He shakes his head and looks back at Leo. "Fucking hell. I’m never living this one down."
"Sorry, man." He laughs then takes a sip of his water.
"Okay, Caleb’s next," Emma announces pushing a small, unwrapped box in front of me.
"It’s not a present."
My eyes flash to Caleb to find him looking down, uncharacteristically nervous.
"Yes it is," Emma disagrees, cuddling under his arm.
"It’s not a present," he repeats.
"Shhh. It will be to her," she whispers in a way that almost makes me nervous.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I reach forward and lift the box open.
"Oh my God." I choke on the sob that tears from my throat, and maybe even my soul, as my eyes make contact with the one thing that I never thought I would see again.
"OH MY God." Sarah sobs, and tears immediately flow from her eyes.
I study her carefully, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. But as I glance into the open box sitting in front of her for an answer, I only become more confused when I see a simple gold necklace with a half of a heart that says: st ends.
"Shit," I hear Caleb cuss from across the table.
I glance up at Emma to gather some clues. She’s watching Sarah with an anxious expression as if she’s trying to make heads or tails of her reaction.
Sarah remains motionless, staring at the box with tears streaming down her face.
All I can do is try to comfort her. I move over an inch, teetering on the edge of my own chair. But she remains stiff at my side.
"You okay?" I ask, kissing her temple.
"Where… How… I thought this was gone," she cries.
She reaches out with shaky hands to touch the necklace but pauses just inches away and brings her hands back to her mouth. I stroke up and down her back, unsure of what else to do.
"Caleb found it in a box last week along with some of her other things," Emma tentatively fills in the blanks.
Caleb clears his throat and finally speaks up. "I should have given it to you a long time ago. I forgot that I even still had it. I’m sorry," he tells Sarah, but she never drags her eyes off the necklace. "You’re welcome to come over and look through the box it if you want. See if maybe you want any of the rest of it."
"I want all of it," Sarah answers quickly as her eyes fly to Caleb’s. "I mean, if you don’t want it." She looks away sheepishly.
"I picked out a few things already. You can have everything else." He smiles warmly, fighting back his own emotions by kissing Emma on the head.
Sarah remains silent for another minute before jumping to her feet. "I need some air." Her tears are still consistently falling even as she tries to dry her eyes and compose herself.
"I’ll go with you." I begin to stand, but she stops me.
"I just need a few minutes alone. Please. I won’t go far." She offers me a fake smile.
I reach out and squeeze her hand. "Yeah. Of course."
"Girl time," Emma announces, standing from her chair.
"No. Alone," Sarah repeats and walks away only to pause just a few steps from our table. She backs up and quickly grabs the box, taking it with her.
"See! That went well," Emma tells Caleb, who is shaking his head at her.
"She’s outside crying, Emmy."
"She took it with her though. She’ll be okay. I promise."
I clear my throat. "Can one of you enlighten me on what the hell just happened?" I growl, becoming increasingly frustrated by being left in the dark. I have a pretty good idea what this is about, although the necklace confuses me.
"She told you about the wreck, right?" Emma asks.
"No," I answer, and it’s not a lie. I know about it, but Sarah has never uttered a single word.
"Not at all?"
"Nope."
"Oh my God. What the hell have y’all been doing for the last month? Clearly, it’s not talking."
"Excuse me?" I reply, surprised by her sudden frustration.
"Okay, calm down. This is not his fault," Caleb tells Emma before turning his attention back to me. "Look, Leo. I’ll be honest with you here. Sarah has a shit past. That necklace belonged to her best friend, Manda, who passed away about seven years. That’s all I’m giving you, but I highly suggest you start asking her some questions."
"What kind of questions exactly?" I play dumb because there is something about his words that pisses me off.
"The kind that enables you to decide if you can overlook her past…or not."
What the fuck is happening right now? I just blink at him, not sure I can honestly trust my own ears.