Nothing meant more to Giana than her word. It was
probably her one weakness. She’d made a promise to help
Coralyn after her father died. She’d made it when she wasn’t
in her right mind, but she’d still made it and she remembered it
and she felt duty bound to honor it.
She’d watched carefully, through her guy, who just went by
Phil like it was a joke, that one name. If Coralyn had
struggled, Giana would have stepped in, but as it was, the will
was dealt with, and her father had been prepared. He’d made it
as easy for Coralyn as he possibly could.
Once she knew Coralyn was coping alright on her own,
Giana turned her attention to her wife’s late father. She’d
known something about that necklace when she purchased it,
otherwise she wouldn’t have bought it. She didn’t just collect
random junk, though she remembered her healthy skepticism
when she’d walked into her house after she’d hit her head. In
the past, she’d never once thought that she had a hole she was
trying to fill. Something inside her that her collection would
eventually round out because acquiring things took up her free
time. That kind of thinking wasn’t natural to her. It was
dangerous. She didn’t let herself go there.
Now, she thought about that all the time.
She’d done some more careful research of her own on
Coralyn and her family. She knew just about everything about
her late parents now, including the downward trajectory of
their lives after Coralyn’s father got sick. They’d sold
everything to pay the bills as the money ran out because the
insurance company denied his claim on some bogus pre-
existing condition charge.
They couldn’t find a buyer for the business, so they’d had to