I looked closer at the girl.
He didn’t answer.
The smile. The dark hair. Those familiar eyes.
My hands went cold.
It was Claire. My daughter-in-law. Ellie’s mother.
I’d known her since she was twenty, but I’d never seen a picture of her as a teenager.
Claire and my son Daniel had died in a car accident three years ago. Ellie was only four.
For a moment, all I could do was stare at that photograph. I hadn’t expected to see Claire’s face on a stranger’s doorstep, much less beside a woman wearing that ring.
Ellie’s mother.
I took the chain off.
“Where did you get this?”
“That’s our mother, Eleanor. And that’s my sister Claire.”
“Claire never had a brother.”
“She never told you?”
“She said she didn’t talk to her father. That’s all.”
“She never told you?”
“Her father is my father.”
“And the woman at Walmart?”
“My other sister, Meredith.”
“Why was she crying over a ring?”
“It was our mother’s. Mom wanted Claire’s first child to have it.”
“Then why didn’t Claire’s child get it?”
It was Claire, my daughter-in-law.
“Dad wouldn’t give it up. He cut Claire off nine years ago.”
This whole story seemed unreal to me.
“And Meredith?”
“She took it from his nightstand two days ago. She was bringing it to you.”
“She stole it.”
“Yes.”
“Why not ask him?”
“He cut Claire off nine years ago.”
“He’d never agree. He won’t even say Claire’s name.”
“And she lost it in a candy aisle.”
“She can explain that.”
“How did you find us?”
“We’d been trying to find Claire for years. Three months ago, an investigator found a guardianship record naming you and Ellie. That’s when we learned she’d died.”
This whole story seemed unreal to me.
“You didn’t know your sister was dead?”
“No.” His voice cracked. “We should’ve tried harder.”
“It’s been three years.”
“I know. We sent two letters through a law firm.”
I thought of my kitchen drawer full of unopened envelopes.
“What do you want?”
“It’s been three years.”
“My father is dying. The doctors give him weeks.”
“I’m sorry.”
In reality, I didn’t care.
“Meredith and I want Ellie to meet him before he goes.”
“And your father?”
“He says he doesn’t want to.”
In reality, I didn’t care.
“Then why did you come?”
“Because we think he’s lying. To himself.”
“Explain.”
“He’s stubborn. Proud. He’s carried something for years, and he won’t tell us what. We think he wants her, but he can’t forgive himself.”
“So you’re doing this behind his back.”
“Then why did you come?”
“Yes. And she’s our niece. We want to know her, too.”
“You let the time slip away.”
“I know. We should’ve stood up to Dad. We didn’t.”
“Why bring a little girl to a man who doesn’t want her?”
“Because soon it’ll be too late for them to meet.”
I crossed my arms.
“Are you trying to take her?”
“You let the time slip away.”
“What? No.”
“Rich family. Lawyers. And me with a leaking roof.”
“Nobody’s taking anyone. I swear.”
“Swearing is cheap.”
He took a velvet pouch from his coat.
“Meredith gave me this. It’s Ellie’s.”
“Swearing is cheap.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Then hold it for her. Please.”
He walked back to the SUV.
I locked the door and sat at the kitchen table. The pouch lay in front of me.
What if they want to take her?
They had money. Lawyers. I had a leaking roof and a weak heart.
What if they want to take her?
Ellie came downstairs in her socks, hugging her stuffed rabbit.
“Who was at the door, Grandma?”
“They went to the wrong door.”
She slid a drawing across the table.
Four stick figures. Me, Ellie, and two stars above us.
“That’s Mommy and Daddy,” she said. “They’re watching.”
Me, Ellie, and two stars above us.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Grandma? Sometimes I wish our family was bigger.”
“Why, sweetheart?”
“All my friends have aunts and uncles and cousins. I love you, but sometimes it’s lonely with just the two of us.”
