Marta Perry - The Guardian's Honor

“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 be Emily Warden, bringing Grandpa back from his lunch.

She looked at Adam and saw the same apprehension in his eyes that must be in hers. Ready or not, it was time to do this.

Grandpa’s face was already red with anger when he came through the door, no doubt because he’d seen the strange car sitting in front. She steeled herself for the inevitable explosion.

It didn’t come. Somehow, Grandpa managed to hold his voice down to a muted roar. “What is he doing here?”

He indicated Adam with a jerk of his head, focusing his glare on her.

“He’s here because I invited him.” Her voice didn’t wobble, thank goodness, as she drew the battle line.

This was actually the first time she’d challenged her grandfather on anything since she’d moved back, but she had to do this. It was the only door out of this trap they were in.

“I told you before. He’s nothing to do with us.”

“Grandpa, that’s not the truth, and you know it. I found this.” She held out the watch. It lay on her palm, and her grandfather looked at it as if it were a snake about to strike.

“Where did you get that?”

“In Grandma’s trunk.” A smile trembled on her lips at the memory of her grandmother. “She never did like to throw anything away. Remember?”

“’Course I remember.” His eyes were suspiciously bright. “Woman saved everything. Never listened to me a day in her life. Feisty.”

“She had to be, living with you all those years.” It was the sort of thing she used to be able to say to him, gone in the aftermath of the quarrel, but it came to her lips now. “Look at the watch, Grandpa. ‘To E.B. from Mama and Daddy. 1942.’”