Chapter 532 - Gran and Gramps (3)

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?"

Jeff gave another nod. "They got engaged recently."

James's eyes flashed in surprise, but then he nodded. "I'm not against it. Don is a good man and a good friend. I will assume that you two took after him. You and your brother, as long as you know that you should cherish my granddaughters, you don't need to worry that I will come and find you. Do you understand?"

Jeff nodded.

"Make sure your brother gets the message as well."

Jeff was still nodding.

James frowned. "I don't hear you."

"Yes, sir.", Jeff responded.

"Good." James was obviously pleased.

"Now, I have this for you." James reached in the drawer of the desk and placed a safe deposit key on the desk in front of Jeff. "If anything happens, and you don't see a way out, contents of the deposit box will help you." James could not miss Jeff's confused look.

Jeff was not sure what to think. Man in front of him changed from making him feel unwelcome, to treating him in a friendly manner and giving him some mystery key. 'Is this some trap? A trick? Another joke?' His eyes darted from the key to JoAnna's grandfather.

James frowned. "Don't look at me that way. This was given to me by Don many years ago. It is one of the reasons why people fear White family. This…" He pushed the key closer to Jeff. "…is just going back home."

…

JoAnna was telling her grandmother about Felix and Sophia's wedding when James and Jeff returned.

Mary looked up at them, and her face lit up. "James, my dear…" She glanced at Jeff and then back at her husband. "Who is the young man next to you?"

James showed a bitter smile. "This is JoAnna's fiancé, Jeffrey. He just arrived."

"Oh!", she looked at the table. "It's a good thing we got everything set up for four people… Nice to meet you, Jeffrey, you can call me gran or Mary. Please have a seat. We didn't have visitors in a long time…" She turned to JoAnna. "Anna, your fiancé is very handsome…"

JoAnna looked at her grandfather who gestured to her that it's nothing new and that she should not overreact. JoAnna understood, but it was difficult for her to smile after she realized that her grandmother suffers from memory loss. She wanted to find out more about her grandmother's condition.

Shortly after, James took Mary upstairs for a nap. When he returned, he explained to JoAnna about her grandmother's memory loss and told her that they plan to return to United States. "Her condition worsened recently. After doctors do tests, we will see what they say."

JoAnna said to her grandfather that she will do all she can to make sure her grandma sees top specialists.

James was happy to see JoAnna all grown up and capable. "Don't worry about us old people, we have everything planned. Focus on yourself. We are excited about Sophia's wedding, and your own. I look forward to see Jeff's grandparents, we didn't see each other in a while."

James asked her not to tell Edward and Stella about Mary's condition. "They will find out soon themselves, no need to get them worried in advance."

…

Jeff and JoAnna are in the back of the car, heading to their hotel.

JoAnna is worried about her grandmother.

"I believe that is one of scariest things that can happen to a person... Losing memories, that is like losing yourself." She hugged Jeff tightly. "What if someday I forget about this? About you?"

Jeff patted her head. "I will not let you forget about me. Try not to worry about your grandma. Let's see what doctors say after the exams."

JoAnna took a deep breath and nodded. But she still didn't let go of Jeff. She scooted and sat in his lap, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Big J", she whispered.

"Mmm, I like when you call me… big.", he smiled mischievously.

JoAnna laughed. 'This man is getting more outrageous by the day.' She loves that Jeff lowers his cold and unapproachable mask when he is with her.