she didn’t see him.”
“So … did she think this was her guardian angel?”
“Not in so many words. But that’s how I see it. Jay and Grandpa think so too.”
“Cool.” Hawk stood. “So who are you texting … Jay?”
“Uh-huh. We’re going to the movies this afternoon.”
“I’m glad you two are together now, and not just best friends. I like him a lot. You seem like a good fit.”
Abby felt her face warm. “Thanks to you, Jay’s still breathing. I know I’ve probably overdone my thank-yous, but I can’t thank you enough for saving him—and us. Isaiah really would have killed us.”
“I believed it the second I saw him pointing his rifle at Jay’s chest.”
“You were so brave,” Abby said.
Hawk shook his head. “I really wasn’t. I didn’t even think about it. I just aimed and shot the rifle out of Tutt’s hand.”
“Thank God.”
“Yeah.” Hawk cracked his knuckles and seemed to stare at nothing.
“Are you all right?” Abby said.
“I’m fine.”
“You’ve been acting weird ever since you came to our rescue.”
Hawk smiled. “I’ve always been weird, according to you.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re a cool kind of weird.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you get back to lover boy. See you later.”
Hawk got up and left the room.
Abby sensed there was something on her brother’s mind but wasn’t sure what it was.
Kate put the last of the lunch dishes in the dishwasher and turned the dial to Normal Wash.
“Mama?”
Kate turned around. “Hawk. I didn’t hear you come in. What is it?”
Hawk’s expression was tentative and somewhat somber, his eyes animated. “Can we talk—just the two of us?”
“Sure.” Kate dried her hands with a towel. “Everyone’s gone at the moment. Let’s sit here at the table. What is it?”
Hawk sat quickly at the table and waited to speak until Kate was seated across from him. “I … I did a Google search of the word custos, the name of Riley Jo’s angel.”
“You mean her imaginary friend.”
“Uh, actually, Mama, I meant her angel.”
“Okay. And what did you find?”
“The name is Latin. Spelled C-U-S-T-O-S. Know what it means?”
“You know I don’t,” Kate said.
“Guardian! It’s the Latin phrase for guardian. There’s no way a seven-year-old who can barely read and had no access to TV or a computer could know that, unless … what she told you and Abby and Jay is true.”
Kate studied her son’s face. He was serious. “Hawk, your sister could have heard that name anywhere. I’m not willing to decide a spiritual reality based on the story told by a little girl with a big imagination.”
Hawk’s eyes glistened. “Well, how about the testimony of your oldest son with the imagination of a tree stump?”
“What are you talking about?”
Hawk blinked several times to clear his eyes. “I haven’t told anyone, but when I lifted my rifle to shoot Isaiah … I felt something … steadying my hand.”
“Like what?”
“I know this is going to sound crazy, but you know I’m not crazy, right?”
Kate smiled. “You’re not crazy, Hawk. What did you feel?”
Hawk swallowed hard. “It felt to me like … a wing. A huge wing. I felt the feathers and the weight of it.”
“Don’t you think in the adrenaline rush of the moment, there could be another explanation? After all, you were intent on stopping Isaiah from shooting Jay.”
“Mama, I was shaking so hard I could barely aim. I just shot the rifle. I must’ve had a little help. I didn’t imagine feeling that huge wing holding me steady. What if God wanted to show me that Riley Jo did have an angel with her the whole time she was missing? And that maybe I have one too? Maybe we all do.”
Kate’s heart pounded. Her son had a lot of strong qualities, but a good imagination wasn’t one of them. She reached across the table and took his hand. He was trembling.
“I can’t answer that,” she said. “But it’s possible that, in the confusion of the moment, you did imagine it.”
“I didn’t,” Hawk said. “I know what I felt because it shocked the socks off me at the time. I wanted to tell the family right off, but I couldn’t handle it if y’all thought I was nuts. Shoot, at first, I wondered if I was nuts. But it was real, Mama. Just as real as you sitting here holding my hand.”
Kate decided not to try and talk him out of it. “You say the name means guard?”
“It’s the Latin phrase for guardian. Google it yourself. You’ll see.”
“But how do you even know it’s the