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Finally, Blake calls to say he is on his way home His voice trembles with emotion

‘Are you happy, Lana?’

‘Yes, I’ht, Blake?’

‘Yes, everything is just fine’

And I laugh, a shaky, nervous, overjoyed sound I feel as if we are just starting again We’ve been given a second chance

‘Say hello to Sorab,’ I say and hold the phone to his ear I don’t knohat he says, but Sorab listens intently and suddenly grins

I aainst my body when our housekeeper comes in with a sliate,’ she tells me

I take the box from her curiously, snap it open and frown

Inside, nestled on velvet, is Blake’s watch

Epilogue

‘Tih Cabal have made us e are’

—Sir Winston Churchill,

Prime Minister, UK, 1940–1945 & 1951–1955

The wo in through the open s She sinning to show A very soes to theShe can see her husband and son at the bottoarden The boy is perched on his father’s shoulders and trying to peer into a bird’s nest

She has the urge to run to them, but she doesn’t Instead she savors that scene, aso profound that it has bound us together like a tightly woven rope, she thinks We aren’t the sa innocent people we once were but we are finally free

Suddenly overwhel out of the bedroo towards thearden she takes off her slippers and steps lightly on the tiles They are already sun warmed It is a beautiful day and there is not a cloud in the sky The grass is cool under her feet Before the man or the child have realized, she is already there She throws her arainst his warhtly with surprise and her son squeals ‘Oh, Mu to make Daddy and I fall down’

‘Daddy and me,’ she corrects auto, just looks down indulgently at her