Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,44
could only imagine what he thought of everything. He may have brought Bryson into the kitchen, but that certainly hadn’t meant he was out of earshot, especially since she and Mellie had both raised their voices. She just hoped he didn’t start asking a lot of questions.
Aside from her family, only a handful of people in town knew about what had happened in her life. The only people she’d actually talked to about it had been her parents and Nana, and even then, it had been only the barest of details. Nana had attempted to get her to talk more about it, but Sophia hadn’t been ready.
Maybe that was one of the reasons she’d agreed to let Mellie come…because without having to say a word, the woman would understand what she’d gone through. What they’d both gone through.
“You okay?” Ryker asked.
“Yeah.” Sophia took a deep breath and blinked her tears away. “I kinda knew that that might happen, but I’d hoped that it wouldn’t.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” She hoped he didn’t take offense to her response.
A corner of his mouth tipped up in a half-smile. “I get that. Plenty I’m not too keen to talk about in my own life.”
Relief filled her. “It’s all a bit of a mess now. I feel like I’ll need to sleep with one eye open tonight.”
Ryker’s eyes widened. “Are you seriously worried about something happening?”
Well, until the words came out of her mouth, she hadn’t been. “I think we’ll be fine. Mellie’s all bark and no bite.”
“And Charlie?”
Yeah…Charlie. “He’s only nine. I don’t think he’ll do anything.”
“If you’re really worried and don’t have a lock on your bedroom door, take one of these chairs and hook it under the doorknob. A grown man might be able to get through it with some effort, but I doubt a nine-year-old could.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She very much appreciated his suggestions for keeping her and Bryson safe. “Thank you.”
As she took in the sight of her son slumped against Ryker, Sophia found herself wishing that Bryson had had a father who’d held him like that. But there had been no gentleness, let alone love, in Ezekiel’s approach to any of his children.
She was glad that Bryson had men in his life now who treated him with care. Her dad loved him, even though he wasn’t sure exactly how to relate to him. Chris and Devon had tried to interact with him like they did their other nieces and their nephew, and Sophia appreciated their efforts even if Bryson hadn’t. At least she wasn’t worried that they would ever hurt him intentionally.
Why Ryker had been the one who’d managed to break through Bryson’s reserves, Sophia didn’t know. Only that there was something about the way the man related to Bryson that made him feel safe.
Made her feel safe, too, if she was going to be honest, and she was too tired to lie, even to herself.
“How about I order a couple of pizzas?” Ryker suggested.
Sophia lifted her gaze from where she’d been watching Bryson sleep. “You don’t have to do that.”
That got another half-smile out of Ryker. “I know, but I remember Bryson being impressed that I had the option of eating pizza every night. I thought maybe having some tonight might help end the day on a high note. Or a higher note, anyway.”
“He really would like that,” Sophia agreed. Pizza wasn’t something they had very often. At least not from a restaurant.
“So what type of pizza do you two like?” Ryker paused. “I’ll make sure to order enough for everyone, but they’ll have to make do with whatever we decide on.”
“We’re pretty basic when it comes to toppings.”
“Well, as long as you don’t want pineapple, we should be okay.”
Sophia smiled. “No worries. Bryson doesn’t care much for pineapple by itself, let alone on his pizza. We pretty much always get just plain cheese.”
“I like pepperoni, so I think I’ll get a large cheese and a large pepperoni. We can give half of each to your guests and keep half of each for ourselves.”
Ryker pulled out his phone and made quick work of placing the order for delivery. When he was done, and silence fell between them, Sophia thought he might ask her again about what had gone on between her and Mellie. He didn’t, though, and she was relieved. The events of the past five years didn’t paint her in the most favorable light.