I swallowed hard, itchy nerves of discomfort crawling across my skin.
“When my mother died, she instilled her essence into that locket,” I said. I hoped I was explaining it the right way, but it felt like I was fumbling the words. “I didn’t know at the time because it only seems to work in this realm and the Fae one I was living in for a short while. Although, she was weaker there... so to speak. Like she had worse reception. Maybe it has something to do with magical realms, or where she was born. I don’t really know.”
My father’s hands shook as he held the locket, touching the engraved front with reverence. “I don’t understand.”
He was looking so hopeful, and so scared at the same time. My heart went out to him. He didn’t want to believe he still had access to her, and yet, it was the truth.
I smiled, trying to reassure him that everything will be okay.
“I don’t really understand either,” I admitted. “I only know what I’ve experienced. I put the necklace on, the locket heats up when she wants to talk, and then I hold it with my hand and can hear her voice in my head.”
“Are you sure it’s her... I mean... it could be a trick or...”
My father was starting to freak out.
There was no way it was a trick. The woman I spoke to knew everything about me, my life, and my sisters. But I could understand why a man in my father’s position might be suspicious of such a thing.
“Dad, how about you sit down, and we’ll find out?” I said, arching a brow.
I led my father back to the couch and encouraged him to sit down. “Try it, Dad. I’ve had my mother in my ear my whole life. I think it’s time for me to live without her.”
“And you’re giving it to me?” he asked, his voice full of amazement.
I smiled. “Yes, if you want it. You both lived twenty plus years without each other. And you shouldn’t have. Maybe this will help heal some of those old wounds. At the very least, I’m sure you have things you want to say to her, and I know there are things she wants to say to you.”
The same way he’d pawed through her journal, I wondered if he’d cling to this as well.
My father took a deep breath, lifted the necklace over his head, and waited.
I smiled. “You need to touch it with your hands, I think, and for future purposes, I’d recommend wearing it under your shirt, against your skin. I always did, and I think it helps.”
He nodded and reached up, grabbing the locket in his hands.
His brow furrowed as he concentrated, then a light shone over his face. His eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped open.
“Genevieve. Is that really you?”
A smile broke over his face at whatever my mother said.
“Yes, it’s me. It’s Matlock.”
He laughed aloud and I found myself wishing there was some sort of speaker function so I could hear what my mother was saying as well.
Was she as shocked to hear from him, as he was from her? Or was this what she’d secretly wanted all along?
Tavlor took my hand and tugged me away from my parents interacting. I didn’t really want to go and looked back at my father’s beaming face.
“Give them some time,” Tavlor said. “I can imagine the conversation is going to get quite intimate.”
He pulled me inside the bedroom and shut the door.
He was probably right, but even so, I stared at the door for a moment, a part of me longing to be a part of the family I should have always had.
Then Tavlor slid his hands around my waist and pulled me close. “We have a lot to celebrate.”
“Like what?” I asked.
He kissed my lips then pulled back to look down on me. “Like our upcoming nuptials. You said yes to my proposal, your father agreed, and now we even have someone t