“I’m sorry,” she said looking back and forth between us.
“No problem. I’m still trying to make an honest man out of him,” I said, hoping to ease her embarrassment. Liam scowled mockingly at me and I shot him a playful wink.
“Bevan will be with you in just a few minutes,” she said after laughing at our antics. “Would either of you like something to drink?” We both declined and took a seat in the lobby.
“Nice save,” Liam said softly.
“Thanks. I have my moments.” I nudged him with my elbow and then asked, “Bevan is Ben’s brother right? I know Ben fairly well from softball and I’m pretty sure I’ve met Bevan once at Ben’s birthday party.” I may not talk a whole lot, but I don’t miss much.
“Yes, Ben and Bevan are brothers.”
“Chase and Xavier are practically brothers. Does that make Xavier your brother too?”
Liam cocked his head while he pondered my question. “I’d be honored to be Xavier’s brother if he’d have me.”
“I’m sure he’d be just as honored to have you as a brother.” I opened my mouth to say more, but Bevan’s office door opened and he stepped into the lobby.
“Hey, guys,” he said cheerfully. “Come on in.”
I’d only seen the guy once when Chase and the Gang, as I secretly referred to them, held Ben’s birthday bash at the bar. Bevan was reserved and a little distant. I recognized the signs of disillusionment in his dark blue eyes and I wondered at the cause when his brother seemed so happy. I thought maybe it had to do with the type of job he had. I was pretty sure he didn’t always see the best that humanity had to offer. Then I started to see the way he’d watch the happy couples around him and I knew exactly what ailed him. It was the same way I felt watching Liam while he worked in my bar. I longed for Liam the way I suspected that Bevan longed for love.
There was a notable difference in his demeanor and his face had transformed from disconnected to engaged. I noticed three framed photographs on the credenza behind his desk as I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. The first was a large group shot of Ben and Xavier, Bevan with a dark-haired beauty, a man who appeared to be their father with his arm around an attractive woman, and a ginger-haired guy. I didn’t know who all the people were but they appeared to be on a boat and having a great time.
The photograph in the middle was just of Bevan and the dark-haired woman who I suddenly recalled was Xavier’s sister, although I couldn’t remember her name. Bevan had his arm wrapped around her shoulders and she was leaning into him. They looked really happy and in love, and most likely the reason for the changes in Bevan’s demeanor. Love did that to a man. Love gave us a sense of purpose, a reason for jumping out of bed and working hard, and gave us the joy of going home to our loved ones.
The final picture was much smaller and it looked to be an ultrasound picture of a baby, but I wasn’t sure what the hell I was looking at. I looked back at the picture in the middle and noticed the woman’s pregnant belly. I had been so zoned in on their smiling faces that I didn’t notice that she was expecting.
“How’s Ellie feeling?” Liam asked and I knew he was talking about the woman in the photos.
“She’s doing great,” he replied with his happy smile. “Not much longer now; only eleven weeks. We’re all getting really excited to meet little Sofia.”
“That’s a lovely name.” Liam’s voice sounded wistful and he grinned from ear to ear.
“Thank you. So, what can I do for you guys today?” Bevan asked, bringing us to the reason for our visit.
“My grandfather passed away recently. After his funeral, I found some photographs of him and a good friend from his Army unit. They lost touch after Germany surrendered in 1945, but my granddad still thought highly of his friend up until the day he died. I was hoping you could help me find him. I’d really like to shake his hand and tell him,” my voice choked briefly, “how much his friendship meant to my granddad. Also, I thought maybe he might want some of their photos to keep for himself.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss, Jack. I’d love to help you look for your grandfather’s friend. Wow,” Bevan said excitedly, “this is so much better than a cheating spouse case.” We laughed at his joke, which helped me regain control of my emotions. “Tell me everything you know about your granddad’s friend, starting with his name. And if you have it, I’ll especially like to have his Army unit number and I will do everything I can to track him down for you.”
Bevan opened up his laptop and asked me questions for several minutes and took notes. So far in granddad’s journal, he had not said anything about where Jeremiah was originally from or anything about his family. I had to wonder if they hadn’t known their time was limited and spent every second focusing on them and not the life that was waiting for them when their dreams crashed and burned into the ground. I told Bevan that I’d let him know if I discovered anything else that might be helpful.
We left Bevan’s office hand in hand. I felt lighter. I felt happier. I felt like we were doing something really right for two men who loved each other and never had a fighting chance at happiness.We.I was starting to think that way too and it felt so right.
“THESE ARE THEcutest baby booties I have ever seen,” Chase cooed as he looked over the broad selection. We were picking out baby shower gifts for Ellie and I could already tell he was going to go overboard.
“That’s what you said about the other pair you just picked up and put in the shopping cart.” I loved teasing my brother, whose heart was as big as he was. “I thought you had a list of things she wanted,” I said as I looked at a rack of infant dresses for girls. I had to admit that some of those outfits were the cutest things I had ever seen. It was hard to imagine my baby sister was ever small enough to fit into these tiny clothes.
“I do have a list and I’ll buy a few things from the list, but I can’t help but buy things like these. I mean seriously.” His big brown eyes were lit up with love and awe as he held up a tiny pink and gray plaid dress with a matching headband. “Sofia is going to look amazing in this dress,” he said as he added it to the cart. He stopped and looked at me, scrutinizing my face. “There’s something off about you today. What’s going on?”
“Nothing is going on.” I paused to choose my words carefully, because Chase and Jack were friends before I came along. In addition, Chase helped out at the bar from time to time and I didn’t want to make things awkward, but he was my brother and that trumped everything else. “Some weird things happened over the last few weeks and they’ve caused me to think about things.”
“Think about things or conjuring up problems where none exist, because I wrote the book on the latter.” I loved Chase’s self-deprecating humor. He liked to refer to himself as a work-in-progress, but who wasn’t?
“Possibly a little bit of both,” I admitted with a casual shrug, that didn’t match the inner turmoil I felt. “You want the full report or a synopsis?”
“Full report, bro.” Chase started pushing the cart toward a display of cute little baby towels that had the heads of animals on them.
“What the hell are these?” I asked, as I stuck my hand beneath the flap of the towel that looked like a frog.
