Chapter 2 - THE HEIRLOOM EVERYONE KNEW ABOUT
No one opened gifts after that.
Garrett got Jessica into the dining room.
Rachel crouched in front of Tyler, who was still sobbing over the broken science kit, and checked Melody’s tablet with shaking hands.
The clip was only nine seconds long.
Melody had apparently been filming the living room before the argument started. The camera swung from the tree to the hallway and caught Jessica stepping out of Donna’s bedroom. In her hand was the green velvet case that held Donna’s emerald wedding set. Jessica looked around, opened her tan leather purse, and slipped the case inside. Then the tablet tilted downward as Melody moved, and the recording cut off.
It was enough.
It also made no sense.
Donna stared at the screen once and sat down heavily.
“That set was in my room ten minutes ago.”
Rachel looked up.
“You took it out today?”
Donna nodded.
“I wanted to show Melody after lunch. She loves green. She always has.”
Jessica laughed from the doorway, though the sound broke in the middle.
“Oh, come on. Mom, you’re making this dramatic.”
Donna looked at her daughter.
“Was I mistaken about what I just saw?”
Jessica crossed her arms.
“You saw a child’s blurry tablet video.”
Rachel stood.
“She says she filmed you putting Grandma’s wedding set in your purse.”
“And I say your daughter is six.”
Garrett stepped forward.
“Jess, just show us the purse.”
Jessica’s eyes flashed.
“No.”
That answer landed harder than any confession could have.
Donna closed her eyes briefly.
The emerald wedding set was not an ordinary piece of jewelry. It had belonged to Donna’s mother before it became hers, and for years everyone in the family knew she planned to pass it down one day.
Not to Jessica.
Not automatically to Garrett.
To whichever grandchild, in her words, “has the patience to care where things came from.”
Lately she’d said that with a smile toward Melody, who sat beside her during family dinners and asked questions about old photographs and the names written on the backs.
Jessica had noticed that.
Everybody had.
So had Rachel, though she’d never imagined it mattered enough to ignite this kind of rage.
There was more pressure underneath the holiday than Rachel liked admitting.
Garrett’s hours at the custom cabinet shop had been cut after a slow fall. Rachel worked part-time at the elementary school front office and picked up bookkeeping for a local church when she could. Money was tight enough that she and Garrett were careful about every December expense.
Jessica never missed a chance to mention it.
She had moved back into Donna’s Dublin, Ohio, house eight months earlier after her divorce and the collapse of the boutique marketing business she was always calling “between phases.” Donna paid most of the household bills now. Jessica called it temporary.
Rachel called it a powder keg.
Donna opened her eyes and said quietly, “Jessica, if it’s in your purse, hand it over now.”
Jessica lifted her chin.
“It’s not.”
“Then why won’t you show us?”
Rachel expected more shouting.
Instead Jessica said, too quickly, “Maybe someone should check Rachel’s tote before we start accusing people.”
The room went silent again.
Rachel had left her canvas tote in the front hallway when they arrived.
Garrett looked at his sister slowly.
“Why would it be in Rachel’s bag?”
Jessica spread her hands.
“I don’t know. Since we’re all making wild assumptions.”
Rachel felt something cold move through her.
Jessica had not only refused to open her purse.
May you like
She had reached for Rachel’s bag almost immediately.
And that made Melody’s short little video feel like the beginning of something, not the whole thing.
