Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,86

on the same keyring as the car to unlock the front door. As he walked into the house, he was assaulted again by the smell of sickness in the air.

While he waited for Lani to show up, Ryker stripped off the bedding and gathered it up with the towels that were on the bed then went in search of the washing machine. He knew he’d have to stay around a bit longer so that he could put the load into the dryer, but it had to be done. There was no way he’d let Sophia and Bryson return home to a house that smelled of sickness and that would remind them—most especially Sophia—of that awful day.

He’d just started the load in the washer when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, he found Lani on the porch.

“Thank you so much for coming,” Ryker said as he stepped back to let her in. “Sophia needs some clothes, and I don’t think either of us was comfortable with the idea of me going through her drawers to get them for her.”

Lani smiled at him. “You’re such a good guy, Ryker.”

“I try,” Ryker said. “I told Sophia that you’d call her so she could tell you what she wants.”

“Oh, sure thing.” Lani pulled out her phone. “Where’s the bedroom?”

Ryker led her down the hall to Sophia and Bryson’s room. “Sorry about the smell. Bryson was throwing up before we took him to the ER.”

“Poor baby,” Lani said with a sad frown as she looked around the room. “That can’t have been easy for either of them.”

“No. It was…difficult to see,” Ryker confessed. “They were both in a bad state.”

“It’s hard to see people we care about in a situation like that.” She held up her hand. “And don’t even bother denying that you care about Bryson and Sophia. I’ll know it for the lie that it is.”

Ryker chuckled. “Okay. I won’t say anything.”

“Excellent. Now I’m going to phone Sophia.”

He gave a nod and then left her to it, going into the bathroom to see if he needed to clean up in there. Armed with a spray bottle of bleach cleaner and paper towels, Ryker made his way through the house, spraying down any surface that Bryson might have come in contact with when he was throwing up. And even a few surfaces that probably hadn’t.

“Well, it certainly smells clean in here now,” Lani said when she came out of Sophia’s bedroom a bit later. “I left the bag with Sophia’s stuff on the bed. She also asked for some of Bryson’s books. She said you might have an idea on those.”

Ryker nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

“I think that’s it then.” She slid her phone into her pocket. “Keep us up to date, okay?”

“I certainly will.”

“And let Sophia know not to worry about Vivianne. Also, you don’t have to tell her this, but Michael and I spoke about it, and he’ll still pay her for the time she’s off to take care of Bryson. We know she is reliant on the money Michael pays her to make ends meet.”

“That’s super generous of you guys,” Ryker said. “I won’t say anything to her about it, though, because I’m sure she’ll protest. You can share that info with her when things have settled down a bit with Bryson.” He walked her to the door. “Thanks again for coming out this late.”

“It wasn’t a problem, especially given the circumstances. Are you going back to the hospital tonight?”

Ryker shook his head. “I’ll head back first thing in the morning.”

“We’ll be praying for her and Bryson,” Lani said as she stepped onto the porch. “And we’ll share with our group from church, so they can pray for them as well.”

“Thank you. I’m sure that will be much appreciated.”

It was only as Lani was walking to her car that Ryker wondered if Sophia had let any of her family know what was going on with Bryson. She hadn’t mentioned anything about it to him, nor had he heard her make a phone call. Maybe she’d made contact with someone after he’d left.

While he waited for the laundry to finish in the washer, he went through Bryson’s books, picking out the ones he knew the boy liked, the ones Bryson had read to him repeatedly. He took them into the bedroom and added them to the floral duffle bag that Lani had left on the bed.

He set the bag by the front door, then pulled fresh sheets from the hall closet and put