Chapter 15 - Halloween Again
One year later, I was late getting home on Halloween.
Not because of a secret business trip.
Not because I was surprising anyone.
Because the train stalled at Belmont for twenty-three minutes and a man dressed like a banana blocked the exit while arguing with his girlfriend about directions.
By the time I reached my building, trick-or-treaters were already filling the lobby.
I carried two grocery bags upstairs.
My sister had invited me to a party in Lincoln Park.
I had said maybe.
Maybe had become no around six-thirty when I realized I wanted to spend the evening in sweatpants.
My condo looked different now.
Not dramatically.
I had replaced the gray couch.
Painted the kitchen a warmer white.
Moved the dining table closer to the windows.
Small decisions.
Mine.
I dumped candy into a glass bowl by the door.
Not the Halloween bowl from Adrian's house.
That one had been his.
This one was cheap, clear, and bought at Target that afternoon because I'd forgotten until the cashier asked if I had candy.
At seven-fifteen, someone knocked.
I opened the door.
A little girl in a ghost costume stood there beside her father.
White sheet.
Eye holes slightly crooked.
Pink sneakers visible at the bottom.
For one second, I couldn't help it.
I laughed.
The father looked worried.
"Sorry, she insisted on the classic version."
"No," I said. "It's perfect."
The little ghost held out an orange bucket.
"Trick or treat."
I gave her two peanut-butter cups.
She looked into the glass bowl on my table.
At the bottom, mixed among candy, sat a cheap cubic-zirconia ring.
The fake engagement ring.
I had found it in a toiletry bag three months after I moved out.
I could have thrown it away.
I could have sold it for twenty dollars.
Instead, for no reason I fully understood, I'd kept it in a drawer.
The little girl pointed.
"Is that treasure?"
I looked at the ring.
Then at her.
"Costume treasure."
"Can I have it?"
Her father immediately said, "Oh, no, honey."
I laughed.
"Actually..."
I picked it up.
For a second, the cheap stone caught the hallway light exactly the way the real diamond had caught the porch light a year earlier.
Fake things could sparkle beautifully.
That had never been the problem.
I dropped it into her plastic bucket beside the candy.
"There."
The girl gasped.
"Dad! I'm rich!"
Her father laughed.
"Apparently. Say thank you."
"Thank you!"
She ran toward the elevator, ghost sheet flapping behind her.
I stood in the doorway and watched until the doors closed.
Then I went back inside.
My phone buzzed on the counter.
A text from Elise.
AUCTION TOTAL CAME IN. $91,400 AFTER FEES. MOM WOULD HAVE LOVED THAT.
A second text followed.
Also Martin says the preservation people painted the library green. He is personally offended.
I smiled.
The real diamond had sold in June.
The money went to the shelter Elise's mother had supported.
Celeste had taken a job in Seattle.
We exchanged exactly one Christmas card and no promises.
Adrian had moved to Milwaukee and was doing small project consulting under his own name.
I knew because Mara told me, not because I checked.
That difference mattered more than I expected.
I texted Elise back.
Tell Martin green builds character.
Then I put my phone down.
Another knock came at the door.
This time it was three kids dressed as a witch, an astronaut, and something involving eight foam tentacles.
"Trick or treat!"
I held out the bowl.
"Take two."
The astronaut took four.
I pretended not to notice.
When they left, I shut the door and leaned against it for a moment.
A year earlier, I had walked into a dark hallway believing I needed to uncover one terrible secret.
What I found instead was messier.
A man who lied because he could not tolerate being smaller.
A woman who hurt me because she had spent years resenting the wrong person.
Another woman who disappeared because leaving was easier than fighting until it wasn't.
And me.
The woman who had mistaken being needed for being loved.
The doorbell rang again.
I picked up the candy bowl.
This time, there was no ring at the bottom.
Only candy.
May you like
That felt right.
THE END
