Second Chances
Authors: Cheyenne Meadows
SECOND CHANCES
Cheyenne
Meadows
Erotic Romance
Secret Cravings
Publishing
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A
Secret Cravings Publishing Book
Erotic Romance
Second Chances
Copyright © 2015 Cheyenne Meadows
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63105-+525-6
First E-book Publication: March 2015
Cover design by Dawné Dominique
Edited by Stephanie Balistreri
Proofread by Ariana Gaynor
All cover art and logo copyright ©
2015 by Secret Cravings Publishing
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PUBLISHER
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Jacie Hawkins drives big
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SECOND CHANCES
Cheyenne Meadows
“Mr.
Delaney, I presume?”
Dusty
glanced up from his seat on a bale of straw, where he was repairing a halter.
Ben, his Belgian Malinois sat beside him. He told the dog to stay before
answering. “Yeah.”
A woman
stood at the entrance to the stable with the sun at her back, outlining her
like a bright angel. As she strode closer, the glare receded, allowing him to
visualize details about his visitor.
She
wore jeans and a T-shirt, a common enough outfit in this part of the country.
Her oval face spoke of curiosity and determination, while her movements snapped
with contained energy. Medium length dark-blonde hair, which had been pulled
back into a ponytail, bobbed with each step. Wispy, short bangs that curled
slightly at the ends, fluttered in the light breeze, adding to her youthful and
innocent appearance. Grace defined each movement, as if she were well versed in
physical activity. Considering her slender form and the toned arms he glimpsed,
she probably spent her fair share of time working out. A runner, most likely,
with that lithe, yet athletic build.
With a
few more steps, she drew closer. He scented a light floral fragrance, noted the
feminine curves of her body, and felt his manhood sit up and take notice.
Intelligent blue eyes, the color of a morning sky, met his gaze.
Grumbling
under his breath, he berated himself for reacting so quickly to the fairer sex.
As if he hadn’t been burned by women badly in the past.
“What
can I do for you?”
“I’m looking
for a stable to board my horse and I hear you’re the best.”
He
stood, uncomfortable with her standing over him. Primitive instincts made the
position unacceptable. He topped her by nearly a full head and probably doubled
her in weight, yet she didn’t appear nervous or back up an inch.
He
ignored the compliment. He enjoyed his job, loved the animals, and pampered
them like prized pets. Horses were in his blood. The ‘best’ treaded the line of
subjectivity, but he didn’t really care what others thought. He did what he’d
always dreamed of doing and left it at that. “What do you want to know?”
She
glanced around the airy room, where several stalls sat empty. After feeding the
horses their morning meal, he’d put them out to pasture for the day. Horses
needed room to stretch their legs, grass to graze on, and simply to do what
nature intended—be a horse.
“Let’s
start with what you charge.”
He placed
the halter down on his makeshift chair. “Two hundred per month per head. That
includes everything—feed, grooming, and farrier service. The only extra expense
you might incur is a vet bill. I cover the basic vaccinations, but anything
over is yours.”
“I
see.” She glanced around the room before her gaze landed on him once more.
Interest and intrigue sparked in her baby blue eyes. He found the sight
somewhat captivating. “Do you offer training?”
“Yeah,
but that’s extra, depending upon what you’re interested in. Anything from basic
saddle breaking to specialized advanced training. I can do just about anything
with a western saddle, but draw the line at dressage and jumping. Since I have
no experience in such, I don’t feel comfortable trying to teach a horse how to
do all those fancy maneuvers.”
“I’m
just looking for trail riding, at the most. Nothing fancy.”
“That’s
doable, then.” He appreciated her professional questions, much preferring to
clarify particulars now, rather than after the fact. His contracts spelled out
everything, but he noticed few boarders ever bothered to read the detailed
pages. Not his problem. He put forth the information, so legally he was
covered.
She
gestured to the stalls. “How much stall time versus pasture?”
“I
bring them in at night, unless you want them to be on full time pasture.
They’re grained twice a day. Pregnant mares occasionally three times, depending
upon their needs.”
“Oh, I
won’t be getting one of those. I’m going to adopt from the humane society farm.
In fact, I’m going there next to choose one.”
Her
revelation shocked him. Not that she appeared wealthy and uppity, but he rarely
ran into anyone who wanted less than a gently raised horse with perfect
manners. Though none of his business, curiosity prodded him to pursue her
reasoning further. “Why would you want one from there? Hell, there’s plenty of
well-bred animals around here with rich bloodlines and sound training. With the
humane society, it’s a crap shoot.”
The
woman straightened her spine and pinned Dusty with her gaze. “Some of them have
seen the worst the human race has to offer, yet they persevered and triumphed
over the odds, able to find trust, in the wake of inconceivable torture. To me,
those horses are diamonds in the rough and wear badges of courage. I’ll take a
battle tested and scarred horse over a paddock raised one any day.”
He
studied her face for a long moment then nodded slightly.
Give her credit for standing up for the underdog and for a kind heart.
He’d seen too many instances of abuse and neglect in his lifetime, each
situation disgusted him to no end. Sometimes he could step up and help, with
others his hands were tied. Yet, he commended the little lady for her beliefs
and for opening her door to a rescued horse.
The
words replayed in his mind, hitting home with power.
Battle tested and scarred.
Not just in relation to her pick of
animal, either. Unwilling to dwell further, he drew his attention back to the
business proposition. He headed through his office door, grabbed a couple pages
of paper and quickly returned to her. “Here’s the contract. Pick out your
horse, lady, then have them drop it off here.”
“My
name is April, not lady.” She met his gaze steadily while taking the paperwork.
He
inclined his head slightly.
“Thank
you.” She smiled victoriously. “I know this will be the most wonderful home a
horse could hope for.” With those final words, she walked out of the stable and
back to her car.
The
action, combined with the sassy sway of her hips, sent a sharp jolt straight to
his groin.
Don’t get your water hot,
SEAL. You’ve learned your lesson about women the hard way.
With one more
look, he turned away and went back to work.
“Oh,
my. So many choices.” April glanced over at her host, the director for the
humane society farm, then back to the pasture full of a whole herd of beautiful
animals. Horses of all colors grazed peacefully, dotting a vast field. While
the sizes varied, their predicament remained the same. All were homeless and
looking for a special person to adopt them and love them for the rest of their
lives. Sad but a common enough reality, not only with horses, but with other
animals as well these days.
“I’m
afraid so. Seems the poor economy hit horses pretty hard. People could no
longer afford to keep them. Some were simply dumped to range free on their own,
while others were abandoned when their owners moved away.”
“So
frustrating and irresponsible.” April’s gut clenched at the woman’s words. She,
of course, knew such things happened, but to see the animals in person that had
been abandoned made everything more real.
“There’s
worse. We’ve had several neglect and starvation cases. Those really make you
want to cry for the animal and beat the person responsible for such horrible conditions.”
“I can
imagine.” April shuddered. She’d seen pictures of gaunt horses on the humane
society’s website as before and after pictures. Never did she want to see
another animal so starved they could hardly stand. She respected the workers at
the farm even more for their caring and for the emotional toll such cruelty had
to leave on their souls.
Needing
to change the morbid subject, April gestured toward the animals. “Can you give
me some recommendations? I’d originally thought about Duke, but now that I’ve
seen other horses, I’m indecisive again.”
Lois,
the director, nodded. “This is just a few of them. There’s another pasture to
our left and the stables to the right. Let’s go visit some of them and see if
anything clicks.”
“Great.”
April followed along.
An hour
later, she still teetered on the fence. All the horses had their own
attributes, yet none of them stood out from the crowd. She’d heard numerous
stories, petted many noses, but couldn’t seem to narrow down her choice any
more than when she stepped out of her SUV earlier.
“Nothing
yet, huh?” Lois asked with a knowing look.
“No. I
don’t know what’s wrong with me. All of them are sweet and wonderful.”
“Don’t
worry.” Lois patted her arm. “It’s always hard to choose the right one. In my
experience, the horse chooses you.”
“Okay.”
The words only provided a hair more hope in her quickly sinking spirit. After
scrimping and saving for years and finally deciding to take the leap to horse
ownership, she couldn’t settle on a single one. The potential of leaving empty
handed loomed like a dark cloud of failure over her head.
“Come
on. There’s a few more horses to see.” Lois led the way back toward the stable.
“Maybe one of them will catch your eye. If not, you know we’re always getting
more in. Some people visit several times before finding their match.”
April
nodded, but pressure to choose today weighed heavily on her shoulders. She’d
set up everything, including the stable space. The last thing she wanted to do
was call the stable owner and tell him to put her space on hold for another six
months or longer. Her heart ached at the thought of waiting weeks more for her
lifelong dream to take flight.
As they
headed toward the main area, April noticed a round pen to the side. A pure
white miniature horse stood in the center. “How adorable.”
Lois
paused and grinned. “That’s Mischief. He’s quite the ham and definitely lives
up to his name.”
April
moved toward the round pen, noting another horse in the enclosure. She stepped
up to the gate and peered over. Sure enough, Mischief lifted his head and
turned toward her as if sizing her up. He whinnied and trotted right to her, a
large-boned dapple gray filly at his side. Both snuffled her, Mischief at her
waist, the taller horse at her neck. April rubbed both of their heads and
giggled when the filly tickled her neck with a
whuff
of air. The three rails allowed plenty of room for the mini
to stick his head through and the taller filly to put her head over the top
board.
“That’s
amazing.” A new voice carried to April. She kept stroking the horses, yet
turned to find a middle-aged man staring at them in astonishment.
“Yes,
it is.” Lois answered with a wide grin, and turned her attention back to April.
“What do you think of them?”
April
couldn’t wipe the happiness from her face as both horses begged for her to
scratch their heads. “They’re wonderful. So pretty. And friendly.” Using her
short nails, she rubbed under the filly’s halter as she leaned into the touch,
a signal she definitely wanted more.
“That’s
just it. Miracle, the gray filly you’re petting, is leery of everyone.”
April
blinked at the oversized pet. “You’re kidding?”
Lois
approached slowly. “Nope. If you look over her flanks and rump, you’ll see some
small white marks.”
April
squinted, but made out several lines nearly blending in with the pretty colors
of Miracle’s hide. “Now I see them.”
“Whip
scars.”
April
gasped. Miracle lifted her head, stared at her, and then stretched her neck in
order to lip at her hair.
“She
was one of the worst abuse cases we’ve ever seen. Starved nearly to death.
Could barely stand. Full of parasites, rain rot. You name it, she had it.” Lois
leaned on the fence and played with Mischief’s forelock. “We thought we were
going to lose her a dozen times. Yet, each time she rallied, partially in thanks
to Mischief here.”
“They’re
bonded?”
“Yep.
Came from the same place, actually, only she was in much worse condition. We
couldn’t separate them without both of them becoming very upset. So, they’ve
stayed together all along. Even share the same stall.”
Her
gaze raked the two horses even as her heart bled at what they both had
suffered. Something inside clicked. No way could she turn her back on such
needy animals. If the filly truly was as skittish as Lois indicated, she might
be Miracle’s only hope of finding a suitable and happy home for the rest of her
natural life. Decided, April lifted her chin. “I’ll take them.”
Lois
looked at her with a serious expression. “Miracle isn’t broke to ride. In fact,
the vet says she might not be sound for more than a quick ride around the
pasture now and again. The starvation probably left permanent physical issues.
Her best option might be as a companion horse or pasture pet, a friend and
beautiful creature to crop grass in your pasture.”
April
swallowed. She’d wanted a horse to ride, but had no plans on showing or
jumping. Simply saddling up and hitting a trail or toddling around the pasture.
No matter. Miracle picked her and April wasn’t about to turn her back on the
gray filly. “That’s okay. The most I would do anyway is trail ride. Trotting
through the pasture works just as well.” She laughed when Miracle nudged her
with her head, blatantly asking for more attention. Lightly caressing the
horse, she knew no matter what, Miracle would come home with her. She’d never
forgive herself for turning her back and walking away.