“ “Grandpa left you another ring?” „
Toby looked stricken. “Grandma… maybe there’s some reason for it.”
I gave a short, humorless laugh. “I should hope so.”
Around us, chairs scraped softly against the floor. A woman from church lowered her voice mid-sentence. Two of Walter’s old fishing friends near the door suddenly found the coat rack very interesting.
Nobody wanted to stare, but everybody was listening. I could feel it settling over the room, that quiet, ugly kind of curiosity people pretend is concern.
“ “Maybe there’s some reason for it.” „
And I hated that. Walter had always been a private man. Whatever this was, he would not have wanted it opened under funeral flowers and whispering eyes.
But it was too late for dignity now. The ring sat in my palm, small and accusing, and all I could think was that I had shared a bed, a house, children, bills, winters, grief, and laughter with that man for seventy-two years.
If there had been another woman tucked somewhere inside all that time, then I did not know what part of my life belonged to me anymore.
