Across the Western Sky
S.C. Armstrong
Paperback
(Alreadynotyet Publishing, Jan. 16, 2020)
She believes. He doesn’t. In an us vs. them world, can their love survive?High school seniors Curt and Hannah barely know each other and never speak. In fact, the two are more likely to see each other as adversaries, as their families reside on different sides of a controversial issue dividing their small town. Hannah’s father, the Reverend Caleb Wilson, wants to erect a monument to the Ten Commandments on public space. Opposing these efforts is Curt’s atheist activist father Matt. But when tragedy strikes, leading to an emotionally charged encounter between Curt and Hannah in an empty school hallway, the two can’t stop thinking about each other. Numerous obstacles stand in the way of the fledgling couple. Curt’s friends and family warn him against getting too close to the beautiful but devout Christian. She’s too different, they tell him. Hannah’s family and friends are similarly concerned with the amount of time she’s spending on Curt. Chief among them is Jake, a would-be suitor from her church who’s none too pleased with the attention she’s lavishing on his rival. Despite all this, neither Curt nor Hannah can deny the attraction drawing them together, even as everyone else tries to pull them apart. Meanwhile, tensions in the town tighten around them, threatening not only their relationship, but their very lives.Can love trump the differences that divide the two? Or will Curt and Hannah succumb to the same forces pulling their town apart?