"That's enough. We're not doing this here."
She reached for the shopping bags.
Ava moved backward to avoid being bumped.
Her green paper bag caught against the corner of another purchase, and several items slid across the counter. A folded sweater fell to the floor, followed by a small cosmetics pouch and a silver chain that spilled from its partly open zipper.
Nia saw the chain first.
Her breath caught.
The silver heart pendant landed against the polished checkout counter, catching the overhead light.
For one frozen second, the girl stared at it.
Then she whispered something Marcus barely heard.
"Mom?"
He turned.
The pendant was small, delicate, and unmistakable.
A silver heart.
A narrow engraved border.
And a tiny scratch near the clasp where it had once caught against the edge of a hospital bed.
Marcus recognized it immediately.
It belonged to Nia's mother.
His first wife.
The woman who had died four years earlier.
The necklace had been placed inside a wooden keepsake chest with her letters, photographs, and personal jewelry. Marcus had promised Nia that those belongings would remain hers until she was old enough to decide what to do with them.
He looked toward Vanessa.
"Why do you have that?"
Her expression changed.
Only for a second.
But Marcus saw it.
Vanessa reached quickly toward the necklace.
"That's mine."
Nia stepped forward.
"No."
Vanessa's eyes flashed.
"Don't start."
The girl looked toward her father.
Her voice trembled.
"That's Mom's necklace."
Marcus lifted the silver heart carefully.
Then turned it over.
On the back, beneath a faint scratch, were three tiny engraved words.
Always beside you.
He knew those words.
He had chosen them himself.
His late wife wore the necklace during the final year of her life because Nia, then eight, wanted her mother to carry something that would remind her of home during hospital visits.
Marcus felt his throat close.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he looked toward Vanessa.
"Where did you get this?"
She glanced toward the cashier.
Then at the growing number of shoppers watching them.
Her voice became sharp.
"Not here."
Marcus didn't move.
"Where did you get it?"
Vanessa stepped closer and reached for his hand.
"You're embarrassing everyone."
He pulled the necklace away from her grasp.
"No. I need an answer."
Caleb suddenly stepped forward.
He was holding his phone with both hands.
His face was pale.
For a moment, he looked at his mother, then at Nia.
Finally, he turned the screen toward Marcus.
"I know where she got it."
Vanessa froze.
"Caleb. Put that away."