Twice in a Lifetime

Her grandmother shook her head firmly. Tears shone in her eyes.

Georgia’s heart clenched. Miz Callie was the rock of the family. She didn’t cry. She didn’t show weakness. And she certainly didn’t do things that would put half the county in an uproar.

Except…now she did.

She reached across to grasp her grandmother’s trembling hands. “It’s going to cause a lot of hard feelings, you know.”

Miz Callie clutched her hand, her gaze seeking Georgia’s face. “Not if it’s proved that he didn’t run away.”

“After all this time? Miz Callie, if people have believed that all these years, surely it must be true. I know you were fond of him, but—”

“I knew him.” The words came out firmly. “He wasn’t a coward, whatever people say.”

“Please, think about what will happen if you do this.” Her grandmother was set on a course that would hurt her immeasurably. “Even if you’re right, how can you prove it after all these years?”

“Maybe I can’t, not alone.” Her fingers tightened on Georgia’s. “I want you to help me.”

“Me?” The word came out in an uncertain squeak.

“I can’t die without making this right. I should have done it long ago.”

The echo of something lost reverberated in her words, twisting Georgia’s heart. So this was the wrong she’d talked about—the one that needed righting.

“Miz Callie, you know I’d do anything for you. But I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

“Matthew will help you. The two of you can do it. You have to.” Her voice didn’t waver, but a tear spilled down her cheek.

Georgia’s throat tightened as panic swept through her. How? The one thing her grandmother asked of her, and she couldn’t even think where to begin.

She turned to Matt and saw the reluctance in his eyes. He was no more eager to take this on than she was, even though he didn’t understand the situation the way she did.

As for the family—her stomach clenched at the thought of explaining this to them. It made her want to scurry back to Atlanta until the storm was over.

But she couldn’t, because the bottom line was, if she couldn’t talk Miz Callie out of this, she also couldn’t leave her to face the consequences alone.

“All right.” She patted her grandmother’s hand. “You win. I’ll do my best.”

As to whether that would be good enough—well, she seriously doubted it.

Georgia tiptoed out onto the deck when the sun was still low over the ocean, her running shoes in her hands. Miz Callie was sleeping, and she didn’t want to disturb her, but an early morning run was just what she needed to clear her mind.

She tugged the laces tight. After a night of trying to think of a good way to explain the situation to her parents, she didn’t have an answer. Too bad she wasn’t more like her cousin Amanda, the older of Uncle Brett’s and Aunt Julia’s twins. Amanda never let anyone stand in her way when she was convinced she was right. Of course, that led to the kind of loud arguments that would have Georgia hiding under the bed, but at least Amanda fought for what she wanted.

Well, she wasn’t like Amanda and never would be. And their grandmother wasn’t turning to Amanda right now. She was turning to Georgia, and it was up to her to do the right thing for Miz Callie.

Once she knew what that was, anyway. She trotted down the stairs and stopped abruptly, halfway down. “Adam!”

Her oldest brother held out his arms when he saw her, and she catapulted into them for a hug that lifted her off her feet.

“Hey, Little Bit, how are you?”

“Don’t call me that,” she said automatically, though she doubted she’d ever get him to stop, since he’d been teasing her with that since their parents brought her home from the hospital.

“Pardon me, Ms. Georgia Lee.” He set her down, grinning. “I just have trouble believing you’re all grown up now, and engaged to boot.”

She focused on his chest, clad in a Coast Guard Academy T-shirt, instead of his face. She couldn’t fool Adam. “That last part’s not so true anymore.”

“Really?”

She nodded, miserably aware that the news could now be spread to her huge extended family in a matter of minutes. “Listen, Adam, you can’t tell anybody the engagement’s over. I didn’t tell Mamma yet.”

He whistled softly. “Okay. Nobody’s hearin’ it from me, cross my heart. But you probably ought to tell her soon.”

“I know. But you know how she’ll be, denied the prospect of a wedding. I don’t suppose you’d care to get married instead.” She peeped up at his face, ready for his grin.

“Not me,” he said quickly. “This old boy is not putting his head into a noose, thank you very much.”

She shook her head with mock sorrow. “What are you doing over here this early? On your way to or from the station?”

Adam, like his father and many other family members, had gone into the Coast Guard almost automatically. That was what Bodines did. He seemed to thrive on the life. His lean, craggy face lit up whenever anyone gave him a chance to talk about the service.

“I’m on duty in an hour, but I figured I’d catch you jogging and get in a private chat.” He glanced toward the cottage. “How’s Miz Callie?”

“Fine. Feisty as ever.”

“You find out what’s going on with her yet?”

She hesitated. The last thing Miz Callie had said to her the previous evening was a plea to keep this quiet, at least for a while, from the family. She’d tell them when she was ready. And maybe, just maybe, Georgia could get her to forget the whole naming thing before anyone exploded.

“Here’s the thing.” It looked as if she could practice on Adam, who was bound to be more receptive than the older generation. “We talked a little, and honestly, she seems to have logical reasons for most of the things that have the parents so upset.”

“Stands to reason Daddy and Uncle Brett and Uncle Harrison would overreact. They always do egg each other on.”

Like you and Cole. Their middle sibling piloted a Coast Guard jet in Florida, intercepting drug runners and potential terrorists. It was dangerous, much as Daddy played that down.

“Still.” His lean face was troubled. “There’s been talk about the property over on Jones Island. You probably don’t know, being up to Atlanta so much, but prices on the barrier islands have skyrocketed lately. Jones Island won’t be uninhabited much longer.”

She shrugged, since there was nothing she could safely say on that subject. “That land does belong to Miz Callie, after all. Came down in her family, not Granddad’s, not that it makes much difference.”

“Well, sure, I don’t care what she does with it. I just don’t want to see some shady lawyer cheating her over it, if she’s decided to sell.”

“We don’t know that he’s shady.” An image of Matt’s face formed in her mind. Tough, workaholic, stubborn and inexorable as the tide. But shady? Even on short acquaintance, she found she doubted that.

“We don’t know what she’s doing.” Adam sounded frustrated. “That’s what’s driving everyone crazy. Haven’t you found out anything yet?”

“I’ve barely gotten settled in,” she reminded him. “And she is talking to me. If everyone would just give us a little time, I’m sure things will settle down.” She hoped.

He slung his arm around her shoulders and hugged her, as if he heard the uncertainty that clung to her. “Sorry, Little Bit. I didn’t mean to fuss at you. But the folks…”

“Well, since you won’t get married to rescue me from their disapproval, could you at least convince them I need a little time? Get them to stop calling me for a progress report every few hours.”

“Guess I can do that much for you.” He planted a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll try to head them off, but sooner or later—”

“I know. But Miz Callie’s got her back up. I’d just as soon we not start a family fight over this.”

“You’ve got your work cut out for you, sugar.” He tugged at her ponytail. “I’d better get going. It’s good to have you here, you know, instead of way up in Atlanta.”

“It’s good to see you.” A wave of love for her big brother swept over her. She threw her arms around him in a hug, then stepped back, feeling better.

He grinned, winking at her. “Later.” He went off at an easy lope.

She turned, looking out at the beach. Apparently she wasn’t the only person who liked an early morning run. Matt Harper jogged slowly past the house, his gaze fixed on her as if wondering whom she’d been talking to—and why.

It was late afternoon after a frustrating workday when Matt crossed the sand to where Miz Callie sat. The tide was out, and the beach, glistening and empty, invited him. It had been a relief to change out of office clothes and step outside to this.

“Miz Callie.” He nodded to his daughter, who was in the surf with Georgia. “I hope Lindsay’s not being a pest.”

“Not at all.” She tilted the brim of her straw sun hat back to look at him. “Georgia needed someone to play with, and your housekeeper had some laundry to finish up.”

“Georgia might not like hearing you refer to her as if she were about eight,” he said, and Miz Callie chuckled.

Lindsay was batting a red and white-striped beach ball to Georgia. Knee-deep in the water, she looked more relaxed and open than he’d seen her in months.

“They’ve been having a good time.” Miz Callie was watching them, too, and her face curved with a reminiscent smile. “It’s like old times, having Georgia here.”

“It must have been a circus when all your grandchildren were young.”

“My land, yes.” Her smile broadened. “What one of them didn’t think of, the others did. Seems like only yesterday they were all children, romping on the beach, and now they’re grown up, with lives of their own.”

And too busy to spend time with their grandmother? He wondered if that were the case. If so, she probably wouldn’t say. It would seem disloyal to her.

“At least you have Georgia back for a while.”

Until he and Georgia figured out what to do about the memory of Ned Bodine. He’d hoped to have the chance to start a preliminary search today, but Rod had called him in to help with another client. He and Georgia really needed to sit down and talk through how they were going to approach this, little though she might want to work with him.

“Why don’t you get into the game? I’m sure Lindsay would like that.”

“Good idea.” And maybe he could get a moment or two with Georgia to make some plans. Pulling off his T-shirt, he ran across the wet sand to the water.

Georgia threw the beach ball to Lindsay, but the breeze took it, lifting it out of her reach. He grabbed it.

Lindsay charged toward him, animated. “Me—throw it to me!”

He tossed the beach ball to her, and she threw it to Georgia. Georgia hesitated a moment, clutching the ball. Her damp hair curled around her face, and sunlight glinted off her skin.

“Maybe your dad wants to take over the game now,” she suggested.

“No, no!” Lindsay jumped up and down in the water. “Don’t quit now, Georgia.”

“Don’t quit now, Georgia,” he echoed. He looked at her with a challenge in his gaze. She surely wouldn’t stop playing with his child just because he was there.

“All right.” Her smile lit. “We have three, so we can play Monkey in the Middle. My brothers always made me be the monkey first, because I was the smallest. So that’s you, Lindsay.”

“I can jump high.” She bounced, facing Georgia and waving her arms.

“Here goes.” Georgia didn’t make it easy for Lindsay, tossing it well over her head on the first throw. But a couple of tosses later, she threw the ball a little low, and Lindsay grabbed it.

“You’re the monkey,” she said, giggling.

For a moment his eyes misted. How long had it been since he’d heard that giggle? How long since he and Lindsay had really played together?

They batted the ball back and forth, keeping it away from Georgia even though she lunged for it as if she were a kid again. When she almost succeeded, he made a dive and grabbed it away just as her fingers touched it.

“No fair.” She splashed him. “My brothers always did that, too, because they’re taller than I am.”

“You’re mad because Lindsay and I are so good at this game.” He tossed it to his daughter, loving the sound of her laugh, wondering again why he hadn’t thought of doing something as simple as this.

Jennifer had always taken the initiative with Lindsay, planning their family time with meticulous care, perhaps because it was so limited. He’d put all of his energy into his career, determined to take good care of them.

But he hadn’t been able to protect Jennifer from the cancer that stole her away, and now he had to find a way of doing all the things she’d have done with Lindsay.

Maybe because he was distracted, he tossed the ball too low, and Georgia grabbed it. She held it aloft triumphantly. “Lindsay and I are going to get you now.”

He moved to the middle, and she tossed the ball to his daughter. Biding his time, he waited until Georgia got a little too confident, then leaped for the ball.

He started to pull it down when Georgia jumped, batting at the ball. She almost got it, lost her footing and went splashing down into the water.

He caught her arm and pulled her to her feet. She surfaced laughing, water streaming down her face, her head a riot of curls. He took hold of her other arm to steady her until she got her balance.

Her gaze met his, the brown eyes just as velvety as he’d imagined they might be. She seemed to glow with life and vitality. Her gaze grew wider, more vulnerable, and for an instant the world compressed into the sunlight, the sea and Georgia.

“Who was he?” The question came out before his brain was in gear. “The man you were hugging the other morning. Your fiancé?”

“My brother. Adam.” She didn’t seem to question his right to know. “How did you know about my fiancé?”

In answer he held up her left hand, water sheeting off it. The white line was growing fainter after several days at the shore, but it was still visible.

“Your grandmother mentioned you were engaged but the ring isn’t there now.”

She nodded. “I don’t expect to be seeing him here. Or anywhere.”

Good. That was what he wanted to say. But why should it make any difference to him who she hugged?

He fought to focus on business. “We need to get together to make some plans.” He said the words quietly, glancing toward Miz Callie. “Soon.”

Georgia’s face tightened a little, but she nodded. “Right. I can come over this evening if you want. After Lindsay goes to bed.”

He almost asked her to come to the office, but that would seem foolish when they were neighbors. He couldn’t let his actions be affected by…well, by the attraction that had blindsided him, like a wave crashing into him when he wasn’t looking. Attraction to Georgia was a mistake, best ignored.

“Around eight-thirty, then.”

Lindsay chose that moment to hurl the ball at them with all her might, cutting off anything else he might have said.

He turned away. Georgia did, too. But he sensed that she, too, was aware that things had shifted between them in some incalculable way.

Chapter Four

Someone who hadn’t grown up here might find it scary to be walking on the beach at night. Not Georgia. She used a shielded flashlight through the dunes, but when she reached the flat expanse of sand, she switched it off. The nearly full moon traced a silvery path across the waves, so distinct that when she was a child, she’d imagined that if only she were brave enough, she could walk on it all the way to the horizon and beyond.

She knew better now, but that didn’t detract from the beauty. Miz Callie’s favorite psalm surfaced in her mind, like a dolphin breaking through the waves.

When I look at the Heavens, which Thou hast created, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained…

She tilted her head back to study the sweep of the stars. She felt small in the face of that vastness. Insignificant. And wasn’t that what the psalm went on to say?

What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that Thou visiteth him? Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.

The words created a space of peace in her heart, like the walk on the beach. The distance between Miz Callie’s house and Matt’s place gave her time to think about what she would say to him. Unfortunately, she couldn’t seem to think of much except those moments in the surf earlier.

Where had that instant wave of attraction come from? It was crazy. Neither of them wanted that. What was she supposed to do now—pretend it hadn’t happened?

The night, in its stillness, didn’t provide an answer, but the murmur of the surf soothed away the edge of her anxiety. She was worrying over nothing. Matt would be as eager to forget it as she was.

Crossing the dunes to Matt’s deck, she slipped on the shoes she’d been carrying and walked up the steps to find him waiting for her.

“I saw you coming down the beach.” He gestured to a chair, waited until she took it, and sat down next to her.

She perched on the edge of the chair, too aware of his nearness to relax.

Even in the dim light, she could see his eyebrows lift. “You look as if you’re ready to take flight. Is something wrong?”

“No, not at all.” If she couldn’t convince herself, at least she could try convincing him. “Is Lindsay asleep?”

“She conks out pretty quickly. I guess she wears herself out running around on the beach all day.”

“I remember that feeling.”

He’d spend most of his evenings alone, once Lindsay went to bed. That must be lonely.

“Well, to business.” He drained his iced-tea glass and set it on a wide plank of the deck. “We need a plan of action, don’t you think?”

“I suppose.” Tension grabbed the back of her neck. “The trouble is—well, truthfully, I don’t see how this can succeed. I’m afraid Miz Callie will end up being hurt if she can’t clear Ned’s name. And if she goes ahead with her plans anyway…” She trailed off.

He rubbed the back of his neck, as if he felt the same stress she did. “Will there really be that much bad feeling after all this time?”

She gave him a pitying look. “You don’t get it, do you? Charleston—old Charleston, anyway—is a close community for all its size. I don’t suppose anyone will start a petition against her plans, although that could happen. But people she’s known all her life will disapprove, even be angry about it.”

“Maybe she figures that won’t bother her.”

“Don’t kid yourself. She may say that she wants to live to please herself, but I know her. She’ll be lost if people turn against her. Lost.”

“You know her better than I do.” He paused, his face a study in line and shadow in the dim light. “But as her attorney, I have to follow her directions.”

She hadn’t known him long, but she sensed instinctively that he wouldn’t back away from his duty to a client. “Any ideas?”

“Miz Callie must have some reason for her belief in Edward Bodine’s innocence. You’re in the best position to find out what that is.”

“I guess so. I tried to find out what she remembers about his leaving, but it’s not much. Just finding Granddad crying because Ned had run away, leaving a note saying he wasn’t coming back, but that’s all she knows. Maybe it was all Granddad knew. After all, he was just a kid then, too.”

“If he left a note saying he was going, there was no question of accident or foul play, apparently.”

She blinked. “That hadn’t even occurred to me. But no, I suppose not. I can try to get her talking more about her memories. There might be something we can follow up on.”

He nodded. “Good. And there have to be records of Edward Bodine somewhere. I’ll start there, see what that tells us.”

“If there’s something else I can do…”

“There is,” he said, so promptly that it seemed he was waiting for the offer. He picked something up from the floor next to his chair, and she realized it was a long legal pad. “I just have too little information to search intelligently. That’s where you come in.”

She should not be annoyed that he was so quick to take charge. She shouldn’t, but she was.

She shoved the feeling down. Her grandmother was important now, not her. “What do you need me to find out?”

“Vital statistics, like birth date, parents’ names, addresses.” He ticked something off on the pad. “And anything you can get from your grandmother about how and when he disappeared. Why did people think he ran away?” His hand tightened into a fist. “It’s all just so amorphous. A story that’s more than sixty years old and not a single fact to support it.”

“It’s about more than facts. There’s family loyalty and trust involved, too.”

“I can’t investigate family loyalty.” His voice had gone dry, his hand tight on the arm of the chair. “Just get me some facts. Surely your grandmother remembers more than she’s told us so far.”

Was that just a normal lawyer’s reaction, his insistence on sticking to the facts? Or did she sense something deeper in his reaction to her comment about families?

“Miz Callie did say she’s started remembering more about that summer. Apparently she’d been talking with a friend from those days, reminiscing.”

“Who is the friend?” His question was quick, his pen poised over the legal pad. “Maybe we can interview him.”

“Her. And we can’t. She died.” She sounded as terse as he did.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He reached across the space between their chairs to touch her hand lightly.

Her skin tingled at his featherlight touch. She shoved her hair back from her face with her other hand, looking up at the stars again. They seemed very far away.

“It’s all right. I’m not personally upset about her death. I mean, I barely remember her. But her passing had a profound effect on my grandmother. That’s what convinced her she has to learn the truth about Ned.”

“I see.” His fingers brushed hers lightly, as if in silent empathy. “One other thing—what about talking to your family about Ned?”

She winced at the thought. “Miz Callie is right to put that off as long as possible.”

“I suppose they wouldn’t be pleased.”

“Pleased?” Her voice rose in spite of herself and she half expected him to pull his hand away, but he didn’t. The warmth of his skin began to radiate through her. “You’ve seen how they reacted already. If they knew this…Trust me, you don’t want to see the Bodines in full crisis mode.”

“I think I could handle it.” He said the words mildly. But then, he wasn’t related to them.

“It would only make matters worse, and my dad’s generation won’t know any more than Miz Callie does.”

“All right. If you say so.” He seemed to become aware that he was still touching her hand. He grasped the legal pad instead. “We’ll work it out, somehow.”

“I hope so.” It was odd, talking to him this way, relying on him when she barely knew him. More than odd, to feel lonely because he was no longer touching her.

He cleared his throat. “Anyway, you’ll try to get a bit more information from your grandmother. Do you think there’s anyone else we might talk to about that summer?”

She forced herself to concentrate. “I’ll try to find out.” She rose, and Matt stood with her.

“Thanks.” He looked down at her, his gaze searching her face.

She sucked in a breath. “Good night, Matt.” She turned quickly, before he could answer, and hurried down the stairs, her skin still tingling from his touch.

Her mind still occupied with the conversation with Matt as she came back from her run the next morning, Georgia went up the steps to the deck and met her grandmother coming out. The floppy hat, oversized floral shirt and cutoffs were Miz Callie’s typical summer outfit. Her red plastic pail represented one of her most prized roles—that of an island turtle lady.

“Miz Callie, you’re not going out without breakfast, are you?” She glanced through the glass door, seeing only a coffee mug on the kitchen table.