"He's keeping his promise," she said as she stared down at the letter in her hand. Professor Rick Payne's scrawled handwriting decorated the page.
"He's coming home," Melinda said as a tiny smile played upon her lips.
It had been a year. She sat down on a wooden bench in the square as children played in the distance. It had been OVER a year. But the Professor was finally returning to Grandview.
His sabbatical in the Himalayas had taken him from her. But just as he promised, he was coming home. "It's about time," she said as she folded up the letter and stuffed it in her purse.
Still, something haunted her about the letter. His plane was scheduled to arrive in Grandview on the exact same date of Andrea's death. Ironically, it was also the anniversary of the date Rick and Melinda had met four years before. "Be safe," was the last thing Melinda had told him before his exit.
"You better be safe," she said again as she stood up and walked over to her dark-red Jeep Cherokee. There was so much she had to tell him. Her life had changed so much since the professor had been gone.
As Melinda headed home, she drove by Professor Payne's house. She alone had the key. In the months he had been away, she had been the one to water his plants and care for his pet. She had written him many letters, but he had failed to answer a single one. Why?
It broke her heart that he chose to ignore her correspondence ... and then suddenly, over a year later, he sent word that he was coming home. Melinda did not understand. Was there a clue in his letter? No... she had reread it several times. There were no answers. Melinda remained clueless.
Why was Professor Payne suddenly returning ... and why had he left in the first place? Melinda would get all the answers. This time Professor Payne wouldn't get away. Melinda Gordon refused to back down.