Page 83 of Destiny

Ryan offers a worn smile. “I know you are, son. And she couldn’t do any better than you.”

Ruby walks toward us quickly then. “Good, you’re no longer in there. I need to talk to you about something.”

“What’s that, babe?” Ryan asks.

“Something that just occurred to me. Something that may be related. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ava

My tattoo is covered in a clear plastic bandage so I can see the beauty of it.

I feel strengthened by it, more like myself than I have in a while.

By inking my skin, I found myself. I gained strength.

The bracelets still clink on my right wrist, and now I wonder… Where did they truly come from?

Perhaps Grandmother Didi bought them at an antique place. Perhaps they weren’t hers to begin with, so they have someone else’s initials. After all, WM aren’t necessarily odd initials. QX would be odd. But not WM.

I head back into the antique shop where Lucy is still sitting.

“Hey, Ava, twice in one day?”

“Yeah. Could you have a look at these bracelets?” I pull them off my wrist and hand them to her. “Are they vintage?”

Lucy takes the loupe, which is still sitting there on the counter where I left it, and puts it to her eye to examine the bracelets.

“I’d say these are about thirty to fifty years old. Nothing antique.”

“I see.”

That doesn’t really help me at all since both my grandmothers are around the same age. Either could’ve gotten them around the same time.

“Is there anything on them that could tell you where they were made? A marking or anything?”

“No, I don’t see any kind of jeweler’s marking.” She holds up the third bracelet. “Other than this WM. I don’t know of any jeweler that uses that particular marking. Not from when these were made, anyway.”

“All right. That’s interesting.” I take the bracelets and put them back on my wrist. “Thanks again, Lucy.”

“Anytime. See you around, Ava.”

I head back to my place, making a stop at the pharmacy where I pick up a tube of ointment that Cyrus recommended for caring for my tattoo as it heals.

As I’m leaving, I run into Brock.

I so don’t need to deal with him right now.

“Ava,” he says. “What’s this about the bakery closing down?”

“I’m allowed to take some time off, Brock.”

“Yeah.” He cocks his head to the side. “Of course you are. Except that you don’t.”

I brush past him and outside the pharmacy. “See you later.”

But he follows me, of course. I knew he would. No one brushes off Brock Steel.

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