“I’m gonna see if he’s here yet.” Laura dashed to the door.
Trey raced after her. Turning, Jessy started to call them back then sighed in defeat and let them go. Two sets of hands fought briefly to pull the heavy door open.
Before she even crossed the threshold, Laura squealed with excitement, “I see him! He’s here, Momma! He’s here!”
At almost the same instant Jessy caught the crunching sound of tires rolling across gravel. She moved quickly toward the door as her mother hurried out of the living room.
“You’re so stupid, Laura,” Trey accused with contempt. “That’s not Grampa. That’s Mr. Markham.”
The announcement tingled through Jessy’s nerve ends like an electrical charge, halting her in mid-stride for a fraction of a second. Head up, Jessy continued to the door, reaching it as Trey came back inside, shoulders slumped in disappointment.
Halfway into the hallway, Judy Niles changed direction. “I’ll go set another place for lunch,” she said to Jessy.
Offering no response, Jessy walked onto the veranda, cognizant that she couldn’t let her new wariness of Markham show. Laura’s presence made it easy. Ever the social butterfly, Laura ran to the top of the steps to welcome their arriving guest.
“Hello, Mr. Markham,” Laura issued her breezy greeting as he approached the front steps. “I thought you were my grampa. He’s coming home today.”
The vaguely preoccupied look vanished from his expression as Monte paused with one foot on the steps, his hazel eyes locking on Jessy. “Then it is true,” he said with a slightly incredulous frown. “Chase is alive.”
“Amazing, isn’t it.” The rejoinder came easily to Jessy, thanks to all the practice she’d had fielding phone calls from others seeking confirmation.
“Amazing hardly describes it,” he declared, mounting the steps. “It rightly should be called a miracle. How did it happen? Where has he been all this time?”
“In Texas, I guess. We don’t have many details,” Jessy told him. “I’m not sure Chase does, either. He has amnesia. From what Logan told me, not all of his memory is back yet. There are still parts that are missing for him.”
“What a frightening experience it must be not to know who you are or where you live.” An eyebrow arched in idle contemplation of it.
“It had to have been awful,” Jessy agreed. “We were about to sit down to lunch. Why don’t you join us?”
“It seems I always arrive at mealtimes,” Monte replied with a touch of rueful amusement.
“You can’t refuse. Mother has already set a place for you at the table,” Jessy told him.
“Yeah, if you stay, you can see Grampa when he comes,” Laura inserted.
“I wouldn’t want to intrude at such a personal time,” Monte began, then sharply turned his head to stare at the Suburban pulling into the yard.
“That’s Aunt Cat.” The words were barely out of Laura’s mouth before the significance of them registered on her. She breathed in sharply, her mouth rounding in a silent “o” of excitement as she looked up at Jessy. “Grampa’s here,” she murmured. “I gotta tell Trey.” She scampered across the veranda, pushed the door open, and stuck her head inside, issuing a very unlady-like yell, “This time it really is Grampa!”
“I think she’s excited,” Jessy said to Monte, using the comment as an excuse to observe him, alert for any hint of apprehension.
“She should be,” he declared and turned to face the drive with a look of avid interest.
Trey tore out of the house, nearly knocking Laura down in his haste. He launched himself down the steps and reached the passenger door when it opened. Chase swung his legs out. But Trey didn’t give him a chance to get out as he scrambled onto his lap.
“I knew you’d come back, Grampa,” Trey stated as Laura crowded close, seeking to claim her grandfather’s attention. “I knew it all the time.”
Jessy was content to observe the touching reunion between her children and their grandfather. Not until her mother emerged from the house, hastily wiping her hands on her apron, did Jessy remember that she should be showing some eagerness to welcome Chase home as well.
“My, but he looks wonderful, doesn’t he?” her mother remarked with a mixture of surprise and relief.
“He certainly does.” Jessy crossed to the steps, conscious that Monte remained behin
d.
“Oh dear, do you see that awful scar above his temple?” Judy Niles murmured.
Jessy made an affirmative sound, but she was too busy looking at Laredo as he crossed the ranch yard with long, unhurried strides. Even from this distance, she could tell it was Monte he was watching.