Chapter 1
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HE WIND CUT sharply
across the Texas hills, snapping the prayer clean out of Chance Grant’s mouth.
He
stood at the split-rail fence, boots sinking into thawing mud, the old ranch
spread before him like both a promise and a punishment. Double Grace Ranch—his
father’s dream, now his responsibility—stretched wide against a sky painted
with the last pale brushstrokes of dawn. The barns needed fresh paint. The fences
sagged. The horses in the pastures were pathetic examples of equine flesh.
Every
board, every post, every acre whispered the same thing: Don’t fail us.
Chance
gripped the fence rail until his knuckles ached. It was easier to feel the wood
cut into his palm than to let memory cut into his heart. The sound of breaking
timbers. His father’s shout. The silence after. If Chance had been quicker,
smarter, braver, then Pa would still be here.
Now it was up to him to hold the line, to keep his brothers from tearing the ranch apart and to prove that Double Grace could survive the debt, the droughts, and the dispute with cousin Glen.
