But this earring? It was solid.

I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream. I just picked it up, wiped the dust off, and placed it in a little velvet box I kept from an old necklace. Then I started prepping dinner.

He always came home starving after these “late nights.” I made his favorite—chicken piccata, roasted garlic potatoes, and that chocolate tart from the bakery on 5th.