Page 21 of Second Chance With a Cowboy

“What is happening down there?” Lorna asked when she picked up.

“Apparently, Chevy called out the calvary, and the whole Lassiter clan, plus a few extras, showed up with food and offers to help. And he and Dodge are building you a set of railings for your front steps.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope. They’ve got boards and power tools and everything.”

“Oh my gosh. That’s so nice. I think I’m going to cry.”

“Wait until you smell the breakfast stuff that Duke just carried into the kitchen.”

“Are they all still here?”

“Oh yeah.”

“I want to come down. Will you come up and help me with Izzy and these stupid crutches?”

“I’ll be up in a minute.” She hung up and pushed her phone back into the pocket of her shorts.

“Everything okay?” Chevy asked.

“Yes. This sweet stuff you all are doing is making Lorna cry. And she wants to see everyone, so I need to go up and help her get down the stairs.”

“I can help too,” he said, unclipping and dropping his tool belt to follow her into the house. “You can get Izzy, and I’ll get your sister.”

It took them a few minutes to change the baby, but Lorna had gotten out of bed and hobbled around enough to get herself dressed and to the bathroom to get her hair and teeth brushed.

At the top of the landing, Chevy scooped Lorna up again and carried her down the stairs, to the cheers and greetings of his family and their friends.

“Thank you everyone,” she said, pressing a hand to her chest. “This is so nice.”

“Wait until you meet Betty,” Chevy told her with a sly grin.

She turned to Leni and mouthed, “Who’s Betty?”

“You’ll see,” she mouthed back as Chevy set her sister down and ran outside.

Chevy came back in hauling the knee scooter and placed it in front of Lorna. “Thisis Betty.”

Lorna was thrilled with the knee scooter and laughed as Max climbed up on the seat and tried to ride it around the living room. “This is really sweet. Thank you, Chevy.”

He nodded. “It’s no problem. I know what a pain crutches can be, and I was worried about how you were going to manage getting around with them.” He eyed the knee-scooter. “We might even be able to rig the basket so you could set Izzy in it and not have to carry her while you’re trying to maneuver this thing.”

“Speaking of how you’re going to get around. I was thinking we needed to bring the bassinet downstairs and pull out the sofa in the family room,” Leni told her, referring to the living area at the back of the house behind the kitchen. “We can set it up for you to stay in there, at least for the first few weeks so you don’t have to mess with the stairs. I’ll still stay up there with Max, but we can construct a temporary changing station for Izzyand bring your toiletries down so you can use the main level bathroom.”

Lorna smiled at her. “I love the way your brain is always coming up with a plan.”

Chevy was grinning at her like a cat who’d just gobbled up a canary.

“What?” she asked, wondering if she had something in her teeth or had put her shirt on backwards.

He lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. “Nothin’. Except I think I just caught you telling your sister that you were going to be sticking around…at least for another few weeks.”

Chapter Eleven

Leni was saved from answering Chevy by Duke calling them into the kitchen.

“Y’all come on in,” Duke said. “Don’t let this breakfast casserole get cold.”

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