Detective Ortega suggested flowers.
Elias refused.
“What if she hates flowers?”
Photographs?
“No.”
“What if pictures make her feel pressured?”
He carried only one thing.
The purple bracelet.
Sophie walked in wearing jeans and a green sweater.
She was five-foot-seven.
Brown hair.
Brown eyes.
Elias recognized Dana in her immediately.
Sophie saw the scar first.
That made sense.
The internet had shown her that face repeatedly for a week.
She stopped six feet away.
Elias stood.
Neither spoke.
Then Sophie looked toward his wrist.
Her mouth opened.
“You kept it.”
Elias could not answer.
Sophie started crying.
He did too.
She asked:
“Did you look for me?”
That question nearly destroyed him.
He said:
“Every day.”
She covered her mouth.
“Mom—Patricia—said you left me.”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
“She said nobody came.”
“No.”
“She said I was unwanted.”
“No.”
His voice broke.
“No, baby.”
The word escaped before he could stop it.
Sophie stiffened.
Elias immediately corrected himself.
“Sorry.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re grown.”
“I don't get to call you that.”
Sophie stared.
Then whispered:
“I remember someone calling me Bug.”
Elias stopped breathing.
That was Dana’s nickname for her.
Sophie Bug.
Because when she was three, she collected ladybugs in a coffee can and tried keeping them under her bed.
Elias laughed and cried at the same time.
“Your mama.”
“What?”
“She called you Bug.”
Sophie took one step forward.
Then another.
She did not hug him.
Not yet.
She asked questions.
Hours of them.
Was Dana alive?
No.
Did she wait for Sophie?
Every day.
Was the yellow bedroom kept?
For thirteen years.
Why thirteen?
Because after thirteen years Elias and Dana moved, and carrying the room intact had become impossible.
Did Dana blame herself?
Yes.
Did Elias blame Dana?
Never.
Did he blame himself?
Always.
Why?
Because grief does not obey logic.
Did he still have Sophie’s stuffed rabbit?
Yes.
One ear missing.
Did he still have the music box?
Yes.
Did it still play?
Badly.
Did he remember her fifth birthday?
Every second.
What cake?
Purple icing.
What gift?
A red bicycle.
Sophie closed her eyes.
“I remember red.”
Elias cried again.
They talked for nearly six hours.
At the end, Sophie stood.
Elias expected a handshake.