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If this was sunshine, what had he been like when he was still grumpy?

“Do you know where we should go in Bozeman?” Jack asked Soren.

“Depends. What’re you looking for?” Soren asked.

“Luci wants something vintage,” I said. “Gold setting. Maybe a little pattern on the sides.”

“That sounds specific,” Jack said.

“It’s like the ring in The Family Stone,” I said. “She was very clear that’s what she wanted.”

“When did she mention that?” Jack asked.

“Only every time we’ve watched the movie.” I’d thought about that ring a lot over the last three years, imagining asking Luci, her face lighting up when she saw the perfect ring.

“How will we find that?” Jack asked.

“I’ve no idea,” I said.

“I do,” Soren said. “Leave it to me.”

An hour later, Soren turned onto a residential street lined with old houses and bare trees. I sat forward, looking for a building that looked like a jewelry store but I saw nothing of the sort.

“This is where a jewelry shop is?” Jack asked.

“Yep,” Soren said. “Kind of anyway.”

We came to a house with a three-legged reindeer in the front yard. Soren slowed, then pulled into the driveway.

“This is it?” Jack asked, sounding worried.

“Trust me,” Soren said. “Vera’s never let me down. She knows my mama, so, you know, she would never do us dirty.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jack said, sending me a look.

The house was three stories tall, with peeling green paint and an enclosed porch crowded with furniture. A wreath hung crookedly on the front door. A cat in an upstairs window glared at us. Parked in the driveway was an old Ford pickup truck, circa 1971. One tire seemed a little flat.

“I hope we make it out alive,” Jack whispered to me.

I stifled a laugh, not wanting to get on the bad side of Soren.

Soren shut off the engine. “Let’s do this.”

“What happened to Rudolph?” Jack asked as we followed Soren up the driveway.

“Dogs most likely,” Soren said.

“Like from inside the house?” Jack asked.

“Nah,” Soren said. “There’s a crew of strays in the area. Wreak havoc this time of year. They love to tear through lawn decorations.”

We walked past a garage with a padlock on the door. Behind the house, a shoveled path led to a set of concrete steps going down. I thought I detected a dog’s bark but it might have been my imagination.

Soren knocked twice slow, then three fast, on a metal door. “Vera has a code.”

“Of course she does,” Jack said.

“Who is it?” A gruff voice. Female. Maybe.