My son brought his fiancée home for dinner

No second necklace was present. Never had there been.

How did it feel around her neck, then?

That jewelry had been in my hands the night before my mother passed away.

I went through dinner automatically. I immediately ran to the hallway closet and took the old photo albums from the top shelf as soon as their taillights vanished down the street.

Almost all of my mother’s adult photos show her wearing the necklace.