* * *
Cody drove the mile from the bunkhouse to the other side of the ranch where his folks now lived in the old foreman’s house, a small two-bedroom frame house. He found his father and mother sitting on the front porch swing bundled up in coats. Sonny even had a blanket around his legs.
“What are y’all doing outside in the cold?” Cody called as he got out of his truck, went up onto the porch, and hiked a hip on the railing.
“We’re celebrating,” Sonny said. “Today is the anniversary of our first date all those years ago. I wasn’t allowed to take your mother out in my old pickup truck, but her daddy said I could sit on the porch swing with her and we could talk. Every year, we do this to remember that we fell in love that night.”
“We sit on the porch swing for one hour,” Pearl said, “because that’s how long my father said we could spend together, and then Sonny had to come inside the house and visit with my folks the rest of the evening.”
“Our hour is up.” Sonny pushed the blanket to the side and used his cane to steady himself as he got up from the swing. “Let’s go have coffee and some of that apple pie your mama made today.”
Cody folded the blanket over his arm and followed his folks into the house. “Mia brought peach cobbler to the bunkhouse, so I’ll pass on the pie, but I would like a cup of coffee.”
“What’s on your mind this evening, son?” Pearl asked.
“Can’t a guy come see his parents without…” He paused as he laid the blanket on a ladder-back chair in the foyer. “Something being on his mind?”
“Yes, but I know you.” Pearl made sure that Sonny was seated at the table, and then she got down dessert plates and ice cream from the refrigerator. “Sure you don’t want just a sliver?”
“Maybe a tiny piece,” Cody said as he poured three mugs of coffee. “I want to save room for some of Addy’s cobbler too.”
“Boy, as skinny as you are,” Sonny chuckled, “you could eat this whole pie and a cobbler too, and still need to gain weight. You’ve got muscles, but you could use thirty more pounds.”
“Dad, I’m six feet, four inches tall, and I’m pretty much at the right weight for my height now that I’ve put on ten pounds from eating such good food since I’ve been home.” Cody carried all three mugs to the table and then sat down. “If I keep having double portions of dessert, I figure, by summer, I’ll have to buy new jeans.”
Pearl cut the pie and put a scoop of ice cream on the slice she set before Sonny. “How much is just a tiny piece?” she asked Cody.
“Half as much as you gave Dad,” he answered. “You were right, Mama, I do have something on my mind, but I probably need to start from dirt…”
Sonny chuckled again. “I remember the days when you were a little boy, and I’d ask you a question. You always had to give me an hour’s worth of backstory before you ever got around to answering it.”
“And you got to where you would say, ‘Just the facts, son, not the story from back when God made dirt.’” Cody was so grateful his dad’s illness hadn’t stolen his memories and his mind.
Pearl slid his pie across the table and then cut herself a slice. “That’s right, but we’ve got time, so give us the full story.”
“You remember me telling y’all about my doctor buddy, Nate?” Cody asked.
“The British guy, right? I always kind of thought of him like Ducky on NCIS,” Sonny answered.
“He called me last week, but before I tell you the story and show you the pictures, I want you to know that I turned him down.” He told them what the conversation had been about between bites, and after he had shown them the pictures on his phone, he ended with “I want to be here in Honey Grove, living on Sunflower Ranch and doing exactly what I’m doing.”
“Something tells me that’s not all.” Pearl finished off her pie.
“This is kind of like Fate, but Stevie got a similar offer.” He sipped his coffee and set the mug back down. When he had finished that tale, he said, “But we talked tonight, and decided that we would like to see if we might be able to put down roots together. She deserves something more than a bunkhouse, and she has all that stuff from her mother’s house that I’m sure she would like to have around her.”
“Then why don’t the two of you move into the house over there on the other part of the ranch? The one over on what used to be the Hall Ranch,” Pearl suggested. “Lucas called us earlier today and postponed coming back for another year. He said that he wants to get more into horse therapy to help kids with disabilities, and he has an opportunity to do that. If he comes back at some point, the bunkhouse will be plenty big enough for him to stay in.”
“Lucas has always been the quietest one of us and needed more space for himself than me and Jesse ever did,” Cody said. “But I actually drove over here to ask if I could move into the old Hall house you mentioned, Mama, and to ask if it would cause a problem if Stevie and I live together. We need to find ourselves before we rush into anything more than that.”
Sonny laughed so hard that he had to wipe his eyes on a napkin. When he finally stopped, he asked, “What exactly have you been doing all this time, son?”
Cody hadn’t seen his father laugh that hard in weeks. “Well, Dad, I guess I lost my mojo, because we’ve just been roommates. I want to ask her to take it to the next level, and move in with me, but I didn’t want to do that unless I could have the house. She’s special, and she deserves more than I can probably ever give her, but that would be a good start.”
“Yes, it would,” Pearl agreed. “And of course, we don’t have any issues with you asking Stevie to share the place with you. She’s practically like family already.”
“Thanks to both of you, and for the pie, Mama,” Cody said.
Pearl handed him a key ring with two keys on it. “We won’t say a word about it until she says yes, and, son, I’m so excited for both of you.”
“Me too,” Sonny said. “It’s way past time that you started putting down those roots you mentioned. And Stevie is a good woman to help you with that.”
Cody gave them both a hug and whistled all the way to his truck. He went by the barn and stopped by the corral where Maggie and the crias were. He used a length of baling twine he found in the barn to tie one of the keys around Dixie’s neck. She fussed about it at first, but when Maggie came over and loved on her, she accepted it a little better.
“You be a good girl and don’t lose that. I’ll be back tomorrow to get it back from you,” he said as he petted Dixie on the head.
When he arrived back at the bunkhouse, Stevie had cleaned up the table and divided the cobbler into two dishes.
“I waited to have dessert with you,” she told him. “Want a glass of milk to go with it?”
“That sounds great,” he answered.
“How’s your dad? Vitals all right?” she asked.
“Well, damn it!” he said. “We got to talking, and I forgot to check him. I’ll do it tomorrow after church. They were sitting on the porch…” He told her about it being the anniversary of their first date.
“That is so sweet. That’s the kind of relationship I want.” Stevie brought out two tall glasses of milk to go with their dessert.
“Me too,” Cody agreed.
* * *
The next morning, Stevie managed to listen to the minister’s sermon on being at peace with yourself, with God, and with your family—at least part of the time. Not even God could have found fault with her for stealing glances at Cody and being almost giddy with happiness that she had finally made her decision. She had even called Rodney that morning and told him she’d be staying in Honey Grove. Now it was done and finished, and she was ready to sink a root or two into the ground.
At the end of the service, Mia and Beau were the first to step out into the aisle. They looked so darned cute together that Stevie had to work hard to keep from sighing.
“Mama, I’m going to Beau’s house for dinner today,” Mia told Addy. “He came to our place la
st week, and he and his grandpa have invited me to their ranch today. I’ll be home in time to help with evening chores.”
“Have a good time,” Addy said.
“Thank you, Miz Ryan,” Beau said and smiled. “I can’t wait to show Mia around our place, and if I’m late getting her home, I’ll help her do the chores.”
“How about I help you with your chores at your ranch, and then you come home with me for supper and maybe watch a movie this evening after you help me with chores?” Mia asked.
“I’d love that,” Beau said and smiled again at her.
They went on ahead of the family, shook hands with the preacher, and were already gone by the time Cody and Stevie made it out to the parking lot. Not a single cloud floated in the sky that morning, and warm sunshine had melted most of snow that was piled up at the four corners of the lot and had looked like small dirty mountains the week before.
“See y’all at the house?” Jesse called as he put Sam into the car seat, and then reached to take Taylor from Addy’s arms.
“We’re going out to dinner today.” Cody raised his voice above the noise of more than a dozen vehicles leaving. “See y’all later.”
“Oh, so we’re going out?” Stevie asked when Cody opened the door for her and she had gotten into the truck and fastened her seat belt. “The new smell is still here.”
“Have you ever bought a brand-new car?” Cody asked as he slid behind the wheel.
“One time, and I brought it with me when I came back to Texas, but I learned real quick that I needed a van to do my work,” she answered. “So, I traded it in. The van wasn’t exactly new, but it was in good condition. A vet had owned it before, so it was already tricked out with bins I needed. The tires needed replacing, and you know the rest of that story. Where are we having dinner?” she asked again.
“Sonic,” he told her, and drove out of the parking lot. “I thought we’d go over to Bonham and have burgers and fries.”
“That sounds great, but this is not our fourth date,” she told him.
“All depends on how you look at it. It could be our fourth if you count it my way. First was breakfast at the diner. Second was when I kissed you the first time, and third was last night when we decided to stay in Honey Grove,” he told her. “That would make this our fourth, and it’s also your first ride in my new truck, so we’re celebrating.”
“You had me at a hamburger and fries. Who cares about counting?” she laughed. “Are you still happy with your decision to stay in Honey Grove?”
“Are you?” he fired back.
“Yes. I’ve already called Rodney, so it is now set in stone,” she told him. “I’m going to get in touch with Bobby Blalock tomorrow morning and tell him he can tear the house down as soon as all the stuff is out, and I’m at peace with that too. I also decided I want to do the packing myself so I can make decisions about what to save and what to throw in the trash.”
“Sure you are ready for that?” he asked.
“Yep,” she answered.
“Then I’ll help you,” Cody said. “Together, we should be able to take care of it in a day, and I can hook one of our cattle trailers onto the truck and bring it all to the ranch.”
“Thanks,” Stevie said.
Driving from Honey Grove to Bonham when there was no snow on the roads took only fifteen minutes, and the Sonic was right off the highway. Cody pulled into a place and rolled down the window, hit the red button, and a voice came through the speaker. “Welcome to Sonic. I’ll take your order when you are ready?”
Cody glanced over at Stevie. “Were you serious about a burger?”
She leaned across the console and raised her voice. “I’ll have a double bacon cheeseburger with no onions, double fries, and a large chocolate shake.”
“Is that all?” the voice asked.
“No, just double that order,” Cody said.
“Your total is on the screen. Cash or credit card?”
“Credit card,” Cody said as he slid his card into the slot.
“Thank you, sir. Your order will be right out.”
“Are we going for a long drive when we finish eating?” Stevie asked.
“We can, if you want to, but I have something I’d like to show you back at the ranch,” Cody said.
“And then a nap?” She covered a yawn with her hand. “I didn’t sleep so well last night. Probably from worrying about telling Rodney no on the Australia offer.”
“Regrets?” Cody asked.
“Not a single one, but it was pretty nice of him to recommend me for the job, and I hated to disappoint him,” Stevie answered.
“I can’t believe the sassy Stevie O’Dell has a soft heart,” Cody teased.
“Believe it…love.” She winked. “I can’t believe you are going to let us eat in your new truck. I wouldn’t let anyone even have a soft drink with a lid on it inside my new right-off-the-lot car when I first got it.”
“The fact that I’m letting you eat in my new truck just goes to show you how special you are to me…love.” He unfastened his seat belt, leaned across the console, and kissed her on the cheek.
Warmth and contentment filled Stevie from the inside out at the touch of his lips on her face. Those two things seemed like two diametrically opposed feelings to her. Sexy heat and peace at the same time. But maybe, just maybe, that was exactly what she had been looking for all this time—stability with a steaming hot cowboy.
* * *
After they had eaten and had a nice slow ride back to the ranch, Cody parked his truck out by the barn and helped Stevie out of the passenger side. “We’ve been neglecting Dixie for the past few days. I thought we’d take a few minutes to check on her.”
“You don’t think she has forgotten me, do you?” Stevie asked.
“She’ll never forget you, darlin’,” Cody answered as he slipped his hand into Stevie’s and led her through the barn and out into the corral.
“What makes you so sure?” Stevie asked.
“Because I’m living proof that it’s impossible to forget you,” Cody whispered, and then kissed her on the cheek.
“That is so sweet.” Stevie’s eyes lit up when she smiled. “And there’s my sweet Dixie.”
The cria came running from the back of the lot over to her, and Stevie stooped to hug the baby around the neck. “What is this? Who put a string around your neck?”
“I did,” Cody admitted. “There’s something on it just for you.”
“What is this key to?” Stevie asked as she removed the string.
“It’s a surprise I’d like to show you,” Cody answered.
“Did you find a house for me to rent?” she asked.
“No, but come with me and I’ll show you what that key opens.” He held out his hand.
She put her hand in his without a question, which made him feel like the luckiest cowboy in the whole state of Texas.
“I love surprises,” she said.
Cody parked in front of the house on the ranch that Sonny had bought from the Hall family when they had moved out to the Texas Panhandle. He had been over to the place when he and Jesse were plowing or moving cattle from one pasture to another, but he’d never really paid much attention to the house itself.
“Is this the old Hall Ranch?” Stevie asked. “I love the wraparound porch. Can we get out and sit on the swing? It’s a beautiful day.”
Cody thought of what his folks had told him about their first date, and smiled at the idea of sitting on a porch swing with Stevie when he asked her to move in with him.
“It was the old Hall Ranch, but it is part of Sunflower Ranch now, and yes, we can sit on the swing.” Cody got out of the truck with plans of helping her, but she slid out on her own and beat him to the porch.
“You are ruining my reputation as a gentleman.” Cody took her hand in his, and they crossed the wide porch and sat down on the swing together. “Looks like this old swing could use a coat of paint. What color do you see it as?”
�
��Yellow,” she answered without hesitation. “Sunflower yellow, and the house could use a paint job too, and I would make it white instead of gray.”
“Why yellow?” Cody asked.
“Because that’s my favorite color and because it’s part of Sunflower Ranch,” Stevie answered. “Are y’all getting it ready to sell or something?”
Cody was more nervous than he’d ever been on a first date. “Or something…love,” he finally answered.
“Okay, Cody, something is going on. I can tell by the gleam in your eyes, and you’re teasing me with that word again. And I’ve got this key.” She held it up, still on the baling twine. “Does this open the door to this house?” she asked.
“I’ve fallen in love with you over this last month, and I know this is maybe too fast, but would you move in with me?” Cody asked. “And, yes, darlin’, that is the key to this house. I have one just like it, and I want us to live together.”
Stevie’s brows drew down and she frowned. “Cody, we have been living together for weeks.”
“But that was as roommates with a few kissing privileges. I’m asking you to move in with me here, with a real future in mind—in this house. There’s four bedrooms inside. You can have one all to yourself until you are ready…”
Stevie stood up and sat back down, only this time she was in his lap. She pulled his face to hers in a long, passionate kiss. When it ended, she said, “Yes, yes, yes. I’m really in love with you, Cody. That infatuation I had as a teenager has grown into something serious and deep, but if I’m going to live with you, I want all the benefits. I want to share my life with you. My whole life…love.”
He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close enough that he could feel her heart beating against his chest. “Do we have to wait until we move in to start that sharing a bed and being totally intimate?”
“Lord, I hope not!” She whispered, “But could we take a look inside before we make it official?”
“Of course we can.” Cody said. “I don’t want you to be disappointed in the place. Mama says it might need some cosmetic help.”
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