Chapter 6 – THE WATCH INSIDE HIS COAT

“Do not return?”

I read the instruction twice.

Daniel stood beside me in the quiet dining room.

“Vanessa wrote that,” I said.

He nodded.

“Are you certain?”

“I’ve seen her handwriting on the household lists.”

I looked at Antonio’s coat.

The dark wool had worn smooth near the cuffs.

One button had been replaced with a slightly different shade of brown.

Teresa once told me she’d sewn it on during a snowstorm when Antonio refused to buy a new coat.

“There’s nothing wrong with this one,” he’d insisted.

She’d laughed and told him the button was nearly falling off.

He’d let her fix it.

That coat had been hanging in his bedroom when he died.

Teresa kept it because it still reminded her of him.

I couldn’t imagine someone labeling it for disposal.

Daniel looked toward the staircase.

“Should we tell Mr. Moretti tonight?”

I considered Teresa’s exhaustion.

“Tomorrow morning.”

Then I paused.

“But please don’t let anybody take it.”

Daniel placed the coat over a chair.

“It stays here.”

Sunday morning arrived quietly.

I entered the dining room shortly before nine.

Luca was already there.

He wore a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

The silver braid lay on the table beside Teresa’s gold bracelet.

He was examining the faded blue ribbon.

“Good morning, Emily.”

“Good morning, sir.”

He looked tired.

I doubted he’d slept.

“Is Mom awake?”

“She’ll be downstairs soon.”

He nodded.

Then noticed Antonio’s coat.

His expression changed.

“Where did you find that?”

“Daniel discovered it with the donation items.”

Luca approached.

He touched the worn sleeve.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he reached into the inside pocket.

He removed a gold pocket watch.

The case was scratched.

The chain had been repaired with a small brass link.

Luca opened it.

The hands had stopped at 8:47.

“Dad carried this everywhere,” he said.

I nodded.

“Mrs. Moretti told me.”

Luca turned the watch over.

On the back were two engraved initials.

Beneath them was a date.

June 14, 1971.

“The day they married,” Luca said.

He smiled faintly.

“Dad always said he couldn’t remember where he put his keys, but he’d never forget that date.”

Then his thumb stopped.

Something small was tucked behind the watch’s protective lining.

A photograph.

Luca carefully unfolded it.

It showed Antonio and Teresa standing outside the neighborhood bakery where they’d first met.

Teresa was young.

Her dark hair hung in a long braid over one shoulder.

Antonio stood beside her, holding a paper bag.

Both were laughing.

On the back, Antonio had written:

She finally said yes.

Luca stared.

Then he laughed softly.

“Dad kept this all those years.”

I smiled.

“Mrs. Moretti said he bought bread every afternoon just to see her.”

“He did.”

Luca looked at the photograph again.

“And she never knew how nervous he was.”

At that moment, Teresa entered.

She stopped when she saw the coat.

Luca turned.

“Morning, Mom.”

Her eyes moved toward the watch.

“Where did you find that?”

“In Dad’s coat.”

She approached slowly.

Then she saw the photograph.

For a moment, she looked twenty years younger.

Not in her face.

In her expression.

“I haven’t seen that picture in years.”

Luca handed it to her.

She smiled.

“He made your grandmother take it.”

“Why?”

“Because he said nobody would believe I finally agreed to marry him.”

She laughed.

Then her smile faded.

She touched the coat.

“Vanessa said it was going away.”

Luca nodded.

“I know.”

Teresa looked at him.

“Do you mind if I keep it?”

He stared at her.

“Mom, of course not.”

She looked embarrassed.

“I know it’s only an old coat.”

Luca gently placed the watch in her palm.

“It’s Dad’s coat.”

Her eyes filled.

“And you’re allowed to miss him.”

That morning, we ate breakfast together.

Not a formal meal.

Just coffee, toast, scrambled eggs, and Teresa’s favorite strawberry jam.

Luca sat beside his mother.

He listened while she told him about Antonio’s terrible attempts at cooking.

He laughed at a story he’d heard many times.

And when Teresa apologized for repeating herself, he said, “I like hearing it.”

The simple words made her smile.

But the unresolved arrangements still hung over the household.

After breakfast, Daniel came into the dining room.

“Mr. Moretti, the Monday appointment is still scheduled.”

Luca looked up.

“With Edward Hale?”

“Yes.”

“Has anybody told him what’s happened?”

“Not yet, sir.”

Luca thought for a moment.

Then looked toward his mother.

“Mom, would you be comfortable meeting him?”

Teresa hesitated.

“Do I have to?”

She studied his face.

“Would you stay with me?”

“Of course.”

She took a breath.

“Then perhaps I should.”

Daniel nodded.

“I’ll make sure he understands this is only a conversation.”

Luca looked at me.

“Emily, would you be here, too?”

“Yes, sir.”

He glanced toward Teresa.

“She trusts you.”

The older woman smiled at me.

“I do.”

I felt something tighten in my throat.

For months, I’d been terrified that speaking up would cost me my job.

Now the same family was asking me to help protect the person I’d been afraid to defend.

Monday morning, the four of us gathered in the dining room.

Teresa wore her navy dress again.

Her short silver hair had been brushed gently behind her ears.

She wore Antonio’s bracelet.

His photograph rested beside her place.

At ten o’clock, Daniel escorted Edward Hale into the room.

He was a tall, silver-haired gentleman with kind eyes and a dark brown overcoat.

He carried a small envelope.

He looked from Luca to Teresa.

Then frowned.

“Mrs. Moretti?”

Teresa stood nervously.

“Yes?”

Edward approached.

“I’m Edward Hale.”

He took off his hat.

“I’m sorry to meet you under these circumstances.”

Luca stepped forward.

“Mr. Hale, what exactly were you told about my mother?”

Edward looked surprised.

Then troubled.

He glanced at Teresa’s suitcase, still resting near the fireplace.

“I was told she’d been asked to leave her family home.”

Luca’s expression hardened.

“By whom?”

Edward hesitated.

“Miss Bellini.”

Then he looked directly at Teresa.

“And she told me your son had decided you weren’t welcome here anymore.”