Second Chance Ranch Read Online Free PDF Page A

afternoon echoed through her mind confirming her decision to surrender their child. They’d been young; they had dreams; they had the rest of their lives before them.
    And he never said he’d loved her.
    Her eyes misted, but she wiped away the urge to wallow. She took a couple of deep breaths and looked around the kitchen she’d redecorated with a coat of fresh paint and whimsical curtains. It had been a hard decision, one knew she had to make…alone. Every day, the doubt nudged at her conscience; and every day, she refused to wonder if maybe there’d been another way. She closed her eyes as butterflies took flight in her stomach just as they always did when she thought about her daughter, remembering the small miracle of life she’d nurtured for nine months, reliving the time when Zac Davidson had been her whole life. The whispery flutter faded away as it always did, along with the heart gripping pain that used to wrench tears from her. She opened her lids, focusing on the cream envelope with the emerald logo. God had helped her through the most difficult decision of her life and she knew she’d done the right thing. Nothing could ever be worse than giving up her child.
    Jen fingered the letter. She hadn’t heard from Stone & Stone since the final hearing. Tearing open the envelope with ultimate care, Jen withdrew a single piece of stationary the same cream color as the envelope.
    Oh Lord, grant me strength to read this.
    The letterhead hadn’t changed in twelve years, and neither had the bold signature of Montgomery Stone at the bottom of the page. Her gaze settled on Dear Ms. O’Reilly …
    She skimmed the rather perfunctory introduction, and then reading word for word the reason for this heart-wrenching intrusion into her life. Air pressed from her lungs as her gaze locked on words. Jen wiped her eyes and focused on the impossible news.
    …similar blood type…history of blood disorder…given birth to any other children…
    Reading the words over again, and then again, a trail of acid burned from her stomach to her throat.
    The paper slid to the floor as she fingered her collarbone. “My baby has cancer.”
    The walls of the kitchen closed in on her. Cancer, cancer, cancer. Faded memories of her mother danced in the shadows of her mind. Her smile, her laugh, her touch. She’d been gone for almost twenty years. Few details remained other than childhood dreams where her mother had held her and promised nothing bad was going to happen.
    We’ll beat this cancer.
    Everything will be fine.
    Jen swiped at her eyes and blew her nose into the paper towels she’d grabbed off the counter. She lunged from the table so fast, the chair fell over. She paced around the room, mauling the paper in her grip.
    No, nothing had turned out fine. Her mother had died leaving Jen lost, unable to figure out the next step in her life. She swallowed the burning in her throat. She’d wanted to climb in her daddy’s lap and hear from him everything would be okay…they were a family…he wasn’t going anywhere…they’d always be together. But that wasn’t how it worked out. Her dad returned to his practice at the clinic; Kade never came out of his room.
    She had no one.
    Stopping in front of her living room window, she stared at the playground next to the recently mowed soccer field. A cluster of boys climbed over the log fort built from fallen timbers gathered around the property. The flat-board seats and slings of a sturdy, rustic swing set offered a pair of giggling girls a chance to touch the sky with their toes. A jungle gym of climbing rods, curved slides and colorful canopies stretched across the end of the lot. Minimal equipment for now, and the kids didn’t mind the lack of fancy contraptions; they reveled in their ability to navigate the simple therapeutic exercises designed to build their confidence. The whole purpose of this camp was to help the kids strength muscles, build stamina and succeed.
    A knot formed in her