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Chapter 1

Mia

“Are you the parent or legal guardian of Grayson and Alexander Fitch?”

The cold voice on the other end of the phone made Mia's heart drop

“I'm their social worker, Mia Ah the outdoor parking lot of the grocery store “Are they okay?”

“The boys broke into Stone Mountain Ranch,

“Grayson and Alexander did what?” Mia ca no one else was leaving the building yet, or she probably would have been hit by a car since she was standing in the middle of the road

“They broke into Stone Mountain Ranch, ma'am,” the voice repeated “The boys said the person to contact about this was you”

“Have the police been contacted?” Mia asked as she started walking as quickly as possible toward her car If she sped, she ht be able to make it to the ranch before the police took the boys into custody She thought about dropping her groceries and just running to the car

“No ma'am,” the male voice replied “We wanted to inform you first”

Mia threw her groceries into the trunk without looking and slammed the door shut “I'll be there in five minutes,” she promised “If yo

u could wait to contact the police until I get there, I would appreciate it”

“Fiveup

Mia cursed and sent a plea out into the universe that there wouldn't be any speed traps on the ten-ht put all red stoplights on her route just to spite the boys It seemed like the universe didn't like them much recently

She gunned the engine in her srocery store parking lot She didn't care that her eggs were squished up against the milk or that the pint of oing toto save those boys

Luckily, all the cops see road to Stone Mountain Ranch Mia racked her brain trying to come up with a valid reason for Grayson and Alexander to be at the ranch Stone Mountain Ranch was a local horse ranch in the s particularly special about it It was said to be owned by a billionaire, but that he was almost never there It was more of a local rumor that a billionaire owned the place than an actual fact Even the naed based on as telling the story

There was no good reason for the boys to be there Grayson was seven and Alexander was eleven, so they couldn't be looking for work They'd both been raised in the city with their older sister, Lily, and as far as Mia knew, neither of the boys had a reason to want to see horses Lily maybe, but not the boys

Mia stepped down harder on the gas pedal, needing to get to the ranch as quickly as possible If the police were involved, it would be the end of the small family she had worked so hard to save Lily and her brothers were on their last foster ho to have to be broken up, and that was the last thing Mia wanted

A girl alking alongside the road as it turned to gravel frohtly on the e woman

“Lily?” Mia called out, rolling down her

Lily coughed and waved away soed as she saho it was “Hi, Mia”

“What are you doing out here?” Mia asked