Addy’s clear laughter rang out across the yard. Jesse had missed hearing her laugh like that right along with their long visits when he went to basic training. She had written to him and sent cards while he was in basic training, but by the time he got to his next phase of training, all communication from her had stopped. In her last letter she had told him it would be best if they just moved on and forgot about each other. He had to follow his dreams, and she had her own life to think about.
“Don’t blame yourself for Mia,” Addy said.
“Can’t help it.” Jesse flicked the reins, and the mules started a slow walk down the lane. “Maybe part of it is Ricky, but me coming home was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I don’t know what to do about it, but I plan to have a talk with her, too. Adult to adult. She can vent and get it out of her system.”
“You are all welcome to give it a shot, but I don’t think it will do a bit of good,” Addy said. “I’m in shock that she said that about selling her sheep. She’s worked so hard at building up her flock, and she makes a lot of money selling show animals to the local kids. She keeps her flock over on the part that was my folks’ place. When she’s at school, Henry takes care of them, but the shearing is always saved for when she’s home. It’s a big job,” Addy answered. “And she’s always loved to do that part. You should have been around when she got her best ones ready to show at the county fair. She won the grand champion trophy almost every year.”
“Maybe she’s just yanking your chain,” Jesse said.
“She sounded pretty serious to me,” Addy sighed.
“How many sheep are we talking about?” Jesse asked.
“Thirty ewes, a ram, and maybe twenty lambs. I can’t believe she’s even thinking about selling. She’s been working on that project for five years,” Addy sighed.
“Why would she do that without talking to you or to Dad about it?” Jesse asked.
“I can’t even begin to understand why or what she’s thinking these days.” Addy put her head in her hands. “It’s got me totally baffled, but like you said, maybe she’s just messing with me.”
“Remember when we were that age?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Addy removed her hands and held them in her lap. “We were ready to set the world on fire with our dreams.”
“I was going to save veterans in the war zones, and you were going to be a nurse. Maybe Mia is having trouble deciding where her place is in this world.”
“What happened to those two kids?” she whispered.
“You tell me,” Jesse answered. “I missed you so bad. I felt like I’d gotten a Dear John letter when you told me we shouldn’t even call or write anymore.”
“Why didn’t you try to change my mind?” she asked. “Like I told you in my last letter, you were off chasing your dream, and I…”
“You had a baby,” Jesse finished her sentence, “and didn’t even tell me. I was your best friend, and thought we were a little more than that after that last night. I didn’t even know about Mia until I came home after the second phase of my training. I figured you’d found someone else and didn’t want me in your life.” He still remembered feeling like he’d been gut-punched when he’d gotten the news.
“Mia was born on the last day of February. I was pretty busy with a newborn and trying to finish up my second semester of nurses’ training by the time you got done with your training,” she whispered.
Jesse nodded and kept driving, and then it hit him right between the eyes. His mouth went dry, and his hands trembled so badly that he had to focus on keeping the reins tight. His heart missed a beat, and his chest tightened. “Mia is my daughter, isn’t she? Why didn’t you tell me?” He couldn’t believe that it had taken him so damn long to figure it out.
Addy shrugged. “You never talked about anything but joining the Air Force and getting away from the ranch. I loved you too much to ruin that dream for you. If you had known I was pregnant, you would have done something stupid, like gone AWOL, and insisted on marrying me. I didn’t want to be married at eighteen, so I refused to tell anyone about you.”
“Is that why Mia’s been so hateful. Does she know?” Jesse asked.
“No, and I don’t want her to know until she gets through this rebellion.” Addy turned to look at him. “Promise me you won’t say a word. I’ll tell her when the time is right.”
“Does Grady know?” Jesse felt like he’d been kicked in the gut by a two-ton bull. He felt panicked—coming home to an ailing father, and now finding out he had a nineteen-year-old daughter who hated him. It was too much to take in. He slipped over into that fight-or-flight mode, with lots of emphasis on the flight right then.
Addy shook her head. “Promise me, please, that you won’t say or do anything to make her suspect. I have to be the one to tell her, and the time has to be right.”
“I promise, but Addy, I’m a father”—he winced at the word—“of a young woman I’ve never supported or acknowledged. How do I ever make that up to her or to you?”
Addy laid a hand on his knee. “Not one bit of this is your fault. I made the decision not to tell you or anyone else, so I’ll take the responsibility.”
“How did you…” he stammered, “hide it from…” He cleared his throat and tried to think, but everything was a blur.
“When I found out I was pregnant, I called Granny. She said she needed me to help her on her ranch and offered to pay for my college in exchange for some help. I simply moved from here to Cactus. My folks didn’t even know until they came home for Thanksgiving, and we let them think the baby belonged to one of the summer hired hands. It wasn’t all that difficult,” Addy answered.
“I wish you would have told me.” The first burst of anger replaced the shock, and he slapped the edge of the buckboard. “Even if we didn’t get married, I would have done right by her.”
“Water under the bridge,” she said. “We’ve both moved on.”
Jesse was glad that they were nearing the church, and that Addy had business to attend to there. He needed time to think, to get everything in perspective. God Almighty! He had a daughter who hated him and was dating a boy that Sonny said was worthless. A father would take care of that, but under the circumstances, he had no right to say a word.
He brought the wagon to a halt in front of the church, and like a gentleman, he hopped off the wagon and helped Addy down. When her feet were on the ground, their eyes met and locked for a moment. He knew her well enough to realize that she was begging him to keep quiet about things.
“Please,” she whispered.
“I promise,” he said.
“Hey, mister!” a little dark-haired boy yelled from across the parking lot, and the moment was gone.
A dozen kids came running up right behind him, all talking at once.
“Can we ride down to the square in the back of your wagon?” the first kid yelled above all the rest.
“Miz Pearl told our mamas that it would be all right,” a blond-haired girl about ten years old said. “My name is Kelsey. Can I ride on the seat with you?”
“Why should you get to ride up there?” the dark-haired boy asked.
“Because I’m the only girl, and because I’m the one who asked Miz Pearl if we could ride in the wagon, and because I’m the one who heard her talking to Miz Joyce about the wagon, and because I asked first,” Kelsey blurted out before stopping for a breath.
“I guess that’s reasons enough.” Jesse started to lift her up into the seat, but before he could turn around, she had scaled the side of the wagon like a monkey and plopped down.
“Who is going to take care of you once we get to the square?” Jesse asked.
“Our mamas done already called our daddies and they’re meeting us at the store with the white elephant on top,” Kelsey said.
With very little difficulty, Jesse could see Mia acting just like Kelsey at that age. She would have had dark hair and green eyes like Kelsey and been just as sassy.
“You are M
iz Pearl’s son?” Kelsey asked.
“Yes, ma’am, I am,” he said.
She cocked her head to one side. “Where’s your kids? Why ain’t they ridin’ with you?”
“Well, I’ve got a wagon load and there wouldn’t be any room for more,” he answered without telling the big secret.
“Bet they’re too old to ride in a wagon,” she said.
“Little bit.” He nodded.
Kelsey folded her arms over her chest and sighed. “They’re missin’ a lot of fun. Do you think I could ride on one of them mules the rest of the way?”
“I don’t reckon we’d better chance that.” Jesse managed a smile. “The boys would be jealous.”
“Yep, they would.” Kelsey grinned.
Several grown men, some Jesse had even gone to school with, waited in the middle of the crowded town square for their kids. He had shaken hands with them and gotten several pats on the back and lots of welcomes back to Honey Grove before an elderly lady grabbed him by the arm.
“You are right on time. Pearl said you would be leading the first group of folks on the tour,” Darla Jo Whitney said. “I’ll be sending out ten at a time every fifteen minutes. I know it’s been a while since you’ve done this, so here’s your paper with the pointers. Make it interesting. They’re paying five bucks a person, and the money goes to the Town Planning Committee for scholarships.”
Jesse took the paper from her and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. How many tours am I responsible for tonight?”
“Just the one,” Darla Jo answered. “You’ll end up at the church with your group. Follow me, and I’ll get this kicked off.”
Of all things, one of the ladies in his group had a baby strapped to her front in one of those carrier things. A little dark-haired girl that gave him a big toothless smile when he stooped to have a look at her. His chest got that tight feeling again. So much had happened during the last twenty years, and he had missed every bit of it, from Mia’s birth to her first smile, her first steps, all the way up to now with her first rotten boyfriend.
He had to compartmentalize everything if he was going to make it through the evening, so he put the shocking news in a box and closed the lid. Then he smiled at his group and said, “David Crockett discovered the area of Honey Grove when he camped there on his way to join the Texas Army at San Antonio in 1836.” The history of the area came back to him as he slowly led the group around the square, but then, he had done this tour from the time he was fourteen until he left home. “Davy sent letters back home to Tennessee telling about this area and its abundance of honey-filled trees. That’s where the town got its name. In 1873, Honey Grove was officially established. If you will turn to page three of your booklet, you’ll see pictures of the town square as it looked back in the early days when cotton became king in this area and farmers got rich, back when businesses on this very square prospered. In 1888, Honey Grove had seventy-two houses, twelve dry goods establishments, two banks, seven churches, four huge hotels, two lumber yards, many restaurants, and several boardinghouses. The railroad business was booming, taking the farmers’ goods all over the place.”
Family History Day, he thought as the folks found the right page and talked about the pictures. Seems fitting that, today of all days, I’d find out that I have a daughter.
Chapter Eight
Jesse awoke the next morning with a sense of dread. How could he shear sheep with Mia, knowing that she was his own blood kin daughter? He dressed in faded jeans and one of his dark blue Air Force T-shirts and headed up to the house without a single answer to his question.
“Good mornin’.” He tried to be cheerful when he entered the house, but it came out more than a little flat.
“It’s a wonderful morning,” Mia said. “We’re shearing the sheep today. My buyer will be here at noon, and if he likes what he sees, he’ll write me a check and take them all away.”
“I bought the alpacas, and they aren’t up for sale,” Sonny said. “And why have you got this bug in your britches to sell your prize stock anyway?”
“I want the money, and I don’t want to worry with them anymore. Plus, Henry will be retiring, and who will take care of them when I go back to school? It’s a smart move, and the timing is right. The buyer wants them all and the alpacas, too,” Mia answered.
“I believe you’ve got something else in mind that you’re not telling me,” Sonny said. “Has this got something to do with that O’Malley boy?”
“I make my own decisions. Ricky doesn’t tell me what to do,” Mia protested, “and Poppa, my buyer really wants the alpacas. They’ll bring a good price, and you won’t have to take care of them,” Mia argued. “What are you going to do with alpacas and no sheep for them to guard?”
“I’m just going to bring them up close to the barn and look at them. I like the babies,” Sonny answered.
“That’s not good business sense. On a ranch, everything has a reason to be here. Even Tex is a working dog.” Mia wrapped a pancake around a piece of sausage. “At least talk to my buyer.”
“My alpacas are not for sale,” Sonny said. “I got to say that I’m disappointed that you’re selling the sheep, but they’re yours. Just remember, every decision has consequences. If you sell out and spend the money, it will take years to build up a flock as good as this again,” Sonny said. “You’ve got good stock, and the kids around here appreciate buying a lamb from you for show for their FFA and 4H projects. We made enough money the last two years to feed the whole flock for the winter and still have a profit.”
“My sheep,” Mia reminded him with an edge to her voice. “I don’t have time to take care of them anymore, and I need the money.”
“For what?” Jesse sat down and forked a stack of pancakes over onto his plate.
“That would be none of your business,” Mia answered. “You any good with clippers?”
“I can manage,” he said.
“Well, then you can meet me at the shearing barn over on my grandparents’ old place in thirty minutes. I’ll get the flock mustered up and ready,” Mia said.
Addy yawned as she came through the door. “What’s going on?”
“I’m going to muster up my sheep. The buyer will be here pretty soon.” Mia crammed a hat down on her head.
“Mia Pearl!” Addy propped both hands on her hips. “This has gone on long enough. What’s gotten into you?”
“I’ve made my decision, and no one, not even you, can talk me out if it,” she said.
“Why? Just tell me why?” Addy was almost in tears. “Mia, you’ve never lied to me, so tell me the truth. At Christmas you went out to see the sheep in pouring-down rain just minutes after you got home. How can you sell them when they’ve meant so much to you?”
“I’m not having this conversation with you, Mama. My mind is made up, and no one influenced me,” Mia declared.
“And you are lying to me because you won’t look me in the eye,” Addy said.
Mia just shrugged and slammed the back door.
“Good Lord!” Addy sat down and put her head in her hands. “Did you talk to her, Sonny?”
“Tried to,” he said. “It was like pouring water on a duck’s back,” he sighed.
“I got the same response,” Pearl said. “She says she wants the money. I sure don’t understand why she needs money. She’s got a pretty good savings account from her years of working here, and she’s always got a nice-sized checking account. She doesn’t have a vehicle payment or any bills.”
“Then what does she need the money for? Those sheep will bring in thousands from the right buyer. They’re prime stock,” Addy said.
“Told me it wasn’t any of my business,” Jesse answered.
She was right, he thought. He hadn’t been there for her all these years, so it wasn’t a bit of his business what she did with her sheep or her money. That didn’t keep her attitude toward him from stinging. He had no right to say anything to her when she got short with Sonny, but he intended to bring it up when
they were shearing sheep. As good as his folks had been to her, she should show them some respect.
“How many sets of shears do you have?” he asked.
“Three,” Addy said. “I learned to shear sheep when we still lived out near Cactus. Mia is good at it, and Henry usually helps.”
“I can take Henry’s place,” he offered.
“You ever done that kind of work?” Pearl asked.
“Few times,” Jesse answered. “My team got…” Most of what he was about to say was classified so he tiptoed around the story. “…tied up in the middle of Afghanistan for a couple of days. We were staying with an old shepherd who needed help with shearing, so we learned the art. I may not be fast, but I can get the job done.”
He couldn’t tell them that the helicopter that was coming to rescue them and the pilot of a plane that had crashed had gotten shot down. Or that the old shepherd was really an undercover agent, working behind the scenes.
“Then you’re elected,” Addy said. “Give me time to get some coffee and a pancake in me, and I’ll go with you over to the shed.”
He and Addy should be dealing with Mia together, like parents, but that would probably never happen, and even if they could work things out, Mia would never accept him—not with the attitude she had. Like Addy had said, they had moved on. Jesse needed to get comfortable in the backseat, or the bunkhouse as was the case.
* * *
Addy had expected things to be totally awkward between her and Jesse that morning when she got into the truck with him, but they weren’t at all. He had every right to scream at her or give her the old silent treatment, but he drove down the lane, took a left-hand turn, drove a mile, and made another left onto the property where she had grown up.
“I wish I had done things different,” she admitted. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but now I need help in the worst kind of way, and she doesn’t even know you are her father.”
Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch Page 7
