On a dirt road marked by haunting secrets, three strangers caught at lifeâs crossroads must decide what to sacrifice to protect their own agendasâ¦and what theyâre each willing to risk for love.
If thereâs any place that can convince Angela Harold to stop running, itâs Ransom Canyon. And if thereâs any man who can reveal desires more deeply hidden than her every fear, itâs Wilkes Wagner. Beneath the rancherâs honorable exterior is something that just might keep her safe...or unwittingly put her in dangerâs path.
With his dreams of leaving this small Texas town swallowed up by hard, dusty reality, all Wilkes has to show for his life is the Devilâs Fork Ranch. Though not one to let false hope seduce him, he canât deny the quiet and cautious beauty who slips into his world and changes everything.
Lauren Brigman finally has freedom at her fingertips. All she needs is Lucas Reyesâs attentionâa look, a touch, some sign that sheâs more to him than a girl he rescued one dangerous night. But now itâs her turn to rescue someone, and the life-altering decision may cost her more than a chance with Lucas.
Praise for Jodi Thomas
âJodi Thomas is a masterful storyteller. She grabs your attention on the first page, captures your heart, and then makes you sad when itâs time to bid her wonderful characters farewell. You can count on Jodi Thomas to give you a satisfying and memorable read.â
âCatherine Anderson, New York Times bestselling author
âThomas sketches a slow, sweet surrender.â
âPublishers Weekly
âCompelling and beautifully written, it is exactly the kind of heart-wrenching, emotional story one has come to expect from Jodi Thomas.â
âDebbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author
âTender, realistic, and insightful.â
âLibrary Journal
âOnce I started [Ransom Canyon], I quickly found myself unable to put down this book.â
âNight Owl Reviews
âThis book is like once again visiting old friends while making new ones and will leave readers eager for the next visit. A pure joy to read.â
âRT Book Reviews
âThis is terrific reading from page one to the end. Jodi Thomas is a passionate writer who puts real feelings into her characters.â
âFresh Fiction
PROLOGUE
Anna Marie Island, Florida
September
ANGELA HAROLD SAT in her fatherâs cluttered office, still wearing the black dress sheâd worn to his funeral. She stared at the framed picture on his desk. The one sheâd given him when she was seven. Their first fishing trip. He was smiling, the sun shining off his glasses. She stood by his side holding up a fish half her length.
A memory saved forever in the heart. For Angela, this one photo had come to signify the time before the fall. Before Florida. Before her motherâs illness. Before her father started withering inside. Before sheâd felt trapped in her life.
Only now the bars that held her here were crumbling like columns of sugar in the rain. She should feel free, but all Angela felt was fear. A trapped bird staring at an open cage door. Afraid to fly. Afraid to stay.
The police had explained to her the night theyâd found his body that heâd been mugged as he left his office. Neither the blows heâd suffered nor the gash on his head when heâd fallen had killed him. But his heart hadnât been strong enough to survive the attack. Benjamin Haroldâs heart may have stopped three days ago, but heâd stopped living years ago, one unfulfilled dream at a time.
âWho robs the bookkeeper on a Sunday night?â Angela whispered to the smiling man in the picture. The antiques store had been closed that day. Her father had said he was going in to straighten out the books. Whoever attacked him couldnât have gotten more than a few hundred dollars from his wallet. They couldnât have known about his weak heart.
Out of curiosity, she flipped open her fatherâs ledger book. Heâd kept the books for his brotherâs business since they first moved to Florida when she was seven. Her uncle Anthony owned the multimillion-dollar antiques business and he trusted no one with the books but her father. After all, Anthony might be the head of the company, but his brother had loaned him the money to get started. The last entry was a transfer from the storeâs account to a numbered bank account.
She stared at the logbook and recalled the family story. Her father had loaned his younger brother, Anthony, fifty thousand dollars and the priceless necklace that was his inheritance for display once the store was built. The necklace was an heirloom and had been in the family for generations: an ancient Greek coin set in a cradle of gold and diamonds. Her grandparentsâ will had stipulated the necklace go to the oldest son and never be sold off for profit.