Blue Cotton Work Shirts Stitched Together for a Spring Dance
I picked up the silver chain and carefully aligned the small clasp with the loop at the top of the watch stem.
With a tiny click, the silver joined together once more, the chain draping in a heavy loop across my fingers.
“It fits,” Clara said, leaning back in her wooden chair.
She reached into her apron pocket and drew out her own silver locket, running her thumb over the smooth metal.
“Principal Bradley stopped by the shop this afternoon before the dance,” she said, her voice soft. “He brought a check from the school board trust.”
I looked up from the watch. “For the roof?”
“It is paid for,” she said, a small, tired smile appearing on her face. “He said the school owed Albert for eleven years of keeping the boilers running through the freezes.”
I wound the watch slowly, feeling the resistance of the mainspring until it was tight.
The silver pocket watch was whole again, the chain and the case reunited after months of separation.
I placed the watch inside the velvet box and closed the lid with a soft snap.
