Within Reach
Page 42
There was something more beautiful to their coupling than there had ever been before because there was no element of desperation this time, no fear of separation. Their love was unfettered and invincible, their future here, now and always.
epilogue
bLAKE LINDSAY SERVED AS SECRETARY OF COMMERCE for another year. He was never quite as much at ease in Washington after the trial, and when he submitted his resignation just prior to the start of the campaign for Jason Claveling’s active reelection bid, it was graciously accepted. He left for Detroit to take over the reins of a troubled automobile manufacturing concern. In time, given his keen business sense and his organization expertise, he was able to turn the corporation around.
Though he lived in the same city as his family, he saw little of them. He never married again.
Cilla Buchanan never did write a story such as the one Harlan Magnusson had suggested. Though she believed that he had told her the truth, she had lost her taste for that subject. There were other stories to write, which she did with much enthusiasm, but she had more important things on her mind as time passed. After living together for a year and realizing that their lives were much richer when they had each other, she and Jeffrey Winston were married—again.
Jeffrey was gratified that, of the eight companies and seventeen individuals indicted as a result of his investigation, twenty-two all told were found guilty of the charges brought against them. He went on to carry out other critical work for the Department of Defense, though was very happy to share what he could with Cilla at the end of each day. Chauvinist that he had once been, he took an active role in caring for the child they subsequently had.
Gena Bradley proved to be as wonderful a mother-in-law as Danica had known she would be. The two women shared a special bond, one that grew stronger with each passing year.
Michael’s father, John, accepted Danica with remarkable grace. He seemed to see it as a victory that a Buchanan had stolen away a Marshall. Michael saw no point in reminding him that, in some regards, it had been the other way around.
Eleanor Marshall made up, in the years that followed, for all she hadn’t done when Danica had been younger. Her health held up, so she visited often and was always there when Danica called. She quickly grew to love Michael and became Danica’s and his champion, such that William, albeit begrudgingly at first, accompanied her to Maine for the birth of Danica’s child. In time he seemed to accept what Danica had done, and though he and Michael never fully warmed to each other, he showered genuine affection on their child.
Michael and Danica were married in March, three years to the day after they first met. It was a quiet ceremony, with only Greta and Pat McCabe present to serve as witnesses, but it was precisely what Michael and Danica wanted, and it was beautiful.
Two months later Danica gave birth to a daughter. Michael was by her side, holding her hand, telling her how much he loved her and their child, just as she had dreamed. From the start he was a doting father, even more so as their daughter grew. And when, two years later, they had a son, his capacity for love seemed simply to multiply.
Professionally, they became a team, collaborating on many books as the years passed, though writing was far from their only interest. Michael continued to teach at Harvard one afternoon a week each fall, staying the night in Cambridge only when Danica could be with him. Danica, filled with the self-confidence that came from being a champion wife and mother, approached a cable television station in Portland and sold it on letting her host a program similar to that she had done in Boston. Michael and the children were her biggest fans.
When she stopped to look back over those years, the times that were closest to her heart were those when she and Michael and the children were together before the fire on blustery winter days. The warmth, the closeness, they shared then epitomized everything she had always wanted in life. She loved and was loved. She felt peaceful, fulfilled, and very, very pleased with the path she had chosen.
About the Author
BARBARA DELINSKY, a lifelong New Englander, was a sociologist and photographer before she began writing. Readers can contact her c/o P.O. Box 812894, Wellesley, MA 02482-0026, or via the Web at www.barbaradelinsky.com.
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Praise for Barbara Delinsky
“Delinsky is an expert at portraying strong women characters.”
Booklist
an expert
“Delinsky is one of those writers who knows how to introduce characters to her readers in such a way that they become more like old friends than works of fiction.”
Flint Journal
at
“Delinsky is an engaging writer who knows how to interweave several stories about complex relationships and keep her books interesting to the end. Her special talent for description gives the reader almost virtual references to the surroundings she creates.”
Newark Star Ledger
portraying
“Delinsky’s prose is spare, controlled and poignant as she evokes the simplicity and joys of small-town life.”
Publishers Weekly
strong
“Delinsky steers clear of treacle…with simple prose and a deliberate avoidance of happily-ever-after clichés.”
People
female
“Delinsky should touch even the most jaded of readers.”
Chattanooga Times
characters
“Delinsky creates…a remarkably beautiful story.”
Baton Rough Advocate
Books by Barbara Delinsky
FICTION
An Accidental Woman
The Carpenter’s Lady
Coast Road
Fast Courting
Finger Prints
For My Daughters
Gemstone
An Irresistible Impulse
Lake News
Moment to Moment
More Than Friends
Passion and Illusion
Rekindled
Search for a New Dawn
Sensuous Burgundy
Shades of Grace
Suddenly
Sweet Ember
Three Wishes
A Time to Love
Together Alone
Variation on a Theme
The Vineyard
The Woman Next Door
A Woman Betrayed
A Woman’s Place
Within Reach
NONFICTION
Uplift: Secrets from the Sisterhood of
Breast Cancer Survivors
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
WITHIN REACH. Copyright © 1986 by Barbara Delinsky. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of PerfectBound™.
PerfectBound™ and the PerfectBound™ logo are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Mobipocket Reader July 2005 ISBN 0-06-087645-X
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