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

Cody chuckled. “Maybe I can help save enough on doctor bills to offset what Stevie charges. Who is this guy anyway?”

“Not guy.” Addy was glad to steer the conversation away from herself. She needed time to think about Cody’s offer. “Remember Stephanie O’Dell? She would have been a couple of years younger than you in high school.”

“She had red hair even curlier than yours and big blue eyes,” Cody finished her sentence. “Kind of tall and thin, and she cleaned up in the science division of every academic meet we went to. Kind of embarrassed me since she was a freshman, and I was a senior.”

“That’s Stevie O’Dell.” Addy slid the muffins into the oven.

“She’ll be at the rodeo events in Honey Grove tonight,” Sonny said. “She volunteers her time to be the onsite vet. I can’t wait to see how the little kiddos do on the mutton busting. I love that and the calf riding and the calf scramble.”

Addy had begun to shake her head before Sonny finished. “Grady said that you are to have more rest for a few days. You don’t need to be sitting out in the heat at a dusty old rodeo.”

“Grady’s not my doctor anymore,” Sonny said. “Cody is my new doctor, and if he doesn’t agree with me, then that’s too bad. That little episode has taught me that I’m not wasting one more second sitting around and waiting for this disease to put me on my back. I’m going to live my life. Pearl and I are going to the rodeo, and as soon as Henry gets settled in Colorado, we’re going to spend a few weeks with him. After that I’m taking her to Las Vegas. You boys are home. You can take care of Sunflower.”

“But we’ll only be gone for a week at a time,” Pearl said. “I want to spend as much time as I can with my boys.”

“We’ll be together and having a good time, not sitting at home waiting for me to die, and when I’m home, I don’t want y’all to treat me like an invalid either.” Sonny opened his arms. “Come over here and give me a hug, Pearl.”

When Pearl bent to hug Sonny, he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her cheek. “I’m the luckiest man alive to have had you beside me all these years.”

“You’ve always been a hopeless romantic,” Pearl said through misty eyes.

“That’s why you fell in love with me when we were just sixteen years old.” Sonny smiled and kissed her on the other cheek. “Promise me you’ll travel with me, and let me do what I can for as long as I can.”

“I promise, sweetheart,” she said. “I’ll go with you wherever you want to go, but if we get any more grandchildren, I want to be home to enjoy them.”

Addy had been so intent on watching the beautiful display of love that she didn’t even notice Jesse getting up to stand behind her. When she sighed, he slipped his hands around her waist and whispered, “That’s the kind of relationship I want.”

“Me, too,” she agreed.





Chapter Twenty-Two



Thank God for a breeze that ruffled the leaves on the trees on Friday afternoon, Jesse thought. He worried about his dad being out in the hot sun, too, after the episode he had had, but there was no talking him out of going to the parade. Sonny agreed to sit in a canvas chair, but he declared that he had judged the little kids’ bicycle part of the parade for fifty years, and he wasn’t turning his job over to anyone else that year.

“Mia, darlin’, go get some nachos from that vendor across the street for me and Pearl to share while we figure out which bicycle is best.” Sonny handed her a twenty-dollar bill. “And we’ll want a large root beer, too. Keep whatever change there is to get yourself something to eat. We won’t be going back home until after the events tonight. I want to visit with the folks.”

“Dad, you could use a couple of hours rest between now and the mutton busting,” Cody told him.

“I can rest when I can’t go anymore,” Sonny said. “Now, y’all go on and stop hovering around me like buzzards waiting for me to die.”

“Sonny Ryan!” Addy scolded. “I’m not a buzzard!”

“No, honey, you’re a pretty little dove, but these two are so worried about me leaving this earth that they’re forgetting to live. Jesse, take this woman by the hand and let the whole town know y’all are a couple, or an item, or whatever the hell y’all call it these days. If you don’t, some guy like Grady will come along and steal her from you,” Sonny chuckled.

Jesse quickly grabbed Addy’s hand and kissed the knuckles. “Do I need to carry a pistol?” he joked.

“I reckon not,” Sonny answered. “Hey, Dr. Stevie.” He waved and yelled across the road.

Stevie waved back and jogged over to where Sonny and Pearl were sitting. “I heard you had to spend some time in the hospital. You should have called me. I’ve treated rangy old bulls like you for a long time.”

“I’d say that next time I would, but Cody has come home, and he’ll be takin’ care of me from now on,” Sonny told her.

Jesse tugged on Addy’s hand, but she held her ground. “Just a minute. I’m trying to decide if I want tacos, which are that way”—she pointed to the left—“or corn dogs, which are in the other direction.”