Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3) Read Online Free Page A

the bus to relax her. She remembered when she was sixteen and wrote a story for her English class about becoming a famous country star. She remembered her classmates giggling at her when she read it to the class. When you grow up in Nashville, everyone wants to be a star. People are constantly moving to the Country Music Capital to try to make their dreams come true. So, it wasn’t unusual for kids in school to say they were going to make it big. But her best friend Lacey and her high school boyfriend, Gage, had believed in her, and so had her parents.
    Gage. Her heart still clutched when she thought about him. She hadn’t talked to him in years. Not since the ‘incident’, as her parents liked to call it. They had dated all through high school, until she had been forced to cut him out of her life when she was eighteen. She knew from the grapevine that he had moved away for college in Chicago, and was probably still there. She never looked him up on Facebook or tried to contact him, because it scared her. She knew he had to know that she had made her dreams come true. She was just glad that he hadn’t decided to get some fame himself by coming out that they used to be an item, or what had happened with them. She knew already that the tabloids and paparazzi were relentless with their pursuit of the past. The only reason that it hadn’t been uncovered thus far was because her father was a meticulous business man, and left nothing to chance. Including Gage. She probably didn’t want to know what he had done to keep him quiet. Then again, Gage would never want to hurt her that way.
    She loved her parents, she did. They couldn’t help it that she had been their only surviving child. They had lost Sam’s little sister, Chrissy, to leukemia when she was only two. Sam had only been three and she really only remembered little bits about her sister. When Sam hit it big, she decided to donate part of her proceeds to help fund leukemia research, and she would be doing a whole benefit concert for them in October, Leukemia Awareness Month. She never wanted anyone to suffer the way her parents did.
    When Chrissy died, Sam knew that a part of her parents died with her, and she could sympathize with that. Her dad, Samuel Kerrigan, threw himself into being the best businessman he could be, buying up struggling companies in Tennessee and using his management skills to turn them around. He was a millionaire before he was thirty. Sam’s mom, Ella, never worked; having stayed home with the girls when they were small. Once Sam was in school, she started doing charity work around Nashville, and quickly became known as a kind hearted, dedicated part of the elite society.
    Her dad was now the manager for her career, and her mom was there for moral support. What they didn’t seem to realize, however, was just how controlling they were. Sam had little choice over what she did. At twenty-three, she knew she had a lot to learn, but she would like to be part of at least a few decisions that affect her.
    Like this new security thing. They were headed to Florida after she did a few shows in Georgia, and her dad was determined they were adding someone else to the team. One of her guys, Brian, who was lifelong friends with her dad, was friends with a guy in Florida that could hook them up while she was there. She wasn’t allowed to question his decisions. She was glad he wanted to protect her, because this stalker thing was freaking her out. Never had she thought that someone would want to stalk her. She hadn’t been worried about it at all until she or he started getting into her dressing room, leaving flowers and notes. She just assumed it was a he, based on the letters, but Brian had said they couldn’t be sure about that. Whoever it was, they were determined to get to her in person, and if this person really had a few screws loose, no one could let that happen.
    Brian thought that this was an inside job; someone was allowing this freak access