“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.”
“You’re right. Let’s not give him time to think up an argument. I’ll wait and call my grandmother afterward. I’d like to have good news for her.”
“This means a lot to her.” She responded to the message behind the words.
“It’s all she’s talked about for months.” He frowned slightly. “She thought he’d died in the war. She wanted to set up a memorial to him. Once we realized he might still be alive, there was just no containing her. If I hadn’t taken on finding him, I think she’d have set out herself.” Now his lips curved in a smile that blended affection and exasperation.
It was an appealing smile. She considered herself hardened to the effects of masculine appeal, but there was something about Adam Bodine that seemed to get under her guard.
She gave herself a mental shake. There was no room in her life for thoughts like that.
“I’ll just get us some sweet tea. You make yourself comfortable.” She escaped to the kitchen.
She’d no sooner put ice in the tea than she heard voices in the living room. Her nerves twitched. If Grandpa was back already…
But that wasn’t her grandfather talking to Adam. It was Jamie’s piping little voice. Snatching the tray, she hurried back into the room.
Adam sat on the faded sofa, the half-finished wooden boat in his hand. Jamie leaned against his knee.
“My grandfather used to whittle things for me, too. Sea creatures, mostly…dolphins and whales and sea horses. I still have them on a shelf in my bedroom.”
“I wish I could see them.” Jamie’s voice was wistful. “Is your house a long, long way?”
“Not too far,” Adam began, but he cut the words off when he saw her.
She set the tray down, keeping her smile intact with an effort. “Jamie, it’s time for your snack. Come along to the kitchen now.”
“But, Mama, I want to talk to Mr. Adam.”
“Not now.” She put her hand on his shoulder, resisting the urge to pick him up and carry him. Let him do as much as he can for himself. The doctor’s words rang in her head, but it was hard, so hard, to watch him struggle.
She settled Jamie at the kitchen table with milk and a banana and then returned to her guest.
Adam greeted her with a question in his eyes. “Do you always keep your son away from people, or is it just me?”
She fidgeted with her glass, disconcerted by his blunt attack. Well, she could be blunt, too. “Jamie’s had enough of people staring at him and pitying him.”
“I wasn’t…” He stopped, and she sensed an emotion she didn’t understand working behind the pleasant face he presented to the world.
“Sorry,” he said finally. “I guess I overreacted the first time I saw him. I promise, it won’t happen again. He has nothing to fear from me.”
That was an odd way of expressing it, and again she had the sense of something behind the words.
But there was no time to speculate on it now. The sound of a car had her stomach twisting in knots again. That would