Chapter 532 - Gran and Gramps (3) (1/2)

JoAnna felt tears rolling down her cheeks while she laughed. ”Oh, Jeff! You wanted me to be your wife 17 years ago!”

”Yes, and I still want you to be my wife.”, he responded seriously.

JoAnna pounced on Jeff's lap and hugged him. He hugged her back, ignoring piercing gaze of her grandfather.

JoAnna was about to plant a juicy kiss on Jeff when she saw how James is looking at them and she laughed while squirming off from Jeff's lap.

Mary took the paper from JoAnna's hand. ”Are you saying that the letter I'm holding is from this boy, Jeff, to my James?”

JoAnna vigorously nodded. ”Yes. No doubt about it. 'J.W.' Stands for Jeffrey White, and he called me 'Little J'. And we all know who 'Old man Hill' is.”

They laughed. James didn't laugh.

James stood up abruptly and looked at Jeff. ”Jeffrey, I would like a word with you.” He gestured toward inside.

Jeff looked at JoAnna and she gave him a reassuring nod. ”If he bullies you, just come back here. You don't need to be polite if he is treating you badly.”, JoAnna made sure she says that loud enough for her grandfather to hear.

James walked in and Jeff followed.

JoAnna was looking at the photos and smiling. ”I can't wrap my mind around this. I mean… I was hoping that we can confirm that I met Jeff as a child, but now that I'm looking at the photo of two of us from almost two decades ago, it's overwhelming.”

JoAnna looked at her grandmother who was smiling back at her.

”Gran, can I have these?”, JoAnna was hoping she can keep photos and the letter.

Mary frowned and was quiet for some time. ”You can take the letter. But I don't want to part from the photos. They are my precious memories… I realize that with age, I'm forgetting many things. These pictures are reminding me of the times I forgot about.”, she explained.

JoAnna could understand that logic. She got an idea. ”You know what? I will just take pictures of pictures!” JoAnna got her phone and took pictures of each photo.

”There!”, she handed photos back to her grandmother. ”Thank you for the letter! It will be a great showcase for our wedding!”

Mary smiled. ”Tell me, what are your plans for the wedding?”

”Oh… we just started. Ceremony will be on a beach. And we have number of guests flying over, so I'm looking for resorts on the beach which can accommodate our guests overnight…” JoAnna was excitedly explaining to her grandmother.

…

Inside, in one of the rooms which James uses as a study, James is sitting behind a desk and Jeff is on the chair opposite of him.

”It's nice to see you all grown up.”, James smiled.

Jeff was stupefied. ”You know who I am?”

”Of course, I do.” James was almost insulted. ”Your grandparents, Donald and Barbara, are our first neighbors on East Coast. You visited our estate with them more than once. The year when Anna was there, you were following her everywhere and I asked Don not to bring you anymore. But you kept on coming, few times you sneaked in by yourself! Hmph! Of course, you changed since then, but when JoAnna told me your name and mentioned East Coast, I knew who you are.”

Jeff was processing this information. 'So, this old fart was messing with me on purpose!' Jeff was doing his best to hide his displeasure.

”How come your wife does not remember me?”

James showed a troubled expression. ”Mary has problems with her memory. She is forgetting many things that are not right in front of her. You heard her say that she goes through those photos once every few months. The truth is that we are going through them at least once a week. She is recognizing people most of the time, but then soon she forgets. I fear that the day is approaching when she will forget who I am.”

Jeff was feeling sorry for man in front of him who suddenly looked like he aged at least 10 years.

James slapped his thigh loudly, snapping both of them back to reality. ”That is not why I called you here. We are old, but we are holding on, and we still have each other.”

James cleared his throat. ”How much I understand, your younger brother is with Sarah.”

Jeff nodded.

”Is he serious about my baby Sarah?”