Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,116

she said after she took a bite of her lasagna, possibly to mollify him.

“It was, wasn’t it?” He chuckled, so he didn’t come across too vain, but he was really proud of that flash of inspiration.

After they’d talked a bit more about how Bryson had been while she’d gone for her shower, Sophia fell silent, focusing on the small bites of food she was taking. Ryker wanted her to keep talking, but he didn’t push.

“I worry so much about him,” she finally said, setting her fork down and leaning back in her chair. She wrapped her arms around herself and kept her chin tucked close to her chest, her gaze lowered.

“I think that’s a parent’s job,” Ryker said, hoping to reassure her that she wasn’t doing anything wrong in that regard.

She nodded. “I just want to protect him from anything that might hurt him.” He saw her let out a quick exhale. “I haven’t always been able to do that, and it feels like I’ve failed him yet again.”

Ryker ran several responses through his head, trying to figure out which one would reassure her and maybe also encourage her to share, if she needed an outlet.

However, before he could say anything, she spoke again.

“I’m sure you’re curious about our past,” she murmured. “I know I would be.”

“You’re right. I am,” he confessed, knowing that to deny it would be to utter a lie they both would recognize. “But you are not under any obligation to share anything with me. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t listen if you want to tell me about it.”

“I think I would.” She glanced up and met his gaze. “The main reason I hate telling people about it is because my past doesn’t paint me in a very good light. I come across as naïve, gullible, and desperate.”

“I’m not going to think less of you, Sophia,” Ryker assured her. “I’ve seen how much you care for Bryson, and I see the person you are now.”

Though she sat forward, she kept her hands in her lap, and her gaze lowered. “Growing up, all I wanted was to get married and have kids. Not as many as my mom had, but still more than just one or two. The guys my age didn’t really interest me much because I wanted someone who could support my dream, and that wasn’t too likely to be a nineteen or twenty-year-old.” She sighed. “Anyway, I was here in Seattle celebrating my twenty-first birthday at a bar with a few of my friends. My parents and Nana wouldn’t have approved, but I didn’t tell them where we were going.”

Ryker wasn’t surprised to hear that. His parents probably wouldn’t have approved if he’d done that either. They’d viewed bars as places where someone could get into far more trouble than was good, especially as a twenty-one-year-old.

“While we were there, this guy approached me. At first, I was sure that he was setting me up. I mean, there were much more attractive women in the bar who were clearly more adept at flirting and holding a guy’s attention. But he stayed focused on me, and at the end of the evening, we exchanged phone numbers.” She let out a sigh. “I thought I wouldn’t hear from him again, but he texted me the next day to see if I was available to go out for dinner. Of course, I said yes.

“Over the next few days, he picked me up each day after my shift and took me out for dinner. We didn’t go to expensive restaurants, which was fine, but he was inventive. We went on picnics and to food fairs. It was fun, and he was engaging, always encouraging me to talk about myself rather than just talking about himself. I thought he was perfect.”

Even though Ryker knew the guy wasn’t in the picture anymore, he couldn’t stop the pang of jealousy that shot through him. If there was one thing Sophia now knew about him, it was that he wasn’t perfect. If she was on the lookout for perfection in a man, he was definitely out of the running.

“When he had to go away for a week, I felt absolutely bereft, even though he texted and called me every day while he was gone. Though logic would say that it was too soon, I knew that I loved him. In my mind, we were in the midst of a whirlwind romance. That meant that when he proposed to me just a