"She was there -expecting me,naturally."He chuckled once."She hopped down from the high tabouret at the counter as I walked in and came directly toward me.

"It shocked me.I was not sure if she meant to attack.That's the only interpretation of her behavior that my past had to offer.But she was smiling.And the emotions that were emanating from her were like nothing I'd ever felt before.

"'You've kept me waiting a long time,'she said."

I didn't realize Alice had come to stand behind me again.

"And toi ducked your head like a good Southern gentleman,and said,'I'm sorry ma'am.'"Alice laughed at the memory.

Jasper smiled down at her."You held out your hand,and I took it without stopping to make sense of what I was doing.For the first time in almost a century,I felt hope."

Jasper took Alice's hand as he spoke.

Alice grinned."I was just relieved.I thought toi were never going to montrer up."