I looked down at the smooth silver case and noticed the faint initials engraved on the back.

“You were awfully hard on me back then, Dad,” I said.

“I was rigid because I’d seen how easily a smooth talker could fool a good person,” he said.

“Years ago I failed to protect your mother from her brother’s money schemes, and I swore to myself I’d never let another man take away what belonged to my daughter.”

He slid the silver watch across the table until the leather strap touched the side of my coffee cup.

“Take it, Valerie,” he said.