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

“She only goes for the handsome ones, so I’ll fix your face so she don’t look at you again,” the first guy said as he took another swipe toward Patrick with the broken bottle.

Patrick squared off with him and held him at bay with the legs of a bar stool. “You idiot. I wasn’t flirting with your woman. I asked her which way the bathrooms were.”

“You’re a low-down scoundrel, Patrick O’Malley. Everyone in town knows you cheat on Lylah.” He knocked the bar stool out into the dance floor, causing two couples to trip and fall flat on their butts. “Well, your lies ain’t goin’ to work on me.”

Jesse got between them and managed to wrestle the bottle from the big burly guy’s hand, but in the process he got a cut on the back of his hand. Now, he and Patrick were both bleeding.

“You idiot,” Cody yelled as he waded into the melee. “That’s my brother you just sliced open. Someone call 911 and the police.”

Suddenly, Addy was beside Jesse and shaking her finger at the guy who had been holding the bottle. “You fool. You’re drunk, and you’ve injured two men. Charges will be filed against you as soon as the police get here.”

“Come on, Dolly.” He motioned for his woman. “It’s time we left.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she declared and dropped down on her knees beside Patrick. “I’m so sorry, honey. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He told me he had to work tonight.”

Patrick’s blue eyes rolled back in his head, and he fainted right there at Jesse’s feet.

“Is there a doctor in the house?” the woman squealed.

Cody dropped down on his knees. “I’m a doctor.” He pulled off his shirt, tore it in half, and threw one side to Addy. “Use that to apply pressure to Jesse’s hand. That’s a nasty cut and it’s going to need stitches,” he said as he used the other part of the shirt to apply pressure to Patrick’s cheek.

“Is he going to live?” the woman sobbed.

“Of course,” Cody said. “He’s not dying. He’s passed out from too much liquor. Do you know if he’s allergic to anything or how much he’s had to drink?”

“You’ll have to ask his wife.” She stood up and melted back into the crowd.

“Wait until Lylah hears about this.” Jesse tried to chuckle, but it came out more like a groan.

“As long as they’re talking about her problems, they’ll leave us alone,” Addy whispered. “Now, be still until the ambulance gets here.”

“Send Patrick with them and take me home. Cody can stitch me up there. I’m up-to-date on my tetanus shot, so I don’t need one of those,” Jesse said.

“I can do that.” Cody looped his arm through Jesse’s and led the way through the people now standing around, staring down at Patrick. “Let’s just ease on out of here.”

The ambulance was pulling up as they made their way to Jesse’s truck. “Want me to drive?”

“I can take him home,” Addy said. “You can follow us, and we’ll get him stitched up when we get to the house.”

“Will do,” Cody said.

“You are welcome,” Jesse chuckled as he got into the passenger seat.

“For what?” Cody asked.

“I got you out of whatever was going on between you and Stevie.” He slammed the door before Cody could answer.

Addy started up the engine, backed out of the parking spot, and headed toward the ranch. “I can’t leave you alone for one minute,” she teased.

“It’s your fault for letting Grady cut into our dance. You should have told him that you didn’t want to dance with him.” Jesse leaned his head back. “I hate stitches more than anything.”

“Cody will numb you up real good, and I’ll get you a shot of Sonny’s best whiskey to dull the senses,” she offered. “And, honey, Grady wanted to dance with me to ask me to forgive him for saying we couldn’t talk anymore. He and his girlfriend broke up, and he’s got a new one that isn’t jealous.”

Jesse sat up straight. “What did you tell him?”

“Told him that I had committed to working with Cody. He got a little hateful and asked if I couldn’t decide which brother I wanted,” she answered.

“I told him that it wasn’t a damn bit of his business how I lived my life, and then the ruckus started. I left him on the dance floor and was coming to get you when the lady started singing, “From This Moment On.”

“I wanted to dance with you on that song,” Jesse said as she turned into the lane to Sunflower Ranch. His hand had left the shock stage and had begun to throb.

“I was coming to get you for just that same reason, but we kind of got sidetracked.” She parked the truck in front of the yard gate, and Cody pulled in right behind her.

“I’ll get my bag, and we’ll work on him in the kitchen.” Cody laid a palm on the fence and jumped over it in one fluid movement.

“I’d try to do that and impress you so you would choose me, but I don’t think I better with this.” Jesse held up his injured hand, which was still wrapped in half of his brother’s shirt.

“Oh, hush!” Addy scolded as she opened the gate for him.