Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch (The Ryan Family #1) by Carolyn Brown

“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 Miz 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.”