The Other Side of Divine by Vanessa Davis Griggs Page A

this really it?” she asked, questioning Lawrence about the heart-shaped semi-diamond-covered necklace with the diamond-looking pink rose on the inside made from what she now believed were, if this was the actual necklace, Swarovski crystals instead of diamonds.
    He nodded. “It is. One and the same.”
    Tears began to do a free-fall from Deidra’s eyes straight to her hands that lovingly held the necklace. She slowly turned the necklace over to the back and saw the slight cut mark on the gold in the exact same place, certain now that this was the necklace her beloved grandfather had given to her on her eighteenth birthday. A gift he’d originally given to her grandmother decades earlier but, wanting to make it into a family heirloom, had passed on to his little “Binky” as he called Deidra (in honor of the brand name of the pacifier that had never been far from her mouth when she was a toddler before they took it away, which then caused her to start sucking her thumb). Lost to her forever, or so she believed, after someone took it from her dorm room when she was twenty.
    Composing herself after several huge swallows, she again asked, “How? Where?”
    Lawrence took her by the hand that still held the necklace and guided her to the couch, where they both sat down. He angled his body toward her, refusing to take his hand away from a hand she was for once in seven months allowing to rest in his. A hand she had religiously and consistently pulled out of his when he’d attempted to merely reach for it.
    â€œI tracked it down,” Lawrence said.
    Deidra looked down at the necklace, lovingly settled in the palm of her hand.
    Lawrence smiled and carefully picked up the necklace by its chain. Holding it in the air, he looked into Deidra’s eyes, which were now looking into his. “May I?” he said, holding the two sides of the chain apart now.
    Deidra nodded and turned her back to Lawrence, who, with shaking hands, managed to clasp the necklace around her neck. Deidra turned back to him as she touched the heart pendant lying next to her chest, once again close to her heart.
    â€œBeautiful,” Lawrence said with a satisfied smile.
    â€œWhere did you find it? How were you able to get it back?” Deidra asked again, more completely this time.
    Lawrence nodded. “I knew who took it.”
    Deidra leaned back slightly away from him. “You knew who took it? You mean when I was frantically trying to find it that day all of those years ago, you knew who took it and you never said a word?”
    Lawrence placed his hands over both of hers. “If you’ll recall, that was the first time you and I actually held a real conversation.”
    â€œSo what are you saying, Lawrence? That you put someone up to taking my necklace just so you could talk to me,” Deidra said, snatching her hand out of his. “Help me out here. Tell me the truth and I mean the whole truth because you know that I know when you’re lying.”
    Lawrence smiled as he nodded. “Yes, you, of all people, know me better than anyone on this earth. And yet, you still love me . . . you’re still with me. And I thank you for that. I thought I fell in love with you all those years ago. But these past few months, I can truly say that I love you even more than I ever thought possible.”
    â€œLawrence, are you trying to change the subject?” Deidra touched the heart of the necklace again. “This necklace . . . did you know who took it and you’ve known where it was all of these years and you never said anything to me?”
    Lawrence took both her hands again and squeezed them. “Yes, I knew who took it.” Deidra tried to snatch her hands out of his again, but this time he held on tight. “No, no, don’t try and run. I need you to hear me out on this. You owe me that much.”
    Deidra stopped fighting him. “Okay. I’m listening.”
    â€œThis