The Calamity Falls Box Set Read online

  The Calamity Falls Series

  Erika Kelly

  Contents

  Praise for the Rock Star Romance series

  Praise for the Calamity Falls Series

  Titles by Erika Kelly

  Keep On Loving You

  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

  We Belong Together

  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

  Chapter 41

  The Very Thought of You

  Prologue

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Epilogue

  Also by Erika Kelly

  An excerpt for Just the Way You Are

  About the Author

  Praise for the Rock Star Romance series

  YOU REALLY GOT ME

  “Lovable characters and pulse-pounding chemistry make this one of my favorite reads of the year!”—Laura Kaye, New York Times Bestselling Author

  “Sexy, lyrical and electric with hot, romantic tension.” - NYT and USA Today Bestselling author Lauren Blakely

  I WANT YOU TO WANT ME

  Booklist calls I WANT YOU TO WANT ME “…steamy, hot, and totally engaging. The characters are realistic, and Kelly paints a vivid picture of what happens behind the scenes in the world of rock.”

  TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT

  All About Romance awards TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT a Desert Isle Keeper review. “All these (characters) are so authentically human they nearly walk off the page. If you like books where real people have real problems and find real love (while having really hot sex)? Pick up Take Me Home Tonight and enjoy the ride.”

  TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT “is emotional and tremendously sexy, with a large cast of characters that readers will adore -- Kelly's rendering of Calix's grieving parents is particularly well-done -- but it is Mimi's strength that will linger long after the finish.” - Sarah MacLean, Washington Post

  Praise for the Calamity Falls Series

  KEEP ON LOVING YOU

  “I adored this book! It is exactly what I love in a second-chance romance. The characters are so vibrant and real, I was rooting for them with every page.” — USA Today Bestseller Devney Perry

  “Keep On Loving You is such a fun and sexy second-chance romance that I didn’t want it to end. Their connection is a swoony blend of tender first love and sizzling heat, and Erika Kelly delivers a highly entertaining and sigh-worthy romance that shouldn’t be missed.” – Mary Dube, USA Today

  WE BELONG TOGETHER

  “I loved every sweet, heart-wrenching, crazy, mixed-up minute of this book. It was an emotional journey from the first chapter to the last. This is Erika Kelly at her best, and this is a not-to-be-missed book!” – Sharon Slick Reads, Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

  “Erika Kelly damn near pulled my heart from my chest with Delilah and Will’s story. It’s so well-written that you feel everything. My heart got tugged so hard! I honestly cried at a few moments in the book. I fell all the way in love with “Wooby.” It’s hard not to, really.” – Ree Cee’s Books

  THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU

  “Wow, The Very Thought of You was simply OUTSTANDING! This second chance, friends to lovers romance is enchanting and entertaining.” – Spellbound Stories

  “I just finished this story, and I want to start all over again. Or maybe at the start of series. To once again feel the events, the emotions, that brought these amazing characters together. To hear the banter and the arguments, the sorrow, the loss and the happiness that brought a family together and closer.” – Nerdy, Dirty, and Flirty

  Titles by Erika Kelly

  Rock Star Romance series:

  YOU REALLY GOT ME

  I WANT YOU TO WANT ME

  TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT

  MORE THAN A FEELING

  Wild Love series:

  MINE FOR NOW

  MINE FOR THE WEEK

  The Calamity Falls series

  KEEP ON LOVING YOU

  WE BELONG TOGETHER

  THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU

  JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

  IT WAS ALWAYS YOU

  WHOLE LOTTA LOVE

  Look for the sixth Calamity Falls novel—WHOLE LOTTA LOVE—coming in June 2020! Sign up for my newsletter to find out when it goes up for preorder and come hang out with me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Pinterest or in my private reader group.

  Would you like to find out how Princess Rosalina’s combat boot-wearing sister found the love of her life in a grumpy linebacker? Get PLANES, TRAINS, AND HEAD OVER HEELS free!

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9859904-8-0

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9985177-0-4

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9985177-4-2

  Copyright 2019 EK Publishing, LLC

  All rights reserved

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously or are a product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover design and formatting by Serendipity Formatting

  Chapter One

  His boots crunched on fresh, wind-blown snow, his toes were numb, and if Fin Bowie wasn’t tied by a rope to two people, he’d jump on his board and ride the spine down to base camp.

  He had to get home. He’d already missed the bachelor party; he damn well wouldn’t miss the wedding.

  June snow squalls were uncommon enough, but lasting a week? The moment they’d passed, he’d called for the helicopter, so with any luck it’d be waiting for them. He’d head straight to the Innsbruck airport and catch the last flight out.

  “One mile to freedom, boys.” Traci Allen, the two-time Women’s World Games snowboarding champion who led the way down the mountain, shot Fin a glance over her shoulder. “Loved coming with you but, man, do I want to get home.”

  “I want meat,” one of the guys said. “It’s all I can think about. A thick, juicy burger. Salty fries. And a frosty vanilla milkshake.”

  “Vanilla?” someone else said. “Who orders vanilla?”

  The storms had prevented them from receiving their last supply drop, so they’d run out of everything. Fin had downed his
last protein bar two days ago. Yeah, he was hungry. He’d grab whatever they had at the airport. But he didn’t have food on his mind.

  The chain of flights—Innsbruck to Paris, Paris to Denver, and then Denver to Calamity, Wyoming—would take thirty-three hours total. If nothing else went wrong, he’d make the rehearsal dinner.

  Which meant, for the first time in six years, he’d be in the same room with her.

  Callie.

  Adrenaline burst at the base of his neck. Knowing her, she’d only be in town for the weekend, so if he missed the wedding he’d miss his chance to talk to her. And he had to talk to her. He couldn’t stand this silence between them.

  Couldn’t stand what he’d done.

  His one fatal decision…Jesus, it crawled all over his skin like fire ants, stinging and making him burn. A constant reminder that he couldn’t take it back…and it drove him out of his mind.

  He had to make it right, once and for all.

  At least this time she couldn’t avoid him. Not at her brother’s wedding. His pulse spiked at the thought of seeing her again. She’d probably get in his face, all snarky and sarcastic. Yeah, that’s Callie. Call him out on his shit. Like she should’ve done at the time.

  Because, yeah, he’d screwed up—colossally—and that was on him, but she’d never let him apologize, and that was on her.

  An image sprang to mind of Callie laughing, her whole body shaking with it. Her platinum hair wild and tousled after a trail ride. Just like Callie herself. Wild, fierce. Uninhibited.

  His body vibrated with anticipation.

  “I don’t know how you can think about anything other than a hot shower.” Bram, his videographer, was the oldest and most civilized of all of them. “I stink so bad my eyes are watering.”

  “I want to get home.” Fin hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

  “Aw.” Traci tipped her chin to the treeline. “Looks like you’ll make it.”

  Thank Christ. He’d get to be Ryder’s best man…

  And be with Callie. Energy blasted through him. He wanted to see her more than he wanted a shower, a burger…or anything. They’d always had this combustible energy. Irrepressible, smoking-hot chemistry. Even after so many years together, it had never gotten old, never faded.

  But what would he see when he looked into her eyes now? Hate he could handle—that meant she still felt something—but indifference?

  The idea that she’d be over him—that she’d feel nothing—made him sick to his stomach.

  No. Not possible. Determination came roaring in. She was pissed at him—he understood that—but if he could just have time alone with her, he could fix it.

  “Too bad we didn’t get to finish filming.” Traci glanced back at him. “I always wanted to be in one of your movies.”

  “I’ve got enough footage to put something together,” Bram said.

  “Well, you definitely got enough to get Fin that cover,” Traci said. “Dude, you were on fire.”

  Fin’s fingers flexed in his gloves. He probably shouldn’t have told them about it—not until it was confirmed—but his manager had texted him at the airport just before they’d taken off. He had a shot at National Adventurer’s “Athlete of the Year.” Hard to keep a nomination like that to himself.

  “I’ve been gone a month,” Bram said. “So I’ve got some catching up to do before I put the movie together, but I’ll get some footage up on your website pretty quick.”

  Fin didn’t give a damn about any of the website crap, but as a backcountry snowboarder, he made his living off endorsements, and the more popular his films, the more money he made. Hosting a site was a small price to pay if it meant he could make his living freeriding.

  “And I can’t believe you fixed my drop-in.” Traci reached behind her for a fist bump, and Fin tapped her glove. “I’ve been with my coach seven years, and he couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. How did you see that I was taking it too fast?”

  “That’s what he does,” one of the guys said.

  “See?” Traci said. “You deserve that cover. I’m gonna frame it and send it to you with a case of Cristal.”

  “Ha.” Bram chuckled. “Don’t waste champagne on Mr. My-Body-Is-My-Temple.”

  Everyone liked to make fun of the Bowies for their clean living, but how did they think his three older brothers had crammed the shelves of their dad’s trophy room? The oldest, Will, had won the Men’s World Freestyle Games an unprecedented seven times.

  And if you get the cover, you’ll finally have something in there.

  Fin glanced ahead, relieved to see the spine had given way to broader mountain. He breathed easier knowing they were that much closer to a safe return.

  “When do they decide?” Bram asked.

  “The issue comes out in November,” another guy said.

  “And it’s only June,” Traci said. “So the timing for this trip’s perfect. Just get that footage up.”

  He didn’t do these trips to make the cover of a magazine, but he still wanted it. He wanted to see his brothers’ faces when he dropped the magazine in their laps. Winning “Athlete of the Year” would impress the hell out of them.

  “Hey, so when’re we going out again?” his friend asked.

  A lot went into planning a trip. Not only did Fin have to deal with everyone’s schedules, but he had to organize insurance and supplies and work with foreign governments. Given his requirement that all his teammates be certified in avalanche rescue and wilderness first responder classes, Fin tended to travel with the same crew. It just made it easier. Although, of course, this time Traci had been an exception.

  “I’m hanging out with my godson while Ryder’s on his honeymoon,” Fin said. “But I’ll start planning right after that.” He kept a wish list of remote mountains no one had ever visited.

  “Don’t even talk about it,” Traci said. “There’s no way I can go back out with you. It was hard enough getting my coach to let me go on this trip. He’ll never let me go a second time.” She grumbled. “Oh, my God, you guys, I want off this mountain so bad. You can have your burgers and showers. All I want’s a pedicure. My feet are freaking gnarly.”

  No matter how broken-in the boots, the steep descent on a mountain summit meant bloody, numb toes.

  “Swear to God, that’s the first—” Traci’s voice cut off with a grunt. One moment the sun glanced off her blonde, shiny hair, and the next she was gone.

  Fin’s harness jerked hard. Shit. “Trace?” Heart pounding, he dropped to the ground, rolled onto his belly, and jammed his axe into the crusty snow. The third guy on his rope team mimicked his actions, and they both kicked the tips of their boots into the snow until they got a solid grip. “Traci?” Still no answer. Dammit.

  Once secured, he pulled out his axe and jabbed it into a new spot, digging deep until it hit harder packed snow. He twisted until it could hold several hundred pounds of weight.

  The other three-man team had already leapt into action. Bram dropped his pack and pulled out his satellite phone.

  “Traci,” one of the guys called. “Talk to me.”

  The world went silent as Fin waited for her response. When it didn’t immediately come, Fin called, “You see her?” No matter how deep the crevasse she’d fallen in, the rope would ensure she didn’t drop more than fifteen feet. He just hoped she didn’t crack her head on the ice or break her back in the fall.

  “I see her. She’s wedged in pretty tight. Gonna need a Z-pulley.”

  “On it.” Boots crunched in the snow as the other two guys on the team got to work.

  “Let me see if I can get her.” On his knees, Bram reached into the narrow drop.

  A moment later, Traci let out a terrible cry of anguish.

  Fuck, she’s hurt.

  “Okay, okay.” Bram turned to them with a concerned expression.

  “My leg.” Traci’s voice sounded strained.

  Fin had to get to her—now—but he couldn’t move until they’d set up the anchor.
“Come on, man.”

  “Hang on, Trace,” someone said. “We’re on it.”

  “Can’t…breathe,” she said.

  Fin shot a look to the guys setting up the pulley. Ready? One of them gave a curt nod.

  The moment Fin transferred his rope to the anchor, he jumped to his feet. Dumping his backpack, he peered over the edge of the narrow crevasse to see her suspended between the icy walls. Pure blackness beneath her let him know the hole ran deep.