Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,22
and the flower beds at the front of the house would fill with weeds.
She again considered asking her dad for help, but he already worked long hours. Plus, her relationship with her parents was still on rocky ground. Though they hadn’t said I told you so when she’d come back to New Hope Falls, she knew it was what they thought.
Unfortunately, it was true. They had told her.
They’d only needed to meet Ezekiel once to see something that she hadn’t been able to even after spending a lot of time talking with him. And because of that, she’d thought that she knew him better…that they were just trying to prevent her from being with someone who was treating her like she was important.
Given how she already felt about her place in their family, she really didn’t think that they had her best interests at heart. After all, they’d let go of her easily enough as a child. How would they even know what was best for her?
Coming back to New Hope Falls had required her to do so with her tail between her legs, so to speak. If she’d had anywhere else to go, she probably would have gone there instead. But being broke with a young child relying on her had forced Sophia to return to the only place where she might have a support system…such as it was.
So for now, asking her dad to help with the yard would go to the bottom of her list of options. Her short—and getting shorter—list.
Maybe she should ask Ryker to encourage Bryson to sit at the window for a few minutes each day. Bryson might listen to the man in a way he didn’t listen to her. She felt like she was too close to the situation, too emotionally invested in not upsetting Bryson to be able to move him through the intense separation anxiety he struggled with.
But she had a hard time with the idea of approaching Ryker for help again.
“Is Ryker coming today, Momma?” Bryson asked as he knelt on the chair in front of the window, arms hooked over the back of it as he stared out at the street.
“Yes, baby, he is.” Sophia picked Vivianne up from the couch where she’d just changed her diaper. She placed her on a blanket on the floor then went to the kitchen to throw the diaper out and wash her hands before returning to the living room. “But it’s not going to be for awhile. He doesn’t come until after five o’clock, and it’s only three o’clock now.”
“Oh.” He turned and slid down to sit on the chair, a look of disappointment on his face. “That’s a long time, right?”
“A couple of hours,” Sophia said. “But let’s do something to help pass the time.”
He brightened up at that. “Can we make him cookies?”
Sophia sighed. That wasn’t quite what she had in mind, particularly since they’d made quite a few batches of cookies lately. And Bryson had insisted on giving Ryker some of them each time.
“How about we paint instead?”
“Okay.” Bryson slid off the chair. “I’ll paint a picture for Ryker.”
Sophia closed her eyes and blew out a slightly frustrated breath, but she didn’t argue with him. Nor did she suggest another activity because she was pretty sure Bryson would just somehow tie it back to Ryker. Instead, she picked Vivianne up and carried her into the kitchen where she had a small bassinette set up—one she’d scored in a thrift store.
After laying the baby down, she helped Bryson get set up with his paints at the small kitchen table, spreading the old plastic tablecloth she’d designated for painting over the table. Since they were in the kitchen anyway and Vivianne had drifted off to sleep courtesy of a full tummy and a clean diaper, Sophia decided to start on supper.
As she took out the ingredients for the stir-fry she was going to make, Bryson blabbed on and on about the picture he was painting for Ryker. Sophia had a feeling that the man was going to need Bryson to describe what he’d painted because while the boy loved painting, it was pretty rare that the pictures matched his descriptions.
By the time she finished chopping up the vegetables, Bryson had finished his masterpiece for Ryker. Since they still had time to kill, she suggested he paint a picture for Nana next.
When Vivianne began to fuss, Sophia picked the baby up and settled into a chair at the table to watch Bryson.