After the Fall: An Inspirational Western Romance (Gold Valley Romance Book 2)

by Liz Isaacson

  You should call and cancel the pool, he told himself. After all, next summer, you won’t be at Silver Creek.

  He’d already told Dr. Richards he’d only be around for one more group of boys. Thirteen more weeks. Dr. Richards had asked him to reconsider, but Sterling didn’t exactly need the money and he’d rather spend his time working out, conditioning, and then snowboarding once the weather cooperated in the fall.

  Sterling hadn’t told Norah yet. As he dove into the pool, he wondered if Dr. Richards had. His powerful strokes cut through the water, and he pushed himself to go faster, flip quicker, in an attempt to drive Norah from his mind.

  Didn’t work.

  Norah stalked Sterling for almost three weeks before she followed him into the recreation center. She’d never actually been inside. Sure, they hosted programs for kids Erik and Alex would’ve liked, but Norah didn’t have the extra funds for soccer or swimming.

  Each evening, Sterling carried a duffle bag into the center. She wasn’t sure what he did inside, and today she was determined to find out.

  And to tell him she needed him back in her life full-time. This part-time, walking-on-eggshell type of relationship wasn’t really working for her.

  Him, either, if the dark circles under his eyes indicated anything. The drawn down shape of his mouth. The tension in his shoulders whenever they were together.

  “Miss?” the attendant called after her as she passed the desk.

  Norah half-turned back to her, trying not to lose sight of Sterling. “Hmm?”

  “Do you have a pass?”

  No, Norah did not have a pass. “Oh, I’m—I just need to catch my friend.” Her voice stalled, for more than one reason. Number one, Sterling had surpassed the friend label long ago, and it sounded false calling him that. Number two, she didn’t actually want him to see her yet. Not until she knew what he did here and could order the appropriate words to say to him.

  She glanced over her shoulder and found the area empty. “Never mind.” She reached for her purse. “How much is a pass?”

  “Just for today is four dollars.”

  Norah passed over some cash. “What’s there to do here?”

  The girl scanned Norah in her boots, jeans, and long-sleeved shirt. Standard attire for working with horses and girls, both of which Norah had done that day. “We have four basketball courts. Two are set up for pickleball tonight. There’s a workout room upstairs, along with a weight room and an indoor walking track. All of our formal classes are in the mornin’.” She gave Norah an apologetic smile. “We have a lap pool indoors, and it connects to our outdoor pool. That’s down thatta way.” She pointed in the general direction Sterling had gone.

  “Locker rooms, and oh. Game rentals if you just want to come play board games.” She beamed at Norah.

  Though Norah’s insides felt closer to liquefying, she managed to return the gesture. “I’ll just check out the workout room.”

  “Sure thing.” The girl sat back down and Norah hurried away from her. She felt like an imposter in the building, like everyone there would know she hadn’t actually worked out in years. Like she carried a stink the die-hards could scent from miles away.

  She didn’t see Sterling upstairs, not that she expected him to change and start running after only five minutes. She found a bench overlooking one of the basketball courts and sat. On her left, she had a good view of the workout room, and in front of her, the occasional person walked or ran by on the track.

  Sterling didn’t surface.

  She walked the track once, discovering that it overlooked all the basketball courts. He wasn’t on any of them. The weight room boasted a dozen men with corded muscles, but none of them were Sterling.

  He had to be in the pool. Perfect, Norah thought sarcastically as she went downstairs to figure out how to get to the pool. Everyone would notice a fully dressed woman walking through the pool area. Her step slowed as the smell of chlorine hit her nose. But her unhappiness urged her forward.

  Do it, she told herself. You promised not one more day would pass in this condition.

  The indoor area of the pool held only swimmers and two lifeguards. Outside, though, children and families created a cacophony of sound Norah wouldn’t soon forget.

  If she had to traipse through that to find Sterling…. Thoughts of leaning against his car until he came out filled her mind. She hadn’t entirely decided against the idea when the door across from her opened. Two men came out—one of them Sterling.

  He wore a swimming suit that looked more like biker shorts. The black material stretched to his knee and clung to his leg. His torso seemed bronzed, though he had to wear the same type of clothes to work that she did. He’d already hidden his hair beneath a swim cap, and now he laughed with the guy he was with. They moved down to two open lanes and adjusted their swim goggles over their eyes.

  Norah admired Sterling’s broad shoulders and strong arms, just like she admired his ability to show kindness. Sterling looked at the other man, and together they dove into the water. She watched them race through the water, disappearing under it when they drew close to the wall, flipping and heading back the way they came.

  She stood transfixed. She’d never seen anyone in real life swim that way. Only on TV. During the Olympics. Familiar self-doubt clawed its way through her throat, almost choking her. She’d been to church twice since Sterling’s frustrated words. She’d been praying every night. During the day. Whenever she saw him or thought about him—which meant she kept a prayer in her heart all the time.

  She wished she felt beautiful the way some women did. She wished she knew how to do that, or that she could somehow turn it off and on like she did a faucet. She wished a great many things, but she’d been trying to be grateful for what she did have—and keep what she wanted.

  Sterling.

  The men reached the end of the lane, and Norah missed who won. But the way Sterling grinned, she suspected he had. Of course. The man excelled at everything he did. The pair continued swimming, the pace less feverish now. More controlled.

  A whistle blew, and Norah jerked. “Can’t stand there, ma’am.”

  She nodded at the lifeguard and hurried away from the end of the pool where Sterling swam. She took the only chair available on the border between the lap pool and the family swim area. Her stomach grumbled for food, but she stayed put. Finally, after about twenty minutes, the other man climbed out of the pool. He said something to Sterling, collected his towel, and left. Sterling swam.

  And swam.

  And swam.

  Another twenty minutes passed before it even appeared he was slowing down. He paused at the wall where he’d started, and Norah sprang to her feet.

  Now or never, she recited in time with her footsteps as she rounded the pool to intersect him before he entered the locker room. He’d pulled himself from the water and was wiping his face with his towel when she arrived.

  “Hi, Sterling,” she said. “You swim?”

  He stilled, his hand still cupping his chin with the towel. “Norah.” He dropped his hands, giving her a full view of his body. “What are you doing here?”

  She almost shrugged, as if to say, Oh, you know. Here with the kids.

  “I followed you,” she blurted out. “I’ve been following you for a couple of weeks.”

  His gaze remained steady and even, not even a hint as to what he was thinking. This was the man she’d expected to find in Denver but hadn’t gotten. Then, he’d been readable, forgiving. Now, he seemed made of marble.

  “I wanted to ask you if you’d go to the rodeo with me this weekend.” She stepped back as another man exited the locker room. “It’s the Fourth of July, and there’s fireworks after. Me and the boys go every year.”

  The labored rise and fall of his chest was the only sign he was still alive.

  “I already bought the ticket,” she continued, the awkwardness between them growing into a tangible beast. “If you don’t want it, I could ask—”

&
nbsp; “I want it.”

  Happiness burst through Norah, unleashing the dam of words. “I’m so sorry, Sterling. I’ve been working on things, I swear. There’s something wrong with me, and I’m trying to fix it.” She moved closer to him, inhaled to draw some courage and bravery into her. She slipped her fingertips up his torso, noticing with delight the shiver her touch elicited in him.

  “I love you,” she said. “I believe you love me.”

  And at that moment, with all her heart and body and soul, she did.

  One year later:

  “It’s so hot,” Norah complained from his patio.

  “Hey, you’re the one who wanted a summer wedding,” Sterling said from inside the kitchen, where the air conditioning kept everything cool. He lifted the lid on the pork roast Norah had put in the crockpot that morning and then returned to his task of staining a shelf he planned to put above the mantle in his bedroom.

  If it were up to him, he would’ve married Norah last summer. But seeing as how she didn’t really believe he loved her until July, and the one thing she wanted for her wedding was “no snow,” he’d waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  He was tired of waiting. Tired of living in his two-story house by himself. Tired of strapping his feet to a board and training and competing only to come in second, or third, or one time, seventh. Tired of only being able to kiss Norah and then drive away at night. He couldn’t wait to be married.

  Tomorrow, she’d come home with him.

  Well, not technically. Tomorrow, after the wedding, they’d fly to LA and then board a cruise ship. But after that, he’d bring her home.

  He’d moved in most of her stuff already. Even her luggage for their honeymoon sat near his front door.

  “Last day at home,” she murmured as she entered the house and slid the door closed behind her.

  Sterling abandoned his home improvement project and swept Norah into his arms. “Norah, I’m your home now.”

  She tilted her head back and smiled at him in that sexy way she had. “Yes, you are.”

  He dipped his head to kiss her, the love passing between them almost more than Sterling could endure. “I love you, Norah.”

  “I know you do.” She pressed herself closer to him, snaking her hands up his back. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

  What she really meant was, We’ll be okay, right? Even if Mama has a meltdown or your family gives me the evil eye?

  She’d met all his brothers, their wives, and their families in the past year. Everyone had been kind and accepting. Well, almost everyone. Emily still wouldn’t look directly at her. And her mother was the definition of unpredictable.

  “Tomorrow belongs to us,” he assured her. “Just you and me. That’s all that matters.”

  “You and me,” she repeated.

  “Me and you.” Sterling kneaded her closer for another kiss, thinking he’d never get enough of the taste of her lips, never be able to spend enough time with her, never fathom how he’d gotten someone as beautiful and talented and caring as Norah to love him, whether he was a snowboarder, a policeman, or a horseback rider.

  He broke the kiss, but stayed close to Norah. “Thank you for helping me see I had a life after the fall.” He’d expressed similar gratitude to her—and the Lord—many times over the past year.

  And every time, she said, “Guess God knew what He was doing after all,” just like she did this time.

  Sterling agreed, because he was finally in a place where he believed God loved him—both before and after the fall.

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  Books in the Gold Valley Romance series

  Before the Leap: A Gold Valley Romance (Book 1): Jace Lovell only has one thing left after his fiancé abandons him at the altar: his job at Horseshoe Home Ranch. Belle Edmunds is back in Gold Valley and she's desperate to build a portfolio that she can use to start her own firm in Montana. Jace isn't anywhere near forgiving his fiancé, and he's not sure he's ready for a new relationship with someone as fiery and beautiful as Belle. Can she employ her patience while he figures out how to forgive so they can find their own brand of happily-ever-after?

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  After the Fall: A Gold Valley Romance (Book 2): Professional snowboarder Sterling Maughan has sequestered himself in his family’s cabin in the exclusive mountain community above Gold Valley, Montana after a devastating fall that ended his career. Norah Watson cleans Sterling’s cabin and she’s a counselor at Silver Creek, a teen rehabilitation center at the base of the mountain that uses horses to aid in the rebuilding of lives. The more time they spend together, the more convinced Norah is to never tell Sterling about her troubled past, but Sterling is interested in all things Norah, and as his body heals, so does his faith. Will Norah be able to trust Sterling so they can have a chance at true love?

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  Through the Mist: A Gold Valley Romance (Book 3): Landon Edmunds has been a cowboy his whole life. An accident five years ago ended his successful rodeo career, and now he’s looking to start a horse ranch of his own, and he’s looking outside of Montana. Which would be great if God hadn’t brought Megan Palmer back to Gold Valley right when Landon is looking to leave. As the preacher’s daughter, Megan isn’t that excited to be back in her childhood hometown. Megan and Landon work together well, and as sparks fly, she’s sure God brought her back to Gold Valley so she could find her happily ever after. Through serious discussion and prayer, can Landon and Megan find their future together?

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