Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch

by Carolyn Brown

  “More than you’ll ever know,” Jesse answered.

  She swiped a tear away with the back of her hand. “I don’t want to be remembered as that girl he created, but as the girl who had a backbone and made her own decisions. I wish I’d never gotten this tattoo, but it will always remind me to never think that I have to…” She wiped another tear. “…to do anything a guy wants me to do to be his girlfriend. I’m just lucky he ran away with that other girl. I hated her at first for taking him from me. Now I feel sorry for her.”

  Addy hugged her tightly. “I’d send her a thank-you card if I knew her name.”

  “He’d better stay out of Honey Grove for a long time,” Jesse said through clenched teeth.

  “I hear a truck coming around the curve.” Mia pointed. “That didn’t take long, and, Jesse, he’s not worth going to jail over. We need to forget him and move on.”

  The sound of a big truck filled the air, and then the wrecker came around the slight curve and stopped. A bald man with a full gray beard opened the door and yelled, “Which one you want me to take care of first?”

  “The truck, and if we could ride with you back to Honey Grove, that would be great,” Jesse told him.

  “No problem. That’s why I’ve got a backseat in this thing,” he said. “By the way, I’m Tommy Forestall. Y’all crawl on up in there. I’ll get this thing hitched up and we’ll be on our way.” He hopped out of the vehicle. “After you get your wife and her sister up in the truck, you could put these up on either side of us to stop the traffic for a few minutes.” He handed Jesse a stack of orange cones. “Don’t want someone to come around that curve and make a mess of my new wrecker. Honey Grove, huh? Do you know Sonny Ryan?” the guy asked.

  “That’s my dad,” Jesse answered.

  “Good guy. I graduated from Honey Grove High School with him all them years ago. We had us some good times together. Maybe I’ll just run in and say hello to him when we get there,” Tommy said.

  “I’m sure he would like that.” Jesse set the cones down and helped Addy and Mia up into the backseat of the wrecker.

  “Why didn’t you tell him that I’m not your wife?” Addy whispered.

  “Then I’d have to explain that Mia is your daughter, not your sister, and that would just complicate things.” Jesse grinned.

  When he’d closed the door, Mia fastened her seat belt and then asked, “Did you ever think about dating Jesse before he went to the Air Force?”

  “Like I’ve told you before, we were best friends,” Addy answered. “You don’t ruin something that important with a fling.”

  “Too bad,” Mia said. “It might have led to something pretty nice for both of you, but then what do I know? I let Ricky lead me around like a puppy on a leash.”

  Addy laid a hand on Mia’s knee. “But now, you’ve broken that leash, and you will never make that mistake again.”

  “Other than this damned tattoo, I don’t want anything to ever remind me of him again.” Mia sighed.

  Jesse got into the passenger seat. “I heard what you just said. Just forget him, darlin’, and move on with your life. One bad choice doesn’t have to define you.”

  “Thanks, Jesse,” Mia said.

  “Amen,” Addy added.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jesse paced the bunkhouse floor that evening, his nerves strung like a rubber band stretched to the breaking point. All he could think about was that rotten Ricky O’Malley and what he’done to Mia. Jesse was seething when Addy came through the door and crossed the floor, wrapped her arms around him, and held him close.

  “I need to feel your arms around me,” she said. “I’m still reeling from everything. I thought that the drama we’d been through was the toughest we would ever see, but I was wrong.”

  Jesse wrapped her in his arms and held her so close that he could feel the calming effect of her heart beating in unison with his. “I’ve been in really tough situations, Addy. Some to the point that I wanted to kill whoever had hurt my buddies so badly, but never have I felt such anger as I did today when Mia told us how controlling Ricky had been with her.”

  “Me, too, and I needed to be close to you tonight to calm this roller coaster of emotions that’s making me want to cry one minute and hurt a spoiled boy the next,” she whispered.

  Jesse slipped one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders, picked her up, and carried her to the sofa. He sat down, keeping her in his lap. “How on earth did Ricky play at the poker tables anyway? He’s only nineteen, right?”

  “I’m sure he and Mia both have fake IDs,” Addy answered, “just like we did when we were their age. Only we just wanted to drink beer and dance at the honky tonks.”

  “How did our parents survive us?” Jesse sighed.

  “We must be paying for our raising.” Addy looked up into his eyes.

  “If we are, then I worry about any children that Mia might have, even if they are bought children like me and my brothers,” Jesse said.

  “She speaks before she thinks.” Addy blinked and focused on something across the room.

  Jesse leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “We did too when we were young and stupid. Still do sometimes. No worries. I seldom ever think of us as being foster kids and then adopted.”

  “Neither do Sonny and Pearl,” Addy said. “I should ’fess up to something. When I had Mia, things didn’t go well. She was a big baby, ten pounds and three ounces, and I had a lot of problems. The doctors had to do an emergency hysterectomy when she was two days old. Maybe the fact that I couldn’t have more made me hold her a little too close. She should have had her wild streak when she was in high school so that I could have still been here for her.”

  Jesse tipped her chin up again. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that alone.”

  “I survived with Granny’s help, and even kept up with my online classes,” she said and moved out of his lap to go to the kitchen. “I thought you should know. Want a beer?”

  “Yes, please,” he answered. “Since we’re confessing, I’ve always had a fear of having kids,” Jesse said. “I was given away by my parents. They were both very young from what I found out when I looked into it. I investigated a little deeper and learned that they’re both dead. I’ve wondered if they were like Ricky—reckless and dangerous, and if that gene would come through if I had kids. Then there’s always the thought that if I did father a child, I wouldn’t want it after it was born. My biological father didn’t want me, so what if I was like that?”

  Addy brought back two cans of beer and handed him one, then she settled down on the sofa right next to him. “I don’t think you’ve got a thing to worry about. As angry as you were about Ricky, you are a good father even if you came into the picture when your daughter was grown.”

  “I did have a moment there”—he opened his beer and tipped it up for a swallow—“and then several more when we got home.”

  “So did I, but she’s got her feet back under her now, and I believe she’s going to be all right.” Addy set her beer down and laid her palm on his cheek. “What is this between us, Jesse? We’re not kids anymore, so what are we?”

  “What do you want us to be?” He covered her hand with his, then moved it away from his face to kiss her palm.

  “I’m not sure. We live on this ranch together. It could get awkward if…”

  He put a finger over her lips. “We’ll never know if we don’t give it a try.”

  “How do we do that?” she asked. “We’ve both got a lot of baggage here.”

  “Yes, and hopefully, we are good enough friends to help each other unload all that baggage.” He smiled and leaned just slightly to cover her lips with his.

  She tasted like cold beer, and her damp hair smelled like the beach. That was quite a heady mixture. He tangled his fingers in her kinky hair and braced her head for more and more steamy, hot kisses.

  When she finally pulled away, they were both panting. “Haven’t felt like that…”
He stopped and caught his breath. “In almost twenty years.”

  “Oh, come on, Jesse Ryan,” she said. “You can’t tell me you haven’t kissed a girl since we spent the night together in this bunkhouse.”

  “I can tell you that none of them ever made me feel like you did and still do.” He brushed another sweet kiss across her lips.

  “Right back at you,” she said.

  A knock on the door brought them both to their feet. “Hey, anyone home?”

  “That’s Mia,” Addy said as she raced across the living area and threw the door open. “Are you all right? Are you hurting somewhere?”

  Mia stepped into the bunkhouse. “I’m fine, Mama. I was too wound up to sleep, so I went to your room, but you weren’t there. I thought you might be down here. Y’all having trouble getting everything from today out of your minds, too? And did you see that moon out there? Nana told me it’s called a Strawberry Moon.” She talked as she headed across the room and sat down on the floor on the other side of the coffee table. “I keep seeing that woman in so much pain, and then Nana and Poppa were so worried that I was afraid they would have a heart attack. Nana told me while you were in the shower that she wasn’t sure she could survive losing one of her boys, or me or you, Mama. I would feel just horrible if I caused her to die.”

  “We come equipped for the grief that comes when we lose a parent or a grandparent.” Addy took a long drink of her beer. “We grieve and we hurt when that happens. But losing a child is an unnatural grief, one that we never get over.”

  “How do you know?” Mia asked. “Did you lose a baby? Is it all right if I get a bottle of water from the fridge?”

  “Of course,” Jesse answered. “There’s also root beer and bottles of sweet tea.”

  She popped up onto her feet, crossed over to the kitchen area, and brought back a bottle of root beer.

  “I didn’t lose a baby,” Addy said, “but your granny did. My mama had a little brother who died when he was six years old. He fell out of a tree and broke his neck, and Granny said that she still wasn’t over it when she was in her seventies.”

  “I don’t want to think about losing you or my grandparents or Nana and Poppa.” Mia shivered. “I need all of you in my life—even you, Jesse.”

  “Well, thank you for that.” He smiled so big that his face hurt.

  She held up her bottle, and Jesse touched his can to it. “Mama?” She raised an eyebrow.

  Addy leaned forward and made it a three-way toast. “To surviving and bringing a new baby almost all the way into the world.”

  “To realizing that life is important,” Mia said.

  “To family,” Jesse added.

  “And on that note, we’d better get back up to the house. One of us needs to be there in case Sonny needs us. He was so upset about the wreck that his blood pressure was up quite a bit,” Addy said.

  “Thanks for letting me crash your party,” Mia said.

  “Anytime,” Jesse said. But the truth was that he would rather have had a whole night with Addy all to himself.

  * * *

  To Addy, Thursday and Friday seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. She wanted to go to the bunkhouse both nights, but Mia stuck to her like glue, as if she was afraid that if Addy got out of her sight, she would never see her again. Jesse stayed in the house both nights until bedtime, but Addy didn’t even get a good night kiss. By Saturday morning, she was ready to grab Jesse by the hand and lead him off to that old barn up near Dodd City for a make-out session.

  When she reached the kitchen that morning, Jesse was making a pot of coffee. “Where is everyone?” she asked.

  “Sleeping in a little while, I guess.” He finished his job and drew her close to him for a hug. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since Wednesday night, and there just didn’t seem to be a time. “Good morning, darlin’.” He ran a forefinger down her cheek and then his lips met hers.

  She took a step back when she heard Sonny’s cane tapping down the wooden floor in the hallway. “Good mornin’ to you. How has Mia been doing the past couple of days? She’s either texted me or called every hour.”

  “She’s been quiet, but she’s kept up with her work. She’s not surly like she was the first couple of days. That wreck really shook her up,” Jesse answered.

  “Crazy how things work, isn’t it?” Addy was setting the table when Pearl and Sonny entered the kitchen. “What are we having this morning?” she asked Pearl.

  “I thought maybe we’d do bacon and pancakes,” Pearl said. “Were y’all talking about Mia and the change that’s come over her? Seems like there was Mia that we helped you raise and knew, then the ugly one that came home from Las Vegas, and now, there is this clingy one. I didn’t like the Vegas one, but this one worries me. Think we need to take her to a therapist? She’s been through a lot in a short while.”

  Addy had gone to a therapist for a couple of years after she’d had the hysterectomy. She had always thought that someday she’d fall in love, get married, and have a whole yard full of kids. Then suddenly, she was told that she couldn’t have any more children when she was only nineteen years old. She kept up with her classes, and took good care of Mia, but she went into a deep depression. Her grandmother had made the first appointment with the therapist, and Addy had argued with her, but after three visits, she was feeling better.

  “Maybe so,” she finally said. “Let’s give her a couple of weeks, and if she’s not better, I’ll find one and make an appointment for her.”

  “What do you think, Jesse?” Sonny asked.

  “I’ve been to a therapist,” Jesse said. “Mine helped me a lot, so I’m all for it if Mia needs to go. I’ll even drive her there and back.”

  “Mornin’, everyone.” Mia yawned as she came into the kitchen. “What’s on the agenda today, Jesse?”

  “We’ve got to start with taking care of the alpacas. Then we’ll need to finish up the morning with Henry and the boys. After that, you are supposed to help with the church bake sale, right?” Jesse answered.

  “Full day,” Mia said. “Mama, what are you doing today?”

  “Breakfast, Sonny’s vitals and meds, some data work on the computer, dinner, and then the bake sale,” Addy answered. “I’ll be in the house until we go to the church for the sale.”

  “Okay, then.” Mia tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “What can I do to help with breakfast, Nana?”

  “Get out the jams and butter while I start frying bacon,” Pearl said. “And when you get that done, get a can of orange juice from the freezer and make it up.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Mia headed for the refrigerator. “What are you and Poppa doing today?”

  “I’ll be going over the books before we take them to the CPA for our quarterly tax payments. Pearl will be making more cookies,” Sonny answered. “Honey, we are all fine. You don’t have to worry about us.”

  “Yes, I do,” Mia disagreed. “These old worthless boys you’ve got didn’t give you any grandkids to worry about you, so it’s my job.”

  “Well, thank you for that,” Jesse said.

  “Just sayin’,” Mia said. “The whole bunch of you need to settle down, fall in love, and live happily ever after so Nana can rock her grandbabies.”

  “Bossy this mornin’, ain’t you?” Addy arranged the five plates around the table.

  Mia shrugged. “Yep, I am, but a near-death experience can sure enough wake a person up to what’s important.”

  Sitting across the table from Jesse Ryan can do the same thing, Addy thought as she slid a sideways glance over toward him.

  With the briefest of nods, he let her know that he was thinking the same thing.

  * * *

  The church parking lot was already filling up when Pearl, Addy, and Mia arrived that Saturday afternoon. The pale blue sky had a few puffy, white clouds, and the temperature was hanging right at a hundred degrees.

  Jesse nosed his truck right in beside his mother’s vehicle, got out, and helped Sonny get
his feet on the ground, and then began unloading baked goods for the sale. Pearl grabbed a lace tablecloth, looped her arm in Sonny’s, and the two of them talked to each other all the way into the church fellowship hall.

  “Isn’t that sweet?” Mia sighed. “When I fall in love for real, I want what Nana and Poppa have.”

  “Don’t we all?” Addy picked up a box filled with plates of cookies.

  “That kind of commitment takes a lot of work.” Jesse toted two applesauce Bundt cakes into the sale. “If Mama hadn’t made one of these to leave at home, I would buy them both.”

  “So you still like anything with cinnamon?” Addy smiled.

  “There were times when I was on deployment that I would have given my whole paycheck for just a piece of this cake,” Jesse answered, “and if I’d had a whole cake, I would have sold it off piece by piece and made a fortune.”

  “Too bad that I didn’t know that,” Addy teased. “I would have made a dozen cakes and sent them to you, and we could have split the profits.”

  Mia held the door open for them. “What’s too bad is that you two lost touch.”

  Pearl waved from one end of the tables that had been set up in a U-shape around the floor of the fellowship hall. “Bring the boxes of cookies to this end. Cakes down there, and pies and miscellaneous things in the middle.”

  Jesse set his two cakes on the table and headed back out the door to get the rest of the things. Out of the corner of her eye, Addy watched him walk away. With his boots and hat and that bit of a swagger, he was the sexiest man in the whole room—at least in her eyes.

  “I’ll be over there at the checkout table taking in money and making change, but you two”—Pearl flicked her wrist to include Mia and Addy—“are going to take care of this end. Keep things pushed forward and looking pretty. Oh, there’s Justine and Betsy. Doesn’t look like they brought the baby. I was hoping to get to hold him.”

  “And there’s Lylah,” Addy whispered.

  “I’ve got her at the other end with the cakes,” Pearl said out the side of her mouth. “I put her with Vivien. They’re cousins and just alike.”