Read Second Chance Ranch: a Hope Springs novel (Entangled Bliss) for Free Online Page B

married because the girl was knocked up or anything—though that usually followed pretty quickly, and there were, of course, plenty of cases of that happening. Sure, there were a few holdouts who waited until their thirties, which was somehow considered old and usually created gossip about whether or not he or she would ever settle down. And while there was the occasional divorce, most marriages around here stuck.
    I so don’t belong here , Sadie thought as she walked back down the sidewalk as fast as she could in her heels, needing to hop into Grandpa’s truck and escape not only her failure to get any job leads, but also the angry expression on her ex’s face that seemed to be seared into her brain.
    …
    Royce watched Sadie’s retreating figure out the window. Back in the day, he’d chase her down and tell her he was sorry, like the whipped fool he was. If she thought he was still a pushover, though, she was wrong.
    “That was pretty crazy how she tamed the cat like that, huh?” Brianna pushed a clipboard toward him. “He’s what we call fractious, which means he’s uncooperative and unruly, and we always have to sedate him when he’s in here. I’ve never seen him calm.”
    “Maybe you should hire her, then.”
    “I know Dr. Jones isn’t looking for help, but I’ll still mention it.” She handed him the bag with the antibiotics and instructions for the cat, then pointed at the bottom of the paper on the clipboard. “Sign here, please.”
    Royce scribbled his name and took the now-hissing-and-growling cat to his truck and set the carrier next to him on the seat. If he stuck his finger through the bars, he had no doubt Oscar would bite the hell out of him.
    He closed his eyes and all he could see was Sadie. Today she’d had on red lipstick that brought out her full lips. Lips he used to be addicted to. Royce groaned, annoyed and semi–turned on all at the same time. How could she still do that to him so easily? Once in a while over the years, yes, she’d crossed his mind. A song that came on the radio would remind him of her, or a memory would come out of the blue and smack into him. But now that he was seeing her every day… She always did have this way of mesmerizing people. And it only got worse when she sang—or better, depending on which way you looked at it.
    He fired up his truck and headed back toward the ranch. As he drove, he couldn’t help remembering the first time he’d heard her sing. Sadie Hart had transferred to Hope Springs High during their sophomore year. Her parents had gotten divorced and she and her mom had moved in with her grandparents. Of course he’d noticed her on her first day of school—she was new, and she was hot. But she’d immediately started dating Forrest Scott, one of the cocky running backs on the football team. While Royce kicked himself for not acting sooner, he was competing in a lot of rodeos and cute girls flirted with him all the time, so he’d decided to enjoy being single.
    But then the Fourth of July rodeo came around and Sadie stepped up to the microphone to sing the national anthem. Moments before, he’d been focused on the upcoming roping event, just wanting to fast-forward to when he was on Chevy and swinging a lasso through the air. After that, he’d have to quickly shift gears to get his head right for bronc riding. The second she opened her mouth and sang that first note, though, he stood there at the edge of the arena, under her spell with the rest of the crowd. She belted out the song with so much soul he’d felt it in his—he’d never heard anyone sound that amazing a cappella, and he’d been to his fair share of rodeos, across several states. As she finished off the song, he thought, Holy shit, I think I’m in love.
    He’d happened to be near the gate she was coming out of, so he tipped his hat at her and said, “That was real good.”
    Her full lips curved into a heart-stopping smile, and she clamped onto his arm. “Really? I was