The Secret in the Pocket
Daniel led me down a quiet hallway and into a small, secluded room behind the main chapel. The second the heavy door clicked shut, I pointed a trembling finger at his chest.
“Start explaining. Now.”
He looked down at his stretched, pink-clad knees. “I know how crazy this looks.”
“I sincerely doubt that, Danny.”
A tiny, miserable bark of a laugh escaped his lips.
A relic of a past I had forgotten how to live in.
Then, he reached carefully into the pocket of the dress. “Mom, Dad wanted you to have something.”
My bubbling anger vanished, replaced by a cold knot of dread. Daniel pulled out a small, lumpy object carefully wrapped in crumpled white tissue paper. “He told me you were supposed to get it right after he died.”
“You told me you didn’t promise him anything before you left.”
“I didn’t.”
With shaking hands, Daniel unfolded the tissue. A single pink earring lay in the center of his wide palm. It was cheap metal. One of the fake rhinestone gems was clearly missing, and the hook was bent slightly out of shape.
I recognized it instantly.
My hand reached out blindly and closed around the wooden back of a nearby chair for support. I couldn’t stop staring at the piece of cheap jewelry.
“No,” I breathed.
“What?”
“Where did he get that?” I demanded, my voice shaking.
“Mom…”
