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Henry seemed completely unaware of the tension around me and his mom.
Really, he seemed like a pretty happy-go-lucky kid who had no trouble chatting up new people, just like me.
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of delight knowing it wasn’t just my physical features he’d had inherited.
I could see bits of his mom in him, too, however. He had her little, rounded nose and rounded eyes. Her same puffy mouth, and even the way his ears stuck out was the same as hers.
He really was a perfect blend of the two of us, and it was so weird to gaze down at this whole person who was a little bit of me and a little bit of Sam.
It was kind of surreal.
“So, what brings you here, Ryan?” Mr. Berner asked, momentarily snagging my attention from Henry.
“Here?” I cleared my throat, realizing what my presence must look like. I was standing in his daughter’s kitchen, fairly early in the morning before anyone else had arrived. It definitely looked like I’d spent the night, though that was so far from the truth, it was almost funny. “Just, uh, wedding stuff. Just needed some help with my…my best man’s speech.”
“Oh, so early in the morning?” Mrs. Berner questioned.
“I’m an early riser.” I shrugged, looking toward Sam for any kind of help to get me out of this situation. She seemed torn between concern and amusement. It almost looked like she was fighting back laughter. When it was clear that she wasn’t going to help me out of this conversation in any way, I said, “All right, well, I should probably get going. I don’t want to interrupt your morning, by any means.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Mrs. Berner declared. “We’re just so happy to see you again. It’s been too long. You really should’ve come home sooner. I know you were so busy working, but we’ve missed you.”
They had? I gazed into Mrs. Berner’s eyes and saw only sincerity and honesty. They really had missed me.
There was only a single, small detail to the scene that kept me from believing her entirely: the fact that no one had bothered to call me in seven years in order to convince me to come home. No one had tried to tell me I had a family waiting for me to come back.
Henry tugged on my shirt again, and that was when I realized I’d spaced out for a bit.
“Yeah, bud?” I asked, looking down at him.
“Do you want to go upstairs and see my room?”
I stared down at him, a little bit stunned. I stole a peak toward Sam, who gave me a small nod of approval.
“I’d love to see your room, buddy,” I declared once Sam gave me the okay.
Henry seemed thrilled. His smile widened, and he took hold of my hand to lead me out of the room. When he slipped his hand into mine, it seemed as though everything else melted away—all my fears, insecurities, concerns..
With a wide smile, Henry turned and made his way out of the kitchen, and I had no choice but to follow him. Truth be told, there was nothing in that moment that I wanted more.
Chapter sixteen
Samantha
IwatchedasHenryled Ryan out of the kitchen. My chest tightened at the sight, and once again, I found myself trying to push away any thoughts about what could have been if anyone had known that Henry was Ryan’s.
It didn’t matter now, though, as I couldn’t go back and change the past. I knew the best thing for everyone going forward was for me to let those thoughts go and focus on the here and now.
My parents didn’t stay much longer and didn’t ask me any questions about Ryan, which I was thankful for.
Once they’d left, I made my way upstairs. I was curious to see what Ryan was like with Henry. I could hear my son chatting as I neared his bedroom door, and when I peeked inside, I couldn’t help but grin.
Henry had Ryan sitting on the edge of his little, twin-sized bed and was holding up one of his trucks to show it off as he explained every single feature of it in detail.
“When you back it up, you have to say beep, beep, beep, so everyone knows, okay?” the little boy said in a serious tone. “You don’t want to accidentally run over anyone.”
Ryan nodded, matching Henry’s serious tone. “Gotcha. You’re absolutely right. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
I held back a giggle as I slowly moved away from the door, not wanting to be caught and ruin the moment between the two of them.
