Book 5 -- LONG WAY HOME

We first met the sixty something brothers, Clint and Gary Harris, in SECOND CHANCES as each of the widowed pair stumbled toward what they hoped would be new and lasting relationships. Now, in LONG WAY HOME their hopeful pursuit continues, taking them far from Tanner, in very different directions, still seeking the promise of that Second Chance.

Selected Excerpts from LONG WAY HOME

It took a few minutes to settle in. While Elly Warren found the makings for a fresh pot of coffee, Clint put Gary’s suitcase away. Meanwhile, Claudia Hafner pushed Gary's wheelchair to the living room, next to the fireplace, and pulled up a hassock for herself in front of him. While the others busied themselves with their chores, the two of them visited quietly.

They had the look of a pair: Gary Harris and Claudia Hafner. In fact, they had been a pair, fifty years earlier, as seniors at Tanner Southside High School. Their parting that year, shortly after graduation, had left Claudia broken, bitter, and so hurt that she left Tanner for good. Their separation had been final and complete, until their fifty year class reunion, just two and a half months earlier. 

Not until his first glimpse of Claudia Hafner, standing in the midst of the reunion crowd, did the long absent life spark return. After decades apart, they were pleasantly surprised to find the persuasive attraction was still intact. 

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While Gary and Claudia were arriving at what promised to be a “forever” connection, Elly Warren continued to struggle with the unwinding of her Los Angeles marriage, and the residue of bitterness and distrust it had left behind. In even her most optimistic moments, there was no escaping the lessons learned. No man would ever again be allowed to gain the trust Mike Warren had so cruelly violated.

Meanwhile Clint had been sure from the start that his modest means and plebeian tastes would never satisfy Elly Warren. Besides, how could he overcome her maddening reluctance to commit?  

While Elly struggled to find a place where her anxieties would not sabotage her own future, that future was being held hostage by the threat of Tom Berry’s persistent demands.