She set the sponge aside and reached for the heart-shaped locket, pulling it out from under the bib of her apron. She opened it and leaned forward, holding it so I could see. There was a black-and-white photograph of Violet. She flipped the inner rim, revealing a second frame hidden behind the first. In it there was a photo of a newborn. The baby looked frail and wizened, not one of the worst I’d ever seen but certainly not the best. Liza looked down, her expression wistful and proud. “She was so tiny. I couldn’t believe it when I saw her, how delicate she was. Know what Violet said when she gave me this? She said, ‘That’s for your true love. I predict within a year you’ll know exactly who it is.’ And so I did.”

“Did you get to hold her?”

“For a while. The nurse advised against it, but I knew it was the only time I’d ever get to spend with her. I was fourteen years old and my father wouldn’t consider my doing anything else. I should have stayed with my mom. Despite her problems, she was a good egg and would have found a way to make it work.”

“You have no idea where the baby is?”

“Probably in Colorado. A few years ago, I wrote her a letter and left it with the agency so if she ever wants to reach me, she’ll have my name and address.”

“Ty never knew?”

“I’d have told him, I think, if I’d ever heard from him.”

“I talked to him.”

“I know. He called me right afterward and said you’d given him my name and number.”

“Only your married name. He looked up your phone number on his own, which I think should count in his favor. He said he wrote to you. Did he tell you that as well?”

She nodded. “His mom probably intercepted his mail. Or maybe the letters reached my mom and she never sent them on.”

“Or maybe she sent them to your father’s house and he decided not to let you know.”

“That would fit. What a shit-heel he was. I’ve scarcely spoken to him since. I’m sure he thought he was doing what was best. God save us from the people who want to do what’s best for us.”

“What happens now?”

“I guess we’ll wait and see. Ty said he’d call again and we’d find a way to get together. Wouldn’t that be strange after all these years?”

“Will you tell him about his daughter?”

“Depends on how it goes. In the meantime, are the two of us square?”

“Totally.”

She flicked a look at the clock. “Your appointment’s at nine?”

“It is. I’ll hang out at Daisy’s until I have to hit the road.”