The Long Goodbye

by Rhonda Hanson

THE LONG GOODBYE is dedicated to anyone who has ever become its victim, and who may even now be unable to move ahead without looking back. It is for those who will one day find themselves part of another's journey of transition.

About The Book

THE LONG GOODBYE is dedicated to anyone who has ever become its victim, and who may even now be unable to move ahead without looking back. It is for those who will one day find themselves faced with the difficult decision to be willing to be part of another's journey of transition, even though it will be painful to watch them go through the door. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

"Clarissa, I have something for you."

There was a quality in his tone that alerted her to the fact that he was here as a reluctant messenger. Rather than question him, she stood gazing up at him, her eyes lowering as she watched his hand reach into his pocket for the letter.

He stopped and looked at her intently. "Where is your phone? May I use it?" He took it from her and added himself as a new contact, then messaged himself from it, before handing it back to her. Things were beginning to feel nightmarish to the beautiful, anxious woman.

He reached for her hand and gave her fingers a slight pressure, then lifted it and placed the envelope into her palm. She stared down at it and recognized the artistic, but unsteady penmanship, and prophetic tears immediately rushed to her eyes.

He moved toward the door and heard his name cried out in a broken, panicked, watery voice. When he turned back to face her, the same pain was in his own eyes. She watched him leave, then stared back down at the envelope. She could hear the faint sound of a tear splashing down on it.

"I can't," she whispered to herself. "I can't."

She lifted her eyes and saw a stark, pale, ghostly version of herself in the antique hall tree mirror. There was an envelope in that strange woman's hand as well. Clarissa turned away, bowing her head and allowing a soft moan to escape her lips.

He was finally going to tell her.

Rhonda Hanson

Author of inspirational romance, including the Father series, consisting of "Father's Choice", "Father's Wings", "Father's Song", and a linked novel, "Father's Friend". Other titles include "The Master of Hawthorn Manor", "Buying the Farm", "Once Upon An Altar", "The Art of Letting Go", "Dancing to an Elegy for Eden", "The Long Goodbye", "Love Finds the Way Home", "Linger" and her children's book, "The Adventures of Pahwoo and Her Friends".

Rhonda Hanson is one of a pair of twins, the youngest of ten siblings, raised on Black Bayou in Louisiana. For much of her childhood, she lived without the luxuries of indoor plumbing and electricity and, growing up without the Internet, devices, or television, she was left to discover the exciting worlds that can only be discovered within the pages of a good book. She is a collector of vintage children's books, and is not embarrassed to admit that she will reread the same book over and over, if it makes her happy. Her own imagination began to be challenged at an early age, and she would pen practically anything and everything that fermented in her mind, much of which is sadly lost or left back in her youth, probably in some old trunk in someone's barn.Today, Rhonda is a novelist, recording artist, songwriter, musician and speaker, but her most crowning achievement is being "Grammy" to her two granddaughters. She spends her days in middle Tennessee, writing, convincing feral cats that the Hanson Hotel is open for business, bragging to anyone who will listen about her grandchildren and tearing all her Macbooks apart and rebuilding them, because of her stubborn refusal to upgrade.

More Books by Rhonda Hanson

Father's Choice

book one, the Father series

by Rhonda Hanson

Meredith Clark is as irritating as she is beautiful. She's all Joel wants. A man from her past threatens to destroy her career overnight.

Father's Wings

book two, the Father series

by Rhonda Hanson

Does Father have wings? The lives of Joel and Meredith continue forward into a season of intercession, and spiritual warfare that can only be survived under the protection of a loving Father.

Father's Song

book three, the Father series

by Rhonda Hanson

The 3rd book in the Father series, Father's Song, weaves the final threads into this much loved tapestry. It reaches back across former years and hints at the years to come, with a bittersweet, lovely but final chord.

Father's Friend

a linked novel, following the Father series

by Rhonda Hanosn

Father's Friend, not included in the Father Series (comprised of Father's Choice, Father's Wings, and Father's Song), is a linked novel that takes the reader back to the beginning and peels back the layers of who Meredith Clark really is.

The Master of Hawthorn Manor

by Rhonda Hanson

When Audra Campbell returned to the town she had lived in, after having been gone for several years, the first thing she heard was that Martin Satterfield was recently widowed, following the untimely, and suspicious death of his late wife.

Buying the Farm

by Rhonda Hanson

Barrett Webb had been told that once he bought the struggling young widow's farm, she would be homeless, but when he met the beautiful Iris Anderson and she looked into his eyes, he was prepared to offer her a solution.

Once Upon an Altar

by Rhonda Hanson

If anyone should be able to forgive, it should be a minister. A beautiful actress is standing in need of forgiveness, but she knows that the pastor is the last one willing to offer it to her.

"I"m not okay, God! I'm not okay!"

The Art of Letting Go

(Opus Magnum)

by Rhonda Hanson

Was Jane Roberts dead? Her brother, a wealthy timber baron, came this small town from halfway across the country to find out. No one was going to stop him. Would Cora Hartmann be determined to challenge him, or would she become his lifeline?

Dancing to an Elegy for Eden

by Rhonda Hanson

The farm of her childhood is gone forever. It is now a place of death and devastation. A man has purchased the farm, in order to free it from its captors. For her, his kindness is a act of respect, a funeral song. An elegy for Eden.

Love Finds the Way Home

by Rhonda Hanson

An abused woman's escape leads her into her protector's arms. A bereaved woman refuses to ever trust love again. When time and love join forces, a sanctuary begins to appear on the horizon for each woman, and love finds the way home.

Linger

by Rhonda Hanson

Hester discovers a fascinating old man at the Bishop farm who has an immediate and emotional reaction to her return, and who shares his wit, his wisdom, and his poetry with her, despite the apparent displeasure of his suspicious, unamused son.

Pahwoo is an unusual owl. She is pink! She wants to be an elephant, she wants to paint the Painted Desert, and she wants an elaborate funeral! Blinky the cat, Lily the goat, Dusty the pony keep her grounded. Millie the mouse cheers her on.