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

seeped in, filling her lungs. When she’d heard about Royce’s dad passing, her first instinct was to fly home and see if Royce needed her. At that time, though, nearly five years had already passed since they’d spoken, she was playing back-to-back gigs with two other girls she was briefly in a band with, and she didn’t know if he’d want her there anyway.
    “Doin’ a damn fine job of it, too,” Grandpa said. “When Jim died, all these people in town were talking, the way they do, implying he wouldn’t be able to keep both running. There was lots of speculation he’d close the youth camp in favor of keepin’ up the horse ranch. But you should see the place now.” Grandpa started up the truck and it rumbled to life. “He and his mom have made it work. She does the counseling side of things, and Royce takes care of most everything else, including training roping horses for people around the state. Cory Brooks works out there with them, too.”
    Cory Brooks was Royce’s best friend going all the way back to preschool, and Sadie was glad they’d found a way to work together, the way they’d always planned on growing up. Even though she was the one who’d moved away, an unexpected pang of being left out hit her. The three of them used to forever be scrunched in the cab of a pickup truck, headed to the next rodeo. If her best friend, Quinn Sakata, had gotten permission from her parents to go with them, they’d take a truck with an extended cab so they could all fit, but those times had been few and far between.
    “They’ve had a few people come and go, and a couple of others work part-time, but those three keep it running somehow,” Grandpa continued. “And while there’s the occasional person who still raises a fuss about the supposed hoodlums being so close to town, there hasn’t been an incident since Royce took over.”
    “What about the rodeo stuff? Is he still competing?”
    “Oh, he usually does a couple of the local ones, but other than that…” Grandpa shook his head. “Don’t think he has the time—even before Jim passed on, he was doing less and less to try to keep up with the ranch.”
    Sadie watched Royce’s truck turn down the road that led out of town as Grandpa turned in the other direction. She used to love that ranch, so much so that his place became her second home. More scenes of racing horses to the river, kisses on a blanket laid out next to the rushing water, and nights when kissing turned into more, played out in her mind, seeming more like dreams than real memories. While she might have to drive by just to see what the place looked like now, she’d never have the guts to go ask for the tour. Over the years, she’d tried her hardest to stamp out the longing that she felt whenever she thought of Dixon Ranch and the guy who lived there.
    Don’t even start with that depressing line of thinking.
    What she needed to focus on was getting a job, getting back on her feet, and then figuring out a way to get back to Nashville and her singing career. There were too many ghosts here, and the last thing she needed were more reminders of all the ways she’d failed at life.

Chapter Two
    Royce turned up the radio, Aerosmith blasting from the classic rock station as he drove toward the ranch. At first he was trying to drown out thoughts of Sadie Hart, but it wasn’t working, so he decided to take them on instead. Objectively, she was still pretty, but it was like she’d spent the past few years getting rid of everything unique about her. The curves were gone, replaced by the too-thin type of body that was so popular in Hollywood—and Nashville, apparently. Her strawberry-blond waves had been lightened so much that none of the reddish hue remained, which was a shame. At least she still had those large green eyes and the adorable freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks that stood out even more when her skin flushed pink.
    Her temper’s definitely still in place. He found himself