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

Tex met them on the porch and dashed inside the house in front of Jesse. He headed straight for the kitchen as if he knew that’s where they would be and curled up under the table.

“Sit down right there.” Addy pointed to the chair where Sonny usually sat and headed to the sink.

“Bossy, ain’t you?” Jesse said.

“When my boyfriend’s hand is cut open, I am.” She filled a basin with water, opened a drawer for towels, and carried everything to the table.

“I’m your boyfriend?” he asked.

Cody slapped him on the back of the head as he passed by. “Of course you are, doofus. Addy is too classy for one-night stands or flings. You are a boyfriend. Own it and be proud of it.”

“I am”—Jesse nodded—“very proud of it. I just wanted to hear her say it. Some first date, huh?”

Addy unwound the bloody shirt from his hand and cleaned the gaping inch-long wound with water. “At least we won’t ever be able to say our first date was boring. Cody, we might be able to pull this together with Steri-strips.”

Cody sat down and took a long look at the wound. “Nope, it needs stitches, and very close together. He’ll have to do more bossin’ than workin’ for a while until it heals up.”

“Come on,” Jesse groaned. “Listen to your nurse and use the strips.”

“Sorry, brother.” Cody shook his head. “This is right where your wrist bends, and you are also going to need a wrist guard to keep it straight until it heals. We’ll be lucky if you don’t have to have therapy on it, just because of the location.” He pulled out a hypodermic needle and tore the packaging away from it. “This is going to sting, but then you won’t feel the stitches.”

“I’ve said that so many times that I can’t even remember them all,” Jesse said.

“I just bet you have, and if this was your left hand, you could even do this yourself, but your stitching wouldn’t be as pretty as mine.” Cody joked as he worked. “And I bet you aren’t as gentle as I am. You’ll only feel the stick the first time.”

“Just get on with it and stop bragging.” Jesse watched as the needle pierced his flesh around the cut.

Addy sat down beside him and watched as Cody carefully stitched the skin together with tiny little sutures. “You should have been a plastic surgeon.”

“Thought about it, but then I figured there were folks who needed a plain old doctor more than those who needed to be pretty,” Cody said as he tied off the last stitch. “I’ll take these out in ten days. Until then, you get to wear a brace to keep you from bending the wrist and ruining my beautiful work. Let this teach you to stay out of other men’s fights.”

“Hey, now,” Jesse protested. “I was just walking across the room to dance with my girlfriend. They put me in the middle of their fight.”

“That’s not the way I saw it,” Cody argued.

“You couldn’t see right because you were focused on Stevie,” Jesse reminded him.

Addy patted him on his shoulder. “Come on, tough cowboy. Let’s get you down to the bunkhouse and put you to bed.”

“I’m not a child,” Jesse said.

“I can see where Mia gets that attitude,” Addy teased, “when she sets her jaw and says she’s not a little girl. If you’re so big and brave that you don’t need me, then I’ll sleep in Mia’s room tonight.”

“Whoa!” Jesse threw up his left palm. “Now I see where our daughter gets her sass.”

“Mia does not get her sass from me,” Addy protested. “She acts just exactly like my grandmother. Let’s go home to the bunkhouse and get some sleep. We’ll feel better come morning.”

“I’ll see y’all at breakfast,” Cody yawned, “but, brother, if you wanted a few days to be lazy, all you had to do was ask me to do your work. You didn’t have to try to amputate your hand.”

“You were the serious one when you left home. What happened to make you so funny?” Jesse pushed back his chair and stood up.

“Life.” Cody grinned as he left the room.

* * *



Addy slipped her hand into Jesse’s on the way to the bunkhouse. “Want me to sleep on the sofa tonight so that…”

“No,” he answered before she could even finish the sentence.

“Dancing to that song tonight was important to me,” Jesse said as they crossed the distance from the back porch to the bunkhouse. “I’m not as romantic as a woman like you deserves, but when it started playing, I thought it would be the perfect time to tell my girlfriend that I’ve fallen in love with her.”

“Damn Patrick O’Malley for ruining that for your girlfriend. I know she would have loved to have heard those words while she was dancing to the song that says all those beautiful things,” Addy whispered.

“I imagine that Lylah is damning him pretty good tonight without my girlfriend heaping coals upon his head. So, as my best friend, do you really think my girlfriend is ready for me to say those words to her, or should I wait?” Jesse asked as he opened the door with his left hand and stood to one side.

“Lylah should have been there with him rather than helping clean up the church cupcake vendor site,” Addy said. “I would never let my husband go to a dance without me.”