Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,137

let her thoughts go down that path. That was behind her. It was time to focus forward.

When Ryker pulled into the driveway of a huge home once they’d reached Seattle, Sophia could only stare in shock. Though he’d mentioned his parents’ careers, she hadn’t calculated what that might mean when it came to their income.

Ryker shifted in his seat, and when Sophia looked over at him, he was regarding her with a serious expression. “It’s just a building.”

She lifted her brows at his comment. “Isn’t that kind of like saying the ark was just a boat?”

“Wasn’t it?” he asked.

Sophia gave a huff of laughter, knowing he was trying to get her to relax. “Fine. It’s just a house.”

“Full of people who are going to love you both.”

“How can you know that? They haven’t even met me yet.”

“They’ll love you because they love me, and I love you.”

Sophia knew the reason she was so uncertain about that pronouncement was because she wasn’t so sure that she’d be able to say the same for her family. And it would have nothing to do with Ryker and everything to do with the fact that they wouldn’t trust her judgment. Hopefully, once they actually got to know Ryker, they’d see he was a good man and come to love him.

“Okay. Let’s go in.” Sitting in the car wouldn’t make things any easier.

“I promise it’s going to be okay.”

Sophia nodded as he gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it. Even though butterflies were beating up a storm in her stomach, she pulled on the handle to open the door. Ryker helped Bryson out of the back seat, then the three of them walked along the curved sidewalk to the front door.

Rather than knock on the door, Ryker opened it and led them inside. Almost immediately, an older couple appeared from an open doorway, smiles on their faces.

As they approached them, Ryker said, “Mom. Dad. This is Sophia and her son, Bryson.”

Bryson pressed against her side, his hand tightening around hers.

“Sophia, these are my parents, Valerie and Robert.”

Valerie held out her hand with a warm smile. “It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, Sophia.” Sophia shook her hand, then watched as the older woman’s smile softened as she looked down at Bryson. “And look at you. Aren’t you a handsome little boy?”

Bryson didn’t say anything, just looked at Valerie with wide eyes. Sophia waited to see what Valerie would do. But rather than force Bryson to interact with her, she just stepped aside so that her husband could greet them.

“C’mon through to the dining room,” Valerie said, waving them toward the door they’d come through.

Ryker rested his hand on her back as they made their way out of the foyer. When they walked into the dining room, Sophia’s steps faltered. The room was decorated with a bunch of brightly colored balloons and streamers. The table was set with similarly colored paper plates and cups.

She glanced over at Ryker. Was this a party for one of them? Why hadn’t he mentioned anything? Should she have brought a gift?

“Ryker told us that it was Bryson’s birthday last week,” Valerie said. “So we thought it might be nice to have a little party for him.”

Sophia pressed a hand to her chest, tears stinging her eyes. “This is for Bryson?”

She had a hard time believing that these people who had never met Bryson before wanted to throw a party for him. Her mom had had a cake for him earlier that day, and there had been a few presents for him, but this looked a whole lot more like a party.

As her gaze swept the room, she took in the other people gathered there. There was a man who looked a bit like Ryker standing with a woman and a young boy and girl. Callie stood next to them as well. While the others had smiles, the woman didn’t, but she didn’t look angry either, so Sophia wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“We heard that you’re a big fan of pizza, Bryson,” Valerie said.

Sophia glanced down at him in time to see him look up at her, his eyes wide. “Pizza?”

“Sounds like it, baby.”

He grasped her hand in both of his, pressing his cheek to the back of her hand. “I love pizza.”

“I’m so happy to hear that,” Valerie said. “Jonah and Emery really like it too.”

Ryker lowered himself down to Bryson’s level, resting his hand on Bryson’s back. With his other hand, he pointed to where the