Chapter 26 - THE BLUE DRESSEighteen months after the cemetery, the blue dress came back.
It had been preserved as evidence.
So had Emily’s ring.
The photograph of Noah.
The sandbags were never sentimental enough to matter.
Emily asked me to come over when the prosecutor’s office released personal property.
The dress was folded inside a box.
She stared.
“I loved that dress.”
“You can throw it away.”
“I know.”
She took it out.
Held it against herself.
Then:
“Too big now.”
Recovery had not restored all the weight captivity took.
She was healthy.
Different.
Noah came into the room.
Ten years old.
He saw the dress.
“That was in the coffin.”
“Yes.”
“Are you keeping it?”
Emily looked at him.
“Do you want me to?”
“No.”
“Excellent.”
She donated it after cleaning.
Not destroyed.
Not burned.
A dress was allowed to become a dress again.
The wedding ring was harder.
Richard had given it to her.
Margaret had taken it from her hand.
Emily left it in a drawer.
Months later, she sold it and put the money into Noah’s education account.
She told him:
“Your grandmother once thought taking this ring could make a lie look true.”
Noah asked:
“Did it?”
“No.”
“Then why was everyone so dumb?”
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Therapy had not removed his directness.
Thank God.
