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

A blast of heat hit her in the face when she stepped outside that evening. Mia was sitting in the porch swing. Jesse had just rounded the end of the house with Tex right beside him.

“Hey, where are you going?” Mia asked.

“Got to make a run to the pharmacy in Bonham,” Addy answered without slowing down.

“Hold up,” Mia said. “I’ll go with you if we can stop at the ice cream store afterwards. I’ve been wanting a hot fudge sundae for days.”

“My treat and I’ll even drive if I can crash the party,” Jesse offered.

So much for a nice quiet evening to think before she took a walk down to the bunkhouse after dark. “Can’t turn down an offer like that,” she said.

Addy expected Mia to say that she’d just stay home if Jesse was going, and then Jesse would suddenly remember that he had something he needed to take care of somewhere on the ranch so the two women could have some time together. But neither happened.

The swing looked a little lonely when Mia left it going back and forth, and poor old Tex pouted when Jesse told him that he had to stay home. Mia rushed out to Jesse’s truck and got into the backseat. Evidently, things weren’t going well enough for her to call shotgun and ride next to him all the way to Bonham.

Jesse stuck his head in the door and yelled, “Hey, Mama. Addy, Mia, and I are going to Bonham. Y’all need anything?”

“Just Sonny’s medicine.” Pearl’s voice floated out to the porch.

Tex dashed into the house while the door was open, and Addy felt much better about leaving the poor old boy behind. She got into the vehicle and fastened her seat belt. “After that big supper, I shouldn’t have an ice cream sundae, but I’m going to,” she said.

“Me, too, but it sounds so good on a hot night like this,” Mia said. “Poor old Tex. I bet he misses his rides to the feed store when Poppa was able to drive.”

“I’m sure he does,” Jesse said as he slid behind the steering wheel. “Dad used to take Tex’s daddy with him before Tex was born. Addy, do you remember Hondo?”

“Oh, yeah.” Addy smiled. “He came over and bred our dog on Hall Ranch. Daddy wasn’t happy about it since his dog was a registered blue heeler, and Sonny didn’t know exactly what Hondo’s blood lines were.”

“At least Tex knows who his father was, even if Hondo didn’t have a pedigree,” Mia said.

Addy turned around enough that she could see Mia. “And we’re not having this conversation tonight.”

“Oh, all right!” Mia huffed. “If you won’t talk to me about that, then can I have a consolation prize and not have to go to the bake sale?”

“Not happening,” Addy said.

“All right then, can I have a banana split instead of a sundae?” Mia pressured.

“That’s doable,” Jesse said. “I was thinking of having one myself. I have an incurable sweet tooth, and ice cream is my favorite dessert.”

“Did you know that about Jesse, Mama?” Mia asked.

“She knows everything about me.” Jesse smiled.

Except how I feel about him, Addy thought.

Jesse had to slow down just slightly to go through Windom and Dodd City, two little communities that each had less than four hundred people. Addy remembered spending lots of Saturday nights in an old barn halfway between the two little towns. That’s where the teenagers went to drink beer, turn up the radio on Jesse’s old pickup truck, and dance to the music. That’s where they had both lost their virginity—but not to each other—and where Addy had gotten drunk for the first time when her first had dropped her for another girl. It’s where Jesse held her hair back for her when she threw up, and where he held her while she cried over the breakup.

“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.