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

Pearl finished sliding a cake into the oven as they trooped in together. “Y’all must be starving. I went ahead and made sandwiches.” She brought a plate out of the refrigerator and motioned for them to sit down at the table. “Mia didn’t really sell the sheep, did she? She’s just having growing pains this summer and spreading her wings.”

Chips and pickles were already on the table when Pearl set the plate of sandwiches down. She poured four glasses of sweet tea, and Addy helped her carry them to the table.

“We said grace at noon, so you just go ahead and dig in.” Pearl pulled out a chair and sank down into it. “So, about the sheep?”

“She sold them,” Jesse said. “I’ll let Addy tell you the rest.”

Addy opened the envelope, which was addressed to Addison Hall, and took out the single sheet of paper. She gasped when she looked at it, and three sets of eyes stared at her.

“Are you all right?” Pearl asked.

Addy’s hands shook so badly that the paper slipped right out of her hands and fluttered to the floor. Jesse reached down, picked it up, and handed it back to her.

“I’ve had my head stuck in the sand for six months.” Addy’s voice quivered.

Jesse draped his arm over the back of her chair. “This is not your fault.”

“I should have seen the signs. When she called home, she only talked a few minutes. When I talked about coming to see her for a girls’ shopping day, she put me off.” She took a deep breath and tried to hold back tears. “Look at this, Jesse. She has failed every single class, not just half of them. They’re putting her on probation next semester.” As mad as she was, Addy couldn’t sit still. She pushed back her chair and paced around the table. “I’m so sorry, Sonny. I can’t begin to apologize for her wasting your money like this.”

“There’s a mistake,” Sonny declared. “I’ll call the school and get this straightened out. A kid doesn’t go from perfect grades one semester to failing the next.”

“She’s let Ricky control her life the past six months,” Jesse said. He took Addy’s hand in his when she passed by his chair. “She’s said some pretty hateful things to her mother about—”

“Jesse is Mia’s father,” Addy blurted out. “But she doesn’t know that. She caught him with his arm around me and accused me of fooling around and getting pregnant again.” She slumped down in her chair.

Pearl shot a knowing look at Sonny and then reached across the table to pat Addy's hand. “We figured that out years ago, and we know that you and Jesse have always had a special connection.”

Addy was shocked speechless. How did they know when her own parents had never figured it out?

Jesse blinked several times and then said, “Why didn't you tell me if you knew all this time?”

“That was Addy’s place, not ours, and we figured it would all come out when the time was right.” Sonny nodded. “That’s part of the reason we wanted you and Mia to move in here with us. We wanted to be a part of our granddaughter’s life.”

“But how?” Addy whispered.

“The timing for one thing. She was born nine months after that last night before Jesse went to the Air Force. She’s got his eyes, and she’s tall like Jesse, and if you look at his baby picture and hers, you can’t tell them apart,” Pearl answered.

“Does anyone else know?” Addy asked.

“Not even Lylah O’Malley, who as you know, is the biggest gossip in Honey Grove,” Sonny chuckled. “She spread the rumor that you got pregnant by one of your married professors.”

“Good Lord!” Jesse threw both palms up. “Is that Ricky’s mother?”

Pearl nodded. “That’s exactly who it is. She’s about your age, Jesse. And for the record, we never believed a word of what she said about you, and when the next bit of gossip reached her, you were old news.”

Sonny picked up the platter of sandwiches and passed them over to Addy. “This will be a hard lesson for her, but we hope it will make her stronger.”

“I couldn’t swallow anything right now.” Addy set the plate down between her and Jesse. “Thank God, Jesse was there to support me. Bless his heart, he didn’t even know that he was her father until today, and…” The next words stuck in Addy’s throat.

“I would have done things different if I’d known,” Jesse said. “Why didn’t you tell me, Mama?”

“We figured Addy would tell us all when she was ready,” Sonny answered. “This is all that bad boy’s doing, and we just need to keep Mia in our prayers and hope that when he’s done spending all her money, she will call us instead of letting him talk her into something horrible.”

Addy pulled her phone from her hip pocket. “Speaking of money, I need to take care of that right now.”

“Fannin Bank,” a lady answered. “This is Betsy. What can I help you with today?”

“This is Addy Hall. I’d like to check the balance in both the checking and savings accounts I hold jointly with Mia and maybe move the money over into another account,” she said. “How are Justine and the new baby?”

“The baby’s doing great. Justine is doing better with him than I thought she would be. She’s turning out to be a good mother, even if the father is a bastard. You should come by some evening, have a glass of tea with us and see the baby. She’s named him Levi Matthew, after her father and grandfather. We’ve nicknamed him Matty,” Betsy said. “I’ve got those accounts pulled up. The savings has fifty dollars in it, and the checking is down to ten dollars.”