Her entire body went still.
She stared at it. Then at me. Then back at it.
“That’s my wedding ring,” she whispered.
Her hand trembled as she reached out.
“I thought it was gone forever.”
I placed it in her palm.
She closed her fingers around it and pressed it to her chest.
“My husband gave this to me when we were 20,” she said. “I lost it years ago. We tore the house apart. I thought it was gone forever.”
She lowered herself into a chair by the door.
“My son bought me a new washer. Had the old one hauled off. I figured it was gone with it. I felt like I lost him twice.”
“May I ask what his name was?” I asked, remembering the L.
She smiled through shining eyes. “Leo. Leo and Claire. Always.”
Then she looked up at me.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to bring it back. Most people wouldn’t have.”
“My daughter called it a forever ring,” I said. “Kind of killed off any other ideas.”
She laughed softly and wiped her face.
“Come here,” she said.
She hugged me like we’d known each other for years.
“Leo would’ve liked you,” she said. “He believed in good people.”
