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His eyes stung suddenly.
“I’m sorry I did it,” Bryce said, and his voice was gentle. “I took advantage of her being sad. I think I just wanted to see what it’d be like to be you, just for a little while. Obviously, it didn’t work.”
Lucas looked at him, the cousin who’d always looked up to him, who’d always wanted what he had.
The cousin who had risked his life to save him, that day on the tracks.
“Are we okay, Lucas?” Bryce asked.
Lucas got up from the couch and hugged him. “Yeah. We’re fine.”
“Good. Because there’s another reason I’m here.” He reached into his backpack, pulled out a small box and handed it to Lucas. “This is for you.”
Lucas opened it.
It was Joe’s silver pocket watch. The Civil War watch, handed from father to son for five generations now.
Warm and heavy in his hand, the watch’s curling design was faint but still legible. Lucas opened it. The numbers were elaborate and old-fashioned.
On the inside of the cover, the engraving readTo My Cherished Son from Your Loving Father.
“This is your watch, Bryce,” Lucas said, clearing his throat. Could his cousin honestly not want this? “It’s been passed down from father to son since the 1860s.”
Bryce pulled a piece of paper from his knapsack and handed it over. “About halfway down.”
Lucas took the paper, the sight of Joe’s blocky handwriting giving him a pang.
Lucas won’t need anything, but take care of him anyway. I want him to have the Civil War watch, Bryce. I hope you don’t mind, but he deserves it. He’s always been such a good son to me, and a wonderful brother to you.
Make sure you stay close with him. I always missed my own brother so much. Picture me with your uncle Dan, okay, son?
There was more, but Lucas couldn’t see it, because suddenly his eyes were full of tears.
Maybe Joe hadn’t sent him out of the room because he hadn’t wanted him there. Maybe Bryce just needed to get his father’s final blessing, when Lucas had had it all along.
* * *
LUCASANDSTEPHANIEtook Bryce out for breakfast the next day at Lula’s, then put him in a cab to the airport.
“I love that idiot,” Stephanie said. “Granted, I couldn’t spend more than a day with him, but he’s sweet. Gorgeous, too. Man! We have an amazing gene pool, us Campbells.”
“Yeah,” he agreed.
His sister fixed him with an irritated stare. “What’s the matter? You look like the dog died, and you don’t even have a dog. This is about Colleen, isn’t it? So she screwed Bryce. Get over it.”
“It’s not just that.”
“Oh, God. You men. You irritate me. I’m so glad I’m a lesbian.”
“Are you?”
“I could be. By the way, I hate to tell you this, but I’m staying with Forbes. Frank doubled my salary and gave me a promotion. Sayonara, sonny.”
He threw up his hands. “Wow. Thanks, Steph. Family loyalty and all that.”
“Please. I’m a single mother.”
“Yes, I vaguely remember.”
