Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch

by Carolyn Brown

  “Bet I could read your mind right about now,” Jesse said as he drove past the WELCOME TO BONHAM sign.

  “Probably so.” She smiled at him.

  “What?” Mia looked up from her phone. “What are y’all talking about?”

  “Where did you kids go to party on Saturday nights?” Addy asked.

  “That’s classified.” Mia went back to whatever game she was playing.

  Jesse pulled into the pharmacy parking lot and said, “I’ll run in and get the medicine.” He was out of the truck and halfway across to the pharmacy door before Addy could gather her thoughts together and argue with him.

  “What’s it like to have Jesse for a guy friend?” Mia asked.

  “Pretty nice,” Addy said. “They aren’t as whiny as girls, and they are pretty straightforward. Wasn’t Ricky your friend before you became more involved?” She winced at the visual of that boy even kissing her daughter.

  “Ricky was my first love,” Mia said. “I was afraid to have sex in high school like all the other girls were doing because I didn’t want to wind up getting pregnant like you did. I don’t want children until I finish college, do something exciting and other fun things.”

  “I see.” Addy remembered saying something like that when she was only a little younger than Mia.

  A person supposedly never forgot their first love or their first sexual experience. Not so, Addy thought. I can remember Mason Jones very well and the pain I felt when he broke up with me, but I wouldn’t want to be with him, or for him to be Mia’s father. The one I can’t forget is Jesse. It’s always been Jesse, but we’re right back where we were all those years ago except for a few kisses. I like having my friend back, but I’m worried that what he really feels is guilt about Mia.

  “Mama, what are you thinking about?” Mia asked. “You look like you’re a million miles away.”

  “You mean like you do when I’m talking, and you don’t even look up from your phone?” Addy asked.

  “Point taken,” Mia said.

  Jesse jogged across the parking lot and got into the cool truck. “Man, it’s hot out there. Got that job done. Now it’s time for ice cream. Want to go inside the store, or get it at the drive-by and eat in the truck?”

  “Truck, please,” Mia answered.

  “Too messy,” Addy said. “Let’s go inside and eat at a booth.”

  “Ma—ma,” Mia whined.

  “Got to face the outside world sometime,” Addy told her.

  “What if Lylah or Pete is in there?” Mia asked.

  “Smile sweetly, say hello, and walk away from them,” Addy advised.

  “I’d rather knock Pete through the glass window,” Mia said.

  “Mama always told me to pray for my enemies,” Jesse said.

  Addy bowed her head and said, “Dear Lord, I’ve been reminded that I should pray for my enemies. Please open Lylah’s eyes to see that her son isn’t the guy she thinks he is, and while you are doing that, can you make her mute for a few weeks, so she won’t spread gossip about me and mine. And one more thing, Lord, forgive me for what I will do if she gets all up in my space about my daughter. Amen.”

  “Amen!” Mia giggled. “Now that’s a prayer I can get into. Let’s go get some ice cream.”

  Jesse slid a sly wink at Addy. “Mama just said pray for them. I never thought about a prayer like that.”

  “It does put a whole new spin on talking to God,” Mia giggled.

  Addy hadn’t heard her daughter laugh like that in ages. Hopefully, that meant her old Mia was coming back, and that hateful girl who had recently taken over her body was on her way out.

  “Motherhood brings out a whole different side to a woman,” Addy said as Jesse snagged a parking spot close to the front door of the ice cream shop. “God must’ve heard me because the ice cream shop has only one elderly couple in there tonight.”

  Mia hopped out of the backseat and beat both her mother and Jesse into the cool store. “Slowpokes,” she teased as she waited in front of the counter to order. “Y’all are getting so old.”

  “Hey, now, I kept up with you all day, didn’t I?” Jesse argued.

  She cocked her head to one side. “That’s because I took pity on such an old man and went slow so you could keep up.”

  Jesse made the same gesture, and Addy held her breath for a brief second for fear that Mia would see the similarity between them.

  “I was going slow so you wouldn’t feel bad,” Jesse assured her.

  “Yeah, right!” Mia turned toward the young man behind the counter and told him what she wanted on her banana split. Then she went to a booth and took out her phone again.

  “You two have the same expressions,” Addy whispered.

  “Our eyes are alike, too,” Jesse said out the side of his mouth. “She’s going to figure it out, Addy. We need to tell her soon.”

  “Maybe next week,” Addy agreed. “But for tonight, let’s just enjoy the fact that she’s not biting our heads off.”

  Jesse carried the tray with three banana splits on it to the booth and passed them out according to what each of them had ordered. Addy could tell that he wasn’t quite sure where to sit since she was on one side and Mia on the other.

  “You can sit beside me,” Addy said as she dipped deep into her ice cream.

  “Thanks.” Jesse slid in beside her.

  Thank God for cold ice cream, Addy thought when his hips and thighs were pressed against hers. I bet if I dropped a spoonful on my leg, it would sizzle.

  Mia only took time away from her ice cream to text on her phone. Addy sent up a serious prayer that she wasn’t getting or sending messages to Ricky. Finally, when she could stand it no longer, she asked, “Who are you so involved with on the phone?”

  “Well, it’s damn sure not Ricky, Mama, so don’t worry your head over that,” she answered. “I’ve been playing a game, not talking to anyone. The truth of the matter is Ricky said he didn’t like sharing me with other people, so I kind of lost my friends. They all told me he wasn’t a good man, but I didn’t listen, and now I’m out here in the world with no one.”

  “That’s not true,” Jesse argued. “You’ve got me and your mama, Poppa and Nana, and Henry. And, honey, you can make new friends or maybe even rekindle old ones if you reach out to them.”

  “I was rude to most of them,” Mia admitted.

  “It doesn’t take much to apologize and tell them that they were right,” Addy told her.

  “Maybe later,” Mia said. “Right now, I’m on level nine of this game, and if I can get to ten, then I’ll be higher than Ricky ever got, and that’s important to me.”

  “Well, then get after it,” Jesse chuckled. “Beat him however you can if it makes you feel better.”

  Addy could have kissed Jesse right there in front of the elderly couple who were heading out of the store, her daughter, and even God right then. She just kept shoveling banana split into her mouth instead and wishing that it would cool off all the heat that Jesse was causing by sitting so close to her.

  * * *

  Dark had settled around the county and brought with it a nice cool breeze, taking the temperature down at least ten degrees when they finished eating their ice cream and went back out to the truck. Mia hadn’t even looked up from her game when they drove through Windom.

  Addy was staring out the front window without seeing a thing when suddenly she realized that a car was swerving across the yellow line and coming right toward them. “Holy crap!” she squealed.

  “What?” Mia dropped her phone, covered her head, and screamed.

  Jesse turned the wheel hard to the right, sending Addy and Mia into a hard lean and then whipping them back upright as the truck went nose first into a ditch full of water. The other vehicle grazed the backside of Jesse’s truck and slid, back end first, into the same ditch only a few feet away.

  “Is everyone all right?” Jesse’s voice sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a rain barrel.

  �
�I’m fine,” Mia said, “but I can’t find my phone.”

  “I’m good. Let’s get out of here and see if those other folks are hurt.” Addy unfastened her seat belt. If she hadn’t braced herself with her hands, her head would have hit the dashboard. Jesse was already out of the truck and knee deep in water when she opened the door.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.

  “I’m good. Go see about those folks,” Addy said.

  A loud scream pierced the air, and Jesse disappeared in a blur.

  “Mia, get out easy, and be sure nothing hurts or is broken,” Addy cautioned.

  Another scream came from the other vehicle and a man’s voice begging Jesse to help him get his wife out of the car first. Adrenaline rushed through Addy’s veins and her nursing training kicked in. She sloshed through the water to the car, found a very pregnant woman lying back in the seat with her hands on her stomach and screaming at the top of her lungs.

  “Can you walk?” Addy asked.

  “This baby is coming right now,” she yelled.

  “But are you hurt?” Addy glanced over her shoulder to be sure that Mia was walking all right and not holding a shoulder or an arm.

  “No, but this baby is coming out of me.” The woman reached out through the open window and grabbed Addy’s hand in a death grip.

  Jesse and the driver slipped and slid in the mud and water several times before they made it around to the other side of the car. Addy forced the woman to let go of her hand, and then Jesse opened the door. The seat belt was stuck, so Jesse cut it away with his pocketknife, and then he picked the woman up like a baby.

  “What can I do?” her husband asked.

  “Stay up on the top of the ditch and let me pass her up to you,” Jesse said. “Then we’re going to lay her down flat and call an ambulance. Mia, call 911.”

  “No time for an ambulance. I’ve had three kids, and I know when they’re crowning,” the woman said between gasps.

  “I’m a nurse, and Jesse is a combat medic. We’ll take care of you until the ambulance gets here,” Addy tried to reassure her.

  “I don’t care if you’re Minnie and Mickey Mouse, just help me get this baby out,” the woman said.

  “I’m sorry,” her husband said as he took her from Jesse.

  Mia reached out and slipped Addy’s phone from her mother’s hip pocket and made the call. “Ambulance is on the way. They said no more than ten minutes. I can help. I’ve pulled calves and delivered alpacas and lambs. What do I do?”

  “Give me the lace from the sleeve of your shirt. Is there a dry blanket or shirt anywhere in either vehicle?” Addy asked. “And I need a match or cigarette lighter.”

  The husband pulled a lighter from his pocket. “What’s that for?” he asked.

  “Give it to me,” Jesse said. “I’ll sterilize my pocketknife with fire.”

  “I’m Walter Johnson, and this is my wife, Gloria,” the guy said.

  “Mia, would you please grab that blanket out of the backseat of my truck,” Jesse said as he helped the woman out of the car.

  She hurried to the truck, brought back the blanket, and spread it out on the grass.

  “She’s only been in labor an hour or so. I don’t think…” the husband said.

  “Walter, I know when a baby is coming,” Gloria yelled and drew her knees up. “I’m going to push…”

  Addy dropped to her knees. “My name is Addison Hall. This is my daughter, Mia, and Jesse is the man who took you out of the car. I’m going to check you right now to see how far you are. If you can keep from pushing for just a few minutes…”

  “I can’t,” Gloria huffed.

  Addy tried to keep the woman’s dignity as she raised her wet gauze skirt. “You are right. This baby is coming, and it’s time to push, ambulance or no. Take a deep breath with the next contraction and give it all you’ve got. Mia, have you got that string ready for me?”

  Mia held it up. “And it’s even dry.”

  Gloria sucked in all the air she could and pushed. “Is she here?”

  “Not quite. She’s got lots of black hair, though,” Addy answered. “One more, and we’ll see if we can get the shoulders out, then it’ll be easy going.”

  Mia knelt beside her mother. “You must love me a lot to have gone through this.”

  “Yes, I did, and yes, I do,” Addy said. “I’ve got an arm. And now another one. We’re almost there, Gloria, and I hear sirens.”

  “I wanted drugs,” Gloria huffed. “I’ve never done this without drugs.”

  “You’re doing great.” Walter kissed her on the forehead. “Just give me one more good one.”

  The ambulance came to a screeching halt right beside the two vehicles. The back doors swung open, and the paramedics brought out a stretcher. They shifted Gloria over onto it, and in minutes, had moved her from the ground to inside the back of their vehicle.

  The two of them seemed to be everywhere at once, and when the next push finished bringing a squalling baby into the world, they had the right equipment to cut the cord, wrap the newborn in a clean blanket, and hand her to the mother. Just like that, it was over, and Addy felt cheated that she hadn’t got to finish the job.

  “You the father?” One of them looked at Jesse.

  “No, this man right here is.” Jesse patted Walter on the back. “Go on with her.”

  “My car?” he moaned. “I’m so, so sorry for all this. A skunk ran across the road, and I swerved to miss it. I didn’t want Gloria to have to smell that all the way to the hospital.”

  “I understand,” Jesse said. “Where do you live? I’ll call a wrecker and have them take it to your front yard.”

  “Thanks, man. I live in Dodd City just a block off the highway. I own Walter’s Auto Shop. Just have them put it there, and send me the bill,” Walter said as he crawled into the ambulance.

  “We’ll send another one for you folks,” the paramedic said.

  “Don’t bother.” Addy waved him away. “We’re all fine.”

  The ambulance sped away and Mia sat flat down on her butt. “Did that really happen or am I having a nightmare? I can’t ever do that, Mama. I just can’t.”

  “You’ve pulled calves and helped alpacas and sheep. Birthing is birthing,” Addy told her.

  “No way. You’ll have to adopt your grandbabies,” Mia told her.

  “You’ll change your mind, and don’t you ever say that in front of Pearl and Sonny,” Addy said.

  “Why?” Mia rubbed her shoulder.

  “Think about it.” The adrenaline rush dissipated and left Addy feeling flat. She sat down on the side of the road and put her head between her knees.

  “Oh! Because they adopted their three boys.” Mia dropped down beside her mother. “Are you all right, Mama? Did you bump your head? Jesse, call the hospital, and tell them to send that other ambulance.”

  Jesse whipped around and dropped to his knees in front of Addy. He cupped her cheeks in his big hands and raised her head. “I don’t think you have a concussion, but it would be good to get all of us checked.” He started to get his phone out of his shirt pocket.

  Addy reached up and touched his hand. “I’m fine. It was just the adrenaline leveling out. I’ve delivered babies, but never on the side of the road and without some decent supplies. I can’t tell you what all went through my mind.”

  “But you were so calm,” Mia said.

  “So were you and Jesse, but I could tell y’all were on edge,” Addy said. “I’m fine. Don’t call an ambulance. We’re probably all going to have seat belt bruises, but we don’t need to go to the hospital for that. They’ll heal in time.”

  Mia rubbed her shoulder again and stared at the two vehicles. “What if we both hadn’t swerved? We could have had a head-on crash. Jesse, you were wonderful during all of it.”

  “It was all instinct and training,” Jesse said.

  At the thought of perhaps losing Mia and Jesse in a split second, Addy’s hands began to tremble,
and tears dammed up behind her eyes. She refused to cry. Mia needed a strong mother at times like this. “Jesse, you better call that wrecker, and then call Henry,” she said. Planning always made her feel in control. “Start out by telling him that we’re all fine, but to let the folks know what’s happened. If they see a wrecker coming down the lane, Sonny’s liable to have a heart attack.”

  “Good idea.” Jesse whipped out his phone and made the calls.

  Mia draped an arm around her mother. “What if something like that would have happened when Ricky and I were going to Las Vegas? He drove so fast that it scared me sometimes, and he even played chicken a few times with folks on the road.”

  Addy opened her mouth, but words wouldn’t come out past the tightness in her throat and in her chest. Finally, she managed to say, “Thank God, you came to your senses and came home.”

  “But that’s just the thing, Mama. I didn’t come to my senses. I would still be with him if he hadn’t left me. He had that kind of power over me. He made me believe that it was my sole duty on earth to please him. How can a person do that to someone that they keep saying they love?” Mia asked.

  Jesse finished making his calls and sat down on the other side of Mia. “I heard the last of what you said, honey. That’s not love. It’s manipulation and control. Ricky is a con man, and he’ll only get worse as he gets older.”

  “Until today, if he’d called me and asked me to meet him somewhere, I would have gone,” Mia admitted.

  “What changed your mind today?” Jesse asked.

  Mia picked at the green grass around her and hesitated so long that Addy thought she was going to ignore the question. The only noise around them was a rangy old bull who had come up to the pasture fence on the other side of the ditch. Every few minutes he snorted loudly as if telling them to get away from his area.

  “In that instant when I didn’t know if we were going to live, I realized that Ricky had carved away so much of who I am, that the wrong person was about to die,” Mia finally said. “Does that make sense?”