Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,26
you like your food?” Bryson asked.
Sophia swung around to see that both of them had empty plates in front of them.
“I most certainly did. It was very tasty.”
“Momma’s food always tastes good,” Bryson said.
“That’s because I usually only cook what you like,” Sophia said with a laugh.
“Is he a picky eater?” Ryker asked.
“Not really, but he definitely eats more if it’s something he likes. And right now…” She shrugged. “It’s…it’s important to get food into him.”
Ryker’s gaze held an assessing quality as it settled on Bryson, then he nodded. “He does seem to like healthy stuff, so eating more of that is always a good thing.”
“Yep. Only not-so-healthy stuff he eats these days are cookies, and even those I try to work a healthy ingredient into if I can.”
“Cookies are a food group all to themselves, I think,” Ryker said with a grin.
“Nana and Bryson would agree with you,” Sophia said as she sat down at the table. “I’m sorry we’re out of cookies tonight. Somehow all the cookies go missing in the hours following me pulling them out of the oven.”
Ryker chuckled. “Like they make their way into bags that get given away?”
“Nana gets the most,” Bryson volunteered.
“I think she shares them with others in the care home.”
“My mom always says sharing is caring,” Ryker said. “Though my younger sister isn’t about sharing when it’s anything chocolate.”
“Yeah. A few of my siblings feel the same way.”
“How many do you have?” Ryker asked.
“There’s seven of us,” Sophia said, preparing herself for his reaction.
“Wow…that’s…a lot. There are only three of us, and there are times when I feel like that’s at least one too many,” he said with a laugh.
“I have a sister who believes that there are about six too many of us.”
“She would have preferred to be an only child?”
“Definitely. She’s already vowed not to follow our mom and dad’s example. She and our oldest sister argue a lot about their thoughts on having children. Chloe has four and is pregnant with her fifth, while Natalie has none and plans to keep it that way.”
“Some people seem to be made to parent lots of children, but that doesn’t mean that everyone should have lots of kids. Or any…if they don’t want them.”
“I agree. I get so tired of their arguing. It’s not like Chloe can stuff her four children back inside.”
Ryker chuckled. “Yeah. One way trip only.”
“I figure if Chloe and her husband can provide for their family, size shouldn’t matter.”
“And is that the case?”
Sophia shrugged. “I think so. I mean, Henry has a job as a manager of a store. He’s had it forever and from things Chloe has said, they have decent insurance. They have a small-ish house, but that doesn’t seem to bother either of them or the kids. Honestly, I think they agreed early on that they wanted a large family, and that Chloe would be a stay-at-home mom. All their decisions seem to have been made with that in mind.”
“That sounds responsible,” Ryker said. “My older brother has two kids, and I think that will probably be it for them. My younger sister has none, and I’m not sure if she plans to have any.”
Sophia wanted to ask about Ryker’s plans for a family, especially given how good he seemed to be with kids, but that was too personal of a question. And hopefully he’d feel that way too, because the last thing she wanted was to answer any of those sorts of questions about herself.
“I should head home,” Ryker said as he got to his feet. “Thank you for supper.”
“Thank you for tackling my yard,” she replied. “I was getting concerned that by the time I figured out how to handle it, we’d be living in a jungle.”
“Living in a jungle wouldn’t be all bad,” Ryker said with a wink at Bryson. “Think how much fun you’d have swinging from branch to branch with the monkeys. Or being sprayed by the elephants at a watering hole.”
Bryson’s eyes got big at that. “Elephants? Monkeys?”
“Yep. Would you like to hang out with them?”
“I…don’t…know.” Bryson’s brow furrowed once again. “I’ve never seen real elephants and monkeys. Just in my books and on TV.”
“Maybe some day you can go to the zoo and see them in real life.”
Sophia wasn’t sure how they’d ever manage that. Such an idea seemed nearly impossible at that moment considering Bryson’s refusal to spend any time outdoors.
“I’ll be back tomorrow about the same time,” Ryker said as they walked to the door.