“I can tell you something about all the sailors who were on the manifest as well as the cargo. The ship was a bit of an obsession.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and brought up a black-and-white image of the ship, its sails furled and its lines clean as it docked in the port of Charleston.

The chilled air settled in Ivy’s bones. “I also have found something that might be of interest.”

Inside and out of the wind, warmth wrapped around the trio. Ivy went to the dining table and removed color photographs from the folder. “Have a look at these. I recognized pictures of Ruth, the hotel, and the wreck, but there are several people I don’t know.”

She laid out the ten pictures side by side along the length of the table. Pete came behind her, his eyes sparking with recognition. “That sure is Ruth,” he said, pointing to the young girl. “And these five girls, one is Ruth, the other is Talley, and that’s my sister, Bonnie, and her two friends Jessie and Dora.”

Ruth’s smile appeared brittle, forced even. Ivy shifted to the collection of women dressed in bathing suits, straw hats, and cat-eye sunglasses. All were holding cigarettes, and their table was filled with empty cocktail glasses. “And those three women sitting by the pool . . .”

“The woman on the far right is my mother, Ann Manchester,” Pete said.

Dani leaned forward, studying the lean blonde. “That’s Grandma? She looks like Grace Kelly.”

“She was quite striking in her younger years,” he said. “She used to say my father fell head over heels in love with her the minute he saw her. He shipped off to boot camp, and when he returned in the spring, they married. My father’s family wasn’t happy, but what was done was done.” Pete drew in a slow breath.

Dani rubbed him between the shoulder blades. “It’s nice to see her before she got sick.”

Pete cleared his throat. “The women with her are Mrs. Osborn and Mrs. Bernard. Their daughters played with my sister, Bonnie.”

“They would have all been about Ruth’s age,” Ivy said.

“Ruth was a year older. Ruth was always nice to the girls, but they didn’t really give Ruth the time of day.”

“Why not?” Ivy’s outrage for the young Ruth boiled her blood.

Pete looked a little abashed. “My mother was very aware of the lines between the classes. Ruth was staff. My mother, her friends, and their children were guests.”