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present. “It’s okay, Dad.” Coralyn’s chest was on fire. The ring

she wore on the simple gold chain around her neck, her

mother’s engagement ring, seemed to pulse against her skin,

but it was probably just her heartbeat thrumming at the hollow

of her throat.

“It’s not okay. I’d really give anything for you to have that

back.”

Coralyn raised her dad’s hand and kissed the back of it.

“Mom would understand. We did what we had to do. She

loved you and she would have wanted you to have the best

care possible. Selling it made this a reality. It gave us another

year together. You can’t put a price on that.”

Her dad acted like he hadn’t heard her. He stared up at her

face, his eyes huge and welling with tears that broke her heart.

“It was your mother’s favorite thing. She treasured it above

everything else. If there was one thing she would have wanted

you to pass down, it would have been that. And now it’s

gone.”

That necklace had been crafted and designed from passion

and intimacy and the kind of love that few people ever found.

And now it was sitting in some stranger’s house. A woman

who looked at it and could never appreciate it past its real

value and beauty. She probably knew the story behind it, but

that didn’t mean she’d really be able to understand what it

meant. Did she ever wear it? The thought of it adorning

another person’s neck made Coralyn feel ill. She hadn’t

thought about it before. She’d only thought about the necessity

of having to sell it, and then she’d made herself not think

about it again.

“I’ll always have the memories of you and Mom.” She