“How’s football this season?”

   Leo smiled. “Good. Really good. We made state.”

   “That’s great news. You getting a lot of playing time?”

   “Every game.”

   Flynn saw the pride in Leo’s eyes when he said that. He was really happy for the kid.

   They talked stats for a while. Flynn was impressed with Leo’s abilities as a wide receiver, especially since Leo hadn’t played football until his freshman year of high school. But with Grant’s guidance, Flynn had no doubt the kid would do well.

   “Okay, everyone,” his mom said, “get your plates and start filling them up. Breakfast is ready.”

   “I don’t know about you,” Flynn said to Leo, “but I’m starving, so you’d better beat me to the line or I’m taking all the bacon.”

   Leo cracked a smile. “You’re older and slower than me. Not a chance.”

   Flynn laughed. When Leo had first met the family, he’d been sort of shy. It was great to see him so bold and confident now. He was quickly becoming a Cassidy family member.

   Despite his boasts to Leo, Flynn met up with Amelia and waited for their elders to serve themselves first. Then they got in line behind Grant and his family.

   Breakfast was a full meal, as was typical on a ranch. They had eggs, bacon, sausages, fried potatoes, fruit salad, oatmeal, toast and biscuits and gravy, along with coffee, milk and three types of juice, all freshly squeezed. It was more like a buffet than a breakfast.

   “I’m going to be fueled for the rest of the day by the time I finish breakfast,” Amelia said.

   Flynn smiled. “Mom’s used to cooking for my dad and uncles and several ranch hands, who often don’t stop for lunch. Breakfast is always a big deal. Plus, everyone will be busy cooking Thanksgiving dinner today. So lunch will be light.”

   Amelia nodded. “Lydia already has the turkey in the oven. It’s great that she has the double oven, so after breakfast I’ll start on the pies. Once the turkey’s done, we can work on some of the sides.”

   He leaned over and brushed his lips against her ear. “I can hardly wait to taste what you’ve cooked.”

   “What we’ve cooked. It’s going to be a joint effort today.”

   They settled in at the table and Flynn dug into his meal. He was always really hungry after a run, so he ate—a lot.

   Then again, so did his brothers. Their plates were piled as high as his, so he didn’t feel too bad about those four pieces of bacon. And two sausages. And all those eggs.

   “How did you feed all these guys when they were growing up, Lydia?” Amelia asked, her eyes wide as she surveyed Flynn’s and his brothers’ plates.

   His mom laughed. “It was a challenge. We were very lucky that we could afford four growing, hungry boys. And Mia was no slouch in the eating department, either.”

   Mia shrugged. “I’m nothing if not competitive. Of course that meant I also had to get out and run with these beasts to burn it all off.”

   “If Lydia hadn’t had a job as a lawyer and I hadn’t played professional football, we probably would have had to start selling off kids just to pay the mortgage,” Easton said, then winked at Amelia.

   She laughed. “I’m making a mental note to have no more than two children.”

   “Easton and I thought we’d only have two kids,” Lydia said. “Then after Flynn and Grant, the twins came. They were a surprise.”

   “And what an awesome surprise we were,” Tucker said with a grin.

   “Hell yeah we were.”

   Tucker and Barrett high-fived.

   Mia rolled her eyes.

   “Oh, right,” Flynn said. “I was fine by myself. Then I had Grant to contend with. I figured, okay, I can handle him. Then Mom comes home from the hospital with two babies—both boys. God, it was awful.”

   Amelia laughed. “You poor thing.”

   He looked at her. “You don’t even know how horrible it was. Like a nightmare.”

   “Uh-huh. I’m sure it was.”

   “And you wanted a girl,” his dad said to his mom, “so we tried one more time.”

   “And I was convinced Mom was going to have yet another boy,” Flynn said.

   “I think by that point we were all certain it was going to be a boy,” Grant said, then he looked over at Mia. “And then you showed up and ruined everything.”

   Mia laughed. “No, I finally gave Mom and Dad what they really wanted after those first four wasted efforts.” She beamed a smile.

   Amelia laughed. “Quite the handful, this family.”

   “Oh, Amelia, you have no idea.” Lydia shot a wry smile over at Amelia. “But every one of these kids has been worth it. We’ve had such an amazing, happy life.”

   To hear his mother say that meant everything to Flynn. He loved his parents, and he knew the sacrifices they had made—especially his mom—to raise five children. Sure, his dad had made a good living as a quarterback, and his mother had done exceptionally well as an attorney. But when they decided to buy the ranch, his mother had given up her career, choosing to dedicate her time to raising all of them.

   “Mom, I don’t know that I ever told you how much I appreciate you sacrificing your career to raise us,” Flynn said.

   His mother cocked her head to the side. “It was never a sacrifice, Flynn. It was a choice. I didn’t give up a thing.”

   “Well, thank you. Because we all benefitted from it.”

   She got up and came around the table, put her arms around Flynn and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

   “Oh sure, say the nice thing,” Tucker said. “Now we’re all going to have to hug her.”

   “Yeah, and the next thing you know there’ll be a group hug,” Barrett said.

   Mia grimaced. “Not the Cassidy family group hug. I hate those.”

   His mother laughed. “All of you finish your breakfasts. We can group hug later.”

   “Thank God for that,” Mia said. “Because I’m shorter than all of you and I always get stuck in the middle of those group hugs. It’s like being squashed by bears.”

   The more time she spent with the Cassidys, the more Amelia wished she had grown up with siblings. Of course, her mother had barely known what to do with her, let alone more than one child. Career had been everything to her mother. She’d had little interest in raising a daughter. If Amelia hadn’t had her father around, she wouldn’t have had much parenting at all. Or any love.