Second Chances - a romantic short story

By Toni Leland

Melody Adams, four-time National Barrel Racing Champion, has retired to a tiny Oklahoma town to see where the rest of her life would go. Her husband’s death two years ago knocked the pins out from under her, a situation that seemed as though it might be remedied by retirement. But now she’s not so sure.

Melody is determined to do some good works with her newly-found freedom from the rigors of the show circuit and, possibly, help her deal with the memories. She learns of a Indian orphanage school in dire need of support, so she sets out to organize a fund-raiser using her famous name as the draw.

Randolf “RJ” Vance, recently home from Afghanistan and more than slightly the worse for wear, inherits his uncle’s feed store in quiet, off-the-beaten-track Red Hill, Oklahoma. All he wants is to be left alone to figure out if this is the lifestyle that will help him forget the horrors of the past.

Not accustomed to handling her own programs, Melody runs into problems with the small town modus operandi and, in the process, tangles with the owner of the only feed store in town. As she works toward the big charity event, if anything can go wrong, it will.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Toni Leland
• Release date: Jun 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513079172

Toni Leland

Toni Leland has been writing for over 25 years. She writes both fiction and non-fiction, and freelance for several magazines, a gardening website, and one newspaper. She is a professional editor and photographer. In her spare time, loves gardening, cooking (and eating!), reading, travel, horses, and cats. Throughout her life, her greatest love has been horses. From riding them as a young girl, to breeding and raising Arabians and Morgans as an adult, to writing about them as a passion - these wonderful creatures filled her life and her stories. Toni has written other genres as the mood strikes her, but usually returns to her equine writing roots.

Book preview

Toni Leland

Melody Adams, four-time National Barrel Racing Champion, has retired to a tiny Oklahoma town to see where the rest of her life would go. Her husband’s death two years ago knocked the pins out from under her, a situation that seemed as though it might be remedied by retirement. But now she’s not so sure.

Melody is determined to do some good works with her newly-found freedom from the rigors of the show circuit and, possibly, help her deal with the memories. She learns of a Indian orphanage school in dire need of support, so she sets out to organize a fund-raiser using her famous name as the draw.

Randolf RJ Vance, recently home from Afghanistan and more than slightly the worse for wear, inherits his uncle’s feed store in quiet, off-the-beaten-track Red Hill, Oklahoma. All he wants is to be left alone to figure out if this is the lifestyle that will help him forget the horrors of the past.

Not accustomed to handling her own programs, Melody runs into problems with the small town modus operandi and, in the process, tangles with the owner of the only feed store in town. As she works toward the big charity event, if anything can go wrong, it will.

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Second Chances

©2015 Toni Leland

All Rights Reserved

Cover image courtesy  Costiq

This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical or current events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Melody Adams leaned on the stall door and gazed at her favorite horse with his nose buried in the feed bucket. Nothing could describe the way she felt around her horses, especially this very special animal who had guided her through some of the worst times of her life. Her chest tightened and she retreated from the memories.

Her voice faltered with emotion. "How does it feel to be