The Guardian's Honor

Her fingers tightened on the cup, as if that fact hit a nerve. “So he never contacted the family again?”

“No.” That was the aspect of the whole thing he just didn’t get. He could understand an eighteen-year-old rushing off to enlist under another name. He couldn’t understand the man Ned must have become cutting himself off from his family for life.

Cathy shook her head slowly, but she didn’t seem to find it as hard to believe as he did. “What convinced you that the man you want is my grandfather?”

In answer, he pulled out the envelope of photographs he’d been carrying around. He slid the reproductions of black and white photos onto the tabletop between them.

“This was the first photo I found of Theodore Hawkins after he enlisted.” He shoved the picture of the young PT boat crew across to her. “Can you pick out your grandfather?”

She bent over, studying the images of boys, most long dead, before putting her finger on one face. “That’s Grandpa.”

He handed her another picture. “And here’s one of Ned Bodine, taken that last summer.” He’d taken the original photo to a professional lab, not content with his own photo program, sharpening the face until he thought he’d recognize his great-uncle in his sleep.

Cathy let out a long, slow breath. “It surely looks like the same person. But if he has family, why would he deny it?”

“You know your grandfather better than I do. Is he the kind of person who would hold on to a grudge that long?”

A shutter seemed to come down over her face, closing him out.

“Sorry,” he said quickly. He needed this woman on his side. “That wasn’t very tactful. I meant—”

“I know what you meant, and the answer is that I don’t know. Maybe.” She seemed to stare into the coffee cup, as if looking for answers there. “Tell me about your family. Why are they so interested in finding him?”

“My grandmother,” he said simply. “She’s the heart of the family, and she wants this so much. How could we not try to help her? As for the family—well, there’s a bunch of us. My grandmother and grandfather had three sons, and they married and had kids. There are eleven of us cousins, all pretty close in age.”

Now she just looked stunned, maybe at the thought of acquiring so many relatives at one fell swoop.

“Y’all live in Charleston?”

“In and around. My grandmother has moved out to the family beach house on Sullivan’s Island. My sister was up in Atlanta for a while, but she’s back now. It seems like whenever one of us goes off for a time, he or she just has to come back. Charleston’s home to us.”

“Beach house?”

“It’s been in the Bodine family for years. In fact, that’s where Ned ran away from. The family always moved out to the island every summer from the Charleston house.”

She glanced at him, something almost speculative in those hazel eyes, and then looked down again. “You said Ned was your grandfather’s older brother?”

He nodded. “About six years between them, I think.”

“It sounds… Well, it sounds like a life no one would want to give up. If my grandfather is your kin, I’d think he’d be eager to claim it.”

She sounded willing to be convinced, and that was half the battle, surely. He’d better bring up the idea he’d been mulling over.

“Is there any chance your grandfather would open up to you about it?”

Her lips tightened. “I don’t know. But if he did, if he really is Edward Bodine, what then? What did you think would happen?”

Something was behind her questions, but he wasn’t sure what it was. “Best-case scenario? I hoped he might want to come back to Charleston, for a visit if not to stay. Be a part of the family again. At the least, I guess I’d hope he’d want to be in touch with Miz Callie. It would mean a lot to her.”

She was silent for a long moment, looking down so that he couldn’t see her eyes. The feeling that she was holding something back intensified.

Finally she looked up. “I don’t think it’ll help any if I talk to him. Once he gets his back up, it’s no sense talking.”

Disappointment had a sharp edge. If his granddaughter couldn’t convince him, why would he listen to Adam?

“My grandfather is going to lunch today with a friend. I’ll have a look through my grandma’s boxes in the attic while he’s gone. Maybe there’ll be something to show, one way or the other. That’s the best I can think of to do.”

“That’s great.” Without thinking about it, he put his hand over hers. And felt a connection, as if something ran from his skin to hers.

She met his eyes, her own wide and startled. Then she snatched her hand away and rose.

“I’ll be in touch.”

She was gone before he could thank her.

Cathy stood at the window, watching the lane. A glint of silver announced Adam’s arrival, and her stomach clenched in protest at what she was about to do.

She glanced down at the object in her hand. Did she have the right to show him what she’d found squirreled away in her grandmother’s trunk?

If she did, she was opening up something that could have results she couldn’t even imagine. But if she didn’t, she was passing up the opportunity to change all their lives for the better. They’d just go on and on the way they were, with the bills mounting and their income dropping, and Jamie would never have a chance to see another specialist.

If she could get a decent job, instead of the part-time work that barely paid enough to keep food on the table…But if she had a full-time job, who would take care of Jamie? Who would be there for Grandpa when he got one of his forgetful spells?

The car pulled up at the gate. Determination hardened in her. From what Adam had said, it sounded like the Bodine family was fairly well-off. Grandpa, whether he wanted to admit it or not, was one of them.

He was probably due something from them, in any event. Shouldn’t he have a share in that beach house and whatever other family property there was?

Come to think of it, that queasiness in her stomach was probably her conscience, telling her she was wrong to want this reconciliation for what she might get out of it. She pictured her son’s face, and her determination hardened. She wouldn’t do this for herself, but she’d do it for him.

A knock sounded on the door, and she went to open it. Everything was going to change. She didn’t know where the change would take her, but she’d deal with it, for Jamie’s sake.

“Cathy?” Adam stepped inside at her gesture, level brows rising. “You found something?”

She nodded. Grandpa could be back at any moment, so she had to make this fast.

“I found this in one of my grandmother’s trunks in the attic.” She handed him the tarnished watch. “Look at the inscription.”

He turned it over in his hands, tilting it to the light. “E.B. from Mama and Daddy. 1942.” His voice choked on the words. For a long moment he was silent, rubbing his thumb over and over the inscription.

“Is it…does that mean what I think it does?”

He nodded. Cleared his throat. “Ned’s parents would have given this to him on his eighteenth birthday. It’s a family tradition.” He turned his wrist. “I’m still wearing the watch my folks gave me. To A.B. from Mama and Daddy, and the date of my eighteenth birthday.”

She let out the breath she’d been holding. “It’s true, then. My grandfather really is Ned Bodine.”

He nodded, handing the watch back to her slowly, as if reluctant to part with it. “Now all we have to do is get him to admit it.”

“He should be back soon. Do you want to stay? If we tackle him together, that might be best.”