Second Chance Ranch: a Hope Springs novel (Entangled Bliss) Read Free

same. Still tall—although she swore he’d grown another inch or two—chestnut hair shot with golden streaks from hours in the sun, despite the fact he wore a hat most of the time, and deep brown eyes. He’d filled out since high school, too, his chest stretching the fabric of his shirt, his defined arms several inches bigger around than they used to be. Like when she’d been in high school, she got a little breathless when she looked at him. It was one of the reasons she’d almost given up her singing dream and married him, regardless of the fact that they’d barely been out of high school.
    Memories flooded her, snippets from nights in the back of his truck, legs tangled together, his hand in her back pocket, the starry sky overhead as the thump of his beating heart sounded against her ear. Even after she’d left, her heart ached for him for months afterward, a piece of it gone that she knew she’d never get back or be able to replace.
    Realizing she was staring, she lowered her gaze, idly taking in the groceries he’d placed on the conveyor belt. Supplies to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a year, a giant bag of pancake mix and a jug of syrup, a case of Coke and one of Coors.
    “You can buy beer now,” she said, finding it almost funny after how much effort they used to go to get it in high school.
    “It’s one of my proudest accomplishments.” There was plenty of sarcasm in his words, but there was a hint of amusement in them, too. Her eyes drifted back to his as if they couldn’t help themselves, and his expression immediately morphed into a distant, tight-lipped one. Would it kill him to try to make this run-in easier?
    There was so much she wanted to say, but she didn’t even know how to start, and considering the way her thoughts and emotions were whirring, she was pretty sure anything that came out would just be gibberish.
    The cashier waved a couple of bills in front of Sadie’s face. “Um, here’s your change.”
    Sadie took it out of her hands and noticed Grandpa standing next to the exit doors. Thank goodness. She’d needed to get out of here about ten minutes ago. Where was the damn time machine now?
    After gathering her bags of food, Sadie headed toward Grandpa. For some stupid reason, she couldn’t help glancing back at her ex-boyfriend again, even though common sense told her to run as fast as possible.
    He wasn’t looking at her, though. He was making small talk with the cashier. Going on with his life.
    Probably the exact same way he’d done every day since she’d left this godforsaken town.
    As soon as they were settled into the truck, Grandpa glanced at her. “You talk to him?”
    He always could read her better than anyone else. There was no point in even asking who, or acting as though running into Royce hadn’t affected her. “Not really.”
    The guy she hadn’t really talked to came out of Homeland Foods, and she watched him walk to a beat-up, mostly blue pickup truck. He opened the door and she noticed the white sign with the dark blue words Dixon Horse Ranch & ARCFY on the side of it.
    “He still running both Dixon Ranch and Second Chance Ranch?” Sadie asked.
    Technically, it was named the Alternative Ranch Camp for Youth, but since it was a program for troubled teens, people around here had nicknamed it Second Chance Ranch. Basically there were several studies that proved equine assisted therapy—putting people who had troubles with violence, depression, low self-esteem, et cetera, with horses—helped them. Some of the teens were sent because their parents thought they needed discipline or they didn’t know how to get through to them anymore, and some were court ordered to attend and prove they deserved to be back in society instead of picking up trash on the highway or sent to juvie. She’d always admired the Dixons for running it, and on her frequent visits to the ranch, she’d seen how much work it took for his parents to keep it going.
    Guilt