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

“I didn’t know how much I missed home until I came back for good. When I came in for a visit, there was always a deadline as to how long I could stay. Maybe my brothers will get to the point that they miss it, too,” he said.

“We can hope so,” Pearl said. “She looks pretty hot. You might take her that bottle of water. It’s a shame we have to treat her like this. She’s always been so grounded that we could depend on her for anything.”

“Sometimes the hardest lessons reap the greatest rewards,” Jesse said, “and yes, Mama, I’m speaking from experience.”

“Gentle but firm,” Pearl said as she started into the house. “That’s what she needs most.”

“And a little teamwork to teach her to depend on others and be dependable. Thanks for the tea and the visit,” Jesse said.

Pearl and Addy both went back into the house. Jesse stood up, crammed his old straw hat down on his head, and headed out across the yard with the bottle of water in his hand.

“I’ll take over for a few laps while you hydrate.” He tossed the bottle of water her way. She caught it midair and sat down with her back against a shade tree. “Thanks.”

Jesse mowed three laps, leaving the very last one for her, and then motioned for her to take over. “Get that done, and we’ll get to work.”

“What I’ve been doing isn’t work?” She finished off the water and carried the empty bottle to the trash can on the back porch.

“That was just the warm-up. Now we get to go shovel out stalls that haven’t been touched in years, put down fresh straw, and get the barn ready for the days we might need to keep the alpacas inside. I don’t know much about them, but I’m willing to learn, and I bet they like to be in out of the heat when July gets here.”

She nodded. “We probably should keep them in the barn a couple of days. Then after they get used to the move, we’ll let them roam free in this pasture and use the lean-to at the end of the barn for shelter from the heat. If bad weather comes, we’ll want to keep them in the stalls.”

Mia took a bandanna out of her hip pocket and wiped the sweat from her forehead before she started moving again. When she’d finished the last bit of the backyard, she got out the water hose and cleaned the mower.

Jesse was impressed with her attention to doing a job right. “I bet they’re missing the sheep?”

“Probably, but they’ll be used to not having them by now,” Mia said.

“Dad says they’re going to be his pets and breeding stock. We might make some money on them when folks realize they really are good for keeping the coyotes and bobcats away from the lambs.” Jesse started out for the barn.

She had to run to catch up, but then her stride matched his, step for step. “Do you think we can ever get into the sheep business again?”

“I doubt it,” Jesse said. “Sheep require a lot more care than cattle and don’t have nearly the return on the dollar. The only reason Sunflower Ranch ever had sheep to begin with was for you, and you sold out.”

“My second mistake,” she grumbled. “I was making good money selling lambs to the kids around here for show.”

A blast of hot air hit them both when he opened the barn door. “I can’t judge you, Mia, since I’ve made lots of mistakes. Maybe someday if you are still interested in sheep and willing to do the work yourself with them, you can start the business again.”

Jesse slid the door open as wide as he could and then crossed the barn to the other side to do the same with the one that led out to the corral. “That might give us a breeze of some kind. You can get a shovel and the wheelbarrow and start on the stalls.”

“Are you going to sit on a hay bale and supervise?” she taunted.

“Nope, I’m going out in the corral to string some wire around the fence rails so the babies won’t be able to slip out.” He took a pair of gloves from a shelf beside the back door and shoved his hands down in them.

She pulled a pair of work gloves from her hip pocket and put them on. The shovel made a clanking sound when she tossed it into the wheelbarrow, and with a huff, Mia stormed off down the aisle to the left, where six stalls awaited.

Tomorrow, they would work together bringing the alpacas over, but today she still needed space.

* * *



“Move, dammit!” Addy fussed at the clock that afternoon. She was busy putting data about the cows into the computer, and the hands on the clock seemed to be stuck, moving as slow as a sleepy sloth.

At four, she finally called Jesse and was about to give up when he answered on the fifth ring. “Is everything all right out there?”

“Yep, I’m getting the corral ready for alpacas, and Mia is working on the last stall. We’ll have some panels to get set in place before we come in for supper, but I expect we’ll be there by six,” he answered. “Are Dad and Mama all right?”

“Sonny is taking a nap in his recliner. Pearl has been making cookies all afternoon. They’re having a church bake sale on Saturday afternoon,” Addy answered.

“And you?” Jesse asked.

“Sonny asked me to do some data entry, and I sent Grady a mid-week chart. With all the drama, I just want to be sure everything is looking good,” she answered.

“Got an answer back on Dad’s chart?” His voice calmed her just like it always had.