Today I’d like to thank those who came bearing blessings. To my editor, Leah Hultenschmidt, and all the folks at Forever—you are truly a blessing. To my agent, and the folks at Folio Management—you are truly a blessing. To all my family, friends, and fans—you are truly a blessing. And of course, as always, to Mr. B—you’ve always been my biggest blessing.

I hope you enjoy reading Cody and Stevie’s story, and that the characters stay with you long after the last page.

Hugs to you all,

Carolyn Brown

Chapter One

Chapter One

Cody Ryan inched along at less than ten miles an hour on the icy roads. He had driven through sandstorms, outrun tornadoes, and even worked his way over snowcapped mountains, but nothing had ever been like this.

“So much for a big Texas homecoming,” he muttered as his truck slid over toward a ditch and then back again to the middle of the road. His windshield wipers were doing double time, but with the blizzard-like conditions, he couldn’t have seen the yellow line in the middle of the pavement even if there were one.

So, you’re tired of having sand everywhere and living in a tent, are you? The words of his old friend Nate Fisher came back to his mind.

“We don’t have much choice right now. We’ve got to get out of this place, and I’m ready to go home to Texas where it gets cold in the winter.” Cody repeated what he had told Nate last summer when he had hurriedly packed his bags and gotten ready to catch the next military truck headed toward a town with an airport.

“But I didn’t expect a damn blizzard to settle down right over the top of us just weeks after I got home.” His truck tires lost traction again and fishtailed all over the road.

When he finally got control, he hit the speed dial for Sunflower Ranch to let his family know he wouldn’t be home as soon as he thought. Addy, his sister-in-law, answered the phone on the third ring.

“Hey, Cody, everything okay?” she asked. “The roads look pretty bad out there.”

“Yeah, sorry I’m running late. Please don’t hold supper. It’ll be a while before I can get back home in this storm,” Cody said.

“I’m putting you on speaker. I’ve got Pearl, Sonny, Mia, and Jesse all here around the table with me.”

“Hey, everyone!” Cody answered. “Y’all need to stay inside as much as possible, and off these slick roads. Have you heard a weather report?”

“Uncle Cody, they say this snow isn’t going to stop for a couple of days,” Mia chimed in.

“Drive safe,” his father yelled.

“Will do, and save me some supper,” Cody said and ended the call.