Bruce spotted the red truck described by the road crew. He drove to the nearest turnaround, then parked his truck behind Jas.

"Thanks, Bruce. Now go home and love your wife. You don't ever want to experience what I have today."

"God knows you're telling the truth. I'm going to make things right. She was only trying to help."

"I know." Aiden stepped out of the truck. He waved as Bruce pulled off.  He took a deep breath, then headed to the red truck. They were almost finished clearing the door when he stepped up.

The man whispered, "You must be Aiden."

He nodded.

"You're a lucky man. We've called in to pull eight bodies this morning. I think you should take her to a doctor."

Aiden put his hand over his mouth and shook his head. That thought was horrifying.  "I will, and I am very grateful to you and your crew." 

They couldn't get the door open soon enough. He waited patiently as the last mound of snow was tossed. Freezing rain that had also fallen during the night had iced into the opening of the door.  They poured hot water over the crevice until the door loosened.

Aiden was standing right in front of the door, an emotional wreck, when it pulled free. Jas was curled up in a ball on the passenger side. Her eyes widened. Her thin blue lips parted in shock and she burst out crying. Jas scrambled towards him as he slid inside. She was comforted in his strong, loving embrace that swept the trauma away.

"Aiden, I'm so..."

"Oh, babe." He leaned in and kissed her passionately.

***

"I knew it. I just knew something was wrong with Jas," Nanna said as she and Major rushed down the hall to Jas' room at North Georgia Medical Center. "What in tarnation is she doing in Georgia anyway?  Lord, that girl."

"Don't be too hard on her, Arabella."

"She could have frozen to death in that darn truck."

Major tugged on Nanna's shoulder. Nanna swung around, her eyes blazed.

"What?"

He raised his brow and gave Nanna a withering look. She shrank back, and looked down at the floor. "Sorry."

"Now, you hear me, Arabella. God woke you up this morning to pray. Our prayers helped to spare her life. Do you realize how many people were killed and in accidents today?  Do you realize that this hospital still has power when so many homes and businesses are sitting in the dark right now?" Major wagged his finger in her face. "Count your blessings and settle down."

Nanna covered her face. She sighed. "I'm so sorry, Major."

They continued down the hall and finally came to room 607.

"Since she doesn't know about me, I'll walk down to the cafeteria. Come and get me when you're ready to go home."

Nanna reached up and touched Major's face. "No, my love. I've put this off long enough."

"Arabella, she's had enough shock for the day. Aiden says she's in pretty frail shape, especially since she wasn't over the flu."

"Then the hospital is the best place for her to be in case this gets too rough. They can give her a sedative."  Major looked worried. "It's going to be alright, my love. Stand right here and I'll call you soon."

Nanna opened the door. Her mouth dropped open. Jas was so pale, her eyes were sunk back in her head, dark patches were under them and her skin was still pasty. She was leaning on Aiden's shoulder as he sat next to her on the bed. A weary smile traced across her face. She stretched out her arms.

"Nanna."

Nanna walked over and kissed Jas and Aiden, then she eased into Jas' embrace. "Silly girl, what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, Nanna. Michelle told me that you were selling the inn, but Aiden explained how she got her wires crossed."

Nanna shook her head. "I should have known. My dear, I could no more sell that inn than I could sell you."

"But Nanna, I know Michelle wasn't upset for nothing. She also said that she heard Bruce say that your life was about to go through a change. Michelle couldn't have gotten everything that she heard wrong. Is there any truth in what she said?" Jas' eyes pleaded with Nanna's. "I can't believe that I would have risked my life for nothing."

"I'll go to the cafeteria and get us some coffee and give you two some time to talk."

"No, Aiden, you stay right here. It's about time I dealt with this."

"Dealt with what?" Jas glanced over at Aiden. "You know something."

He got up and walked towards the window.

"This has nothing to do with Aiden. He knows everything, and don't you hold it against him. This is all my doing and will be my undoing."

Jas sat up straight in the bed. She folded her arms together and glanced between the two of them, agitated. "Spill it."

***

Michelle was sprawled across the bed crying. She couldn't believe how she'd endangered Jas' life. Bruce gently rubbed her back and shoulders.

"I feel so bad. I can't imagine what she went through sitting in that cold truck. What if she had died?"

"She didn't, though. Everything is going to be alright, Michelle.  I'm sorry that I blew up at you." He pulled her across his lap. "If I told you everything that Nanna said, none of this would have happened. Let's just believe that God has a plan in all of this."

"You really believe that?"

"Yes, maybe this was the only way to shake things up."

Michelle rolled over and blinked up at Bruce. "Shake things up—what?"

Bruce leaned down and kissed Michelle on the forehead. He scrolled his fingers through her hair. "Baby, you're not going to believe this one..."

***

Major flinched as he heard the commotion coming from the other side of the door. A nurse headed towards the room from the nurse's station. Major held his hand up. "Domestic situation." She nodded and walked back across the hall.

"Both of you betrayed me!" Jas pulled on her hair and screamed. "Getting married—oh, God—married! You hid this from me."

"Jasmine Stone, you listen to me. What was I supposed to do?"

"Um, tell the truth...all those nights I heard you laughing with that man...oh...my..."

Aiden walked over to Jas to put his hand on her shoulder. "Jas," he pleaded.

"Oh no, Aiden. Don't touch me. Don't say anything to me. Now I see, all of this was to take care of Nanna. You didn't come back for me."

The words slapped Aiden. His face went slack. Nanna rushed toward Aiden and held him. "She doesn't mean that, son. This is all my fault." Nanna took him by the hand. "Come on, dear, step outside."

Aiden felt so miserable. Nanna walked out into the hallway. When Aiden looked up and saw Major, his hands flew to his head.

"Major?"

Nanna squeezed Aiden's hands. "Another confession, child. He's been with me since you took Jas to New York."

Aiden shook his head and started laughing.

"Now, you two give me just a moment with my rebellious granddaughter and I will straighten this all out."

Nanna walked back into the room. She thundered at Jas and the vibrations could be felt through the door.

***

Bruce stroked his wife's hand. "Are you going to be okay, baby?"

Michelle sat on the edge of the bed. She had momentarily disconnected from life.

"Now can you see why I didn't say anything? All of this is too shocking. I haven't even told mom. I can't imagine Jas or Ellijay without Nanna."

"Beauregard...I'm mean, Major has been down here all this time courting Nanna?"

"Yeah, and big time too. He's one of the wealthiest men in the U.S."

"I can't wrap my mind around Nanna being madly in love. My whole life she's just been working at the inn. Everything she's ever done was for the inn and Jas." Michelle's mind searched back through the conversations she'd held with Nanna over the last few months. Finally, it fell on a clue. Her mind drifted to the conversation.

"What more change could you possibly want?  Have you looked at this place lately?  It's beautiful.  I thought you'd be reeling from all this change."

"I am very grateful for all this change.  But I am an old woman and Jas is a young woman.  We both need to be thinking about life."

"You both have wonderful lives.  Whatever do you mean?"

"Now, I know what she was talking about."

"What?" Bruce said, threading his fingers through Michelle's hand.

"She told me once that she was happy at the inn, but that she and Jas both needed to be thinking about life. My goodness, Nanna in love. Well, well, that's just outstanding."

***

"That man has dropped his whole world for you. If I ever hear you say anything negative toward Aiden Ross, I will beat you to a pulp, young lady."

"How can you say that, Nanna? If you hadn't called him, he wouldn't have been here."

Nanna sat down on the bed beside Jas and took her hands. "Do you know anything about men? We're a lot tougher than them emotionally. Aiden couldn't take your rejection anymore. Do you realize how many times you've rejected him over the last four or five years? He asked you to come back to New York with him and you wouldn't go."

Jas buried her face in her pillow, knowing what Nanna said was true. She had just lived in a home with him that he'd built, hoping that she'd return. "Oh, Nanna."

"I never asked him to come back. I just gave him a reason to push past his fear. He didn't want to see you alone when I move. That's why he came, Jas. Yes, he helped me. He vetted Major like he was my father. Aiden even inspired me to create the pie for the financial stability of the inn. But he did this all for you, Jas."

"Nanna, my heart is breaking. What am I going to do without you? I feel like I'm crumbling."

Nanna scooped Jas in her arms. "I knew this would be hard. That's why I kept putting it off, my dear. It is a terrible shock for you, I know. But I couldn't believe that I reached out to a man. I struggled with feeling that elderly people don't need romance. I was embarrassed that I used a dating site and shameful that I felt desire, and wanted to feel love again. I didn't know what to do, Jas."

Jas began to think about what Nanna said. She allowed herself to slip into Nanna's world for just a minute. Jas knew how proud Nanna was and the staunch traditional beliefs that she'd held and raised her with. What Nanna was saying was truly believable, even if she didn't really want to believe it. The thought of Nanna being romantically involved was a big stretch for her. If she had told me, I know I would have backlashed. She looked at the grief stricken look on Nanna's face and felt absolutely sad for her.  Nanna engaged, goodness. 

Then Jas began to think about her beloved Aide. Slowly, she began to see where he was trying to prepare her. She thought about how calm he'd been the night she asked him to marry him—how quickly he'd told her that Nanna would be okay. Now it made sense when he abruptly told her that perhaps Nanna wanted to retire. Everything came together in her mind. She couldn't ruin this very happy time in Nanna's world. Besides, Nanna had told her the truth. This was all about life.

"Oh, Nanna." Jas kissed Nanna a thousand times. "I can see it now. Okay, Nanna. So, when do I get to meet this dashing cowboy who's taking my Nanna away?"

"He's right outside the door."