She was the master of letting silences do the work for her. She’d let a single word hang in the air until you suddenly had a burning need to fill the quiet. Just like I felt now. “I need your help with something.”

“Anything. You know that.”

“When the delivery guys brought Griffin’s stuff by here, did you take anything?”

Bell’s brows rose. “A lot of stuff. Why?”

“Was a desk one of those things? It would’ve been pretty large.”

Bell motioned for me to follow her through the store, calling out to Ford as she walked. “We’ll be right back.” Across the back alley was a storage facility and workshop for everything that wouldn’t fit in the storefront. She pulled open a heavy door and led me to the workshop side of the space. “Something like this?”

I took in the piece. It looked like it had been through a war. The top was scratched to hell, and one of the legs was broken. But I could see how it would fit perfectly in Griffin’s office. I crouched low, trying to see if I could fit under it the way Griffin had as a child. My gaze caught on something when I did. Names carved into the underside of a drawer. Probably ten in total. Most I didn’t recognize. But two tucked together, I did. Griffin and Beth.

I crawled out from under the desk. “Can you fix it?”

“I’m gonna try. It’s been through the wringer. But it just kind of called to me when I saw it on the truck. Not sure why. When my dad saw it, he thought I was crazy.”

“I want you to fix it, and then I need to buy it from you.” I was making more money now; I could afford Bell’s markup.

She took my arm. “Honey, I’ll give it to you. What’s all this about?”

I shook my head. “I’ll pay for it. Really. I can swing it. I just—Griffin needs this in his house. I think he thought it was beyond repair. But you can fix it. Just don’t do anything to the names on the underside of the drawer.”

Bell stilled, understanding filling her expression. “Beth was his sister, wasn’t she?”

I nodded, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. “He needs this desk.”

“Then we’ll get it fixed up for him.”

“Thank you.”

She understood better than most that some things helped you hold onto those you had lost. Items became touchpoints. She would make sure Griffin could keep hold of his.

Bell pulled me in for another hug. “I love your heart.”

“Love yours, too. And those crafty hands that make miracles happen.”

She let out a little snort, releasing me. “Let’s not get too carried away. I’ve got a big enough ego as it is.”