The Music Box in the Trash
Chapter 11 - The Music Box in the Trash
Lily tugged Dante’s sleeve.
“The music box.”
Dante knelt again.
“Where did she put it?”
Lily pointed toward the service hallway.
Elena led them to the kitchen disposal room. Dante carried the teddy bear. Lily held Elena’s hand. Two security officers remained with Vanessa in the foyer.
The silver music box lay in a trash bin beneath ribbon scraps and white flower stems.
Its painted moon was cracked.
One hinge was bent.
Dante lifted it carefully.
Lily touched the cracked moon.
“Can you fix it?”
Dante swallowed.
“Yes.”
Elena looked at him.
“Miss Lily did not cry because it broke,” she said softly. “She cried because Miss Cole said you would agree it was time to forget.”
Dante closed his hand around the music box.
He had spent years telling Lily her mother lived in memory.
Then he nearly married someone who treated memory like competition.
“We are not forgetting anyone,” he said.
May you like
Lily leaned against him.
This time, he held her.
