Read Change of Heart for Free Online

managed to hold onto. Between the rival gangs, drug deals, and poverty, peace was something she’d never experienced as a child, let alone hoped to have on a consistent basis.
    Hope .
    It was a futile emotion in her world, only leading to pain and disappointment. She’d learned that lesson the hard way. Yet, here she was, living in a place she couldn’t have even dreamed about, working with kids she might actually be able to help, with people who shared her vision. For someone with nothing but bad luck, good luck had seemed to finally smile down on her.
    Until it all comes crashing down.
    Leah wanted to ignore the needling pessimism, but based on her past history, she couldn’t help but feel like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop or to find out this was all some sick joke. There had to be some sort of down side. Good things like this didn’t happen to her.
    “Are you trying to escape, too?”
    She jumped at the sound of Gage’s husky voice, her heart pounding painfully against her ribs. She wasn’t sure what it was about him that immediately set her on edge, making her pulse race and her stomach churn at the same time.
    There’s the down side.
    She kept her gaze focused on the pair of horses in front of her, even as they continued to ignore her presence completely. “I just needed to catch my breath for a second.”
    “I see.” He didn’t sound convinced, and Leah swung her eyes toward him, waiting for him to say more. She wasn’t in the mood for his sarcasm. “It’s been a pretty hectic day for you all the way around today, hasn’t it?”
    It wasn’t what she expected him to say, and it took her by surprise. “I guess so.”
    She turned, leaning an elbow over the corral railing, and eyed him. For someone who was supposed to be able to read people well, she was having a difficult time with him. She could see the sympathy in his expression, but she could also read distrust there. His tone was friendly, but it also held a note of cynicism. The man was so many contradictions wrapped up in one package.
    Although, it was a mighty fine package. Even she had to admit it, but she knew better than most how overrated lust was.
    “Thanks for—”
    “Look, I wanted to—” Gage paused as they spoke simultaneously and let a small grin lift the corner of his mouth. “Go ahead.”
    “I was just going to thank you for your help with the car today. I shouldn’t have been so grouchy. Well, I guess after everything it might be understandable, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
    “I appreciate that.” His shoulders relaxed slightly. “Guess the heat got to both of us today. I’m sorry for the things I said, too. You were under a lot of stress, and I didn’t give you much of a chance to adjust before I started shooting off my mouth.”
    She turned back toward the horses as one of them started walking toward them. If they were going to live in close proximity, maybe they could at least get to a point where they could tolerate one another.
    “We should start over.” Gage held out a hand. “I’m Gage Granger, your neighbor. It’s nice to meet you.”
    Leah bit the corner of her lip as the horse nudged her hand. “Don’t do that,” she said quietly. She rubbed her hand over the animal’s face the way Jessie had told her they liked. “We’re both old enough that we don’t need to pretend we get do-overs in life.”
    “Ah, another cynic.” He reached out and patted the horse’s neck. The second horse seemed to take notice and ambled slowly in their direction.
    “A realist,” she corrected. “Another?”
    “Like my brother, or at least, he used to be one.” Gage shrugged but looked back at her, curiosity clear in his dark eyes. “So, you don’t think you can forgive and forget? There’s no starting over?”
    “Not really. You can forgive, but it’s a conscious choice. Forgetting something ever happened? That’s impossible. It’s like saying there’s such a thing as love at