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

“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.”

“Hey, Mia.” Justine smiled. “I guess we’re working together.”

“Looks like it,” Mia said. “I’m sorry about how things have happened. I didn’t know that…”

Justine, a tall blonde with bright blue eyes, laid a hand on Mia’s arm. “It’s not your fault. It’s not mine. We’ll lay the blame where it belongs. We were both conned by the same guy.”

“Thank you,” Mia said, “but I was the other woman.”

“So was I,” Justine said. “When I finally admitted that Ricky was the father of my baby, I found out that he’s got another one over in Bonham who’s about a year older than my Matty. And that girl has a tat on her back, just like I do.”

“Me, too.” Mia blushed.

“Guess he brands all his women.” Justine’s tone was icy cold. “Be glad you didn’t get pregnant like me and Willow. We’ve both got a son to raise now.”

“Tattoos and baby boys,” Mia whispered. “He leaves his mark wherever he goes, doesn’t he?”

Betsy and Pearl set about arranging the cookies on a table.

“The people waiting in the sanctuary will be turned loose pretty soon,” Pearl said. “It’s always a madhouse for the first half hour, and then we’ll get another rush about four o’clock. And, girls, just learn from all this trouble, and move on with your lives.”

“Amen,” Addy agreed. “And Justine, even though Mia’s father was a good guy, we are both lucky women. Just like me, you have a lot of support and love to help you raise your baby as a single mother.”

Mia raised her hand. “If you ever need to do some Ricky bashing, I’m your lady.”

“I’ll take you up on that.” Justine grinned. “How about tonight? Can I call you after supper?”

“Give me your phone, and I’ll put my number in it for you,” Mia said.

Addy heaved a quiet sigh of relief. Mia had made a friend. Now, maybe she wouldn’t be quite so clingy, and together, she and Justine could help each other get past their experiences with Ricky O’Malley.