“I Buried My Mother’s Necklace With Her—25 Years Later, My Son’s Fiancée Walked In Wearing It”

I knew that shade of green. I knew those carvings. I recognized the tiny hinge hidden along the left side of the pendant — the one that made it a locket.

I'd held that necklace in my hands on the last night of my mother's life and placed it inside her coffin myself.

"It's vintage," Claire said, touching the pendant when she caught me staring. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful," I managed. "Where did you get it?"

"My dad gave it to me. I've had it since I was little."

There was no second necklace. There never had been.

So how was it around her neck?

I'd held that necklace in my hands on the last night of my mother's life.