“What’s his name?” Jesse asked.
Mia blushed. “That’s my business.”
“I’d be interested in knowing who this guy friend is, too,” Addy said. “You never mentioned him before.”
“He’s a secret,” Mia whispered. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“All right.” Addy shrugged. “Used to be that you told me everything.”
“I’m a grown woman now,” Mia said.
Henry chuckled and steered the conversation back to the ranch business. “I drove past the fence that was down and saw you got it fixed, Jesse. Fine job. The whole section needs some work done next week, but at least now if one of the Hereford bulls from the pasture across the road gets loose, it won’t be flirting with our Angus cows.”
The tension was still so thick that Jesse couldn’t have cut through it with a machete when he looked across the table at Mia. “I took care of that before I organized the tack room this afternoon. Thought I might fix my old dirt bike and four-wheeler on Monday if that’s all right.”
“What are you looking at me for?” Mia asked. “You’re going to be the boss soon enough. I guess you can do whatever you want.”
“Just wondering if you can handle that bunch of wild boys all on your own,” Jesse teased.
“I’m good at what I do,” Mia shot back.
Jesse shifted his gaze to his father. “But before I do get all greasy and dirty working on a bike, I’d like for you to walk me through the computer program, Dad.”
“I’ll be glad to,” Sonny said, “and more than glad to turn the whole thing over to you. I’ve hated all this technology stuff.”
“I’ll do it,” Addy said. “Computers stress you out, Sonny.”
Sonny looked down the table at Addy. “That’s a great idea, and takes a load off my mind. I didn’t like doing the paperwork when it was in ledger books, but I just hate it now that everything has gone technical.”
“Thank you both for helping Dad with the computer work,” Jesse said, “and Addy, I’m a pretty quick study on computers, so maybe I’ll catch on pretty quick.”
“Don’t pass plumb out when you see how much feed and fuel costs these days,” Henry chuckled. “It’s probably doubled in the past twenty years.”
“Just like everything else,” Jesse agreed, “but if you hear me groaning and trying to catch my breath, come rescue me.”
“Addy can give you some mouth-to-mouth if that happens,” Henry teased.
“No, she will not!” Mia said.
Addy cut her eyes around at her daughter. “Honey, I’m sure that Jesse was teasing.”
“I just want you to meet a nice man that makes you happy before…”
“Before what?” Addy asked.
“Nothing,” Mia answered. “Great pot roast Nana, and I’m sorry to eat and run, but some of my friends are waiting for me uptown.”
“Go have fun,” Pearl said.
“Remember that you’ve got a full day ahead of you tomorrow,” Sonny cautioned her. “Better not stay out too late.”
“I won’t, Poppa.” She kissed him on the top of his head on her way out of the room.
Jesse wished he knew how to fix Mia’s problem with him. His folks and her mother sure didn’t need this kind of tension every time they sat down at the table. If it didn’t get better, he would beg off having supper with them as often as possible and take a plate out to the bunkhouse.
* * *
After supper and cleanup, Addy checked Sonny’s vital signs, wrote them in the notebook for Grady, and went to her room. She tried to read a book, but finally tossed it over on the bed when she realized she hadn’t gotten past page one. The television didn’t have anything she wanted to watch, and she was still in turmoil over Mia’s behavior all day.
Mia had been a happy baby, a great little girl, and had become Addy’s best friend when they moved to Sunflower Ranch—right up until last Christmas. She was supposed to come home for spring break in March but had said she needed to stay at the college and study for midterms. Addy wasn’t used to her acting so surly and didn’t like the snarky little witch that had taken over Mia’s body. She finally marched across the hall and knocked on her daughter’s bedroom door.
“Come in,” Mia yelled.
Addy found her lying on her bed, both thumbs doing double time as she sent texts to someone. “I thought you were going into town.”
“Changed my mind. I might go later this evening for a while. Are you here to yell at me some more about supper?” Mia laid the phone on the bed beside her.
“Who are you texting, and do you feel like I should yell at you?” Addy sat down on the edge of the bed. “You might tell me why you’re being so rude and hateful. This isn’t my Mia. This is some woman that I don’t know, and she’s not been the same since she came home from college this semester.”
“I’ve got my reasons, and I don’t want to talk about it,” Mia answered.
“We’ve known for weeks that Jesse was coming home and taking over the ownership of the ranch. Sonny’s problems are stabilizing with the new drug, but if it stops working, he could go downhill pretty fast,” Addy reminded her.
“I don’t like Jesse,” Mia sighed, “and I’m not having this conversation right now.” Her phone pinged and she picked it up again. “Ricky can get away quicker than he thought he could, so he is going to be at the bonfire down on the creek tonight. He’s picking me up and bringing me back home.”
“You do know how I feel about Ricky, and you know how he treats girls, don’t you?” Addy asked. “His reputation for using them and then throwing them away has been with him since y’all were in middle school. Why on earth would you even want to be around him?”
“I’m an adult now, Mama, and folks have accused him of mean things when they don’t even know him. Don’t worry about me.” Mia hopped up off her bed, grabbed her phone and purse, and headed out of the room. “You don’t like Ricky. I don’t like Jesse. At least I’m honest about stuff. You and Jesse have been flirting with your eyes all day. What is it with y’all? Were you more than best friends?”
“Like you just said, I’m not having this conversation tonight, and I don’t appreciate the way you’re talking to me,” Addy said through clenched teeth.
“I’m an adult, and I will speak my mind,” Mia smarted off.
Addy stood up, crossed the room, and closed the bedroom door behind her. Then she opened it and said, “You might tell Ricky if he honks for you to come outside, I’ll be the one who goes out the door first. If he can’t respect you enough to come inside for you, then he can stay away from this place.”
Mia rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and started texting again. “You are so old-fashioned, Mama. Guys don’t do that anymore, and I won’t ask Ricky to, so forget it, and if you go out there, I’ll just leave the ranch and get a job in town for the summer.”
Addy pointed a finger at her daughter. “Respect doesn’t change with age, my child. If you want to get a job elsewhere, just get after it, but remember, you’ll have to pay rent, utilities, and if you move away from here, you can damn well expect to pay your own phone bills and car insurance.”