Taking Flight: Book 2 of Restoring Madison, TX. Restoring Madison TX, #2

She's been the perfect county clerk, the perfect daughter, the perfect keeper of family legacy. She's never asked herself if she's happy. Sarah Montgomery is the fourth generation of her family to serve as Verde County Clerk. She knows every records retention schedule, every document location, every procedural detail. What she doesn't know is who she is when she's not performing duty. When chronic roof leaks threaten irreplaceable county records, Sarah finally secures approval for courthouse repairs-until preservation architect Andrew Kim discovers 2, 000 Mexican free-tailed bats roosting in the cupola.
Game warden Jake Martinez delivers the verdict: federal law prohibits repairs until the baby bats can fly in late August. Three more months of water damage. Three more months of watching county history deteriorate while she does her duty. But Jake sees what Sarah's family doesn't: a competent woman trapped by expectations she never chose. As they work together to protect both records and bats, his steady presence begins to crack her careful facade.
He doesn't need her to uphold the Montgomery legacy. He just wants to know who Sarah is when no one's watching. The question terrifies her. Because admitting she wants more than the life she inherited means disappointing everyone. Her family, who sees her dedication as honoring great-grandmother Elena's sacrifice. Commissioner Santos, who fields a political challenger exploiting Sarah's "personal complications" with the game warden.
The community, who needs the County Clerk to be reliable, not human. When Sarah watches the juvenile bats take their first awkward flights-falling, trying again, risking everything-she realizes she's been choosing the cage over flight her entire adult life. Now she must decide: continue living the life her family designed, or claim the one she wants-even if it means becoming the first Montgomery woman to choose herself over legacy.
A compelling exploration of inherited expectations, professional identity, and the courage it takes to disappoint the people you love. Book 2 in the Restoring Madison, TX series.