“That’s so sweet.” Stevie was surprised that she had gotten all misty eyed. She tried to convince herself that it was relief at being rescued, but down deep she knew that she would miss the time she’d spent with Cody in the tack room. “I don’t deserve it, but it’s nice to have friends.”

“Why wouldn’t you deserve friends?” Cody asked.

Seeing what she took as a look of confusion on Cody’s face, Stevie said, “I have been downright mean to you ever since you came home, and here your family is being nice to me.”

“Everybody needs a helping hand sometime,” Cody said. “Now finish up your breakfast and go run a hot bath.”

She cut her eyes around at him. “I don’t take well to bossing.”

“No bossing intended. I’m being selfish, actually. I want to take a shower and to sink down into one of those bunk beds over there, and you are holding me back by either arguing or being too grateful for little favors,” he said. “I’m not sure which it is.”

“You’ve always been blunt.” Stevie finished the last bite on her plate and picked up her empty mug. “I shouldn’t expect you to change now, should I?”

“I’m too old a dog to start changing, but, darlin’”—he dragged the endearment out—“you are the pot calling the kettle black, when it comes to bluntness.”

Stevie refilled her mug and topped Cody’s off, then put the pot back on the warmer. “You don’t change a zebra’s stripes.”

She carried her mug to the bedroom, stopped inside the door, and turned around. “Do you need to come in here and get clean clothing or anything from the bathroom?”

“Yep, I do.” He pushed his chair back, popped the last bite of a biscuit filled with strawberry jelly into his mouth, and crossed the room in a few long strides. It only took him a few minutes to gather up whatever he needed. “Have a good nap,” he said as he eased the door shut behind him.

Stevie took stock of the bedroom and adjoining bathroom. Back in the day when the bunkhouse was full, this would have been the foreman’s quarters, but both had been remodeled in recent years. She figured the closet had been built in since the original foreman stayed in this room, and most likely, the first foreman didn’t have a king-sized bed with a memory-foam mattress. The bathroom offered a nice claw-foot tub with a shower, a vanity with a mirrored medicine cabinet above it, and a toilet. Nothing fancy, but that tub looked like it had been dropped out of heaven to Stevie.