Disclaimer: This story is fictional. Some of the things that happened or will happen with Jim are inspired by bits and pieces of my life. Parts of the character are fictional as well. All other characters were made up and any similarities are just coincidental. This is gay romance between teenage boys, there may be sex, but for the most part, it's about their true love of each other so if that offends you, please discontinue reading. Also, if it is illegal for you to read such material, you have been warned. Continual reading could cause a knock at your door.
I hope you're enjoying it so far and that the story draws you in wanting more. This story was "inspired" by another story, a great story, here on Nifty, "Riding Lessons" by Andrew Todd. Some people have compared my writing style to that of Mr. Todd's and for that, I am flattered. While Another Chance does pay tribute to "Riding Lessons", it is a story of its own and has its own plot and agenda. If you have any suggestions or concerns, don't hesitate to email me at zarek@roadrunner.com mailto:zarek@roadrunner.com . Thoughts and suggestion are always welcomed and may or may not be implemented. Concerns will be considered and addressed as much as possible.
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Another Chance – Cast of Characters Addendum
This is a list of the characters mentioned in Another Chance. The list does not include those that visit from Riding Lesson's Second Chance, so it is incomplete, but you can reference this list when trying to figure out who is who. As the author, I feel a need to look at my list so I remember who belongs where, and I know some readers have commented on wanting a list. You are welcome to print this for your own personal use. This list does NOT include briefly mentioned characters mentioned in the original Cast of Characters...
Recurring Characters:
James "Jim" Patrick Bolt
This is the main character. When the story began, he was fifteen and extremely depressed. He married Zac Schoen, has a son named Jake and is about to take in another boy named Patrick Andrew Roberts. Jim has dark brown hair and blue eyes. His date of birth was eleventh of May in 1998.
Zac Bolt
Formerly, Zac Schoen. He is the husband of Jim Bolt and father to Jake Bolt. Zac has jet black hair and hazel eyes. His date of birth was the sixteenth of August in 1997.
Jake Bolt
Adopted son of Jim and Zac Bolt. He was left at the church on the day he was born, with only a note stating his name was Jakey B. He met Jim at the rodeo demonstration and started calling him Daddy. Jake has curly black hair and blue eyes with brown flakes. His date of birth was the second of January in 2010.
Heather Bolt-Archer
Jim's mother, she was a widow but married Sheriff Nick Archer. Nick suggested that she keep the Bolt last name and hyphenate it to honor her deceased husband and her sons. She works as a paralegal in a law firm in Cody.
Joseph "Joe" Charles Bolt-Archer
Adopted brother of Jim. He was born with a disability; one leg was two inches short than the other. Joe is dating and planning to marry Cornelius "Buster" Jones. Though Joe never met Jon during his life, Joe feels as though Jon adopted him. When Nick married Heather, he adopted Joe, but Joe wanted to keep the Bolt last name out of respect to Jon. Joe has blonde hair and emerald green eyes. His birthday is the thirteenth of March in 1998.
Nicholas "Nick" Bartholomew Archer
Was Deputy Archer, but when the Sheriff resigned, he was elected as Sheriff. Nick is a widower with a son named Chris. While assigned to protect Joe and Jim, he fell in love with Heather, and they eventually married.
Chris Archer
Nick Archer's son. He was sexually abused by Deputy Matt Wallace. Jim befriended him and told him that he was a brother, even before Nick and Heather agreed to get married. Chris has dark brown hair and hazel eyes. His birthday is the eighteenth of November 1999.
Marilyn Schoen Abrams
Marilyn is Zac's and Zayne's mom. Jim kind of adopted her as a second mom. Zac did the same with Heather. Marilyn is a realtor. She met Vince "Vinnie" Abrams and fell in love. They got married in September of 2014.
Vince "Vinnie" Abrams
He is former retired military and head of Security for the ranch. Also the husband of Marilyn. He adopted Zac, son of Marilyn from her first marriage.
Zayne Alexander Abrams
Vince and Marilyn's baby
Jackson Sprayberry
Ranch owner, Boss to Zac, Jim, Joe and now Chris. With Ryan possibly getting appointed to be a Federal Judge, he is considering selling the ranch to the boys. Jackson was born the seventh of July in 1991.
Ryan Sprayberry
Formerly Ryan Grayson, husband to Jackson. He is a judge, possibly becoming a Federal Court Judge. Ryan is five years older than Jackson.
Dusty Little Bear
Jim's best friend. When Jim was at his worst, Dusty was the one who refused to give up on him and helped him cope with his loss. Dusty has proven to be a friend from the moment Jim met him. He and Jim take martial art class together.
Cheyenne Haiwe
Dusty's girlfriend. She also shares classes with Jim. A few weeks before Christmas, she was beat up and sexually assaulted. Dusty has always shown her love but at that time it shined more than ever.
Dr. Bear
He is Dusty's father and a psychiatrist.
Matt McCrery
A very close friend of the family. While he has money, he has proven many times that that he wants to use that money to help his friends. Matt will be starting school to become a veterinarian and is buying the local vet's business. Matt doesn't want to charge for services, since he doesn't need the money, but is willing to pay the vet a salary to work for him, and assist him once he gets his degree.
Gina McCrery
Quiet girl and wife of Matt.
Cornelius "Buster" Jones
Llewellyn's son. Joe's boyfriend. Like his father, Buster has jet black hair and blue eyes.
Llewellyn Jones
Cornelius "Buster" Jones' dad. He has jet black hair and piercing blue eyes.
Jeff Sprayberry
This is Jackson's brother. He just graduated from high school and moved to Cody to go to school and be closer to his brother. Jeff is dating Caleb.
Jacob Malcolm Dylan
Twin to Jackson, but he while Jackson was born before midnight of the seventh of July, Jacob was born just after midnight on the eighth in the year 1991. They have different last names because Jacob was adopted to another family.
Elizabeth Dylan
Wife of Jacob Dylan. Like Jacob, she was adopted as a child. They wanted to adopt their first child and hoped to eventually have a child of their own.
Jared Michael Dylan
Adopted son of Jacob and Elizabeth Dylan. He had been rejected by foster parents as soon as they found out he was gay, so he told Jacob and Elizabeth right away. Jacob told him that it didn't matter and Elizabeth took a few days to accept it, but she did. When he went to the ranch for riding lessons, he spotted Brock and walked into a pole.
Principal Duncan
Principal of Cody High School
Ben Brodie
Runs the semi-annual Junior Rodeo, and works with students interested to prepare them during the "off season".
Sallie "Aunt Sallie" Dewill
Lady who runs the group home.
Jon Robert Bolt
Distant relative of Jim's. He worked on the police force in Roberts, Montana until his father needed constant care preceding his death. At present he is working security at Another Chance.
Briefly Mentioned Characters:
Patrick Andrew Roberts – 11-year-old boy orphaned by a drunk driver (Will be recurring)
Mr. Blair – Homeroom and Health teacher.
Julia Sprayberry – Jackson's mother
Jack Sprayberry – Jackson's father
Billy Sebastian – Jackson's date who pretended to be gay
Kevin – Center for the football team. He loves Dylan Jenkins, the coach's son
Christine Archer – Nick's first wife, and mother of Chris. She died during child birth
Chelsie – Chris Bolt's girlfriend
Rory Scott – Head of the gay-bashing gang
Aerie McGlaughlin – Accomplice to Rory. Killed himself rather than going to prison.
Deputy Dawn – Deputy with the Park County Sheriff's Department, She helped protect Jim and Joe.
Donnie Snow – Boy who "killed" Buster Teddy Bear, and was planning to hurt Joe.
Ronald Snow – Older brother and guardian of Donnie.
Fire Chief – He's the Fire Chief
Darla Raye – Wife of the Fire Chief
Mark Wallace – Police Officer and brother of Matt Wallace.
Aron O'lapid – Kid hit by a drunk driver when he was eleven. He was in a coma for seven years.
Matsuko Hamasaki – Jim's, Dusty's and Joe's martial art sensei
Pearl Wallace – Sister to Mark and Matt. She took all the good in the family. She is also a former school teacher.
Mr. Wallace – Pearl's, Matt's and Mark's father. The drunk who hit Aron.
Nathan McCrery – Matt's Dad
Caroline McCrery – Matt's Mom
Joseph Lutherman – Fifteen-year-old barrel rider. Came in third.
Brandon T. Russell – Sixteen-year-old barrel rider. Came in second.
Josh – Senior at School, looks like Taylor Lautner except for his green eyes. He likes breaking couples up.
Cody Russell – Younger brother of Brandon
Scott "Scooter" – Friend of Zac's, attends Jim's martial art class. Zac introduced him to Brandon.
Gertrude – Former receptionist at Jake's elementary school.
Dan Black – Principal at Jake's elementary school. AKA Danny Claus or Dandalf.
Zack Allen Jordan – Aunt Brenda's baby. She named him after Zac, but added the "k"
Eric – Bully in the group home, he picked on Jake any chance he got.
Timmy – Boy in the group home.
Tina Louise Caulfield – Woman claiming to be Jake's birth mother.
Judge Bishop – Judge originally scheduled to preside over Jake's custody hearing.
Harvey Cox – Lawyer in the law firm where Heather works. He works in "Family Law" and handled Jake's custody battle.
Judge Jedidiah Prescott – Judge who presided over Jake's custody hearing
Mr. White – Lawyer for Tina Louise Caulfield
Joshua Buchanan – Father of Jacqueline, Jake's birth maternal grandfather.
Jacqueline Buchanan – Jake's real birth mother, she died giving birth.
Jacob Bates – Jake's birth father, he died during basic training in the Marines.
Martha Bates – Mother of Jacob Bates, Jake's birth paternal grandmother.
Norman Bates – Father of Jacob Bates, Jake's birth paternal grandfather.
Deputy Shannon – A deputy in the Park Count Sheriff's Office.
Lenny King – Agent with the FBI.
Maria – Receptionist at the Bill Cody Ranch.
Gerald "Gerry" Ryder – Contractor rebuilding the Ranch after the tornado took it out.
Animal Characters:
Shinobi – Nick and Chris Archer's dog
Midnight Passion – Joseph Lutherman's horse
Scout – Brandon T. Russell's horse
Platinum – Colt given to Jake by Brock Radcliffe. Sire is Silver and Dame is Aurixi. Half-brother of Gold.
Plutonium – Twin to Platinum and given to Brock.
Oro – Palomino Chincoteague pony
Toranado – Black mustang gelding with a white blaze, Austin's horse
Midnight Rider – Gerry Ryder's Black Arabian stallion with a white mane and tail.
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