The Ladies' Room by Carolyn Brown

married
in the same month and that I was not to expect a happily-everafter marriage just because I'd chosen that most traditional
month to marry.
    I scattered the jewelry on the bed all around me. The topaz
and opal pin looked familiar; I'd seen one like it before, but
where? I picked it up, and then it dawned on me. Daisy Black
wore one pinned to the lapel of a black suit almost every Sunday. Why would Aunt Gert and Daisy have identical fancy
brooches?
    I untangled a pendant with a fine gold chain and looked at
the diamond cross and remembered that Patsy Banner had
had one like it. She had died a couple of years ago and had
passed it down to her daughter, Loretta, who wore it all the
time to remember her mother.

    A square-cut emerald ring caught my attention. As I laid it
back in the box, I noticed the corner of something sticking out
from the felt bottom. It was a certificate for the diamond pendant from a famous jewelry store in Oklahoma City.
    What a mystery! Either Uncle Lonnie Martin had purchased the necklace for Gert, and she'd been too mean-spirited
to ever wear it, or she had bought the jewelry for herself and
maybe kept it a secret from Lonnie. If the designer was still
living, the jewelry store that sold it could probably tell me something about the pieces. Finding the jeweler took a little longer
than typing the address into the laptop I'd left behind with all
my other belongings, but the telephone operator finally located it for me.
    The phone rang twice before a nice voice asked if she could
be of assistance.
    "Hello, this is Trudy Williams. I've just inherited several
pieces of jewelry from my aunt, Gertrude Martin..
    "Just a minute, ma'am. You'll need to speak to my husband.
Please hold on while I transfer you to his office ""
    A deep voice promptly answered. "Hello, Mrs. Williams.
My name is Paul Fisher. I understand you have inherited a
collection of jewelry from your aunt. I wasn't even aware that
Gert had passed on. Please accept my condolences."
    "You knew Gert?" I was amazed.
    "Oh, yes. I only met her once, but we've talked several times
on the phone. I've been trying to buy back those pieces ever
since Lonnie died. It's the only complete set of my work. Name
your price."
    "Mr. Fisher, I know of at least two more pieces you designed
right here in Tishomingo. Two different women each own a
piece exactly like these," I said.
    "Yes, they do. There are thirty-seven pieces in all, and I
made two of each design. But Gert had the only complete set"
    "Why did Gert have them all and these other women have
one each?"
    "Because Lonnie had two pieces done each time he came in.
I didn't ask questions. I was here to design and sell jewelry."
    "That rat!" I changed my mind about Gert.

    "Could be. I didn't ask what he did with the two pieces when
he walked out of here. I just knew that after Lonnie died, Gert
came here toting a wooden box with all that jewelry and asked
me what it was worth. I made her a generous offer, but she
laughed at me. Every year I beg, and every year she tells me the
same thing."
    "Which is?"
    "Verbatim?"
    "That would be nice."
    "'I'll keep these until I die. The world is going to the devil
in a handbasket. These will keep me and my family from
starving.' So, are you selling?"
    "Not today, but if I decide to, I won't sell to anyone else.
You've got my word"
    "If it's as good as Gert's word, then that's all I need. Call
me when you get ready to give them up"
    A cuckoo clock in the living room clicked six times, and
Billy Lee knocked on the door at the same time I hung up the
telephone. When I opened it, he was standing there with a
container of food.
    "Suppertime," he said.
    "Have you eaten?"
    Crimson flooded his cheeks. "No, me and Gert always ate
together."
    "Then bring it in. I've got sweet tea in the fridge."
    "Gert and I ate in the kitchen on the bar. Is that all right
with you?" He followed me through the living room and dining room and into