A Thousand Miles

Part 17

JoLynn took a deep breath and held it, pressing her back against the front door of her grandmother's Sunday house as the sound of Shane's truck faded away.  A smile emerged and she raised a hand to touch her mouth where the feel of him lingered—his kisses, his arms around her, his breath on her skin as he whispered good-night in her ear. Her eyelids drifted closed as she relished the memory.

    "JoLynn, is that you?"

    "Yes, Grandma."  She followed the sound of the voice to the small bedroom off the living room. Her grandmother was propped up against the pillows on her bed, reading by warm, incandescent lamplight.

    "Where'd you get to, darlin'?"

    JoLynn smiled and looked down. "I'm sorry I disappeared on you."

    "No matter. Did Shane whisk you away to someplace wonderful?" She patted the bed beside her in invitation.

    JoLynn climbed onto it and leaned back against the headboard. "He took me somewhere high up in the hills, with the prettiest view I've ever seen."

    "And perhaps a little prettier because you were there with him?"

    JoLynn smiled. "Perhaps," she said softly.

    "And how is that going to work out? You two working together and feeling like you do about each other?"

    JoLynn shrugged and sighed. "I don't know, Grandma."

    The question had occurred to her briefly, just before Shane kissed her. The red flag went up. But she'd chosen to follow her heart. Things would be awkward between them at work on Monday. A smile touched her lips. It would be worth it.

    "Your father wants me to convince you to go back home."

    Her smile faded and another sigh slipped out. "And how do you plan to do that?"

    A wry chuckle came from her grandmother. "I'm supposed to reason with you, I think."

    "I can't give the show up now." She drew her knees up to her chin. "It's just starting to really take off. Since Shane has come, more people are watching than ever. It could really succeed, Grandma. We could really do it. A couple of months ago—no, just a few weeks ago, I was about ready to let it all go. But now..."

    Her grandmother nodded and raised a hand to ease the end of JoLynn's ponytail over her shoulder. It was always her grandmother who brought this subject up. Her father hadn't mentioned it in a couple of years. But every few months Grandma gently raised the subject of her going home, at his request. He probably thought she'd be more receptive to the idea if it came from a different source.

It wasn't true. She wasn't usually any more receptive. But she was not inclined to become angry with her grandmother for bringing it up. She wouldn't dare raise her voice, and storm off, and not speak for months to this woman whom she adored.

    The last time her father had tried to convince her to come home that's exactly what had happened. Shame still stung at the memory. But she'd been so angry. He didn't understand why this was so important to her. She could do this. She could make her own way. She'd been making her own way for so long now, anyway. Tears stung. Why did he have so little faith in her?

    "He's looking down the road, honey." Grandma ran a hand down JoLynn's ponytail and curled the end around one finger. "He's thinking about retirement. And who's going to run the business when he's not around anymore."

    JoLynn's brows knit together. "But why on earth does he think I'd be interested, or even capable, of such a thing?"

    "I think he wants you to learn. He wants to teach you. To pass on what he knows."

    She sighed again. "He's got four other children."

    That drew a hearty laugh from her grandmother. "And he knows you're the only one who is capable at this point."

    JoLynn rolled her eyes just before a little snort slipped out.

    "Look at you, honey. Look at what you've done. You've struck out on your own, and built your show up from nothing. Just like your grandfather when he struck out for west Texas sixty years ago. He built up his business from nothing. And then your father got hold of it, and made it prosper." She laid a palm against JoLynn's cheek. "You are so much like both of them. The others...they all have their strengths..." One eyebrow arched upward and her grandmother smiled. "And weaknesses. But none of them has the same independent spirit as you. You got that from your father."

    "You sound like you think I should go," JoLynn said softly. "Is that what you think?"

    "I think your father is right in his belief that, if the business is going stay in the family, it's going to be you that keeps it that way. He doesn't want to sell it. But that's the future he's faced with if you don't go home."

    JoLynn nodded. She'd never thought about the situation in those terms. She'd always seen her father's insistence that she come home as a desire on his part to control her. To exert his will over hers. To marginalize her accomplishments. But Grandma was right. Daddy would want to retire at some point. And she knew what the business meant to him. It was his life, just like Traveling Texas was hers. His heart would break if he had to sell it off to strangers.

    "But now that this Shane is here..." Her grandmother's gentle tone expressed complete understanding. "Maybe now you have another reason for not wanting to make that move."

    JoLynn glanced at her grandmother, who wore a knowing smile.

    "Tell me what he's like."

    JoLynn stretched out and laid her head on her grandmother's shoulder with a sigh. A smile crept up on her as she tried to decide where to begin. What was he like? "I don't even know how to describe him."

    "You could start with handsome."

    She nodded. "That I could."

    "Then you could add that he's perceptive. And...maybe...tenderhearted?"

    Behind the smooth façade, yes. Perceptive and tender.

    "He smells nice." JoLynn added. That garnered another laugh from Grandma. "And he likes my tattoo."

    "Ooh! Don't remind me of that thing. Whatever possessed you?"

    JoLynn laughed, loving that her grandmother always rose to that bait.

    "What's that yellow rose going to look like when you're a seventy-year-old woman?"

    "Probably like it needs a good watering. But when I'm seventy I don't think I'll care." She grinned. "I'll be too busy looking for my teeth."

    Her grandmother gave her thigh a playful swat, then placed a kiss on the top of her head, just like she used to do when JoLynn had been a girl, in exile here for the summer. They'd sit up in her bed, just like this, late into the night. Talking and reading. They'd read the Psalms together.

    Lord, thank you for giving me someone to talk to. She swallowed the rising ache in her throat. As a youngster, she never realized the value of this relationship with her grandmother. All she knew was that when her parents didn't want her around, they sent her here. At least, that's how it had felt at the time. But now, in retrospect, she could see how blessed she was. How merciful God had been in providing her with this special connection when she'd felt so cast out.

    "Could he be the one?" Her grandmother's softly spoken question brought Shane back to mind.

    The one?

    Her smile returned. She hoped so.