“I should have fought harder.
“Who are you calling, Mom?”
“My mother.”
Ruth answered on the fourth ring. “Emily? It’s late. Why are you calling?”
“Did Leo leave me, or did you make him?”
Silence.
“This isn’t a conversation for the phone,” she said.
“Good. I’ll meet you tomorrow morning.”
“Emily? It’s late. Why are you calling?
***
The next morning, I walked in with Lila on one side and Julian on the other. My sister, Anne, was already there, her coffee cup halfway to her mouth.
“Emily?” Anne asked. “What’s going on?”
I placed the locket on the table in front of my mother.
Her face changed for only a second, but I saw it.
“Did Leo leave me?” I asked. “Or did you make him?”
My mother folded her hands. “I did what any mother would have done.”
