“I feel just fine,” Stevie assured him. “Not even a headache. Did y’all get the four-wheeler checked out? Did it need an MRI?” Her eyes twinkled when she joked.

“Nope”—Cody flashed a smile—“when I set it up on all four wheels and turned the engine over, it started right up. I drove it back to the barn. Nothing wrong with it but a slight dent on the front, which matches the one on the other side where Jesse dented it last fall.”

“I’ll be glad to have that repaired,” Stevie offered.

“It’s a farm machine, and they get dinged up. Don’t worry about that,” Cody told her. “Did you enjoy the day at the ranch?”

“Yes, I did.” Her expression said as much as her words. “I’m excited about Mia working with me a couple of days a week, but in a couple of years, she’ll know enough that y’all won’t even need me out here on Sunflower.”

“I kind of doubt that,” Cody said, “but it’s good to see her so excited about something. She’s bouncing off the walls about the idea, but Addy was right in saying that we’d pay you what we would have to for college classes. She’ll get one-on-one, hands-on training this way, whereas she’d only get book learning with online courses.”

“We came to an agreement this evening while we were cleaning up the kitchen after supper. She works for me free, and I don’t charge anything. It’s a win-win situation,” Stevie said. “Getting back to the day, Addy’s twins are so cute. They’ll be crawling soon, and that playpen won’t hold them then.”

“They grow up fast, don’t they?”

“Yep, they sure do. Jesse and Addy seem to be enjoying every minute of each phase, though,” Stevie said. “Speaking of that, Mia and I went out and checked on Dixie this afternoon. Her new mama has adapted to her new herd so well that a stranger would never know that she was once an orphan.”

“Kind of like the twins, right?” Cody didn’t give her time to answer. “Or like me and Jesse and Lucas?”

“Just look at how good y’all all turned out.” Stevie locked gazes with him.

He felt as if he was drowning in her mossy green eyes. Every little yellow fleck glittered and beckoned to him to dive right into her soul.

“Yep, all for the best all the way around,” he said.

Cody laced her fingers in his and stood, pulling her up with him. “May I have this dance, Stephanie O’Dell?”

She got to her feet. “No, but Stevie loves to dance. Stephanie is a little bit shy.”

“I don’t believe that any of your personalities have a shy bone,” Cody chuckled as he draped an arm around her waist. He sang the lyrics to “Tennessee Whiskey” right along with Chris Stapleton.