A Stranger's Ring

~Grandma Sylvie~

I refilled our cups and let the quiet settle before I asked.

"Leo's father," I said. "Tell me about him."

Raina looked at her tea for a moment. I had expected hesitation. What I got instead was something more like resignation — the exhale of someone who had been carrying a story for so long that they had almost forgotten what it felt like to put it down.

"I went to Las Vegas when