At Last (The Idle Point, Maine Stories)(109)
"I love you, Dad." A simple declarative sentence that erased a lifetime of pain. It felt good to say it. It felt even better to mean it.
His eyes welled up with tears and he patted her hand. "Come on, Graciela," he said after a moment. "You and Noah have waited long enough."
She slipped her arm through his and a moment later they stepped out into the bright Christmas afternoon sunshine. The lighthouse cast its familiar shadow along the beach and for a moment she was a teenager again, racing across the rocks by the light of the moon to be with the boy she loved.
He was waiting for her now at the end of this rose-strewn path, the boy she had known, the man she would love forever, waiting with his little girl—their daughter—who stood next to him, impatient for their life together as a family to begin. They were all there, Laquita and Rachel and Darnell and Ruth and Don Hasty and Storm and Doctor Jim and Patsy and so many others who loved them and wished them well. Even Gramma Del was there. Gracie could feel her presence like a hug on a cold winter's day.
They took their places in front of Father Tom. "We are here this day to witness a miracle," the priest said as he opened his prayer book. "We are here to witness the birth of a family."
Gracie reached for Noah's hand and for Sophie's, and their life together began at last.
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The Idle Point Gazette—December 25—Special Christmas edition
She loves me and she loves my kid and we both love the fact that by the time you finish reading this we'll be a family on paper as well as in our hearts. This time we'll have our friends and family with us to wish us well. We lost eight years of our lives together but every time I see her with my daughter I find myself thanking God that we found our way back home to Idle Point.
So how does this story end? That's easy. It ends the way the best stories always end, with those familiar words that have resonated down through the years and made our children smile.
"And they lived happily-ever-after."
Right here in Idle Point.
Who could ask for more?
~The End~
Author's Note
Readers are everything.
Seeing your name in print is terrific. Good reviews put a smile on an author's face.
But the absolute best thing about being a writer is being read.
Knowing that your words are making someone you're not even related to happy. Knowing that your story is helping to make a bad day better for a stranger who needed to escape for a few hours. Knowing that the imaginary friends you've spent the last few months with are out there in the world becoming just as real to a reader you'll never meet, but know and love just the same.
See what I mean?
Readers are everything.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there.
And, if you're new to my work, welcome. I hope you'll read a few of my other titles and let me know what you think. You can always reach me on Facebook or Twitter as barbarabretton or directly through my website www.barbarabretton.com
Happy reading!
About the Author
Barbara Bretton is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of more than 50 books. She currently has over ten million copies in print around the world. Her works have been translated into twelve languages in over twenty countries and she has received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist.
Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette, among others, and has been interviewed by the Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.
Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; a RITA nomination from RWA; Gold and Silver Certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors.
Barbara cooks, knits, and writes in New Jersey with her husband.