Her phone pinged and she picked it up from the nightstand to find a message from Mia: Call me when you’re ready. I’m waiting to have breakfast with you.
Stevie’s thumbs quickly typed out, I’m ready now.
She shoved a stocking hat down over her red hair and put on her coat. She stepped outside and heard the rattle of a four-wheeler coming down the path. A visual of the gray sky dropping down to cover her with darkness made her chest tighten. She wasn’t ready to get back on one of those vehicles, but the sound was getting louder and louder, and then Mia was right there at the end of the porch steps.
“Crawl on behind me,” Mia said.
Stevie wanted to shake her head and say that she would walk, but Mia needed to see a strong, fearless woman, not a whimpering weakling that was afraid to get back on the horse—so to speak. She walked down the porch steps, slung a leg over the seat, and willed her heart to stop beating so hard.
The trip up to the house only took a few minutes, but Stevie gripped the edge of the seat so hard that her knuckles began to ache. A coyote howled out in the distance, and she remembered that scary feeling when she barely came to and thought the coyotes were going to eat her.
“We’re here.” Mia’s voice came through her fear. “Are you okay, Stevie?”
“I’m fine”—she managed a weak smile—“just thinking about the other four-wheeler and hoping that it can be repaired.”
Mia had killed the engine and was already off the vehicle. “My dad can fix anything. Trust me. Let’s get inside where it’s warm and have some breakfast.”
Stevie let go of her grip and got off the vehicle. “After that supper you brought us and a second piece of pie before I went to sleep, I shouldn’t be hungry for a week, but I’m starving.”
“It always seems like we need more food when it’s so cold.” She held the back door open for Stevie to go inside ahead of her. “The weatherman said that the temperatures will start rising today and tomorrow. That means by the weekend, the roads might be clear, and we can go back to normal.”
Stevie wondered just what her new normal would be when she got to go home. Would she slip right back into her veterinarian job, and into the depression she’d been fighting since her mother’s death? No answers came floating down from the ceiling, so she tucked her hat and gloves into the pocket of her coat and hung it on a hook right inside the door of the utility room.
“Good morning,” Addy said from the kitchen. “How are you feeling?”
Stevie crossed the small utility/mudroom and stopped in the kitchen. “I’m really fine, not sure I even have a concussion. I think maybe what I was feeling was the result of getting the wind knocked out of me and being so cold.”
“Better treat it as a concussion and be safe rather than sorry,” Addy told her. “Pour yourself a mug of coffee and have a seat at the table. Mia made waffles and sausage this morning, and she’s got strawberries and whipped cream if you’d rather have that instead of syrup.”
“I feel like I’m saying this all the time but thank you. Can I help with anything?” Stevie asked as she filled a mug with coffee.
“Yep, you can.” Mia poured batter into the waffle iron. “I’m studying agribusiness so I can understand more about running that end of the ranch. Here lately I’ve been thinking that I would like to be a vet tech, so I enrolled in a couple of animal husbandry courses this next semester. Can I pick your brain a little while you’re here?”
“Sure, but why do you want to do that in addition to the business part?” Stevie took a sip of her coffee, made strong like she liked.
“That way, I can be of more help on the ranch. I could do some of the things that you do,” Mia answered.
“The courses will help, but hands-on will teach you a lot,” Stevie said. “I can’t pay you much, but if you want to assist me a couple of days a week, I’d be glad to have you.”
“Are you serious?” Mia squealed and dashed across the room to give Stevie a hug. “I would love that.” Then she hesitated and looked over at Addy. “Mama, can you and Dad spare me two days a week?”
“Of course we can when it’s all about learning more,” Addy said, “and we should be paying you, Stevie, just like we pay for college hours.”
Stevie shook her head. “Not after what all y’all have done for me. Besides, it would be nice to have a sidekick a couple of days a week.”
“What days?” Mia asked.
“You talk to Jesse, and y’all decide that. I’m on call right now seven days a week,” Stevie answered. “So, the days and times could vary, but if you’re busy with something here, we can always get together on another day. We’ll just keep it flexible.”
“I’m not glad that you’ve got two flat tires, but I’m glad you got stuck with Uncle Cody.” Mia dished up waffles onto a plate and set them in front of Stevie.
Stevie slathered butter on her waffles and then covered them with maple syrup. “It’s crazy how all this has happened, but I’m glad it did.”
“Us too,” Addy said. “Why did you decide to go to vet school?”
“I loved animals more than people, or I would have been a doctor like Cody, or maybe a nurse like you,” Stevie answered between bites. “Do you like being a concierge nurse with Cody?”
“Love it,” Addy said. “I’ve got a support system with Pearl and Sonny and Mia to help with the twins, so I don’t have to feel guilty about leaving them. But then, I can do what I love at the same time. It’s the perfect job for me.”
“It’s not so different from what you do.” Mia brought her breakfast to the table. “You go to the animals. Folks don’t bring them to your house. Mama and Uncle Cody go to the houses of the older folks and those who don’t want to go to a clinic. It’s about the same thing only the patients have two legs instead of four.”
Stevie nodded in agreement. “That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.”
“I know your mama was sick, but why did you stay after you lost her?” Addy finished making a pan of yeast bread and set it to the side to rise. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down across from Stevie. “If that’s too personal, you don’t have to answer it.”
“I might ask you the same thing. Considering the circumstances of Mia’s birth, why would you ever come to work here on Sunflower Ranch?” Stevie asked.
“Fair enough,” Addy answered. “This was home, and something kept drawing me back here. Maybe it was Fate, or just a longing in my heart, but whatever, I’m glad I listened to it. When the Ryans offered me a job helping take care of Sonny after he was diagnosed, well…” She took a sip of her coffee. “I learned years later that they figured out that Mia was their granddaughter and considered it an extra bonus to get to spend time with her and have me as Sonny’s private nurse.”
“When did you tell Jesse?” Stevie asked.
“He kind of figured it out on his own,” Addy answered. “Now, your turn? Did you come back to get closure with Cody?”
“Not really, but that is an added bonus to my Texas homecoming.” Stevie finished off the last bite of her waffles. “I’ve tried to steer clear of him the past six months, but I guess Fate, as you called it, had different plans.”