"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."