was rocked when Giana came back and opened her fist and
there, in her hand, was the necklace that started all of it. The
lies and the pain, the desperate apologies, the paperwork
sitting downstairs unsigned, and all the hours that had been
filled with pleasure while both of them forgot all about all of
that.
“My mother’s necklace,” Coralyn gasped. Her eyes flooded
with involuntary tears that spilled down her cheeks when she
blinked. She wasn’t ashamed to be crying. She’d spilled many,
many tears with Giana. These were of a different nature
entirely. She was shocked and overwhelmed.
She touched the necklace, unable to believe it was real.
She’d taken off the chain she normally wore her ring on. It had
been on her finger after she’d been married, but it didn’t feel
right to wear it anymore. She’d placed it in the top drawer of
her desk at home for safekeeping.
“It’s yours.” This was the most intimate thing that Coralyn
could imagine. “I should have leant it to you that day when
you asked. I don’t know why I said no. I guess I thought that if
I ever gave a little bit of anything away, it would start the
whole unravelling of myself in the process.”
Her brow arched. Giana’s expression revealed nothing, but
she kept studying Coralyn without looking away. “And now?
Are you unravelling?”
Her features softened, even though she didn’t smile. It made
Coralyn forget why she’d ever hated anything about Giana.
The first move was hesitant. Giana didn’t tremble. That was
all Coralyn. She was shaking when Giana slipped the necklace
around her neck. It hardly weighed anything in reality, but it
felt so heavy there, so cold against her skin.