Daybreak, Up On Kettle Cove

The non-traditional love story of Cheri Cohen and Mitch Levy which took flight in the Maine-ly Love Trilogy first volume, Once Upon A Time in Maine: The List of 100 and continued in Midnight at Spring Point, moves forward in this final telling of the “second act” romance. Separated by nearly a thousand miles, and several decades, the two, previously high school sweethearts, continue through the first year of their distance relationship. The journey offers twists and turns, with new revelations and truths that are yet to be diviulged. CC makes yet another of her annual pilgrimages to the sunny South, to escape Maine’s bitter winter, if only for a few weeks. Mitch continues to monitor her coming and goings, clearly un-comfortable with not knowing exactly where CC is, or with whom. She decides to explore the idea of a retirement village, out of curiosity. Finding herself in a physically challenging scenario, she calls upon Mitch for help, but he falls short. As her southernmost adventure comes to a close, she makes a right turn, choosing not to visit Mitch on her way back to Maine. The Valentine’s Day disaster from the previous year is still crystal clear in her memory. Strangely, Mitch continues to believe that he did nothing wrong on that fateful day. The saga of his life seems to be presented in half-truths, at best. As the Maine winter melts into spring, CC visits Cincinnati two more times, once for professional training, and once for pure pleasure. Mitch continues to place barriers in the roadway of their joint journey, and CC finds herself running out of patience. Looking deep inside, she feels akin to so many others, both women and men, who find themselves bitterly disappointed when what seemed like a “perfect” love seems to disintegrates. In her own words, CC shares her questions about why she stays in this relationship, which offers her so little joy, peace, comfort. It wasn’t like that, in the beginning, either decades ago or now. CC ponders the possibility of addiction. Is she is addicted to love, romance, fantasy, and, if so, if this is yet another tale that has drawn her in, body and soul? She shares with him her plans to celebrate both Passover and Easter, and once again, he lacks respect for the expanse of her faith, which is as strong as ever. She knows that God is with her, every step of the way, but Mitch offers only disapproval. Finally, with anger and frustration mounting. CC arrives unannounced in Cincy, and at Mitch’s home, just before the 4th of July. She spots his car in the driveway, gathers up her courage, walks up to his door and knocks. Mitch clearly is upset that she has shown up unannounced and it isn’t long before sparks fly, some CC anticipated, but others that were completely unexpected. Confused and angry, in a blur of emotions, CC makes her way back to her van, and without even staying in Cincy, begins her drive home on the same day, back to the sanity of Maine, wailing and sobbing into the music on her playlists. Yes, she found out some of what she needed to know about Mitch, but questions remain. In the months ahead, she processes her grief and anger, but plans one more trip to Cincy for their milestone class reunion. Mitch has been clear with her that he sees no reason to attend.By the end of the 3-day high school reunion event, CC learns from her classmates the final truths about Mitch’s life, and now knows the only road left for their journey of reconnection. She has no regrets, despite the disappointment, because she has found new self-knowledge and confidence in surviving the challenges presented to her. The daybreak at the book’s end brings Cheri Cohen not only the light of a new day and a new adventure, but also peace and joy, that have come seemingly come from out of nowhere. CC has lived, she has loved, and moves ahead more confident about who she is, what she needs and what she deserves. —- ISBN: 9798987169124