Page 59 of The Housekeeper

My hand rifled through the remaining hangers, but found nothing familiar. I breathed a sigh of relief, assuring myself that there was undoubtedly a logical explanation for the presence of the blouse, and that it was probably best not to even broach the subject with either Elyse or my father. I didn’t want an angry lecture from him, and I didn’t want to chance alienating her over something that would likely prove to be no big deal. Wasn’t she taking wonderful care of my mother? Didn’t my father look better than he had in years? Wasn’t Elyse the housekeeper of my dreams? Hadn’t she gone overboard to help me out, refusing repeatedly to be reimbursed? Did it really matter if she’d helped herself to one of my mother’s old blouses?

And, of course, I was hoping to avoid a confrontation.

God knows, I’d had enough of those lately.

My life was complicated enough.

So I’m not sure what prompted me toward the dresser across from her bed, or what propelled me to sift through each drawer, what made me remove the coral-colored jewelry box I found hidden underneath a bunch of scarves at the back of the bottom one, what pushed me to open it and peek inside.

I saw the simple Timex watch immediately, and recognized it as the one Elyse had been wearing the first time we met. I checked the time against my own watch, my eyes following the tiny second hand as it ticked off the next two minutes.

It was working perfectly.

Which meant that Elyse’s explanation of taking her watch in to be repaired was a lie. Unless, of course, she’d picked it up yesterday.

Which was possible, I tried telling myself.

How then to explain the magnificent sapphire-and-diamond earrings that I discovered next?

“Dear God,” I said aloud, recognizing them immediately as the earrings that my father had given my mother on their thirtieth wedding anniversary. I knew that there was no way my mother would ever have parted with them.

Earrings!I heard her shout, the word slamming against my brain like an unpleasant echo.Earrings! Earrings!

I’d assumed she’d been referring to the newly purchased ones I’d been wearing, but had she been trying to tell me something else entirely? Had she been trying to say that Elyse had stolen hers?

I sank to the bed, the earrings feeling like hot coals in the palm of my hand.

I heard footsteps, followed by a gentle knock on the door. “Jodi,” Elyse called. “Everything all right in there?”

I quickly buried the earrings inside the folds of my dress. I needed time to figure out the meaning of my discovery, time to decide what to do about it. “Everything’s fine,” I told her. “I’ll be right out.”