“Good for you,” Addy said.
“Besides, who knows what kind of man my father was. You don’t want to talk about him, and I respect that, but he could be a serial killer for all I know.” Mia didn’t even grind the gears as she shifted from low into second.
“That’s not showing a lot of faith in my judgment,” Addy told her.
“No shade on you, Mommy dearest. He might have been a good man at the time, but I would like to know what kind of genes he threw into me before I have kids of my own.” She slapped the steering wheel. “Not a boy in sight. If they show up to work at all today, I’m firing the lot of them, and calling a bunch of girls to come help me next week.”
“Temper! Temper!” Addy scolded. “Look over there under that big scrub oak tree. I do believe that’s four guys all hugging what shade they can before you start cracking the whip over their heads.”
“It’s a good thing they’re here.” Mia braked and brought the truck and trailer to a stop. “They don’t know how close they came to losing their jobs.”
“I’ll drive. You get out there and make ’em sweat. Nothing sexier than a guy with big muscles and a sweaty body,” Addy teased.
“God, Mama!” Mia shook her head.
“No, I’m not a god, but thanks for thinking I am,” Addy giggled.
“If that’s the truth, then why aren’t you flirting with Jesse? He’s pretty darn sexy, and he kept stealing looks at you all during breakfast.” Mia jumped out of the truck and whistled for her crew to get to work.
Oh, my sweet spitfire of a daughter, you may come to regret saying that in the next few weeks.
Chapter Three
You all settled in, Dad?” Jesse asked.
“Ready to go.” Sonny laid his cane to the side of the passenger seat. “I’m so glad you’re home, son. I was wondering if any of you boys would ever come back to the ranch.” He patted Jesse on the shoulder. “I keep saying that, but I want you to know that I really mean it. Henry wants to retire as soon as summer ends, and you’ll need to take over, but that’s not the only reason I want you here. Your mama is going to need you if…when…” he stammered.
Jesse leaned across the console and gave his dad a quick hug. “That gives me six months to get a handle on things, Dad. And the new trial meds are helping so I expect to celebrate your hundredth birthday with you here in about twenty years. Don’t you disappoint me!”
“You know I’ve always loved you as much as if you belonged to me and your mama by blood, don’t you? I regret that I didn’t tell you boys that as often as I should have.” Sonny wiped away a tear hanging on his eyelashes.
“You did just fine, Dad. We all three knew we were loved,” Jesse assured him and then started the slow drive around the property line fences.
Sonny cleared his throat, took out a hanky from the bibbed pocket of his overalls and blew his nose, then put it back. “Thank you for that, Jesse. These damned drugs make me as emotional as a teenage girl, but while we’re on the subject, do you ever wonder about your biological parents? The other boys asked questions years ago, and we answered as best we could.”
Jesse sure hadn’t thought about having this conversation the very morning he got back home. “I looked into it myself a few years ago. I found out my birth parents’ names and that they had died. Maybe that should have bothered me, but it didn’t. Some guys I knew in the service that had been adopted had issues, but I never did. You and Mama loved me so much that it didn’t matter. The only thing I wondered about was why you and Mama didn’t adopt me right away, rather than waiting until you did the paperwork for Lucas and Cody.”
Sonny sighed, inhaled deeply, and let it out slowly. “All your mama ever wanted was a family, and it was my fault we couldn’t have kids, not hers. She loved me enough to stay with me even after we found out why after almost twenty years of marriage, we didn’t have children. If we couldn’t have our own flesh and blood, I didn’t want to have any kids at all, but I love your mother more than life, and she wanted children, no matter how we had to get them.”
Jesse felt his heart fall down into his cowboy boots. His own parents hadn’t wanted him, and that didn’t bother him, but the thought of Sonny not wanting him was another matter. Jesse felt tears welling up in his eyes, but he blinked them back.
Sonny went on, “Your mother talked me into trying out foster care, just to see how it would go.”
“Dad, you don’t have to tell me all this.” Jesse got out of the truck and opened a gate, jogged back to the truck and drove through it, then hopped out again to close the gate.
“Sorry that I couldn’t do that for you,” Sonny said when Jesse was behind the steering wheel again.
Jesse patted him on the shoulder. “No problem.”
“Now, where were we?” Sonny asked, then went on before Jesse could answer. “Oh, yeah. Back to when the foster lady brought you to our house. You were a big baby at nine pounds, but you scared the bejesus out of me. I was terrified that I’d drop you or do something wrong. There I was the same age as you are right now with a baby in my arms. I’d always managed to steer clear of even my buddies’ newborn babies, but Pearl was so in love with you from the first moment she took you from that social worker’s arms, that she wanted me to feel the same thing.”
Jesse had held his friends’ babies, and he’d felt the exact same way. Flying into war zones on a rescue mission, tornadoes, and red-haired women didn’t scare him as much as a tiny baby did.
“Merrylee, the social worker, who was a childhood friend of your mother’s, said she could pull some strings and we could adopt you right away,” Sonny said. “I was the one who wanted to wait. Your mother wanted a family, not an only child, and I wanted to see how we’d do with one before I consented to having more babies in the house. When you were two years old, Merrylee called and said she had a three-year-old and his year-old brother who were available to foster like we did you, and in six months we could probably adopt them. I was in a turmoil. I always figured that if we did take in another child or two, you’d be the oldest and inherit the farm when I was gone, and by then you were mine…my son…my child. I didn’t think I could love any others the way I did you.”
Jesse’s tears that time were of joy, not disappointment, but he still kept them at bay. “That would have been a big decision. Three boys who were stairsteps. A lot of work would be involved in raising us boys, but why are you telling me this now?” Jesse stopped beside a fence that was almost on the ground.
Sonny whipped his cell phone from his shirt pocket. “Henry, we’re about a quarter of a mile west of that old fallen oak tree. Fence needs fixin’ today if you can see your way to get it done. We’ll need to move cattle into this pasture tomorrow, and there’s no way this fence will hold them.”
“Tell him I’ll take care of it this afternoon. He shouldn’t have to work on Saturday afternoon,” Jesse said.
He listened for a few seconds and then said, “Thanks a lot. Jesse made it home a few days early. He’ll take care of the fence. Why don’t you come on over for supper tonight?” He listened for another minute, and then put the phone back in his pocket. “He says to tell you welcome home, and he’s looking forward to seeing you tonight.”
“It’ll be good to get a visit with him, too. Now, tell me, Dad, where is this Merrylee lady now?” Jesse asked.
“She married and moved to California right after we got Lucas and Cody. Died last year with pancreatic cancer. She and your mother kept in touch, but they hadn’t seen each other in years.” Sonny sighed. “I wanted Pearl to fly out for the funeral, but she wouldn’t leave me, said she wanted to remember Merrylee like she was when she brought you boys to her. I’m telling you this history because you need to hear it and understand that…” He paused.
“Understand what?” Jesse asked.
“That it doesn’t matter whether a child comes to you as a baby or already up and running around, that kid becomes yours as much as if it was flesh and blood. I worried ab
out bringing Lucas and Cody into our lives because I was afraid that I couldn’t love them as much as I did you,” Sonny said. “I’m a rough and tough old cowboy, son. I don’t cry very often, and I’m not as romantic as I should be with your mama and saying all this ain’t easy for me. I love all three of you boys, and you need to know that. I haven’t even given you a choice about steppin’ up and runnin’ this place when Henry retires, so I’m givin’ it to you now. I took over this place from my dad, and he took it over from my grandpa. It’s Ryan land, and it needs a Ryan to run it. Each of you boys have taken a different path up to now, and I don’t want you to feel—”
Jesse laid a hand on Sonny’s shoulder again and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m here, Dad, because I want to be, and I’m not going anywhere. You raised me to be a rancher. I’ve given enough of my time back to helping others. I’m glad to be home, and I’m glad to take over the reins for Henry.”
“And someday for me?” Sonny glanced down at the cane.
“Like you said, a Ryan needs to run this land, and I’m a Ryan, maybe not the oldest son, but I can do the job—but not until after we celebrate your hundredth birthday,” Jesse teased. “And thanks, Dad, for telling me all that. It’s not easy to open up like you just did.”
“No, son, it’s not,” Sonny said, and nodded, “but sometimes it’s very necessary.”
The last time Jesse had been this emotional was when he came home in the back of a plane with two flag-draped caskets carrying a couple of his friends. That was a sad, heartbreaking day. Today was a happy one. He was home. His father had just told him how much Jesse meant to him. But the emotional roller coaster left him as drained as the time he had escorted his friends back home for their funerals. He had to man up just like he did all those years ago, compartmentalize, and think about something else.
“Hey, how on earth did you get Addy to give up her job and come to work for you on a ranch?” Jesse asked. “Mama said she is an RN. She must have been making really good money.”
He drove slowly around the last half of the fence line. When he had been younger, he and his brothers checked the fences on trail bikes. They had wanted horses, but Sonny thought bikes and four-wheelers were more efficient. Pearl had told Jesse that it had nothing to do with what worked better. But the truth was that when Sonny lost his beloved horse, he swore that he would never get attached to another one.
“It’s not all about the money,” Sonny chuckled. “Mia couldn’t raise sheep to show at the fairs while she lived in town, and your mama was so worried about me that she wanted a full-time nurse in the house. We offered Addy room and board and a good salary. Mia could have the whole ranch to grow up on, plus we said we would pay for her college expenses. We didn’t intend for Addy to do farm work when she moved in, but pretty soon she was out there on a tractor and doing what she could to help out. They’re both good ranch hands, and until the last few months, Addy made sure all my medical stuff was in order. She helps Grady do all that now. If they hadn’t gotten to be friends before she moved in with us, I doubt that he’d make the trip to the ranch every week. I’d hate to think I’d have to go to the clinic and sit for hours waiting to see my doctor. Grady reports back to him, and I only have to go in to see him every other month this way.”
“Is he Mia’s father?” Jesse’s brow wrinkled when he frowned.
“Have no idea, but I can’t imagine it,” Sonny answered. “She moved out to the Panhandle right after you left for the Air Force. I expect Mia belongs to someone she met out there. I always thought maybe you would ask her out, thick as y’all were back in high school.”
“We didn’t want to ruin a friendship.” Jesse wondered what life might have been like if they had dated, and maybe she had settled down in one of his home bases. They would probably have a family by now. Sonny and Pearl would have the grandchildren they’d always wanted.
“Friendship, huh? That’s crazy thinkin’ there, Jesse,” Sonny said. “Your mama and I were good friends before we married. That just made everything better afterwards. We already knew how to talk to each other…” he chuckled again, “and how to argue. You and Addy always reminded me of me and Pearl when we was young. Like I told you, your mama wanted a family and grandkids. You three boys are all starin’ forty in the eyeball right now, and ain’t a one of you brought us home grandbabies, so Mia stepped in to fill that place for us.”
“You really don’t know who her father is?” Jesse asked.
“I didn’t ask, and from what I hear, Addy has never told a soul,” Sonny answered. “Not even her parents. Did your mama tell you that they moved out to the Texas Panhandle about five years ago when Addy’s grandmother died? Little town called Cactus. Strange name for a town if you ask me, but nobody did. They put their acreage up for sale, and since it bordered Sunflower Ranch, I bought the place.”
“Are you renting the house that was on the property?” Jesse wouldn’t mind living over there. He would have space of his own and yet still be on Ryan property.
“I offered it to Addy and Mia since it was her old home place, but she said she feels more comfortable living in the house with me and Pearl. That way if we need a nurse, she’s right there,” Sonny answered.
“Do you think she’s embarrassed about who the father is?” Jesse asked as he drove the last leg back to the ranch house.
“Don’t know. Don’t care,” Sonny answered. “Mia is a great kid, and we love her no matter who she belongs to. I wish we had a dozen grandkids who loved the land as much as she does.”
Jesse parked as close to the yard gate as possible so that Sonny wouldn’t have to walk very far. “Need me to help you or should I go on out to the hay field?”
“I can still get up the stairs fairly well, so get on out there and help Mia with those rowdy boys.” Sonny grinned. “She’s still working on making them believe she’s boss. And thanks for listening to me, son. My door is open if and when you ever need to unload on someone.”
“I’ll remember that.” Jesse gave a brief nod and sat still until Sonny was on the porch before he put the truck in reverse and headed toward the hay field. He hummed an old tune by Travis Tritt, “Where Corn Don’t Grow,” and remembered the day that he’d told his dad he wanted to go to the Air Force and be a medic.
“I’ve taught you to mend fences, to run a ranch, how to bait a hook, and clean fish for supper,” Sonny had said. “I wanted you to be a rancher, but I won’t hold you back. If that’s your dream, then go chase it. But always remember where home is, and that there’s a ranch waiting on you if your dreams don’t work out the way you planned.”
Jesse wondered if he’d stayed on the ranch, maybe gone to college and gotten a business agriculture degree, if he would have a son by now. Maybe one that had a dream that didn’t involve ranching but would come home someday—one that could step into his shoes and run the Sunflower Ranch.
The lyrics of the song talked about a young man and his father sitting on the porch. The son asked his father if he ever wished he had a life where corn didn’t grow. The father told him that there would be dusty fields no matter where he went in life. Jesse had never believed anything more than he did as he sang the last words of the song on his way out to the hay field.
“I’ve been so many places where corn don’t grow that I can’t even remember them all,” Jesse muttered as he thought of all the places in what his team had called “the sand box.”
When he parked at the edge of the hay field and stepped out of his truck, he left his career as combat medic behind, settled his old sweat-stained Stetson on his head, and changed into a cowboy. He had come home to Sunflower Ranch and was staying no matter what the circumstances.
“You ready to work?” Mia wiped sweat from her face with the tail of her T-shirt.
“You ready to try to keep up with me?” He unsnapped his chambray shirt, took it off and tied it around his waist, pulled a pair of gloves from his hip pocket, and picked up the first bale of hay. “This is what you want
me to do, isn’t it, boss?”
Mia nodded, grabbing the hay from him, and stacked it on the trailer.
The four boys who were working eyed him cautiously. “Who are you?” one of them finally asked.
“I’m Jesse Ryan,” he said. “You guys going to ask questions or earn your paychecks?”
“You called her boss.” A scrawny red-haired kid tossed a bale up onto the trailer.
“Yep, because that’s who she is on this mission, and we’d all do well to listen to her. She’s a tough one, I hear,” he said.
Chapter Four
Addy drove with one elbow stuck out the window of the truck that pulled the trailer the boys were stacking hay on. She saw Jesse coming out across the field from his truck, and her breath caught in her throat when he removed his shirt. His chest had always been broad, but sweet lord, looking at his bare skin glistening with sweat gave her a case of hot flashes that had nothing to do with the sun beating down on her arm.
She turned the radio on and upped the volume so the kids could hear. Garth Brooks was singing, “If Tomorrow Never Comes.” Right then she wished that tomorrow would never come, that she would never have to tell her daughter the truth about her father.
She glanced in the side mirror to catch Jesse staring at her reflection. When he caught her eye, he tipped his hat and went back to work. Could he be thinking the same thing that she was? The words to the song asked if the love they had known from the past was enough to last if there was no tomorrow. She and Jesse had agreed when they were only thirteen that they couldn’t ever be more than good friends, because if they were, it might ruin their best friend status—and then that last night before he went to the military, they had crossed the line. Who could know if that one crazy night would have developed into something else if she had been willing to keep in touch with him? The only thing she knew for sure was that, for her, the love they had shared that night had lasted twenty years—but it was past time to let all that go. She and Jesse were adults now, and the choices they had made had changed them.
Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch Page 3
