Jeff spoke up first. “Are you sure you’re okay? The doctor said you took a nasty fall.”

“I’m fine. I’ve got a bump on my head, but other than that, I’m just a little tired.”

“I was scared to death,” Jane declared. “But I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Me too,” David joined in.

“You shouldn’t have been out there alone if you were feeling dizzy,” Kate scolded. “Next time, just wait there until someone comes to get you. They’ll come and find you.”

“They did anyway,” Noah said.

Jane reached behind his head and fluffed his pillows. “You weren’t out there that long, were you? I can’t bear to think that no one found you right away.”

Noah shook his head. “No more than a couple of hours, I’d guess.”

“A couple of hours!” Jane and Kate exclaimed. They froze, exchanging horrified looks.

“Maybe a little longer. Hard to tell because the clouds were blocking the sun.”

“Longer?” Jane asked. Her hands were clenched into fists.

“And I was wet, too. I guess it must have rained on me. Or maybe the sprinklers came on.”

“You could have died out there!” Kate cried.

“Oh, it wasn’t so bad. A little water never hurt anyone. The worst part was the raccoon when I finally came to. With the way he kept staring at me, I thought he might be rabid. Then he came at me.”

“You were attacked by a raccoon?” Jane looked as though she might faint.

“Not really attacked. I fought him off before he could bite me.”

“It tried to bite you!” Kate cried.

“Oh, it’s no big deal. I’ve fought off raccoons before.”

Kate and Jane stared at each other with shell-shocked expressions, then turned toward their siblings. Appalled silence reigned before Noah finally smiled. He pointed his finger at them and winked. “Gotcha.”

I brought a hand to my mouth, trying to stifle a chuckle. Off to the side, I could see Anna doing her best to keep a straight face.

“Don’t tease us like that!” Kate snapped, tapping the side of the bed.

“Yeah, Daddy, that’s not nice,” Jane added.

Noah’s eyes creased with amusement. “Had to. You set yourselves up for it. But just to let you know, they found me within a couple of minutes. And I’m fine. I offered to drive to the hospital, but they made me take the ambulance.”

“You can’t drive. You don’t even have a valid license anymore.”

“It doesn’t mean that I’ve forgotten how. And the car’s still in the lot.”

Though they said nothing, I could see Jane and Kate mentally planning to remove his keys.

Jeff cleared his throat. “I was thinking that maybe we should get you one of those wrist alarms. So if it happens again, you can get help right away.”

“Don’t need one. I just tripped over a root. Wouldn’t have had time to press the button on the way down. And when I came to, the nurse was already there.”

“I’ll have a talk with the director,” David said. “And if he doesn’t take care of that root, I will. I’ll chop it out myself.”

“I’ll give you a hand,” Grayson chimed in.

“It not his fault I’m getting clumsy in my old age. I’ll be up and around in a day or so, and good as new by the weekend.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Anna said. “Just get better, okay?”

“And take it easy,” Kate urged. “We’re worried about you.”

“Scared to death,” Jane repeated.

Cluck, cluck, cluck. I smiled inwardly. Noah was right—they were all mother hens.

“I’ll be fine,” Noah insisted. “And don’t you go canceling that wedding on my account. I’m looking forward to going, and I don’t want you to think a bump on my head is enough to keep me from being there.”

“That’s not important right now,” Jeff said.

“He’s right, Grampa,” Anna said.

“And don’t postpone it, either,” Noah added.

“Don’t talk like that, Daddy,” Kate said. “You’re going to stay here as long as it takes for you to get better.”

“I’ll be fine. I just want you to promise that it’s still on. I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Don’t be stubborn,” Jane pleaded.

“How many times do I have to tell you? This is important to me. It’s not every day that a wedding happens around here.” Recognizing that he was getting nowhere with his daughters, he sought out Anna. “You understand what I mean, don’t you, Anna?”

Anna hesitated. In the silence, her eyes flicked toward me before returning to Noah. “Of course I do, Grampa.”

“Then you’ll go ahead with it, won’t you?”

Instinctively she reached for Keith’s hand.

“If that’s what you want,” she said simply.

Noah smiled, visibly relieved. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Jane adjusted his blanket. “Well then, you’re going to have to take care of yourself this week,” she said. “And be more careful in the future.”

“Don’t worry, Dad,” David promised, “I’ll have that root gone by the time you get back.”

The discussion returned to how Noah had fallen, and I suddenly realized what had been left out of the conversation thus far. Not one of them, I noticed, was willing to mention the reason he’d been at the pond in the first place.

But then again, none of them ever wanted to talk about the swan.

Noah told me about the swan a little less than five years ago. Allie had been gone for a month, and Noah had seemed to be aging at an accelerated rate. He seldom left his room, even to read poetry to others. Instead, he sat at his desk, reading the letters that he and Allie had written to each other over the years or thumbing through his copy of Leaves of Grass.

We did our best to get him out of his room, of course, and I suppose it’s ironic that I was the one who brought him to the bench by the pond. That morning was the first time we saw the swan.

I can’t say I knew what Noah was thinking, and he certainly gave no indication at the time that he read anything significant into it at all. I do remember that the swan floated toward us, as if looking for something to eat.