Six Vintage Dresses Left in a Cedar Trunk on Oak Street

table where Peggy sat waiting.

She had her silver wedding ring off, rolling it back and forth between her thumb and forefinger on the paper placemat.

A half-empty cup of black coffee sat cold between us, the surface covered in a thin, grey film.

“He sent his junior partner to the bakery at noon,” Peggy said, her voice a soft, flat murmur that did not continue reading …