Chapter 5 - THE WATCH THAT WASN'T HIS
The empty space on my mantel frightened me more than I wanted to admit.
Walter's watch had rested there since the day I brought it home from the hospital.
I crossed the living room and examined the little wooden stand.
It was still there.
The watch was gone.
Behind me, Chloe rose.
"Eleanor?"
"That photograph. When was it taken?"
"Last Sunday."
I looked at her.
"That can't be Walter's watch."
She came closer.
"Are you sure?"
"His watch was here this morning."
I stopped.
Had it been?
I remembered looking at the mantel.
I remembered the silver gleam near the photograph.
But I hadn't actually touched the watch in weeks.
I searched the small drawer beneath the mantel.
Nothing.
I checked the cabinet where I kept Walter's cuff links.
Nothing.
Then I saw a folded square of paper beneath the wooden stand.
I opened it.
Three words were written in a child's uneven handwriting.
Borrowed for Daddy.
Below them was a small drawing of a clock.
I recognized Lily's purple marker.
My heart began pounding.
"Lily was here on Sunday," I said.
Chloe nodded.
"Adam brought both kids after church. You were out."
"Adam has a key."
"He said he needed to collect some tools Grandpa Walt left him."
I remembered.
Adam had asked permission to borrow Walter's old drill.
I'd told him where to find it.
But I hadn't given permission to take the watch.
I sat down slowly.
"Why would Adam take something so important without telling me?"
Chloe looked uncomfortable.
"He probably planned to return it."
"Then why did William have it?"
She stared at the photograph.
"I don't know."
For the first time since she'd arrived, I believed her.
I asked Chloe to call Adam.
She hesitated, then placed the call on speaker.
He answered from his car.
"Hey. Everything okay?"
"Adam," I said, "did you take your father's watch?"
Silence.
Then, "Mom?"
"Did you?"
He exhaled.
"Yes."
I closed my eyes.
"Why?"
"Uncle William wanted to examine it."
"Why would he want to examine your father's watch?"
"He said Dad left something for me."
"What does a watch have to do with that?"
Adam sounded frustrated.
"Mom, I'm not trying to upset you. William said there might be a clue inside the back."
I looked at Chloe.
She looked equally confused.
"What clue?" I asked.
"Something Dad wrote before he died."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Uncle William said you might be upset."
I felt tears sting my eyes.
My son had taken one of my most treasured possessions because the man Walter distrusted had told him to.
"Bring the watch home, Adam."
"Uncle William still has it."
My chest tightened.
"Where?"
"At his office."
"Then get it."
"I will."
"And Adam?"
"Yes?"
"No more secrets about your father."
He was quiet for a moment.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out too."
After the call ended, Chloe sat beside me.
"I didn't know he took it."
"I believe you."
She looked surprised.
I studied her face.
"Chloe, I don't think you understand how much trust has been damaged."
"I know I've made mistakes."
"Do you understand why I can't give you the money?"
She nodded slowly.
"I think so."
Then she looked down at her wedding ring.
"We've been so worried about getting the children into a better school district. The rent keeps going up. Adam has been working overtime, and every time we save something, another bill arrives."
Her voice cracked.
"My parents moved us constantly when I was growing up. I promised myself Lily and Noah would have one place to call home."
For the first time, I saw the frightened girl beneath the determined woman.
It didn't excuse her actions.
But it explained some of them.
"You don't have to own a house to give children stability," I said.
"I know. But sometimes it feels like everyone else is moving forward and we're standing still."
I touched her hand.
"Chloe, a house purchased through dishonesty won't give you peace."
She wiped her eyes.
"I didn't realize William was using us."
"Neither did Adam."
She looked toward the mantel.
"Maybe you should talk to him."
"William?"
She nodded.
I considered it.
Then I said, "Not until I know what Walter was trying to tell us."
The next morning, I visited Westdale again.
Sarah was helping volunteers pack blankets.
I asked whether she remembered Walter ever discussing his watch.
She frowned.
"He wore it constantly."
"Did he ever have it repaired?"
"Once. He broke the clasp while unloading a truck."
"Do you remember where?"
She smiled faintly.
"Your husband was very particular about that watch. He took it to Mr. Peterson's jewelry shop downtown."
I knew the place.
Peterson's had been serving our town for decades.
I thanked Sarah and drove there.
Mr. Peterson was a thin, silver-haired man with half-moon glasses.
He remembered Walter immediately.
"Good man. Always paid his bills in cash, even when I told him he could use a card."
I smiled.
"That sounds like him."
I showed him an old photograph of the watch.
He examined it.
"Ah, yes. The Hamilton. Beautiful piece."
"Did Walter ever ask you to open the back?"
"Of course. We serviced it twice."
"Was anything unusual inside?"
He looked thoughtful.
"Not inside the mechanism. But Walter did have something engraved beneath the case."
My heart beat faster.
"What?"
Mr. Peterson disappeared into the back room.
He returned carrying an old service ledger.
He turned several pages.
"There."
He pointed to a line dated three years earlier.
Hamilton wristwatch. Case inscription requested.
Beneath it was a note.
Customer supplied wording.
I leaned forward.
"What wording?"
Mr. Peterson adjusted his glasses.
"It says, 'Keep the promise. Not the price.'"
I stared at the page.
"That doesn't sound like a message about buying a house."
He smiled gently.
"Then perhaps it wasn't."
I thanked him and left.
Outside, I stood beside my car, thinking about Walter.
Keep the promise. Not the price.
What promise?
And why had William told Adam the watch contained proof that Walter wanted him to receive money?
That afternoon, Adam arrived at my house.
He looked exhausted.
He held Walter's watch in a small velvet pouch.
"I'm sorry, Mom."
I accepted it carefully.
He remained standing.
"Uncle William opened the back. There wasn't anything inside except the engraving."
"I know."
Adam looked surprised.
"You know?"
I told him about Mr. Peterson.
He sat down.
"Then William lied."
"About what?"
"He said Dad left a message about the workshop."
I took out the incomplete photocopy Chloe had shown me.
"Your father did write about helping you."
Adam stared at it.
"Where did you get that?"
"Chloe."
He read it.
His face softened.
"Dad wanted me to have a house."
"Perhaps. But we need to know what the entire letter said."
Adam rubbed his eyes.
"William has the original."
"Then we should ask him for it."
He hesitated.
"There's something else, Mom."
I waited.
"When I was twenty-three, I borrowed money from Uncle William to start a landscaping business."
I remembered that business.
It lasted less than a year.
Adam had told us he'd closed it because he wasn't making enough profit.
"How much?" I asked.
"Twenty thousand dollars."
My heart sank.
"Did your father know?"
Adam nodded.
"He found out after I missed several payments."
I remembered Walter being unusually quiet that winter.
"Did he help you repay it?"
Adam looked ashamed.
"Yes."
"How?"
He stared at the watch in my hands.
"He sold part of the workshop to William."
I felt the room tilt.
"Part of it?"
Adam nodded.
"Uncle William told me Dad signed an agreement giving him an interest in the property."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Dad made me promise not to worry you. He said he'd handle it."
I looked at the old watch.
Keep the promise. Not the price.
Suddenly, I understood that Walter might have paid a much higher price for Adam's mistake than any of us realized.
Then Adam reached into his coat.
"I found something in the pouch when William returned the watch."
He handed me a narrow strip of yellowed paper.
It looked as though it had been torn from the bottom of Walter's letter.
There were only two lines.
But they changed everything.
I will help my son build a home.
I will not let my brother own his future.
May you like
And beneath them, in Walter's handwriting, was a single instruction:
Eleanor, if William ever asks Adam for money again, look at the Christmas photograph from 2019.
