Chapter 26

When he heard the news, Dan, like Marsha. wished things could have proceeded a bit more slowly, but Marsha had told him that both Angie and Chris were ecstatic both about marriage and the coming baby so he was immediately supportive. He asked her to fill him in on her own activities which she did minus the exact nature of her "hostessing" duties on the island and her now defunct affair with Chris. Dan was still teaching, but retirement was very close. No, there had been no one after Allison's death. He lived the quiet and secluded life of a college professor.

He made immediate arrangements to visit and days later the four of them had dinner where he was just as impressed with Angie as Marsha had been.

"She seems like a wonderful girl," he commented as he and Marsha entered her trailer, Chris and Angie already having headed back to campus.

"Yes, I think she'll make a wonderful wife for Chris."

"And you, Marsha, how have you been?"

"I've been fine. The year of hostessing paid very well, but now I'm home and ready to..."

"To what?"

"Get on with my life. Now that Chris has his future mapped out -- marriage and college, I'm going to find a job I really like and live the quiet life -- like you."

"Chris told me until you got that good paying job that things were a bit tight to say the least. Why didn't you... ?"

"I couldn't ask you. You'd done so much already."

"Oh, come on. I would have been glad to help out financially. Still am."

"No, but thanks. Chris' education is taken care of and he and Angie have a little nest egg to get started on. And I'm fine."

"Lonely?"

"I ... well I would be lying if I said I wasn't, but -- who knows?"

There was a sudden intensity and sincerity to Dan's voice.

"Marsha, I know you've always thought of me as a father figure..."

"Well, you did father our son," she said smiling.

"You know what I mean. The tremendous difference in our ages."

Marsha smiled as she thought back to her own arguments with Chris about their affair and the age difference.

"I've never thought that mattered very much."

She saw him struggling, knew where he was heading. Suddenly she was aware that those old feelings had returned. She was again seeing Dan, not as a godfather or friend, but as a man and she felt the old yearnings once again. What's more, she at last felt free to act upon them.

"Do you love me, Dan?" she asked right out of the blue, walking to him and looking up into his eyes.

"I ... I guess I always have. Marsha, I..."

The kiss was tender and sweet. She felt his arms come around her, and nestled her own body against his. Marsha had become expert in arousing and pleasing men, but Dan needed little encouragement.

"Do you think... ? he began.

She simply nodded.

He swept her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

Both were undressed almost before the bedroom door closed.

"I love you, Dan."

"And I love you.

The two were on the bed and making love within seconds. That night Marsha used every method and technique she had ever learned and Dan responded to every one. Lost in each other they were still making love when the sun rose the next morning.

Less than a month later they were married., along with Angie and Chris in a double ceremony. Dan finished out the term at BSU and then announced his retirement. Coming back to the small town, they sold the trailer and bought a modest but comfortable house in a pleasant neighborhood and settled into domestic life.

Later that year Monique was born and they became doting grandparents. Three years following, Chris and Angie graduated and moved to the southwest where Chris became a physical therapist and Angie an elementary school teacher.

For the next six years both couples were ecstatically happy. Then tragedy struck.

Monique was diagnosed with an especially virulent strain of leukemia and over the next two years the health of the nine year old steadily declined despite bone marrow transplants and every other treatment medical science could offer. The strain was telling on both Chris and Angie and when Monique finally succumbed the marriage began unraveling. Within a year Angie and Chris were divorced.

As for Marsha and Dan, their life during this time was sedate but happy until Monique's health problems began. Dan's own health began failing at about the same time and when he began experiencing episodic dementia, an exam revealed the early stages of Alzheimer's. Struggling through the death of Monique and Chris and Angie's divorce had been devastating for them both. Chris had stayed in his job and lived the life of a bachelor. They saw him only infrequently as his trips home seemed harder to make. Angie kept in touch but they hadn't actually seen her for almost three years.

And now, thought Marsha, she was losing Dan. His bouts of dementia were getting worse and more frequent. There were days when he would slip in and out of recognizing her and his mood swings were more pronounced. She had been encouraged to place him in a care facility but thus far she had resisted. She knew she needed help however and had thought about advertising for someone to help provide the home care he needed. When she had talked with Chris on the phone about it, he had insisted that he could pull up stakes and move back to help care for Dan.

"No, Honey. It's sweet of your to offer but..."

"Hey, he's my father," (Marsha had finally told Chris that Dan was his real father) "and besides you can't do this by yourself much longer. I'm trained in physical therapy and I can take care of him professionally. It will be hard to find someone who can help you as much as I can."