Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,61

night with nightmares that now featured him being unable to help Bryson because he was frozen in fear, Ryker resolved to put distance between himself and them.

But he just couldn’t do it. In the light of day, he couldn’t bring himself to walk away. At least not yet.

The reality was that they both appeared to be walking wounded. Though he didn’t know what had wounded them, he recognized that something had, just like something had wounded him.

He would venture a guess that his mom would say that he shouldn’t be getting involved on any level with them if he wasn’t willing to seriously pursue therapy himself. And that they should probably be in therapy as well.

“So what’s been keeping you busy these days?” Silas asked as he leaned against the counter opposite where Ryker and Emery sat, then took the cup of coffee his wife handed him.

“A little bit of mowing, garden preparation, tree removal. Same old, same old.” He paused then said, “And I’ve been doing a bit of extra work for someone as well.”

“Extra work?” Silas asked as he lifted his mug to take a sip.

“Single mom with a child who seems to have a bit of a phobia of being outside.”

Silas’s brows rose slightly. “Agoraphobic?”

Ryker shook his head. “If I had to choose one, I’d say maybe spheksophobia.”

“Wasps?” Silas murmured.

“Possibly. He seems to have a fear of bugs, which, from what his mom has said, resulted from a wasp sting. Because of that, he has refused to go outside beyond going from the house to the car and from the car to other buildings.”

“So he doesn’t play outside, Uncle Ryker?” Emery asked.

As he glanced down at his niece, Ryker was reminded again that while the girl might only be eight, she was smart beyond her years. “No. He doesn’t play outside.”

“How does that factor into you doing their yard work?” Silas asked.

“He’s only four and doesn’t like his mom being very far away from him, so her going out to do work in the yard is next to impossible.”

Silas had a thoughtful look on his face as he continued to sip his coffee. Ryker found that he wanted to spill everything that was going around in his head and his heart about Sophia and Bryson, but he wasn’t sure if he should. His brother would only say what he already knew.

“Is the boy in therapy?” Donna asked as she joined them at the counter with her own cup of coffee.

“I don’t think so. Single mom with no insurance, I’m pretty sure.”

“I’m surprised you have anything to do with a child like that,” Silas said, his blunt words not taking Ryker by surprise at all.

Ryker took a bite of his pizza, trying to decide if he should even bother responding to that. Of his two siblings, he was definitely closer to Silas, and while he might try and deny something like that with Callie, he knew that Silas wouldn’t pester him for more information. Nor would he needle him into justifying his actions.

“I’m a bit surprised as well,” Ryker said.

“How did you meet?” Donna asked.

In his mind, Donna and Silas were one, so what he could confide in Silas, he had no problem confiding with her there. Ryker knew that revealing all of this wouldn’t mean they would begin to harass him about going back to therapy.

“She’s the babysitter for Michael’s daughter, Vivianne. The first time I went by to pick her up, Bryson—that’s the little boy—was convinced I was going to run away with the baby and never bring her back. He’s quite protective of her.”

Donna’s face softened as she smiled. “So he was worried about her?”

Ryker nodded. “This went on for a while, but I guess his anxiety over it was creating problems with him falling asleep, even though Vivianne was still coming back every day. Sophia, his mom, asked if I’d speak with him for a few minutes one day to try and put his mind at ease about me.”

This time, it was Silas who smiled. “And the rest is history, huh?”

Ryker shrugged. He couldn’t argue with Silas about how well he related to children. While his brother and father were both surgeons—though in vastly different areas of medicine—he’d wanted the more hands-on approach of being a pediatrician.

He’d been looking forward to starting in his practice. To building relationships with patients and their parents.

It dawned on him then that he was doing just that with Sophia and Bryson. Except it was turning into more. He