We love a good second-chance story—two people finding their way back to each other after time, distance, or mistakes. But sometimes, the second chance that changes everything has nothing to do with another person. Sometimes it’s about finding a way back to yourself.
To her friends, being the trainer’s daughter looked like a dream—horses, shows, and a farm to call home. Charli lived the life her friends burst through the school doors for, only the few short hours they spent at the barn were nothing like her grueling days. Charli Lockhart knew the truth: the pressure, the sacrifice, and a life that was secondary to her mother’s goals and the needs of the farm. Clients’ children were preferred over her because the little darlings had money. Horses sold for big bucks even when you thought they were yours. No normal teen life—no parties, no dates, no time to spread her wings.
That’s the issue that shaped my newest story, If You Follow Your Heart. My heroine, Charli, doesn’t go searching for love. She’s too busy surviving. Ten years ago, the proverbial final straw clung to her back when Sonny sold Cruise Control, the horse Charli trained. Betrayed by her own mother, Charli walked away and built a new life in the city, far from the painful memories of Meadow Lane Farm.
We all carry seasons of loss—dreams that faded, places we swore we’d never go back to, people we never want to see again. It’s easy to believe that moving on means leaving it all behind. But what if healing doesn’t come from escape? What if it comes from returning to the things that hurt, the things that mattered, and choosing to see them differently this time?
When her mother’s accident forces Charli home, she’s determined to fix what needs to be fixed and leave Meadow Lane behind as quickly as she can. Legacy has a way of getting under your skin. So do memories. And horses. Sometimes, what we thought we escaped the first time is the very thing waiting to set us free. The story begins with a simple trip home that turns into anything but simple. No clear direction for the farm, an entitled trainer, and a stack of bills hint that Meadow Lane’s troubles run deeper than Charli imagined. But nothing prepares her for the truth of her mother’s choices.
You’ve got to want a second chance. Rarely does one just fall into your lap. Even if one does, it will require work and effort on your part. A second chance will cost you something. You might have to face the ugly things in the world and in yourself. Admitting mistakes and accepting things you can’t change and letting go isn’t easy when you’ve kept those wounds clenched in your hand. The resolution may mean yanking anger out by the roots and letting it wither in the sun. To the onlooker, second chances look easy, but they’re a tangled mess in your gut.
Friends offer their solutions and encouragement, but while second chances can look like making a simple choice or decision, they don’t know the real cost. Your destiny may not be wrapped in romance. Sometimes you finally face the truth in the barn aisle you once hated, breathing in the smell of hay and horses, watching the dust motes float in the sunlight. Maybe that’s when you finally understand what it means to belong.
Because for Charli, the greatest second chance isn’t falling in love again—it’s learning to forgive, to rebuild trust, and to reclaim the life she once ran from. In the process, she discovers that home isn’t a place you escape from—it’s the place that teaches you who you really are.
