He thought back to the last time he’d seen her wear it. Karen mentioned that it had been at the hospital benefit on New Year’s Eve last year and that was true but …
Then, looking again at her closet, he remembered something.
The red suit … Greg got up and crossed to the wardrobe, holding the delicate silk jacket up in front of him. His eyes moved to the sleeves. Yes, it had been June and warm outside when his mother had worn this at the gallery.
That was the last time he’d given her a charm, the horseshoe charm to commemorate the occasion. So she’d definitely been wearing the bracelet that night.
He reached into the pockets of the jacket, wondering if maybe she’d taken it off for some reason and left it in there?
And as he did, a sudden thought struck him – a new and much more recent memory concerning Gennaro’s gallery came to mind. It was last week, when he’d called in to the gallery, and collided with that woman on her way out.
When Greg had inquired if the woman was an interested buyer, Gennaro had told him something about her trying to find out something about a bracelet, because one of the charms had led her to his gallery.
Greg felt his spirits lift. Somehow his mother must have lost the bracelet and this woman, whoever she was, had found it and was trying to give it back.
But then why didn’t Gennaro recognise it as Cristina’s – especially with thecorno– made by his very own father - attached?
Then Greg thought back to that night, when his mother had attempted to show Gennaro the Italiancornoshe’d bought in Florence all those years ago, but he’d been interrupted by Sofia. So Gennaro wouldn’t have recognised the bracelet, because Cristina never got the chance to show it to him.
Thinking back to that day at the gallery, and the woman with the striking auburn hair, pretty face and bright green eyes, Greg knew he was onto something. But if she did happen to be in possession of his mother’s bracelet, how on earth was he supposed to track her down now?
He tried again to think back to what little his friend had said about her. Didn’t Gennaro mention something about asking her out? In which case he must have a phone number for her.
Greg felt heartened. For once his friend’s Romeo tendencies would come in handy
‘Don’t worry Mom,’ he said with conviction. ‘I’ll get it back ….’
He put his mother’s silk jacket back where he’d found it and went back outside. Then he quickly grabbed his coat and put it on.
‘Where’s the fire?’ Jeff asked in confusion.
Greg quickly explained his train of thought. ‘I think that somehow Mom lost the bracelet a while back, and that someone has found it and is searching for us, just like we’ve been searching for the bracelet. And I think I met that very same person the other day. At Gennaro’s gallery.’
Jeff’s face lit up. ‘Problem solved, fantastic.’
‘It not that simple unfortunately.’ Greg shook his head. ‘I don’t know her name, but I am going to find out.’
‘But Greg, I don’t understand. How would Cristina’s charm bracelet end up with some random stranger? How would it even get outside the house?’ Maria asked in confusion.
‘That I don’t know, Maria, but if I happened to bump into this woman at the gallery, I wonder how she came to end up there?’
‘She must have tracked down the origin of the Italiancornoand somehow traced it back to Gennaro via his father’s place in Florence,’ Jeff stated simply. ‘What are the chances? I always said that bracelet was like the story of this family’s life, laid out for all to see.’
Greg nodded. ‘Well, Gennaro will know who this mystery woman is and he’ll be able to tell me where to find her. And with luck we’ll have Mom’s bracelet back in no time.’
54
Holly was taking the decorations down off the Christmas tree. It was just too darned big to remain in their apartment (and for she and Danny to live comfortably alongside it) any longer.
She wrapped the various balls and baubles in tissue paper while Danny half-heartedly unwound tinsel from the branches. In order for the tree to be picked up kerbside, it had to be completely bare, otherwise City Sanitation wouldn’t take it.
‘Mom, my arm hurts,’ he complained, not nearly as interested in the tree as when they were dressing it before Christmas
‘Oh poor baby … funny how it doesn’t hurt so much when you’re playing Nintendo,’ Holly teased. ‘Go on then,’ she told him, ruffling his hair as he bounded off.
Dry needles became entangled in her clothes as she struggled to remove the now bare tree from its stand.
After some exertion, it finally came loose, and as it did something shot out from the branches and nearly hit Holly in the eye. She shrieked and stood back, thinking for a moment it was a mouse or some other creature that had taken up residence in the tree.
