Forbidden Falls

“I started the family too young, I know that. But I’m sure glad I have them.”

After a moment of silence he said, “Yes. Absolutely. Well, listen, you have some very good qualifications here. Can I get back to you?”

Her face fell. “Yeah,” she said. “Sure.” And then she stood. “I wish you’d take it kind of serious. I need the job. I’ve looked everywhere for a job I can do while my kids are in school and it’s hell, you know? Sorry—you probably don’t say hell …”

He felt a smile tug at his lips. He almost said, Hell if I don’t.

“Really, I could do just about anything,” she said. “I’m a very hard worker.”

“You’re very qualified,” he said with a nod. “I’ll be in touch.” He stuck out his hand.

Eyes downcast, Ellie took it limply. “Thanks,” she said, looking totally disheartened.

Two

While Ellie made her own way out of his office and the church, Noah stayed behind his desk. He hadn’t really expected to immediately find someone he could hire, anyway. In fact, he thought the search would probably be long and difficult. But the last thing he’d expected was to interview someone who could do the job, and do it in a push-up bra and short skirt. Whoa, he thought. He was actually having a reaction. He shifted in his chair to get comfortable, trying to ignore his body’s response. Nature was a practical joker.

Reflecting on the past several weeks and remembering Ellie’s dejected posture as she left the interview got Noah thinking. When his wife, Merry, died a few years ago, the grief bit hard and the adjustment was terrible; marriage really worked for him and the loss was devastating. Merry’s death left him a thirty-year-old widower, just about the last thing he ever envisioned for himself. For a year he felt like a pebble banging around inside an empty tin can and then, with George’s encouragement, he headed for the seminary.

Noah had nurtured a lifelong aversion to the ministry because of his father whom he considered a mean-spirited hypocrite. Jasper Kincaid was a semifamous preacher who had his own cable television mission in Columbus, Ohio. Big-time church, big-time money, big-time fame and power. But Jasper had treated his wife and son with indifference, and that was on a good day. They were too often the objects of his anger and recriminations. No way was Noah ever going to follow in those footsteps.

“Stop judging how everyone else treats their faith and study your own,” George had counseled. “It took a bloody ton of it to get where you are today.”

Indeed. While still a teenager, Noah had fled his Ohio roots and headed for the Pacific Northwest. He worked as a laborer anywhere he could get work, but fell in love with the fishing industry, with the ocean and the livelihood it offered. While he worked, he also studied—sometimes as a part-time student, sometimes full-time.

His mother, too loyal and kindhearted to ever defy his father, stayed in touch and even visited. She wanted to give him money to assist with his education, but Noah refused. His mom met Merry only once and, for the first time in his life, Noah saw his mother weep with happiness that Noah should find a young woman so full of love and joy. Only two years later, his mother came, alone, to Merry’s funeral.

Noah and his father had spoken only once in the past seventeen years and that was at his mother’s funeral a year ago. He had no desire to reconcile with Jasper. He considered it a matter of survival.

Noah had been at his desk about an hour, trying to write up a schedule for himself but doing nothing but thinking and remembering, when he looked at his watch. Three o’clock. There wouldn’t be a crowd at Jack’s at this time of day and he thought maybe a cup of coffee was in order. He gave Lucy a pat on the head and promised to be back soon.

When he walked into the bar, he was surprised to see Ellie Baldwin seated at a table not far from the empty hearth. A cup of coffee sat in front of her, her hands were folded in her lap and she gazed out the window. Instead of looking brassy and sexy, she looked a little lost. Noah lifted a hand in her direction, but she was deep in thought and didn’t even notice him. So he went up to the bar.

“Hey, Noah,” Jack said.

“What’s she doing here?” Noah asked.

Jack shrugged. “Disappointed, I think. But what are you gonna do?” Jack put a mug in front of Noah and poured coffee without being asked.

“Disappointed?” Noah asked.

“She said she didn’t get the job.”

“I said I’d get back to her about that,” Noah said.

“Maybe that’s not what she heard, Noah.”

“Hmm.” He took a sip of coffee. “How about two slices of pie, right over there.”

“Sure thing,” Jack said.

Noah migrated to Ellie’s table. He stood there until she looked up at him. Oh, man, he was in trouble. Her eyes were red rimmed and wet, her mascara a little smeared. Grant that I may not so much seek to be understood as to understand. “You mind if I join you?” he asked.

She straightened and her eyes immediately cleared and narrowed. She was one tough customer. “Knock yourself out,” she said coolly.

He pulled out a chair and set his coffee cup in front of him. “You seem upset, Ellie. Was it something I said?”

“It was something you didn’t say,” she replied.

“Oh? What was that?”

“You’re hired,” she said.

“I thought I should give all the applicants a fair shot.”

“Are you kidding me? I sat in my car outside waiting for my turn. I saw the other applicants—all two of them. One could barely get up the stairs; not a good bet for moving furniture. The other one had such a mean schnobble, she could break glass with her face.”

“Schnobble?” he asked.

“What my gramma used to call a sourpuss. Now, that’s a church lady, all right—if you’re looking for one as mean as a junkyard dog.”

He laughed before he could reel it in. “Who knew you were checking out the competition.” Jack brought the pie, put it in front of them and got the heck out of there. Noah lifted a fork. “Pretty accurate, too. But I told you I’d get in touch.”

“If you do, it’ll be to say I didn’t get the job.”

He was quiet a moment, then he said, “Have some pie. Nobody makes pie like Preacher.”

“Preacher? You made the pie?”

“No, the cook—he goes by the nickname Preacher. That could lead to problems.” He nodded toward the plate. “Try it.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I’m not hungry.”

“Give it a chance, you’ll be amazed. And between bites, tell me why I don’t get the benefit of the doubt.”

Slowly, reluctantly, she took a bite of blackberry pie. She chewed and swallowed, but clearly the ambrosia of Preacher’s pie was lost on her. After one bite, she put down the fork and her hands went back into her lap. Noah had to concentrate to focus on her eyes. That cleavage was killing him. “No hard feelings,” she said quietly. “I haven’t had much luck in the job market lately. I think it’s made me a little cranky.”

“Well, what are you looking for?” he asked, digging into his pie.

“Anything proper,” she said. “It’s like I said, it’s for my kids.”

“And they’ll benefit from their mom having a proper job?”

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “Look, it’s kind of personal—my kids are going through a hard time. I don’t think I should talk about it. No way I want people to know all that stuff …”

Noah considered this for a second and against his better judgment he said, “If you feel like talking about it, Ellie, you can trust me with a confidence.”

“How can I be sure of that?” she asked with a lift of one eyebrow.