“I knew your father bought it in Columbus sixty years ago.”

He pressed the silver pocket watch into my hand, and the cool metal lay steady against my skin.

“He never carried it to any jeweler,” Uncle John said.

“The court ordered my bank accounts put back by Friday,” I said.

Uncle John nodded once and shut his eyes in the warm afternoon sun.

“Did he tell the judge why he kept two houses running?” Uncle John asked.

“He didn’t say one word after the commissioner spoke,” I said.