Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,143
of Bryson. Though Bryson kept Sophia on her toes more, he knew she wouldn’t trade how Bryson was now for anything.
After Nana looked in the bag and found the box of chocolates, she opened it and offered Bryson a piece, then she waved Sophia over.
“Thank you for the flowers and the candy, darling,” she said as Sophia bent down to hug her. “And for stopping by.”
“You’re welcome.” Sophia sat down in the chair beside Nana’s wheelchair, so Ryker settled into the one next to Bryson.
“So, how’s school going?” Nana asked. “What have you learned this week, Bryson?”
Bryson happily launched into what he and Sophia had worked on over the past week. Since school had started before he was physically well enough to attend, Sophia had decided to just school him at home for kindergarten. Plus, he still hadn’t gotten to the point where he was okay with being separated from Sophia for longer than an hour or two, depending on who he was with.
Ryker knew that Sophia was hoping that he’d be ready to attend school by the start of grade one. The boy still wasn’t keen to spend time with kids his own age, but over time he’d become comfortable with Jonah and Emery. Comfortable to the point where he would stay with them and Donna and Silas for a couple of hours at a time.
Which was good because that meant that he and Sophia had been able to go out on a few dates, just the two of them. After they were done visiting Nana, they were headed there to drop Bryson off so they could have a Valentine’s dinner. Because he was working the next day, they’d decided to celebrate a day early, which worked out better for Silas and Donna too.
After spending an hour with Nana, they piled back into the truck and headed for Seattle. Bryson spent the trip playing a word game on his tablet. Sophia didn’t mind him playing games on it as long as they were educational ones. So far, the little boy didn’t seem to realize that there were any other kind. Jonah had been warned not to introduce him to any video games, even if they were age-appropriate.
It wasn’t until they’d dropped Bryson off for a pizza party with Jonah and Emery that Ryker allowed himself to think about his own plans for the evening. He’d considered taking Sophia to a fancy restaurant, but he didn’t think either of them would really enjoy that.
At one time, he would have automatically gone to an expensive restaurant to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but that just wasn’t who he was anymore. And he didn’t think it was who Sophia was either.
Instead, he’d asked his mom to help him by packing a picnic basket. Before he’d left for church, he’d stuck a bag containing firewood in the back of the truck as well as a couple of blankets. He was just glad that even though there was a bit of chill in the air, it wasn’t raining.
“We’re going to your parents’ place?” Sophia asked as he turned down their street.
“Nope. Well, yes, we are, but just to pick something up.” He pulled to a stop in the driveway. “I’ll be right back.”
He hadn’t wanted to linger too long, which was why he was just having Sophia wait in the truck. As soon as he stepped into the house, his mom asked where she was.
“We can’t stick around, Mom,” Ryker told her. “We’ll come for a visit later this week.”
“You’d better,” she said as she handed him the basket.
“Thanks for making this for me,” he said as he leaned down to give her a kiss. “Talk to you later.”
“If you propose, you’d better call me tonight,” she called after him as he headed for the front door.
Rather than respond, he just lifted his hand then left the house. He opened the rear door of the truck and set the basket on the floor.
“Is that a picnic basket?” Sophia asked when he slid behind the wheel.
“It is.” He gave her a smile as he started the truck up. “Hope that doesn’t disappoint you.”
“Not at all. That actually sounds like fun.”
Ryker was glad to hear that, as not every woman would have appreciated a Valentine’s picnic instead of a meal in a nice restaurant. “Let’s just pray there’s no rain.”
“Are you telling me you don’t have a windbreaker or two in here somewhere? I’m not made of sugar,” she added. “A little rain isn’t going to melt me.”