I jump up from the table so quickly that the chair wobbles on its legs. I feel a tightening in my throat. That necklace. It looks so much like the one I used to wear.

Tim jumps out of his own seat. “Brooke? What’s wrong?”

“Why would you get me that?” I shriek.

“I… I don’t understand.” He wrinkles his forehead. “It’s the same kind of necklace that I got you for your tenth birthday. I haven’t seen you wear it, so I figured you lost it. I saw this one at the town flea market last month, so I—”

“Shane tried to strangle me with that necklace!”

Tim looks baffled. “He did? I thought he tried to do it with his… with his hands…”

My breaths are coming fast. Too fast. “No, he used my necklace. That necklace!”

“I’m so sorry, Brooke. I didn’t realize—”

He reaches out to put his arm around me, but I jerk away. Instead, I sprint in the direction of the bathroom, and before he can reach me, I slam the door shut. And lock it. I need a moment to collect myself.

When I’m alone in the bathroom, I stare at myself in the vanity mirror. I put on makeup for our date tonight, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at me now. My face is about the same color as a sheet of paper, and the purple circles under my eyes are as visible as ever.

How could Tim forget about that necklace? I testified during Shane’s trial about how he tried to strangle me with it. Tim was sitting right in the audience. I remember because whenever I was nervous during my testimony, he would look at me and I’d feel less alone. After all, he was there that night too.

How could he possibly forget that the snowflake necklace almost killed me?

Stay away from Tim Reese. He’s dangerous.

Okay, I need to calm down. Tim heard my testimony, but it’s not like he’s been having nightmares involving a snowflake necklace for the last decade. It’s understandable he might have forgotten that little detail. It certainly makes more sense than the alternative of him intentionally buying me that necklace to freak me out.

“Brooke?” Tim knocks gently on the bathroom door. “Are you okay?”

I take a deep breath, then blow it out slowly. I can’t spend the rest of the evening in this bathroom. I need to come out.

I open the door to the bathroom. Tim is standing in front of me, and he looks stricken—almost as bad as I feel.

“I’m so sorry, Brooke,” he says. “I’m such an idiot. I completely forgot.”

“It’s okay,” I say, even though it’s not really.

“I’ll get you a different present,” he vows. “Something way better.”