Emily’s cheeks flushed hotter. “Er—”
“Now, Marvella, I’m sure he knows that already,” Jennie murmured.
Marvella stuck to her opinion. “A lady has to make things clear these days. And I’m sure Emily doesn’t mind a little advice, since she doesn’t have a mother around to guide her. Isn’t that right, dear?”
Bobbie lifted her chin. “I’ve always been available for Emily, just as I was for my own daughter. Emily and I have had some long talks about young men, haven’t we, sweetheart?”
To Emily’s mingled embarrassment and gratitude, they certainly had. Bobbie had always tried to fill the gaping void left in Emily’s young life when her mother had run off with Al Jennings. Still, while Emily loved her aunt for her solicitude, she certainly didn’t want to discuss such things now.
“Let me dean this pan for you, Aunt Bobbie,” she said, making a rather desperate grab for the dishwashing liquid. “I’ll just wash it in the sink.”
“Watch your jewelry,” Jennie Tatum warned. “You’ll mess up your watch, if you aren’t careful. And that lovely bracelet.”
Emily glanced automatically at the heavy gold bracelet on her right wrist. “I’ll be careful.”
Looking at the bracelet with a slight frown between her pencilled brows, Emily’s aunt asked, “Where did you get that, Emily? I don’t remember seeing you wear it before—but, for some reason, it looks familiar to me.”
“I’ve worn it a couple of times before,” Emily said, uncomfortable again with the turn the conversation had taken. “It was my mother’s, I think. I—er—found it after Dad died.”
She had no intention of telling them about finding the bracelet hidden in the “time capsule.” She’d spent weeks fretting over it after her father’s funeral. Wondering how the bracelet had gotten into the box. And who else had known about their time capsule.
She had finally decided that she must have put it there herself, and had then forgotten. She’d been so young. She’d probably found the bracelet somewhere among her father’s things, thought it was pretty, and had tucked it into her treasure cache and forgotten about it. How else could it possibly have gotten into a buried box she’d packed herself?
Though she’d never consciously intended to wear the bracelet since she’d discovered it in the box, she’d found herself slipping it on one morning as she’d gotten ready for work. It had felt...right, somehow, on her wrist. She’d worn it several times since, deliberately giving little thought to the significance of wearing something that had belonged to the mother who’d abandoned her when she was still in diapers.
Suddenly, Bobbie’s eyes widened. “Oh, goodness, I do remember that bracelet. Nadine loved it so much I never saw her without it. She would never say who gave it to her, though I knew it wasn’t Josiah. I always assumed it was...er...”
“Al Jennings,” Emily said quietly, naming the married man with whom her mother had disappeared so many years ago.
Bobbie nodded. “I would have thought she’d have taken it with her. As I said, I never saw her without it”
“She must have left it for Emily,” Marvella said, studying the bracelet intently.
“She probably did,” Bobbie agreed, apparently struck by the suggestion. “You know, I never could understand how Nadine could leave her baby girl that way. I didn’t blame her so much for leaving Josiah—everyone knew they were all wrong for each other—but to run off with another woman’s husband, leaving all those children hind...well, I could hardly believe it.”
“A gold brac
elet is hardly compensation for the loss of a mother, is it, Emily?” Jennie Tatum asked sympathetically.
“No.” The bracelet felt suddenly heavy on Emily’s arm. “It isn’t.”
“Excuse me, ladies.”
Wade’s voice from the doorway made the group of women fall silent. Emily turned to look at him, wondering just how much he’d overheard. He wasn’t looking at her, but at her aunt.
“Mrs. McBride, I wanted to thank you for having Clay and me to lunch. We enjoyed it very much.”
“Oh, are you leaving, Chief?”
“Yes, ma’am. We have a few other things to do this afternoon. And I’m going to be checking into the progress of the investigation of those break-ins, Mrs. Tucker.”
Marvella nodded in satisfaction. “Good. You find those miscreants, you hear?”
“Yes, ma’am. Good afternoon, Mrs. Tatum.”
“Good afternoon, Chief.”
Only then did Wade glance at Emily. “See you, Emily.”