Before Nana vanished, mornings in our house were loud and sticky and alive. She\u2019d turn her music up too high, sing into a spatula, flip pancakes like she was auditioning for a cooking show. Syrup would trail across the counter, and I\u2019d pretend to scold her while secretly wishing the moment would never end.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been ten years since our last Sunday together.<\/p>\n
Ten years of setting an extra plate anyway.<\/p>\n
Ten years of scraping it clean, untouched.<\/p>\n
And ten years of hearing the same sentence from everyone who loves me:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to move on, Natalie.\u201d<\/p>\n
But I never did. I couldn\u2019t. A mother doesn\u2019t fold up her hope and put it in a drawer.<\/p>\n
That morning at the flea market, I wasn\u2019t looking for anything. I just needed noise. The chatter, the clinking of old dishes, the shuffle of strangers \u2014 it softened the silence that waits for me at home.<\/p>\n
I was halfway down a row of worn paperbacks and cracked vinyl records when I saw it.<\/p>\n
At first, I told myself I was imagining things.<\/p>\n
But there it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Nana, from Mom and Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world tilted.<\/p>\n
I leaned across the folding table. \u201cWhere did you get this? Who sold it to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The man behind the table barely looked up from his crossword puzzle.<\/p>\n
Curly hair.<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut no more questions,\u201d he added. \u201cTwo hundred dollars. Take it or leave it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I paid without blinking.<\/p>\n
When I got home, Felix was in the kitchen, pouring coffee into the chipped mug we\u2019d owned since the year Nana was born. He didn\u2019t turn around when I walked in.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were gone a while, Natalie.\u201d<\/p>\n
I held the bracelet out to him. \u201cLook at this.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned slowly. His eyes dropped to the gold band in my palm. His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the flea market. A woman sold it this morning. Tall. Curly hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou bought it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix, it\u2019s hers. Look at the engraving.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stepped back like it burned him.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood lord, Natalie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was on her wrist the day she left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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