Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,31

most of the survivors had been too scared and confused to interact with each other in a real way. She’d stayed around to answer a million questions and get a bit of counseling, but then she’d left, eager to get Bryson away from Texas and the horror that had been their lives for the past five years.

Thankfully, there had been no trial because all the major players had been killed when the FBI had raided the compound…either by their own hand or, from what she’d understood, Ezekiel’s before he’d gone down in a blaze of his own glory with a little help from the FBI.

She wanted to put it all behind her, so maybe this situation with Mellie wasn’t the best decision. But she’d felt sorry for her, hating to hear that she and the kids had just been basically couch-surfing after leaving the care of the organization that had been helping them out after the raid on the compound. But would a week in Sophia’s home really make any difference?

Another thought hit her then…Michael might not approve of her bringing people into her home while she was caring for his daughter. She couldn’t lose the job she had taking care of Vivianne. It was the only reason she was able to stay at home with Bryson.

What had she done? Sacrificing the stability of her life all for a woman who had never been a friend?

Tension filled her body, bringing on a headache that made her want to cry.

Please, God, keep Bryson safe, and if this isn’t a good idea, please help me see that before it’s too late. I just…I just want to do the right thing.

Before canceling things with Mellie, she needed to talk to Michael. If he preferred that a stranger not be around his daughter, she would respect that. And then she’d let Mellie know that she couldn’t come and stay with them.

The next morning, Sophia was surprised—and though she didn’t want to admit it…happy—to see Ryker outside her door with Vivianne instead of Lani. Seeing him standing there, his hair tousled and with a smile on his face, made her heart skip a beat. She was conscious of the fact that she was dressed in her most comfortable leggings and a baggy T-shirt with her hair piled on top of her head. Definitely not how she wanted him to see her.

Ever since Michael’s accident, Lani had been the one to drop Vivianne off each of the six days a week Sophia watched her.

“Hey. Didn’t expect to see you this morning,” Sophia said as she opened the door for him to bring Vivianne’s car seat in.

“Ryker!” Bryson called out as he jumped off the couch and rushed to the door.

“Hiya, buddy.” Ryker set the car seat on the carpet then held out his hand for Bryson to smack. Once the little greeting ritual was over, he straightened and looked back at her. “Uh… Michael and Lani have had a bit of a falling out.”

“Oh no.” Sophia frowned. “What happened?”

“It seems there was a lack of communication on something important that ended up causing some major issues. For today, I’m on drop off and pick up duty. Not sure what will happen next week.”

“Is Michael back to work?”

“Not really. He comes to job sites, but more to supervise than to do any actual work. He’s not back to full-speed yet.”

“I’m sure that’s frustrating for him,” Sophia said.

“He’s getting antsy, that’s for sure. But his leg injury isn’t anything to mess around with. Doing too much too soon could just mean it will take longer to heal.”

Sophia nodded. “Well, I hope things get worked out between him and Lani. They both seemed really nice.”

“They are,” Ryker agreed. “I’m not sure if they can work through this or not. Only time will tell, I guess.” He handed over the diaper bag. “I hope everything is in the bag. I think Michael and I got it all covered, but we were both in serious need of coffee, so who knows.”

“It’s fine. Michael originally brought over diapers and formula, so I have extra if I ever need them.”

“Okay. That’s good to know.” He glanced at his watch then sighed. “I’d better get going. We have several jobs today, so I need to get on site before people start blowing up my phone to see where I am.”

“Hope you have a good day,” Sophia said.

“You guys too. I’ll see you later.”

As Ryker headed back to his truck, Bryson bolted over to the