“A few weeks ago, the drain started leaking. I removed part of the old cabinet and found something stuck behind one of the pipes.”
I picked up the ring.
It looked almost new.
“You’ve had this for weeks?”
Mike nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“At first, I didn’t know what to do with it.”
I frowned.
He continued.
“For one second, I thought maybe you wouldn’t even want it anymore. It came from another marriage. Another life.”
Then he looked at the girls.
“But Emily told me something.”
Emily looked embarrassed.
“What did she say?”
Mike smiled slightly.
“She said, ‘It belonged to our family before you were here. That doesn’t mean you’re not our family now.’”
My eyes immediately filled with tears.
Lily opened the cabinet and pulled out a small handmade wooden box.
“We were cleaning the ring every day.”
