Page 93 of The Neighborhood Witch

“I’m fine. It’s just—”

“You can’t fool me. You’re not fine,” Alice replied.

Hugo lowered his head and sighed. “I’m good. I’m just… nervous. I’m feeling a lot of things right now. Today is dredging up a lot of emotions, and I don’t know how to process it.”

Alice hugged Hugo. “It’s okay. Someone smart once told me it’s okay to not be okay. This is a big day for you. I’m proud of you for going.”

“I know. I haven’t been back there since we buried her. I was okay with it, but now I feel like I’ve done something terrible, and I don’t know what to do,” Hugo said with a voice that held back tears.

Alice pulled back from Hugo and grabbed his shoulders. Her emerald green eyes locked with his icy blues. “Look at me,” Alice commanded. “You’ve done nothing wrong. I know this is a very emotional day. It will be okay. I’m here for you. We’ll do this together.”

Hugo nodded. He took in a deep breath. “I think I’m ready. It’ll be good to visit with Elizabeth again.”

Alice kissed Hugo on the cheek. They turned and proceeded to the front door.

Hugo stopped. “I need to get something.”

He headed back down the hallway.

“What are you getting?” Alice said with a worried look.

“I’m not going to put it on. I just want it with me,” he replied as he entered the living room.

Alice frantically followed Hugo and stood at the living room entrance. Hugo hurried over to Alice’s memory shrine and picked up the black box that held his wedding ring. He opened the box, expecting to find his black, onyx ring. It was empty. He snapped his attention to Alice with a panicked expression.

“Where’s the ring?” Hugo asked.

“I’m sure it’s safe,” Alice replied.

He showed Alice the empty box. “It’s not here. Where’s the ring?” He frantically checked the box again, hoping he had overlooked it in his panic.

“Maybe it fell out. Did you look at it recently?” Alice asked.

Hugo dropped to the floor, peering under the bookshelf. The area was dark and held onto its secrets. “I haven’t touched it since Christmas.”

He pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He scanned the entire area, but his search was fruitless. He crawled along the floor, checking each and every bookshelf. He stood back up. Dust and dog hair now covered his black dress pants.

“Look at my pants,” he said before trying to swipe them clean.

Alice snapped her fingers, and the pants cleaned themselves. He turned his attention back to the memory shrine. He moved things out of place.

“Why is there so much stuff here?”

Alice grew annoyed. She could tolerate a lot, but she drew the line at messing with her things. “Let me help you.” She moved to get Hugo away from her ancestral items. She put things back where they belonged.

Hugo checked under the couch. Nothing. He haphazardly threw the pillows and cushions across the room. He shoved his hand into the crevice of the couch, desperately trying to find his wedding ring.

Alice rolled her eyes at the mess he was making. She snapped her fingers. The cushions and pillows flew back into their rightful places. A cushion pinned Hugo’s hand against the back of the couch.

“Maybe you should forget the ring,” Alice suggested.

Hugo withdrew his hand and leered at Alice with anger. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Like what?”

“You’d like me to forget this whole thing,” Hugo yelled, flailing his arms about. “You’d like me to forget her.”

“How dare you?” Alice placed her hands on her hips. “I’m going to chalk this up to this being an emotional day.”

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