“Sure,” Addy said. “Looks like she and Tex have them herded up. That’s the last one going into the shed.”
Addy still had high hopes that she could talk Mia out of selling off the flock, right up until they got the first three animals out of the shed and into the shearing area. “What kind of price are you getting for Nellie?” she asked.
“That would be my business,” Mia said as she switched on the first set of shears and started to work.
“How about Buster Boy, here?” Addy began the job on the prize ram that had cost Mia all her wages one summer.
Mia gave her a drop-dead look and kept working. “You can’t guilt me into keeping them by reminding me that I named them. And for your information, Mama, Ricky and I are leaving this afternoon for a little vacation.”
“You can’t leave today. Father’s Day is Sunday,” Addy said.
Mia cut her eyes around at her mother. “I don’t have a father, remember?”
“You have a poppa, who has given you a lot of leeway on his ranch and has paid for your college. You know how much Father’s Day means to him. Give this idea of a vacation a week at least. Stay until after Sunday,” Addy begged, hoping to have time to talk her out of leaving with the local bad boy.
“I have some questions.” Jesse started on a second ewe. “Is Ricky selling off something of his to help pay for this trip, too? Where are y’all going, so we’ll kind of know where you are in case you need help? Are you taking your vehicle or his?” Jesse started on a second ewe.
“We’re going on a road trip and we’re taking my truck, because it’s in better shape than his, and the rest is none of your business. I keep telling both of you that I’m an adult and that Ricky and I can make our own decisions,” she answered. “We’ve been dating for months.”
Addy’s world was falling apart at the seams. Mia had always talked to her about everything. Why had she kept this a secret? The sudden changes in Mia made sense now.
“Are you eloping?” Addy whispered the question and held her breath, hoping that Mia would talk to her.
“Hell, no!” Mia shouted over the top of the noise of the shears. “We don’t need a piece of paper or a fancy ceremony to know that we’re in love. We’re just going on a trip to find a place where we would like to settle down and live together. I want to see more of the world than Texas. I deserve to do what I want. I’ve worked hard here.”
“What do you intend to do when you run out of money?” Jesse asked.
“We’ll both get jobs on a ranch,” she answered. “We’ve worked on them our whole life, and it shouldn’t be hard to find work. There are ranches everywhere.”
Addy finished shearing Buster Boy and turned him out into the corral. She gathered up the wool and put it into the packer at the end of the room, wiped the tears from her eyes, and tried to flush the anger from her heart. Addy couldn’t bear seeing her daughter leave town with that boy; hence the tears. But the anger came from her sensible daughter not being able to see that she was giving up her own dreams for a guy who would break her heart.
“Aren’t you going to help us finish the shearing?” Mia yelled.
“No, I am not,” Addy said. “I will put the wool in the packer and sweep, but that’s as much as I’m doing to help with this foolhardy idea of yours. If you’re going to be an adult and take your life and money into your own hands, then have the guts to go tell Sonny you won’t be here for Father’s Day.”
“I’ll tell them when I go back to the house to get my things. I’m not talking about this anymore. My mind is made up.” Mia stomped her foot on the wooden floor for emphasis.
Addy hoped that when Mia saw the effect her leaving had on Pearl and Sonny, she would take a step back and think about things. Her sheep would be gone, but she could use the money to build another flock, or maybe even invest it in cattle. Addy’s thoughts chased around in her head so fast that she was a little dizzy when the shearing was finished. She gathered up the last of the wool from the floor and put it in the packer.
“What do you want to do with this bundle of wool?” Addy asked.
“Sell it and put the money in my checking account.” Mia brought out three bottles of cold water and tossed one each to Addy and Jesse. She twisted the top off hers, took a long drink, and then wiped the sweat from her face with the tail of her tank top, showing off a belly ring that Addy had no idea her daughter had gotten. When Mia sat down on the floor across the room from her mother, her shirt rolled up in the back and there was a tattoo of a rose across the small of her back.
“When did you get a tat?” Addy whispered.
“Ricky gave me this one for my birthday.” She shrugged. “I’ve been thinking about getting another one, maybe two hearts entwined with mine and his initials in them, right here.” She pulled down the neck of her shirt and pointed to her chest.
Addy downed half the bottle of water to keep from saying anything.
“Did you want a tat?” Jesse asked.
Mia jacked up her chin in defiance. “Ricky wanted me to have one, and I thought it was sweet of him to pick out a rose. He says I’m his beautiful red rose, and this will always remind me of how much he loves me. If I get another one, it will show him that I will love him forever.”
“So you’ve been dating him since February?” Jesse asked.
Mia shook her head. “We’ve been seeing each other since right after Thanksgiving last year.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Addy asked.
“I knew how you would react,” Mia told her.
Jesse’s body glistened with sweat and his hair was soaked when he sat down on the floor of the shed not far from Addy. Just having him close gave her strength, but she still thought maybe this thing with Mia was just a dream—no, not a dream, a full-fledged nightmare.
Jesse turned up his bottle, took a long drink, and said, “That’s pretty amazing shearing for a nineteen-year-old girl.”
“Are you one of those men who think women can’t do something good?” Mia’s tone was cold enough to scare away the sweltering heat.
“Not at all. I served with women, even knew a couple of snipers who were female,” he said. “If that’s all you got out of my statement, then you missed the point altogether.”
Addy tried a different approach. “I can’t stop you from going, but I can freeze your bank accounts since I’m the primary on both of them.”
“I don’t need any of that money. I’ll just cash the check I’m getting today. That should be enough to keep us in hotels and food until we find where we want to live. Ricky thinks we’ll start driving toward California and maybe find a place in Nevada. I want to check out the mountains in Colorado or maybe Wyoming before we make a decision,” Mia said.
“Will you call your mother every day?” Jesse asked. “She’ll worry about you.”
“Nope, but I will call her once a week on Sunday afternoon if we aren’t somewhere that has no service.” Mia pointed at him. “But this isn’t any of your concern. It’s between family, not outsiders.” She turned back to focus on her mother. “Ricky and I’ve been living together this last semester of school. He got kicked out of the dorm for smoking pot, but it was his roommate who had the stuff, not Ricky. We rented an apartment together. We passed most of our classes, so we have a full year of business courses under our belts, and I have ranching experience so finding jobs won’t be a problem.”