Just Let Go Read online

  Praise for Novels by . . .

  COURTNEY WALSH

  Just Let Go

  “A charming story about discovering joy amidst life’s disappointments, Just Let Go is a delightful treat for Courtney Walsh’s growing audience.”

  RACHEL HAUCK, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  “Just Let Go matches a winsome heroine with an unlikely hero in a romantic tale where opposites attract and we learn that sometimes there’s much more beneath the surface than first appears. This is a page-turning, charming story about learning when to love and when to let go.”

  DENISE HUNTER, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HONEYSUCKLE DREAMS

  “Just the kind of story I love! Small town, hunky skier, a woman with a dream, and love that triumphs through hardship. A sweet story of reconciliation and romance by a talented writer.”

  SUSAN MAY WARREN, USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  “Walsh crafts engaging, believable characters who resist falling in love with one another because relationships aren’t easy . . . especially when we struggle to accept our own brokenness.”

  BETH K. VOGT, CHRISTY AND CAROL AWARD–WINNING AUTHOR

  “When you want to hug both main characters by the end of the first few chapters, you know it’s going to be a good book! I love Courtney Walsh’s storytelling, and her skills are on full display in Just Let Go. I especially appreciate the thread of grace and second chances. Another winsome, poignant read from Walsh!”

  MELISSA TAGG, AUTHOR OF THE WALKER FAMILY SERIES

  Just Look Up

  “[A] sweet, well-paced story. . . . Likable characters and the strong message of discovering what truly matters carry the story to a satisfying conclusion.”

  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

  “Just Look Up by Courtney Walsh is a compelling and consistently entertaining romance novel by a master of the genre.”

  MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

  “This novel features a deeply emotional journey, packaged in a sweet romance with a gentle faith thread that adds an organic richness to the story and its characters.”

  SERENA CHASE, USA TODAY HAPPY EVER AFTER BLOG

  “In this beautiful story of disillusionment turned to healing, Walsh brings about a true transformation of restored friendships and love.”

  CHRISTIAN MARKET MAGAZINE

  Change of Heart

  “Walsh has penned another endearing novel set in Loves Park, Colo. The emotions are occasionally raw but always truly real.”

  ROMANTIC TIMES

  “Change of Heart is a beautifully written, enlightening, and tragic story. . . . This novel is a must-read for lovers of contemporary romance.”

  RADIANT LIT

  Paper Hearts

  “Walsh pens a quaint, small-town love story . . . [with] enough plot twists to make this enjoyable to the end.”

  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

  “Be prepared to be swept away by this delightful romance about healing the heart, forgiveness, [and] following your dreams . . .”

  FRESH FICTION

  “Walsh writes a small-town setting, a sweet, slow-building romance between two likable characters and a host of eclectic secondary characters.”

  ROMANTIC TIMES

  “Well written and charming.”

  NOVEL REVIEWS

  “I discovered Courtney Walsh’s novels a few years ago and quickly added her to my must-buy-immediately list. Her stories have never failed to delight me, with characters who become friends and charming settings that beckon as if you’ve lived there all your life. You won’t want to miss Paper Hearts!”

  DEBORAH RANEY, AUTHOR OF THE CHICORY INN NOVELS SERIES

  “Delightfully romantic with a lovable cast of quirky characters, Paper Hearts will have readers smiling from ear to ear! Courtney Walsh has penned a winner!”

  KATIE GANSHERT, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF A BROKEN KIND OF BEAUTIFUL

  “Paper Hearts is as much a treat as the delicious coffee the heroine serves in her bookshop. . . . Like the matchmakers that surrounded the couple in the novel, I couldn’t help cheering them on. A poignant, wry, sweet, and utterly charming read.”

  BECKY WADE, AUTHOR OF MEANT TO BE MINE

  A Sweethaven Summer

  “Walsh’s touching debut will have readers longing for a visit to the idyllic vista of Sweethaven. . . . The touch of mystery, significant friendships, and a charming setting create a real treasure.”

  ROMANTIC TIMES

  “Walsh has created a charming, inviting, homesick-inducing world with Sweethaven. I want to hug the ladies featured in the book and learn from them. . . . To fellow readers, this is a series you don’t want to miss.”

  NOVELCROSSING.COM

  “A masterful word painting, A Sweethaven Summer is a story of loss, regret, forgiveness, and restoration. Novel Rocket and I give it our highest recommendation. It’s a five-star must-read.”

  ANE MULLIGAN, PRESIDENT, NOVEL ROCKET

  “This book captivated me from the first paragraphs. Bittersweet memories, long-kept secrets, the timeless friendships of women—and a touch of sweet romance. Beautifully written and peopled with characters who became my friends, this debut novel is one for my keeper shelf—and, I hope, the first of many to come from Courtney Walsh’s pen.”

  DEBORAH RANEY, AUTHOR OF THE CHICORY INN NOVELS SERIES

  “A Sweethaven Summer is a sweet debut, filled with characters whose hopes, dreams, and regrets are relevant and relatable. A great book club read!”

  SUSAN MEISSNER, AUTHOR OF A FALL OF MARIGOLDS

  “A Sweethaven Summer is a stunning debut. . . . With a voice that sparkles, Courtney Walsh captured my heart in this tender story of forgiveness and new beginnings. It’s certainly a great beginning for this talented author.”

  CARLA STEWART, AUTHOR OF THE HATMAKER’S HEART

  “Courtney Walsh weaves a captivating tale that taps into the universal desire for belonging and happiness. This delightful debut has a bit of mystery, a bit of romance, a beautiful setting, and an intriguing cast of characters.”

  MEGAN DIMARIA, AUTHOR OF SEARCHING FOR SPICE

  “A Sweethaven Summer shines with moments of hope and tenderness. With interesting characters, a delightful setting, and a compelling plot, this is one of those stories that stays with you.”

  TINA ANN FORKNER, AUTHOR OF RUBY AMONG US

  A Sweethaven Homecoming

  “Courtney Walsh puts the sweet in Sweethaven. If you’re looking for an uplifting, hope-filled story filled with characters you’ll feel like you know, A Sweethaven Homecoming has it!”

  MARYBETH WHALEN, AUTHOR OF THE BRIDGE TENDER

  “A Sweethaven Homecoming is a triumph! With the foundations of family, love, and faith, The Circle grows through heartbreak, loss, and betrayal and emerges renewed in their love for one another and, most of all, their love of themselves.”

  SUSAN OPEL, CREATIVE EDITOR, PAPER CRAFTS MAGAZINE

  A Sweethaven Christmas

  “Readers will smell the pine of Christmas trees and the aromas of holiday food and will hold close the friendships they develop with the characters.”

  ROMANTIC TIMES

  “Walsh’s compelling writing style creates unforgettable characters readers come to know and love, while her story lines contend with issues common to us all. . . . Even though the ending is emotional (keep [a] box of Kleenex handy), it’s a story of hope, goodwill, and good friends that is perfect for the Christmas season.”

  EXAMINER.COM

  ALSO BY COURTNEY WALSH

  Just Look Up

  Paper Hearts

  Change of Heart

  Hometown Girl

  A Sweethaven Summer

  A Sweethaven Homecoming

  A Sweethaven Christmas

  Visit Tyndale online at www.t
yndale.com.

  Visit Courtney Walsh’s website at www.courtneywalshwrites.com.

  TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

  Just Let Go

  Copyright © 2018 by Courtney Walsh. All rights reserved.

  Cover photograph of florist copyright © Wavebreakmediamicro/Adobe Stock. All rights reserved.

  Cover photograph of flowers taken by Lindsey Bergsma. Copyright © Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

  Designed by Libby Dykstra

  Edited by Danika King

  Published in association with the literary agency of Natasha Kern Literary Agency, Inc., P.O. Box 1069, White Salmon, WA 98672.

  Just Let Go is a work of fiction. Where real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales appear, they are used fictitiously. All other elements of the novel are drawn from the author’s imagination.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Tyndale House Publishers at [email protected], or call 1-800-323-9400.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Walsh, Courtney, date- author.

  Title: Just let go / Courtney Walsh.

  Description: Carol Stream, Illinois : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., [2018]

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017055452 | ISBN 9781496421524 (sc)

  Subjects: | GSAFD: Christian fiction. | Love stories.

  Classification: LCC PS3623.A4455 J86 2018 | DDC 813/.6--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017055452

  ISBN 978-1-4964-2155-5 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4964-2154-8 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4964-2153-1 (Apple)

  Build: 2018-03-15 17:41:15 EPUB 3.0

  For my sister, Carrie Erikson, who has taught me so much not only about letting go, but about moving on.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Preview of Just Look Up

  A Note from the Author

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Discussion Questions

  CHAPTER

  1

  HE SHOULDN’T BE HERE.

  A diner in some little tourist town in Michigan was no place for Grady Benson, but here he was. From the second he walked in the door, it was clear he’d made a mistake. Eyes found and followed him all the way to this table, conspicuously located at the center of the space.

  A girl with glasses and wild, curly hair rushed over and set a glass of water in front of him.

  If he had to guess, he’d say tourist season was over and this place was filled with locals. He didn’t even catch the name of the diner when he walked in, but when Wild Hair handed him the menu, he read Hazel’s Kitchen: Harbor Pointe, Michigan on the cover and figured that’s where he was.

  Where he definitely should not be.

  So much for staying under the radar.

  “Did you see the sign on your way in? It had all the specials written on it.” Wild Hair wore a nametag that read Betsy. Now that he looked at her, she was cute, in a small-town, innocent sort of way. Not like the girls he was used to dating. They were anything but innocent.

  “I didn’t.” He opened the menu and kept his head down, but the whispers started despite his best efforts to disappear. Apparently Harbor Pointe had noticed him.

  “Can I just get a cheeseburger with everything, fries, and a chocolate milk shake?”

  Betsy’s eyes went wide. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  He glanced up at her, and she quickly swiped the menu out of his hand.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “What do you think I should eat?” he asked.

  She looked away, visibly ruffled. “Grilled chicken with a big plate of roasted vegetables and a glass of water?” There was a question in her voice.

  He pretended to think it over for a few seconds but shook his head. “I’ll stick with the cheeseburger.”

  She scribbled something on her notepad, then scurried away like a mouse. Grady sat for a few long minutes, feeling too big for the chair she’d put him in. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened Twitter.

  Grady Benson needs to learn the art of knowing when to quit.

  Benson chokes again. Time to hang up the skis, buddy.

  Kiss the Olympics good-bye, GB. You’ll be lucky to land a job training little kids with a run like that. #crashandburn

  He clicked the screen off and flicked it on the table with a clunk.

  The race in Vermont would follow him all the way to Colorado with Twitter comments echoing in his head. He should’ve just gotten on a plane like everyone else. A solo road trip to clear his head suddenly seemed like a ridiculous idea.

  Betsy returned with his milk shake, half of it in a tall glass with whipped cream and a cherry on top, the other half still in the metal mixing container. He ate healthy most of the time—it was one of the few rules he actually followed—but he didn’t feel like making wise choices right now.

  He wanted to do whatever he wanted to do.

  Grady glanced up as the door opened and a pretty blonde woman walked in. She wore ripped jeans rolled at the ankles, slouchy and a little too big for her, along with a gray T-shirt underneath an army-green jacket that cinched in at the waist. Like him, she looked out of place, like she didn’t belong here, but judging by the welcome she received when she walked in the door, she absolutely did.

  He couldn’t tell, but it seemed the crowd at the front of the diner was congratulating her about something. Not his business. He went back to his milk shake, and a few seconds later his food arrived.

  Betsy stood beside the table for an awkward beat. “Need anything else?” she finally asked.

  “I’m good, I think,” he said. “Thanks.”

  She nodded, then skittered away, leaving him to eat in peace. He took a bite of his burger and washed it down with a swig of the shake. While so many of the people around him still seemed on high alert that he was sitting there, several had gone back to their own meals, their own food, their own company.

  “Hey, aren’t you Grady Benson?”

  Grady turned in the direction of the voice and found a booth of three guys, early twenties, off to his left. He swallowed his bite and gave them a nod.

  “I remember watching you at the last Olympics, man,” one of the guys said. “Tough loss.”

  “He didn’t lose, you idiot; he came in fourth,” another guy said.

  He didn’t need the reminder. The first guy was right. He’d lost. Fourth place had never been good enough, not when he was favored to win the gold. Not when he only had himself to blame.

  “Don’t beat yourself up, man. Hard to come back after something like that.”

  “I’m fine.” Grady set his burger down.

  The guy laughed. “Dude, you’re done.”

  “Jimmy,” one of the other guys warned.

  Grady gritted his teeth.

  Jimmy l
aughed again. “What? You saw what happened in Vermont. He didn’t even finish. Washed-up at thirty, that’s gotta suck.”

  He should stand up and walk away. He should pay the waitress, get in his SUV, and keep driving to Colorado, where he could get ready for the next race. He should . . . but he didn’t.

  He’d been listening to commentators talk about his skiing, his messy technique, his disregard for the rules for years—but now they’d started using terms like washed-up and retirement, and whenever he heard them, something inside him snapped.

  Grady turned toward the table. “You got a problem with me?”

  Jimmy’s expression turned smug. “I’m just not a fan, is all. You’re not as great as you think you are.”

  Grady reminded himself he didn’t know this guy, didn’t care what he thought. And yet something about Jimmy was really getting under his skin. He looked around for Betsy so he could get his check and leave.

  But Jimmy didn’t let up. “We all watched the races the other day. Guy choked. He choked, man.”

  “Dude, shut up,” his friend said.

  “Supposed to be the fastest guy on the slopes, but my Aunt Frieda could’ve skied better than him. In her sleep.”

  “You don’t even have an Aunt Frieda.” The other guy sounded as irritated with his friend as Grady was. Grady’s knuckles had gone white around the edge of the table.

  “Heard he got his girlfriend pregnant and then tried to pay her to keep quiet. Not like he’s got a squeaky-clean image to protect or anything.”

  That was it. How that lie had ever picked up steam, Grady didn’t know, but he was sick of hearing it. Grady spun out of his chair and lunged at Jimmy, pulling him out of the booth by his jacket. A plate crashed to the floor, but Grady barely noticed.

  Jimmy tried to fight him off, but he was several inches shorter and not half as strong as Grady. Still, he managed to squirm from Grady’s grasp, falling into a table and knocking over more dishes.

  The guy didn’t know when to quit. He smirked at Grady. “I forgot you’ve got a temper, too. Is that why nobody wants you on the team?”