Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,106
enjoy romantic gestures like that. He hadn’t had much of a chance to be romantic with Lydia. The few times he’d attempted romance, she’d let him know she preferred a more practical approach to their interactions.
It had been a bit of an adjustment since the example he’d always had from his dad had been one of romantic gestures. Bouquets of flowers even if there was no special occasion. Cards with no reason other than to say he loved his wife. Her favorite chocolates if she was feeling a bit down. Dinners out, just the two of them, to a restaurant they both enjoyed.
And while his mom didn’t do those sorts of romantic gestures in return, she had her own ways of showing her husband that he was important to her. Every morning she had a cup of coffee waiting for him, doctored just how he liked it. Each Saturday, she made them breakfast, then the two of them ate together in the sitting room attached to their bedroom. And just like his dad brought his mom her favorite chocolates, she would make his favorite cookies, often sending them to work with him in a cookie jar for him to enjoy throughout the week.
All of their actions had been a good reminder for them as kids that their parents were more than just Mom and Dad. They were a couple. Husband and wife. And they believed their relationship with each other was important.
Now that he was open to having another relationship, Ryker couldn’t help but wonder if things might be different with someone like Sophia.
Already he found himself eager to do things for Sophia and for Bryson too. Which was why he’d found it difficult to respect her request that he not come back for a couple of days. He was sure that she’d done it mainly for his sake, but also because she didn’t want to feel obligated to him.
Of course she didn’t know that he didn’t expect any sort of repayment for what he’d done for them. However, he could tell her that until he was blue in the face, but he had a feeling that only time would show that to her.
Suddenly eager to see them, he walked quietly into the room, not wanting to wake either of them if they were sleeping. It was silent, and his gaze went to the bed where he saw Bryson asleep. Even though he knew that Bryson sleeping a lot wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as his body healed from the infection that had invaded it, Ryker couldn’t deny that he would have liked to have seen him awake.
His gaze moved around the room in search of Sophia, knowing that the likelihood of her not being there was slim. He found her seated at the table, her head resting on her folded arms, facing the window.
Mindful that she might be sleeping, Ryker kept his steps light as he walked toward her. He moved around to the other side of the table, which allowed him to see that her eyes were open, staring out the window. She became aware of his presence at the same time as he made his observation, because immediately, she straightened up.
She blinked a couple of times, then said, “Ryker?”
“In the flesh.” He smiled, then pulled out the chair opposite her, setting the bags he carried on the floor. “How are you doing?”
Her brow furrowed, and for a moment, Ryker thought she was going to cry. He could see that the dark smudges under her eyes seemed worse, and overall, she just looked…frail. Ryker regretted agreeing to her request that he not come for a few days.
“Are you okay?” he asked when she didn’t reply to his other question.
She took a deep breath, then nodded. “It’s just…hard. I want to take him home.”
“I get that,” Ryker said. “Being in the hospital is difficult, especially when you’re essentially doing it on your own.”
Her gaze dropped as she lifted her hands and rubbed her face.
“Has anyone come to visit?”
She sighed as she nodded. “My mom and dad came by this morning.”
“That’s great,” Ryker said, happy to hear that someone had been to visit her.
“Yeah. It was nice to see them,” she agreed. “But they didn’t stay too long.”
“How’s Bryson doing today?”
She glanced at the bed. “He’s been awake more, but they came to draw blood for yet another test, and that upset him. I think crying like that wore him out.”