Page 141 of Fourth Down Fumble

“I’m not following,” Cornell said, reaching out to brush a strand of hair from her face that the sun was hitting directly, illuminating it. He sighed, running his hand through the softness of the rest of her hair. The twisting of the ring on her finger made a beam of light shine out from his mother’s diamond, letting it glow a different color.

“I know you’re going to tell me not to hate myself for not reporting him, but I do. Because it was right there all along, Cornell.” Ali shook her head as tears formed in her eyes. “This is the fumble recovery. This is my chance to help make things right for me. For us. For her. For someone else,” Ali’s voice cracked. “And it’s because of you. You were there with me on the worst day of my life even if you think you weren’t. Maybe you couldn’t have stopped it, Cornell. But you are the one who really will end it after all.”

Huh?

Cornell dipped his head to meet her eyes, his finger tilting her chin to look at him before cupping her cheek. “Ali, what are you talking about?”

Ali’s hand went to her chest, her fingers tracing across the skin peeking from her T-shirt and up her neck. “They need a receipt,” Ali repeated before withdrawing her hand and bringing it up to cover his own holding her face.

“A receipt for what, Ali?”

Tears ran freely down her face, and before Cornell could wipe them away, Ali surprised him by smiling. “He tried to take it, but no one can take that from you and me. That’s ours.”

“Ali,” Cornell said with a small, uncomfortable laugh. “What are you—”

“They need a receipt for the necklace, so they can prove it’s mine. He took it that night.”

Cornell’s mouth fell open as his mind flashed to last summer, sitting on the beach with Ali leaning against his chest, their toes buried in the sand. “Here’s your physical evidence,” Cornell joked. “You can’t erase it. So you know I mean it.”

“Ali… ” he tried to say more but couldn’t. So Ali did it for him.

“You were right. You can’t lose something forever.” Ali shook her head and squeezed his hand. “Not once. Not twice. Never.”