I opened a drawer I had not touched in years and found a small object I thought was lost forever, something that once nearly ended everything between us.
“Dylan,” I called, my voice tighter than I expected. “You need to see this.”
He walked into the bedroom. “What is it?”
I held up the thin gold band. The original wedding ring from the contract marriage. The one I had taken off the night I left and never put back on.
His face changed. “I thought you threw that away.”
“I thought I did too,” I said. “It was under old papers at the back of the drawer. I haven’t opened this thing in years.”
Dylan sat on the edge of the bed. “How does it feel to hold it again?”
“Strange. Heavy. Like it belongs to a different woman.” I turned the ring between my fingers. “That version of me put this on be
