“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.