by Lori Ryan
His Second Chance
The Sumner Brothers, Book 6
Lori Ryan
Kay Manis
Contents
Other Books By Lori and Kay
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
About the Authors
(The Sumner Brothers, Book 6)
Copyright 2018, Lori Ryan and Kay Manis.
All rights reserved.
This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.
Other Books By Lori and Kay
To find all of the Sumner Brothers Series, visit Lori and Kay at www.loriandkay.com! We’ve got a lot more coming in this world. Stay tuned at the end of the book for a sneak peak of the next book.
Lori’s Series can be found at www.loriryanromance.com and include:
The Sutton Capital Series
The Heroes of Evers, TX Series
The On the Line Series
Kay’s Series can be found at http://kaymanis.com and include:
The X-Treme Love Series
The Miracle Short Story Series
Chapter One
Sophie Day sat up with a start, her heart racing. She blinked several times, taking in the small space before finally realizing she was in the bedroom on her tour bus.
She’d had a nightmare. Again.
“Finally awake, sleepy head?” Jackie asked, standing in the doorway.
“Hey,” Sophie said to her sister, trying to shake off the dregs of her dream.
She and Grant had been walking on the beach, a small boy between them and another child on top of his shoulders. They were laughing, the sound echoing through the evening sky as the sun set behind them.
Her heart squeezed tight at the image. Having a family of her own had been a dream of hers for decades, a vision she believed would come true when she married Grant Sumner. She thought they both wanted the same thing but she’d been wrong.
She’d definitely been caught in a dream, one that would never happen, considering she and her husband were estranged and likely to be divorced soon. And the children had just figments of her overactive imagination.
Leaning over her nightstand, she tugged at one of the shades on the tour bus and looked out the windows at the landscape passing by. Beautiful mountains littered the horizon. “Are we still in Colorado?” she asked.
“Yep.” Jackie nodded. “I thought your speech at the luncheon went really well. The crowd loved you.”
Sophie nodded, only half listening as the dream replayed in her mind.
“Earth to Sophie,” Jackie said.
She shook her head. “Oh, sorry.”
“What did you think? Of the luncheon?”
“Yeah, it was good.”
They’d come from a luncheon in Denver where she’d given a keynote speech at LILY, Ladies in Leadership for Youth. They were honoring Sophie for the work she and her foundation, Bridging the Gap, had done over the past six months to help provide kids in rural areas alternatives to doing drugs. As an international pop star, she was used to awards, but this honor was different. It meant more to her.
Getting the non-profit up and off the ground had taken a lot of time and effort. Sophie smiled, remembering how insightful and supportive Grant had been when she’d shared the idea with him the first night they’d met.
Somedays her life with Grant felt like a lifetime ago. Others, like today when she dreamed of him, it seemed like just yesterday they were sharing their lives together.
Her sister swept her dark brown hair over one shoulder and sat beside Sophie on the bed. The two looked like night and day, Sophie blonde and fair skinned to Jackie’s darker features. Her sister always said she was okay with that. She had no desire to look like Sophie, her well-known, much-sought-after baby sister.
Somedays, Sophie felt the same way. Her time out in public had to be carefully scheduled, and choreographed with security and disguises. Sometimes she fantasized about letting it all go. Walking away from the fame and her career.
But what if she stepped off the merry-go-round and it spun away from her, out of her grasp forever? Could she get back on if she changed her mind? Would her fans still be there if she wanted to return to the stage?
Her dad had been telling her to slow down for a long time. When she’d broached the subject with Grant, suggesting they take some time off, he balked at the idea, saying they were both at the top of their game. They couldn’t afford to rest now that they were successful.
But Sophie felt differently. She was tired of the grueling schedule she kept. She’d been recording and touring since she was discovered at seventeen. Now at twenty-seven—pretty old age, for the recording industry—she was ready to settle down and have kids, create a life outside of the limelight.
Unfortunately, Grant hadn’t shared that desire. Hence the reason she sat on her bed in a tour bus headed God knew where. She was surrounded by people, but she always felt alone, except for her sister.
Jackie was not only her sibling but also her attorney, manager, and best friend. She’d been the person to keep Sophie from going totally off the rails when she and Grant separated a year ago.
Sophie would be lost without her sister. Jackie was a machine when it came to taking care of details, and Sophie was grateful for it every day.
“So, where are we headed next?” Sophie asked.
Jackie laughed. “We’re headed to Canyon Creek.”
“What!” Sophie jumped to her feet but was knocked down when the bus took a curve. Damn bus. She put a hand out to brace herself and settled back onto the bed. “It’s not time for the festival already, is it?”
Grant was hosting a film festival in his hometown of Canyon Creek, Colorado. Since her song had been the title track of one of the movies he was showcasing, Jackie hadn’t been able to get her out of the contractual obligation to perform.
Her sister gave her a strange look. “Uh, yeah it’s that time.”
“No,” Sophie said, willing Jackie to be wrong. She’d known the festival was coming up, she just hadn’t realized how soon.
Jackie raised a brow and held up her cell phone, showing the date. “Sorry, hun. It’s that time.”
“Oh, shitake mushrooms,” Sophie said under her breath.
Jackie laughed. “Still can’t say bad words.”
It was a statement not a question, but Sophie still shook her head.
Her sister glanced at her phone screen, scrolling through as though reading off a checklist. “You’r
e the opening act for the festival. It’s a concert benefiting their local volunteer fire station. Grant’s sister-in-law is selling a Hot Men with Hoses calendar as part of the event and all of the proceeds from that will go to the fire station, too.”
“Hot men with hoses?”
Jackie shook her head and laughed. “Don’t ask me, I know nothing about men and their hoses.”
Sophie snorted. Jackie was gay, and had come out of the closet years before.
“So, get to it.” Her sister slapped Sophie’s thigh. “We’ll be in Canyon Creek soon.”
She groaned. “You seriously can’t get me out of this? I know I said yes, but that was when it was more theoretical than reality.”
Sophie knew if Jackie really wanted to get her out of this gig, she could. She narrowed her eyes at her sister. “Why are we doing this?”
“Honestly?” Jackie asked.
Sophie nodded.
“Because you need to make a decision, Sophie. One way or the other, you need to decide if you’re going to divorce Grant and move on with your life or not. It’s been a year since you left him.”
She didn’t need Jackie’s reminder. She was aware of what was missing from her life every day that she’d been apart from Grant. She often wondered if she’d done the right thing by leaving him. Especially after she heard he’d gone off the rails and attacked his manager, losing almost everything he owned after their separation. That wasn’t the Grant she knew, and his actions were part of the reason why she hadn’t gone back.
The bus pulled to a stop and Sophie glanced out the window. They were in a large parking lot with a small building that looked like a motel standing next to them. She sucked in a breath at the sight of Canyon Creek Mountain in the background.
“We’re here,” Jackie announced, heading down the hall toward the door of the bus.
“Where are we?” Sophie asked, following her sister and trying to catch sight of any other landmarks outside the windows as she moved.
“Canyon Creek,” Jackie said as if Sophie was the dumbest person on the planet.
“I know that, but what is this?” She pointed to the building outside the bus.
“It’s a small apartment complex.”
“It looks like a motel. Please tell me we’re not staying there.” God, when had she become such a diva?
“Okay, I won’t.” Jackie glanced back at her. “But we are, just so you know.”
Sophie groaned. “Why can’t we stay on the bus?” she asked.
“J.J.’s taking it back to Denver as soon as we unload. They’ve got to do some, uh,” her sister paused, “maintenance. Yeah.”
Sophie cocked a brow. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you’re a known cynic.” Jackie laughed.
“Seriously, Jackie? Here?”
“Sorry, sourpuss, all the other places in town are booked solid because of the festival. This was the only thing available.”
Sophie narrowed her eyes. She’d seen Jackie talk the pants off hotel managers around the world. This was planned and she knew it. She was just too tired to argue.
Sophie’s mid-section cramped in an all too familiar way. “Oh, sugar biscuits,” she muttered, rubbing her abdomen
Jackie turned back. “What?”
“Nothing.” She didn’t want to tell her sister. Sophie hated the look of sympathy she would get if she mentioned she was getting her period. It was bad enough when she had to deal with her own emotions around the whole event. She didn’t need to factor other peoples’ feelings in as well.
Her sister’s gaze swept over her from top to bottom and back. In Jackie’s brown eyes, Sophie saw pity staring back, which made her want to cry even more.
“Let me get you something.” Jackie walked into the bathroom and dug around in the cabinet before reappearing with ibuprofen in her hand. “We need to make a pit stop for products.”
“We can’t drive a tour bus up to Piggly Wiggly for tampons, Jackie.”
“I rented us an SUV.”
Okay, now she knew for sure that Jackie had something more than the one-day appearance planned. “How long are we staying here, oh sister of mine?”
“Just through the weekend.” Jackie cleared her throat, an obvious tell. Her sister was so transparent Sophie could almost see through her.
“Fine,” Sophie said with a huff. She knew talking Jackie out of her master plan—whatever that was—was pointless. “Let’s go to the store.” She grabbed her purse from the table and walked toward the door, taking two steps before stopping and turning to face her sister.
Jackie stopped in her tracks, having the good sense to look guilty.
She stared at her sister for a long moment. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but promise me one thing.”
Jackie nodded. “Okay.”
“Whatever decision I make about Grant, you won’t interfere. This needs to be about me and Grant. I know you don’t like him and I don’t need your opinions getting in the way here.”
“That’s not true, I like him well enough,” Jackie argued.
Sophie laughed sarcastically. “Weren’t you the one who called the Clark County courthouse in Las Vegas to find out about getting our marriage annulled?”
Jackie popped one hand on her hip. “Okay, yeah, but come on Soph. You knew the guy for like what, two hours before you married him in Vegas?”
“Two months,” she corrected.
Her sister raised a brow. “And how’d that turn out for you, baby sister?”
Sophie’s gaze fell to her feet. Not good, she thought. Not good at all.
Jackie’s hand was on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Sophie. That was mean.”
Sophie glanced up, tears pricking her eyes. “Mean but true, right?”
Jackie held her gaze. “I just hate seeing you so unhappy all the time.”
Sophie thought about her sister’s words. She’d tried to hide her melancholy moods this past year as they’d toured around the world. She always put on a bright face but she realized it was for the public. Her sister knew the real Sophie, the one behind the mask of the Sophie Day persona.
“How did you know Bethany was the one for you?” she asked.
Jackie had been in a committed relationship for almost five years. Neither had the desire to marry, even though they legally had the right to at this point.
Jackie leaned against the booth of the dining room table. Her expression shifted to that dreamy, faraway look she always got when thinking of her long-time girlfriend.
“We’d been dating a couple of months before we had our first huge fight. We both said some not-so-nice things. I don’t even remember what the argument was about, but even in the middle of it, I knew I was wrong. I was just too stubborn to admit it, you know?”
Sophie snorted. Yeah, she knew her sister.
“Whatever,” Jackie waved her off. “Anyway, I walked away, pouting, all pissed off. Bethany came into the room about thirty minutes later and said, ‘I’m sorry.’”
Sophie stared at her sister.
“Do you know how much courage it takes to say, ‘I’m sorry’ first, Sophie?” Jackie asked.
She did. She and Grant had both been particularly bad at it.
“I knew. I just knew, if this chick could apologize first, I had to keep her. Or rather, I had to make her keep me.” Jackie stood silently for a few heartbeats.
“So why don’t you marry her then?” Sophie asked.
Jackie smiled. “Maybe I will.” She paused for a long moment, staring at Sophie.
“What?” Sophie asked.
“Just give him a weekend, Soph. See if you want to try and make this marriage work. If not, walk away and move on. Either way, I think you need to give him a chance.”
“A chance to do what, say he’s sorry?”
“No,” Jackie shook her head. “For you to say you’re sorry.”
Without another word, Jackie pushed past her and down the steps.
Chapter Two
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Grant Sumner stepped out of his rented SUV and donned his favorite Colorado Rockies hat. As he slid his sunglasses on, he scanned the outside of TJ’s Grocery Store. Not much had changed about the exterior since he’d worked there as a kid, bagging groceries.
As he walked through the sliding glass doors, the familiar smells of the grocery store hit him, flooding his mind with images from his youth. It was incredible how the human brain could store so many memories, all wrapped up in the aromas that shaped your life.
Grant thought of Sophie’s perfume. His wife had never been one to spend tons of money on girly stuff, but perfume was her one indulgence. Since they’d split up, the kick in the midsection when he smelled that perfume always caught him off guard. Thankfully, it didn’t happen often.
“Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,” a familiar voice called over the half-wall of the manager’s booth to the left. “If it ain’t the world’s hottest man alive.”
Grant snorted at the reference to the title one magazine had crowned him several years ago. He still saw himself as the regular small-town boy he’d always been, not a world-famous actor. And certainly not a sex symbol as the industry had dubbed him.
“Hey, Mr. Thompson. How’s it going?” Grant walked toward the large man. His graying hair was thinner and Grant could tell he was parting his hair closer to his ear to hide his balding head. The fact TJ was trying to preserve some semblance of vanity made him smile.