The darkness combined with the silence is a bit too eerie, but that’s quickly remedied by turning on the table lamps in the living room as well as the light in the dining room on my way to the kitchen.

I pour myself a glass of water and shake two pills out of the bottle from the cabinet. It’s a cloudy night and I can barely see past the deck into the yard through the window.

Final decision made: no more fishing for Nicole’s ring.

It’s gone and I have to face it. Also, I’m not sure my body and sleep-deprived brain can handle another day of that.

I pop the aspirin in my mouth and wash it down with a gulp of water. I down the rest of the glass, load it into the dishwasher, and leave the kitchen.

As I cross the dining room, there’s the sound of giggling from the Writing Room.

“Caitlyn?”

Silence.

I shake my head. I’m hearing things.

I walk into the Writing Room and plop back down in my chair.

“All right. Here we go for real this t—”

I stare down at the desk.

There’s a silver butterfly necklace with two tiny blue stones on a silver chain with a broken clasp, sitting on the notebook. It’s clearly been left for me to find.

I look towards the door.

“Caitlyn?”

She must have come down the stairs while I was in the kitchen, left it, and went back upstairs. I guess I really did hear her giggle. I’ve never seen this necklace before, but I’m sure I don’t know every bit of jewelry Caitlyn has.

Necklace in hand, I walk upstairs and open Caitlyn’s door.

She’s asleep, or at least pretending to be. What is she doing? I walk over to her bed and whisper. “You lost this, pumpkin. I’m going to leave it right here.” I place the necklace on the nightstand, next to her medallion.

I wait for her to open her eyes but she doesn’t. She must have fallen right back asleep or she’s doing an amazing job of faking it.

We’ll talk about it in the morning. Right now, I need to get this chapter done.

As quietly as possible, I go back downstairs into the Writing Room, and plop into the chair. I go to grab my pen, but stop.

Sitting on the notebook is a silver butterfly necklace with two tiny blue stones on a silver chain with a broken clasp.

12

The toast jumps from the slots in the toaster as I flip the bacon in the skillet. The eggs are already on the plates, waiting for Caitlyn to join me.

I can’t get the necklace out of my head.