C.J. watched Emily Lake walk away. She’d wasted a whole day. She should have gone back to her hotel room and crashed. She would now. There was the opening night party she could attend that evening, but it would be pointless if Sam was going to keep her away from the biggest star there.
Sam’s hands dropped from her arms. “Do you have a card?”
She blinked at the request. He wanted a card? As in a business card? She spun to face him and scratched her head. “What?”
He lifted a shoulder. “My brother is pretty protective of Emily. He wouldn’t want me to let just anybody interview her.”
Her lips parted. Sam was still considering her request? She studied him now. He was handsome enough to be a movie star himself. Maybe he was. Maybe he’d been the one to introduce Emily to Tracen. C.J. knew nothing of this guy except that he could open the door she’d been trying to break down.
What was she waiting for? She gripped the slick plastic pocket at the end of her lanyard and dug for one of the business cards she’d stuffed behind her media credentials.
“I studied journalism at UCLA,” she gushed. “And I had a job with the Times for a while.” If only they’d had another position for her. She held out the card, hope bubbling in her chest. “I quit to pursue writing biographies, but . . . uh . . . that didn’t work out. So now I’m with Star News.”
Sam took the card. His eyes rose to meet hers.
Her heartbeat drummed louder. She babbled on to pretend her excitement was all about the story. “You can read my work online and decide if you think I’d write a good article about Emily or not. Then you can . . . call me.” She was only there for the story. Only talking to Sam so she could do her job.
He nodded and pocketed the card. “I’ll call you.”
Her breath caught in her throat, which, if she was honest with herself, she would admit was a reaction that had nothing to do with a silly interview.
A Note from the Author
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Josh and Paisley’s story as much as I did. It’s a sequel to Finding Love in Sun Valley, Idaho, which I wrote eight years ago, and it was as absolute delight to get to hang out with the Lake brothers again. As I hadn’t originally planned to write a sequel, I started by rereading Finding Love in Sun Valley to remind myself what kind of character Josh was. The things that stood out were his work in advertising and his history in rodeo. So I wrote a story that combined both worlds.
Setting the story at Christmas brought joy to my soul. I share a birthday with my mother five days before Christmas, and my daughter was born two days after Christmas, so it’s a special time of year for me. But that also makes it easier to get drawn into the busyness of the season and miss the meaning. I wanted to dig deeper into the nativity story to bring it alive in a new way. Studying the history of the Star of Bethlehem made for a perfect example of how God leads us when we are looking for direction.
I haven’t spent much time around horses, so I had writer’s block trying to write about a ranch until my friend invited me out to her farm, which inspired me to research Fjord horses and include the Norwegian heritage. I also incorporated horse stories I’d heard before. The story of Josh asking Santa for a horse for Christmas and then finding one in his front yard Christmas morning really happened to my uncle.
Another real life influence for my novel were the ladies at my church who inspired the characters of Dot and Annabel. These two women, Leslie and Rosie, bring me joy every Sunday when I walk into the bathroom after the service to find them cleaning with their pink and zebra print rubber gloves. They are a blessing as they treat every church guest like a celebrity. Leslie really does have a tattoo on the back of her head, though Rosie doesn’t wear pink cowgirl boots—she wears neon high tops.
I had fun with this story, but it broke my heart at parts, too. My daughter came home from school one day to find me crying in front of the computer. “What’s wrong, Mom?” she asked. I sniffed. “Paisley can’t have kids.” She gave me a weird look. “You know that’s your fault, right?” But I didn’t stop there. I made it worse. I gave Paisley a fearful heart that believed the lies she’d been told in an abusive relationship. And that is really the point I wanted to make through the whole book because it’s a lesson I’m still learning myself.
This book isn’t about forgiveness. There’s lots of books on that subject. This is about the work that has to be done even after we forgive. Because the emotional wounds are real. And if we don’t find healing, we can get ourselves into more bad relationships or sabotage good relationships. If this is you, I recommend finding a Christian counselor and consider reading Leslie Vernick’s book, The Emotionally Destructive Relationship. The book defines seven types of heart issues that will destroy relationships. Paisley had “The Fearful Heart.” And just like she overcame it, you can overcome, too.
Warm wishes,
Angela
You can learn more about Angela here:
www.angelaruthstrong.com
www.facebook.com/groups/1557213161269220
twitter.com/AngelaRStrong
Angela Ruth Strong’s Books
Resort to Love Series
Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana
Finding Love in Sun Valley, Idaho
Finding Love in Park City, Utah
Suspense
Presumed Dead
Love on the Run (False Security)
Fun4Hire Series for Ages 8-12
The Pillow Fight Professional
The Food Fight Professional
The Snowball Fight Professional
The Water Fight Professional
Body and Soul Series
Lighten Up
Finding Love In Big Sky, Montana (Resort to Love--Finding Love line Book 2) Page 28