Page 97 of Forged in Deception

“We can always talk to God, but the Bible also tells us to confess our sins to one another. I think that also applies to other burdens we carry. I think part of the reason that you struggle with faith isn’t that you can’t believe in a God who loves you, but that you don’t want to be part of His people. You don’t want to rely on the church. You want to do everything on your own, because if you let people care about you, you also risk letting them let you down or leave you.”

Karlin stiffened.

That was a gut punch.

But she wasn’t sure she could actually deny anything he’d said.

Axel let go of her, pulling back a little and fiddling with the candle in the middle of the table. As much as she loved his touch, she was thankful for a moment to breathe.

“God promises to never leave us or forsake us,” Axel continued. “And part of trusting in that promise is trusting Him to work in the lives of those around us, to bring everything together for our good. Even when people are weak. Even when people fail. Even when people make mistakes that hurt us.”

Karlin swallowed hard, remembering.

Her parents had let her down. As much as she wanted to pretend she had moved on, the feeling of abandonment and rejection always stung.

But if she was being honest, John had let her down worse than they ever had.

His mistakes hurt more because she expected more from him. He was her big brother. He was a Christian. He loved her.

And still, he had failed, and his failure had left her with deep scars that she wasn’t sure would ever go away.

She had to tell Axel the full story of what had happened. If she didn’t tell somebody the truth about that day, she was going to go insane.

But before she could say anything, he held up the photo of John that she’d left on the table earlier.

His face was white, and his hands were trembling.

CHAPTER

FORTY-ONE

ASHER

It was all Asher could do to stay where he was, grasping the picture in his fingertips.

He had never wanted to run away so badly in his life.

He didn’t care about the thunder, or the chill of the rain, or anything else. Nothing could possibly be more terrifying than facing Karlin with what he had to say.

Nothing.

But a saner part of him knew that it was already too late for that.

Apparently, looking at a photograph could be enough to change his life in an instant.

This was a surprise to him, but God had always known. He had to trust in that.

He had to take his own advice to heart.

“Axel, what’s going on?” Karlin said, reaching out and taking the photo from him. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”

The words she chose felt like a physical blow.

A ghost was exactly what he’d seen. A ghost he’d been trying not to think about for the past fourteen years of his life.

“It’s–it’s complicated,” he started, annoyed at his own cliched words as he tried and failed to think of any possible way he could soften the blow.

So many clues were falling into place now.

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