Staying The Course (The Men of Endurance Book 3)

by Siera London

  Owen cuddled her backside, his head resting on her shoulder. “What do you think about us getting married?”

  She smiled, delighting in the flutter of her heart.

  “I think I need a real proposal. You on one knee and a ring.”

  “That’s right, Ivy. Make him do it right,” Hank said from one of the picnic tables Abel had added outside the pro shop. The whole town had turned out for the party. She guessed Owen knew the party would be huge. There was no guest list; this was Endurance after all. Luke and his daughter Shiloh were competing in a sack race against Hank’s boy, Elliott and Jose’s eight-year-old, Lupita. Amelie and Cherron arrived together, with Doctor Chadwick Winters, the town’s pediatrician and single dad to a two-year-old named James. Rui Conners had shown up late with Simone. Oddly enough, Autumn was nowhere to be found.

  Owen groaned. “I swear, he has a bionic ear and maybe one eye.”

  Ivy chuckled. “What’s your answer, Owen Tate?” She turned and embraced him. “You going to do it right?”

  “I thought I was,” he said, with a wink.

  She blushed at the hidden innuendo. “I’ll tell you my answer later,” she said, kissing his lips.

  “I want an answer now,” he said, frowning.

  Before she could respond, Cai came running up.

  “Did I miss it, Daddy?” Owen pulled Ivy to one of the benches under a giant oak. “No, buddy. I buttered her up for you.”

  Ivy looked between the two of them, not sure what was going on.

  Owen dropped to one knee at her feet, and then Cai joined him.

  Tears swelled in her eyes.

  “Daddy, she’s crying already. Did we do it wrong?”

  “No,” Owen whispered, never taking his eyes off her. “We’re doing it just right, son. Go ahead.”

  Cai pulled a ivy green backpack, like the expensive kind you see in the back of Sports Complicated magazines, off his shoulders.

  He thrust it at Ivy. “Open it,” he insisted. “It has a special pen in it. Daddy said it’s for when you go to school. It cost him a lot of money. He said I better not lose it or—,”

  Owen clamped a hand over his mouth. “Remember, that’s man talk, buddy.”

  Cai nodded, and Owen uncovered his lips. Cai smiled up at her. “Sorry, I can’t tell you what men folk say while Daddy’s around,” he chirped.

  “Of course, baby,” Ivy reassured, unzipping the bag.

  Glancing down, a small black velvet box looked back at her.

  “Open it.”

  She startled at Cai’s demand. Slowly, she reached inside, grabbed the box, and flipped the lid. Whoa. Ivy nearly choked. She couldn’t take her eyes off the one-carat princess-cut emerald ring staring back at her.

  “Ivy?” Owen whispered. “Sweetheart.”

  She knew he wanted an answer, but she had a hard time believing he loved her enough to offer forever. Ivy Summers, the little girl who lost everything, the woman who had nothing, was now on the cusp of having it all.

  “Ivy, are you going to marry us?” Cai whispered.

  The trembling started with her lips. Covering her mouth to hold back the sob threatening to ruin the party, she nodded. Secure that she could give father and son the answer they wanted, she smiled, broad and wide.

  “Yes.”

  Owen jumped to his feet, sweeping her up in a bear hug. “Yes,” he repeated. “You said yes.”

  “I did,” she choked out. Looking up into Owen’s blue eyes Ivy knew she’d taken her mother’s life and her love for granted. This time Ivy would hang up her walking boots. She’d appreciate this chance to give love and be loved. She’d stay the course to enduring love. “You make me so happy, Owen Tate, she breathed, hugging his close.

  Cai yelled and started jumping up and down. “Everybody,” he screamed. “I got an angel mommy for my birthday.”

  Ivy’s mom had been right, there was a time to endure, a time to stand, a time to strike out on your own, a time to change directions, and a time to stay the course.

  The END

  Want receive new release and author appearances updates from Siera London Books? Text EZLOVE to 474747

  GOING THE DISTANCE

  Want more small town love in Endurance? Here’s a sneak peek at Book 4 in The Men of Endurance series, GOING THE DISTANCE.

  The “risk it all” student. The “play it safe” professor. An improbable pair, but there’s no textbook for love.

  Music major Autumn Raine is used to taking care of herself. So, when an eight year-old’s prank brings her face-to-face with her secret crush, she’s grateful for the rescue. But, this close encounter has Autumn wishing for private lessons.

  After a failed marriage, single father and college professor, Rui Conners was committed to raising his daughter alone, but Autumn is bandaging his wounded heart one smile at a time.

  What’s the problem? She has no idea he’s interested and Rui’s relationship with his ex-wife is far from ancient history. How will these two people used to flying solo, find the perfect note to make their duet go the distance?

  Chapter One

  Early morning in Endurance was the perfect time to put some extra miles on the pavement. With sweat dripping down her face, Autumn Raine turned onto University Boulevard, giving her muscles free rein. Breathing in, she pulled the cool mountain air deep in her lungs, using the adrenaline high to pump her arms and legs harder. Eight months ago, she’d relocated to this northern California town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains from San Diego. Though not as verdant as the east coast of the United States, the rugged peaks, majestic grape vineyards, and four-seasons Mediterranean climate held a certain magic for Autumn. Life here in Endurance, where city hall held the town’s only post office and the public library shared the same space as the art museum, was beautifully simple.

  For the past six months, she started her days with ten training miles. Known for its spawning hills and mountain trials, tourist flocked to Endurance every year for extreme sports. In three weeks she’d face the ultimate challenge, a one-hundred-mile race through the California hill country. In reality, she faced two difficult races, the second a lot more daunting, earning the twelve thousand dollars to cover her tuition costs. In some ways, Autumn was in the race of her life. She had a future to secure.

  Ignoring the burn, which she referred to as energy, Autumn tuned into the music flowing through her earbuds. Music had always relaxed, so she let the soulful voice of Aria Arie loosen her muscles, fill her thoughts, and fuel her body to move. In her mind she saw her stride lengthening and the cells firing in every part of her body. Power hummed through her body, she was in her zone.

  As she approached town, people started to appear on the street. Julie, the Sport Complicate reporter, was attempting to pedal her bike up the hill on Dodger Lane. Probably on her morning coffee jaunt. With her sunny smile and inquisitive eyes, the full-figured beauty had made progress in her physical fitness. Autumn scanned the area for Abel Burney. Abel owned the golf course here in Endurance and she suspected Julie owned his heart.

  The second she rounded the corner on Hood Lane, Autumn stumbled to a halt. She tried to process the scene unfolding before her. A girl, somewhere between eight or ten, sat behind the wheel of a little blue sedan. Autumn’s little blue sedan. As a child, Autumn loved to pretend. Pretend she was a singer, pretend she stood on a stage in front of her audience, pretend she drove a fancy car with a loud engine. Well, this little cutie, with twin braids hanging down her back and brown eyes narrowed in concentration, was turning the key. The grind of the ignition, a stark contrast to the quiet of morning. The potential deadly consequence of the moment instantly sent her into action. The engine caught, the soft hum of the motor, spurred her to action. Autumn shot forward, quickly yanking the door open. The would-be car jacker startled.

  “Hey,” she yelled cringing away from Autumn. “What are you doing?”

  The nerve of this kid. She slid her hand over the steering wheel, turned t
he key, and disengaged the ignition. The small engine dropped back into slumber. Where were this girl’s parents? Dressed in a red and blue striped shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers, she looked like a girl scout.

  “Where’s your mom?”

  “In Europe?” she said snatching her arm away. “Where’s yours?”

  Autumn’s entire body reacted, this little girl needed some serious supervision and a whooping.

  Using as stern a voice she could muster, Autumn said, “Get out of the car, now.”

  The little hellion shifted, then stilled.

  Hitting Autumn with a narrow-eyed gaze, she asked, “Are you even an adult?”

  Mouth open, Autumn couldn’t believe the audacity of this kid. “Of course, I’m an adult.”

  “You look kind of little to me.” The kid gave a smirk.

  At five foot two, Autumn accepted her petite frame may appear juvenile, but her curves did not. Sputtering, Autumn felt inclined to defend herself. “Well, I’m not.”

  Not the best come back, but she wasn’t used to verbal sparring with a pre-pubescent child.

  “How do I know you’re not trying to take the car for yourself?” she charged.

  What the sugar plum fairy? Autumn was about to lose her religion. Considering the closest church congregation gathered in Pine Valley, twenty-five miles north of Endurance, it might take her a year or two to find it again. For the most part, the people of Endurance kept their own counsel. The practice suited Autumn just fine. She and God had an understanding. He stayed out of her way, and she returned the favor in kind.

  “Who are your parents, young lady?” Autumn insisted, adding a touch more authority to her voice, in hopes that the child would come clean. Not that she would call the cops, but still the girl needed a stern talking to.

  “Noneya?”

  Autumn couldn’t recall an Endurance resident named Noneya. She was good with faces, not so much with names.

  “Noneya who? What’s your last name?”

  “Business,” she supplied, brown eyes sparking with defiance.

  Autumn lifted her hand, finger leveled at the school-aged comedian. The sheer fact that she was an adult should have motivated the child to cower. Autumn leveled a cautionary gaze on the kid.

  “Maybe a visit to the sheriff will locate Mrs. Noneya Business.”

  Long dark brown lashes dripped low, before a furrow formed between her brows. Good, time to end this charade. Autumn needed to drive back to her one room studio apartment, get cleaned up, and then turn around at get back to the university before her first music history class.

  “Wait. My dad is inside. He asked me to warm up the engine.” She paused a beat before adding, “Yeah, that’s it.”

  Autumn could tell the girl was warming to the lie. “He’s teaching me to drive because he’s in a wheelchair. He lost his leg when a coyote attacked him on a camping trip.”

  “You’re too young to drive.” With a roll of her eyes, the kid dismissed Autumn’s comment like she had time and wisdom on her side.

  “I’m eight,” she said, her tone communicating her disappointment that Autumn failed to recognize maturity when it graced her presence. “And, my father needs help,” she sniffled.

  For a second, Autumn wondered if there was any truth to this story. Quickly, she glanced over her shoulder. Peering through the large window into High Altitudes Coffee House she spotted Cherron, the local baker and talking with Ivy Summers, Owen’s Tate’s fiancée. Not wanting to entertain the tale any longer, Autumn replied, “Sounds terrible and painful.”

  The miscreant had the audacity to bat her lashes in hopes of drawing sympathy. “Yeah, it’s been hard on me.”

  “When did it happen?”

  The double blink came in sets of three. Autumn had to give the kid her props. She was creative. How long would it take the little thespian to spin another tale? “When?” she croaked.

  Ignoring the guilt that swamped her at egging the child on, Autumn fought to keep a smile from gracing her face.

  “Yes. I mean an injury like that takes a long time to heal.”

  “Huh...yeah. He’s been home all week.”

  Not bad for an eight-year-old’s imagination.

  Autumn gestured for the kid to get out of the car.

  “Come on.”

  There was no movement from the vehicle. Man, this kid was ballsy. When she was this age, she jumped if she thought her parents wanted her to do something.

  “My mom and dad said to be afraid of strangers.”

  Autumn’s patience wore thin with each passing moment.

  “Get out from behind the wheel of that car, right now young lady.”

  Enough already. This kid needed a disciplined, but gentle hand, maybe.

  All of a sudden, a scream rent the air.

  “Stranger danger, stranger danger.”

  Autumn spun around looking behind her to assess the threat. People were staring at her and the horror movie scream queen in the car. “No, I don’t want to go with you. Please, lady. Leave me alone.”

  What in the sugar plum fairy?

  “Hey,” someone called from behind Autumn. Between the raised voices and pounding footsteps, she was more than aware of their growing audience. “Get away from that kid.”

  Autumn heard someone say they were calling the cops. Oh my goodness, she should have kept running. The kid starred in her own off-broadway drama and Autumn was the villain.

  Autumn threw up her hands. People walking on both sides of the street stopped to watch the unfolding drama.

  Sure enough, the door to the sheriff’s office opened.

  Giving a glance at the kid, her eyes stretch wide when the sheriff slid a hand over his weapon.

  Autumn on the other hand wanted an authority figure to get to the bottom of this kid being unsupervised. Whoever the parents were, they needed to be put under the jail. This kid should be in school. The town sheriff was a regular at the local bar, No Limit Bar and Grille where Autumn babysat the owner’s son, Cai Tate. Owen was a single dad who used her services on a regular basis.

  “Hi, Autumn.” The sheriff’s light brown eyes crinkled at the corners when he looked past her and spied the would-be car thief behind the wheel. He grimaced.

  “Simone, shouldn’t you be in school?” asked Keith Fullerton.

  “Sheriff Fullerton,” Autum said bewildered. “You know her?”

  The sheriff released a long-suffering sigh. “Yep. Afraid so,” he said, tilting his tan cowboy hat with a leather braid back on his head. “I have a long history with Simone and her antics.”

  The squeak of the door closing drew Autumn’s attention. Simone, that’s what the sheriff had called her, stood in front of the closed door. The kid offered the sheriff a sappy-sweet smile.

  “Ah, sheriff. I was just heading off to school now.”

  Autumn watched to see if the sheriff would let her off the hook. His face looked down right pained. What was going on between these two?

  “I told you if I caught you again, I would call your father.”

  Simone’s eyes widened, a panicked emotion covered her face.

  “No, don’t call him.”

  The sheriff extended a hand. “To the station with you. Your father can pick you up.”

  Chin lifted, Simone folded her arms over her small chest.

  “Suit yourself,” the sheriff said, dropping his hand. “Autumn follow me down to the station.”

  “What? Why?” Autumn rebelled, diplomacy out the window. She supported the democratic process, let every voice be heard, but not if it took another second out of her day. Her landlord had given her until this morning to catch up her late payment. This little rebel was the least of her worries. Autumn had rent to pay.

  The sheriff looked at her. “A dozen people heard her screaming you tried to take her.”

  “It’s my car,” Autumn exclaimed, not believing the entire situation. “I have class in like...twenty minutes.”

  Without a word, th
e law enforcement officer pushed past her, picked Simone up off her feet, not stopping when she squealed.

  “My daddy, he doesn’t care. Don’t call him.”

  For the first time since this very bizarre exchange, Simone’s expression was that of a sad little girl. Just like that, Autumn knew she was staying to see who this kid’s father was. He was getting a big piece of her mind.

  PRE-ORDER GOING THE Distance: http://www.themenofendurance.yolasite.com

  ENJOYED OWEN AND IVY’S story? Click here to read all the books in The Men Of Endurance series by bestselling authors, Siera London and Olivia Gaines.

  A Walk Through Endurance-Included bonus story

  Intervals of Love

  Staying The Course

  Going The Distance – coming July 24, 2018

  The Art of Persistence – coming July 24, 2018

  A Walk Through Endurance

  The Men Of Endurance Prequel

  “Whatever you can do,

  Or think you can begin it.

  Boldness has power and genius,

  And magic in it.” – Goethe

  Chapter 1- Getting Acclimated

  The flight into Sacramento International airport from Minneapolis was a turbulent journey filled with overzealous athletes, and people wanting to test the strengths of their hearts. By Julie Kratzner’s standards, these people were certifiable nut jobs journeying to the verdant region for endurance races. In her hand, she held the annual schedule for the mountain town, which drew in hundreds of thousands of people, hungry to test their endurance skills on scenic trails, calm waters, and sportsmanship either on two feet, two wheels or on horseback. The schedule showed events from February through November, of endurance challenge races, covering every sport from 100-mile foot races, to 50k mountain bike runs, and a one-day, 100-mile race on horseback.