"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 you 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 you were never going to show up."
