In October, My Husband Left a Manila Envelope on Our Kitchen Table and Walked Out Into the Rain

When I came back downstairs, Greg was sitting at the kitchen table near the ceramic salt shaker.

His reading glasses rested beside the salt shaker, and his hands were folded over a small dark velvet box on the wooden tabletop.

“I took this out of my dresser drawer the day I left in October,” Greg said softly.

He pushed the velvet box two inches across the wood toward my fingers.

I opened the small spring lid and found his late father’s gold signet ring sitting inside on a grey satin pad.

“Why did you keep this in your coat pocket, Greg?” I asked.