“You don’t look so fit,” Zach countered and Janine noticed that his face seemed almost as ashen as her grandfather’s. Kneeling beside him, Zach grasped his wrist and began to check his pulse.

“I’m fine,” Gramps insisted again.

“Are you in any pain?”

Gramps’s gaze moved from Zach to Janine. “None,” he answered, dismissing their concern with a shake of his head.

“Dr. Coleman?” Janine turned to her grandfather’s longtime friend. “Should I phone his doctor?”

“What does Burt know about an old man and his heart?” Gramps objected. “Burt’s expertise is with horses.”

“Call the doctor. Having him checked over isn’t going to hurt,” Burt said after a moment.

“Fiddlesticks,” Gramps roared. “I’m in perfect health.”

“Good,” Janine said brightly. “But I’ll just let Dr. Madison reassure me.” She punched out the phone number and had to speak loudly in order to be heard over her grandfather’s protests. A couple of minutes later, she replaced the receiver and told Zach, “Dr. Madison says we can bring him in now.”

“I’m not going to waste valuable time traipsing downtown. Burt and I were going to play a few hands of cribbage.”

“We can play tomorrow,” Dr. Coleman said gruffly. “You keep forgetting, Anton, we’re both retiring.”

“I’ve got things to do at the office.”

“No, you don’t,” Zach said firmly. “You’ve got a doctor’s appointment. Janine and I are going to escort you there and we’re not going to listen to a single argument. Do you understand?”

Gramps’s eyes narrowed as if he were preparing a loud rebuttal. But he apparently changed his mind, because he relaxed and nodded sluggishly, reluctantly. “All right, if it’ll make you feel better. But I’m telling you right now, you’re going to look like a fine pair of fools.”

The next two hours felt like two years to Janine. While Dr. Madison examined Gramps, she and Zach paced the waiting room. Several patients came and went.

“What could be taking so long?” Janine asked, wringing her hands nervously. “Do you think we did the right thing bringing him here? I mean, should we have gone directly to the hospital emergency room instead?”

“I doubt he would have agreed to that,” Zach said.

“Do you honestly believe I would’ve listened to him?” She sat on the edge of a chair, her hands clenched so tightly together her knuckles whitened. “It’s ridiculous, but I’ve never thought of Gramps as old. He’s always been so healthy, so alive. I’ve never once considered what would happen if he became ill.”

“He’s going to be fine, Janine.”

“You saw him,” she cried, struggling against the dread and horror that churned inside her.

Zach’s hand clasped hers and the fears that had torn at her composure only seconds earlier seemed to abate with his touch. He lent her confidence and strength, and she was badly in need of both.

When the door leading to the doctor’s office opened, they leapt to their feet. Zach’s hand tightened around hers before he released it.