise that it was for the best.

I hope in time you will find it in your heart to forgive me.

I will always love you!

Liam xx

Tamryn could not believe what she read. She went through the letter three
times with tears streaming down her face and falling onto the paper. She
stood up and went down stairs to the garage hoping to find his car still
there. But he was gone! She then tried his cell phone. It went straight to
voice mail. She was like a corpse. Walking in every direction. Feeling
helpless. Feeling frantic. Not knowing what to do!
She went outside and realised everyone was still asleep. It was still very
early! She walked over to Allan and Stephanie’s door and knocked. It was
Stephanie who opened with a big smile but as soon as she saw Tamryn’s
face she froze: “Allan! You better come quickly!” she called and grabbed
Tamryn by the arm leading her to a sofa.
Allan ran down stairs and as soon as he saw Tamryn he knew something
was very wrong: “Sis, what is it?” he asked and went to sit next to her. She
was sobbing and couldn’t get a word out. She just handed him the letter to
read.
A very confused Allan took the letter from her, gave her one last worried
look and started to read. His face changed from worry to confusion to
anger. He looked at Stephanie, still standing in the middle of the living
room, not knowing what to do and what was happening. He swore under
his breath and gave the letter to Stephanie before he took Tamryn in his
arms.

“What can I do?” he asked “What do you want me to do?” He felt so
helpless! He wanted to kill Liam! He promised that he would but now that
son-of-a-bitch was going to leave the country if he didn’t already.
Tamryn tried to calm herself down. She shook her head: “There is nothing
anyone can do, Allan. He made up his mind.” She stood up and wiped her
eyes with the back of her hands.
“That bastard!” Allan said still very angry. “I told him not to hurt you! I told
him to stay away from you! He is going to pay!”
“No, Allan” she said. “This is between me and him. He made his choice
very clear. Now I have to make mine.” She looked defeated. She gave
Allan a kiss on the cheek. “I love you for taking such good care of me. I
love you for looking out for me. But this is not your fight. This is mine.”
She took the letter from Stephanie who said nothing this whole time. Then
she turned and left.
All Allan could do was to stand there and watch her leave. He knew there
was nothing he could do for her.
“I feel so sorry for her!” It was the first time Stephanie spoke.
Allan turned and faced his wife: “Oh, do you really?” he asked sarcastically.
She was taken aback by his behaviour towards her: “What do you mean
by that?” Stephanie brought her voice to a whisper. The kids were still
asleep. It was too early for them to be awake yet.
“You and Liam are joined to the hip!” Allan knew he was crossing
dangerous boundaries. But his sister is hurt and he could not stand it! “I
wouldn’t be surprised at all if you knew about this sudden project of his.”
“I know about it, yes!” she confessed. “But Liam told me he could not go
because there was too much keeping him here!”
“Of course he did!” Allan was moving towards her. “Another secret you two
kept?” he laughed in disgust and threw his hands up in the air.

“Allan, I don’t have the time or the energy for your nonsense this morning.
Really! I don’t know what is going on with you lately! And to tell you the
truth, I don’t even care!” She turned around and tried to walk away but he
grabbed her by her arm.
“You don’t care? Is it because maybe you care for someone else?
Someone named Liam?” he dared to ask.
“Well, the way you have been behaving lately, don’t blame me if I do!” she
said recklessly.
“So it’s true!” Allan could not believe what he heard. And what’s more, he
could not believe the pain it caused him inside. “I knew it.” He was totally
defeated.
“Knew what, Allan?” she asked clearly irritated by him. She didn’t even
notice the pain in his eyes.
But Allan was not giving up this easily. He was hurt by what was already
said so he could just as well find out the rest of the truth. “All these little
secrets between you and Liam? Is there something you want to tell me?
Are you the reason my sister’s heart is broken into pieces?”
“Do you hear yourself?” she laughed in his face. “You want the truth? Here
is the truth! Yes I know about Liam’s project! We have been working
together on it for months now! And to tell you another thing, he is more a
man than you could ever be! He cares about me!”
The moment the words were out, she saw the dangerous flicker in Allan’s
ice cold eyes. “So when are you leaving to join him?” he just asked.
“As soon as he wants me there!” she spit out and turned and left.