His Mother's Eyes

Chapter One

Ryan remembered it like it was yesterday.

The day he met the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

But it wasn't yesterday.

It was a little over five years ago.

And he only ever spent one night with her.

One perfect night.

Before he fell asleep that night, he knew deep in his bones that she was the one.

But by the time he woke, she was gone.

He was alone in his hotel room.

She left him a note on the hotel stationary, but it wasn't the number he was hoping for.

It wasn't even a goodbye.

It was a 'thank you' letting him know she would never forget him and a request that he not try to find her.

She didn't want to see him again.

He didn't know how to begin searching for her even though he desperately wanted to.

Because of all the things she shared with him that night, she never once told him her name.

"I can't believe I finally found you after all these years."

Ryan held out his hand.

Landon reached to shake it with a smile.

"Well, when you contacted and said you were my long lost brother," Ryan said, returning the smile, "I couldn't believe it either. Have a seat, join me."

He motioned across the table, and Landon sat immediately.

"When I started looking for information about my birth parents and found out my father had been married to your mother before mine," Landon said, "I knew I had to find you."

"I'm sorry to hear about your mom, and, well, dad," Ryan finished with a shrug. "He was never really part of my life before he died. My mother didn't talk about him much when she was alive."

"I'm sorry about your mother too," Landon said.

"She passed away right before I started college," Ryan said, still feeling the sting to this day even though it happened over ten years ago. "It was hard, but it couldn't have been as hard as it was for you."

"They both died when I was a baby," Landon said. "So it wasn't really hard. I was adopted by a friend of my birth mother. I grew up with a good family. Mother, father, and even a brother. My mom is sorry she never knew about you. She served with Seylah but didn't know much about her husband. When no other family stepped forward, she and her husband—my dad—decided to keep me. They all want to meet you too, if you'd be interested."

"I wouldn't be opposed," Ryan agreed.

In fact, he was looking forward to learning everything there was to know about his brother. He was still shocked he had never been told he had one, but he wasn't sure his mother ever knew Landon existed. He would like to think she hadn't known because even though Landon wasn't her family, he was his.

"And maybe you'd like to meet the rest of my family too?" Landon said. "My wife and our son. My wife, she's the reason I went searching. She's an orphan too, but she lost her parents as a teenager. She thought it would be good for me to learn more about where I came from."

"I'll have to thank her then," Ryan nodded. "And your family is technically mine now too." It was strange to think he had gone from being completely alone in the world since his mother's death to now having more family than he had his entire life.