“I bet you are.” Stevie could almost feel the love the family had for one another wrapping around her like a thick, fuzzy blanket on a cold night.
“All right, everyone, I’m putting the pot on the counter, and tonight I’ll ask Jesse to say grace,” Addy said. “After that, you can line up and help yourselves.”
Jesse slipped his arm around his wife’s waist and bowed his head. “Our Father…”
Stevie didn’t hear the rest of the prayer, because she was thinking about what her mother said about being beautiful on the inside. Right then she couldn’t claim a bit of that beauty, because she was bullfrog green with jealousy.
She had heard the gossip about Mia taking off with Ricky last summer, and also the rumors about Addy when she had finally come clean and revealed Jesse was Mia’s father. True enough, the family had had their hurdles to jump over in the past, but that night they were perfect, and she wanted to be a part of something just like this—someday.
What do you mean by someday? Her mother was back while Stevie’s head was bowed for grace. Your biological clock is ticking so loud I can hear it all the way to the pearly gates, girl. If you want a family, you’d best quit wasting time.
“Amen,” Jesse said.
“Guests first.” Cody took a step back from the counter and motioned for Stevie to go first.
“Oh, no!” She shook her head. “The only thing I love better than hot rolls is Italian food. If I go first, there won’t be anything left for the rest of you.”
“Well, I’m not bashful.” Mia picked up a plate and covered one side with pasta and the other with salad, then added two hot rolls to the top.
“That’s the Ryan genes coming out in you, girl. When it comes to food, not a one of us is shy,” Cody agreed. “Mama, are you really going to let her get by with taking two hot rolls? You would have fussed at us guys for that.”
“I’m her favorite,” Mia teased as she carried her plate to the table. “And I plan to have two pieces of Nana’s chocolate sheet cake when I’m done. Feeding cattle in all this snow uses up a lot of energy.”
“And plowing pathways from one place to another, I would imagine,” Stevie said, and got in line behind Pearl.
Mia stopped, looked over her shoulder, and flashed a bright smile. “Us girls have to stick together, don’t we?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Stevie was glad to be included in the family, even if it was only for a little while.
“How hungry are you, darlin’?” Pearl asked Sonny.
“Not quite starving, but I’m like Stevie when it comes to Italian food, so give me plenty so you don’t have to go back for seconds for me, sweetheart,” Sonny answered.
Stevie wanted a relationship like Pearl and Sonny had, one that could endure decades of ups and downs, and she would still love her partner enough to call him darlin’ at the end of the day. She blinked away more tears and took the serving spoon from Pearl when she’d finished making Sonny’s plate.
“This looks so good,” Stevie said.
“We’ve been making pot meals,” Mia said from the table, “as in simple things, not pot as in weed, since we’ve been snowed it. They are my favorite in the wintertime.”
“After scrounging for food for four days, this is a pretty fancy supper,” Cody said, “but Stevie did whip up a reasonable vegetable soup one evening and some hoecake to eat with it.”
“Thank goodness Max left some food.” Pearl took Sonny’s plate to the table, then returned to fix her own. “I worried about you kids having to hunt rabbits for food in that blizzard.”
“I’m not sure I could eat a rabbit. They’re so soft and cuddly and have those big eyes, so I’m glad there was some food in the tack room.” Stevie carried her plate to the table and stopped and looked around, not knowing where her place was. Before her mother passed away, she always sat on one side of the table for four and Ruth’s place was right across from her.
“Sit anywhere, darlin’,” Sonny said. “We don’t have assigned seats, except for Jesse and Cody. They can’t sit beside each other because they still don’t know how to behave.”
“It’s Jesse’s fault.” Cody brought his food to the table, set it down, and pulled out a chair for Stevie. “You can sit beside me. You’re prettier than my brother anyway.”
“That wasn’t very nice.” Jesse took a seat at the head of the table. “I even drove to the barn and rescued you.”
“Whoa!” Addy threw up a hand. “Tell me more about these cats.”
“It’s like this…” Stevie continued to tell the story of the cria and how the cats took her under their wing, so to speak. “We were afraid Dixie might die if your hembra didn’t adopt her, so we brought them with us.”
“Cats, as in more than one?” Mia asked.
“A mama cat named Dolly and her kittens Boots, Tammy, and Loretta,” Cody answered. “They’re out in the barn. Well, they’re actually in the stall with Maggie, the new cria, and Dixie. I can take them back when the roads are clear if you don’t want them out there, Dad.”
“Poppa…” Mia whined. “If no one buys that ranch for a long time, they might starve.”
Sonny’s old eyes sparkled. “What do you think, Pearl, darlin’. Can our budget afford to feed a mama cat and her babies?”
Pearl pretended to have to think about the finances for a while, and then finally she nodded. “Well, if she’s a good mouser, she might be worth keeping around, but no cats or kittens in the house, Mia. I hate the smell of a litter box.”
“Thank you, thank you!” Mia squealed. “I’m going out there to get acquainted with Miz Dixie and the cats soon as we get done with supper. I love their names, Uncle Cody, but why didn’t you name the boy Waylon or Willie or even Blake or Twitty?”
“Because he’s black and white and has four white feet. He looked like a Boots to me,” Cody answered.
“And, Mia, Boots Randolph was a fantastic country music saxophone player, so he’s kind of named after a star anyway,” Sonny said. “Look him up on that fancy phone of yours and listen to him play ‘Yakety Sax.’”
“I will,” Mia said, “but before I do that, I want to go see the new animals. I’ve tried for years to tame those wild barn cats. Now I’ll have kittens I can hold and love on.”
“And a brand-new baby cria,” Addy reminded her.
“Life is good in spite of the snow,” Mia sighed.
Yes, it is. Stevie agreed with a slight nod. In this household, she wasn’t a seventeen-year-old kid anymore. She was an adult who, like Cody reminded her, was an intelligent woman and a help to the community.
“I’ll go with you,” Stevie offered. “I’d like to check on Dixie one more time before bedtime, just to be sure she’s settling in all right. But not before chocolate cake.”
“Oh, Dr. Stevie, nothing comes between me and Nana’s chocolate cake, not even new pets,” Mia said with a giggle.
The twins began to fuss and gnaw on their fists at the same time, and Addy pushed back her plate. “That’s my cue for bedtime. They’ve had their baths, so it’s bottle and rocking time. Save me a piece of cake!”