Reunited With The Rancher. Brenda Minton

She cut up the biscuit and Andy continued to shake his head. “What about the eggs?”

      The little boy took a bite, made a face but continued to chew. Eve laughed at his reaction.

      “I don’t blame him. You’re a good cook, Kylie, but eggs aren’t your specialty.”

      “I make very good eggs,” she countered.

      “Hold on, I just remembered something,” Eve said as she studied Andy. “Mind pouring me a cup of coffee and I’ll help you get him to eat. I’m kind of a pro with kids.”

      “You’re a pro with kids?” Kylie didn’t mean to sound skeptical but her friend was either hiding something or making up skills she didn’t possess.

      They’d known each another for three years. Both of them were from completely different worlds. Eve had joined the military against her parents’ wishes because she’d wanted some independence, and to prove herself. Kylie hadn’t seen her mother since she’d been taken into foster care. After turning eighteen, the Army had seemed like the best option.

      Eve now grinned as she spun her wheelchair around. “I’m sure I am a child expert. I’ve spent almost zero time with children, but look at me, I’m on wheels. That has to make a difference. Let me try to feed him something.”

      “Go for it.”

      Eve obviously thought she had a trick up her sleeve. She went to the fridge and pulled out taco sauce and ketchup.

      “Watch and learn.” Eve dropped the items in her lap and zoomed across the room at a reckless speed.

      “What are you doing?”

      Kylie followed her back to the table where Maggie had scooped the last of her eggs into her mouth. Andy was sitting in his chair staring out the window. Kylie peered over his shoulder and saw what had captured his attention. In the distance she could see the men on horseback riding herd on about fifty head of cattle, bringing them in to the corral to work them.

      “Your daddy is riding. If we eat breakfast, we can go see him when they get back,” Kylie said as she glanced at Eve who was busy separating Andy’s eggs in to five piles. On the first she squeezed ketchup, on one she sprinkled sugar, the next pepper, one with taco sauce and the last with salt. This was her plan?

      “There we go,” Eve said, sticking her finger in the pepper and tasting. It made her sneeze.

      Andy wouldn’t try it but he laughed. When she tried the one with sugar his eyes widened and he tasted the sugar but not the eggs. When he got to the one with taco sauce he looked more than a little skeptical but after a taste he began to eat.

      “Who would have guessed?” Kylie watched as the little boy ate the small portion of eggs and waited for Eve to wipe off the rest of the eggs and add taco sauce. “How did you come up with that?”

      “I had a lot of time for reading while I lived at the rehab facility. After I finished up all of the books, I started on magazines. I have a lot of useless knowledge. Guess some that isn’t quite so useless.”