"I'm so happy, Lewis."
Her cheeks were full of color once again, and her step had a spring to
it that I hadn't seen for years. It was as if the years of waiting
were falling away from both of us now.
"I wish they'd come," she said. "I can hardly wait to see their faces
when we tell them."
It was getting late in the afternoon. Already the sun was dipping down
toward the desert horizon. It was hard to wait. In some ways it was
harder to be patient these last few hours than it had been during all
those years we'd wanted to go back.
"Look," Martha said suddenly. "There's a car now."
Then I saw the car too, coming quickly toward us. It pulled up in
front of the house and stopped and Duane stepped out.
"Well, hello there, Mr. Farwell," he called. "All ready for the trip?"
I nodded. Suddenly, now that he was here, I couldn't say anything at
all.
He must have seen how excited we were. By the time he was inside the
veranda door he'd reached into his wallet and pulled out a long
envelope.
"Here's your schedule," he said. "Your tickets are all made out for
next week's flight."
Martha's hand crept into mine. "You've been so kind," she whispered.
* * * * *
We went into the house and smiled at each other while Duane admired
the furniture and the farming district in general and our place in
particular. We hardly heard what he was saying.
When the doorbell rang we stared at each other. For a minute I
couldn't think who it might be. I'd forgotten our guests and their
surprise party, even the anniversary itself had slipped my mind.
"Hello in there," John Emery called. "Come on out, you two."
Martha pressed my hand once more. Then she stepped to the door and
opened it.
"Happy anniversary!"
We stood frozen. We'd expected only a few visitors, some of our
nearest neighbors. But the yard was full of people. They crowded up
our walk and in the road and more of them were still piling out of
cars. It looked as if everyone in the district was along.
"Come on out," Emery called. "You too, Duane."
The two men smiled at each other knowingly, and for just a moment I
had time to wonder why.