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The bangle was real gold. Most of the women in Corel wore bronze jewelery if they wore any at all. But Barret had sought this one out specifically, a special request of the supplier that came through every so often, traveling from the Eastern Continent. It looked right on Myrna’s wrist, an adornment that glowed almost as much as she did.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “But what did it—”
“Don’t worry ‘bout what it cost.”
It cost a lot. Much more than Barret had spent on the simple ring around Myrna’s finger when he asked her to marry him. But never mind. Soon enough he would buy her another one of those too. Gold and shining like the bracelet, with a heavy rock on it.
“Water heater’s starting to rust. And weren’t you just saying that the roof’s gonna need replacing before winter? Then there’s the —”
Barret laced his fingers with Myrna’s, lifting her hand. He turned it one way, then the other, so the bracelet caught the light.
“Looks good on you,” he said.
Before lowering it, he kissed the back her hand. Myrna rolled her eyes, but stopped asking questions. She reached for his face, pulling his lips down to hers for a kiss that let Barret know how much she really did like the bracelet.
A golden bracelet, and a golden moment. In it, everything felt possible. Things were about to turn around for them.
Barret had never wanted to be a rich man. What he wanted was to be a man whose wife didn’t have to worry about a home falling apart around her, or where the money for repairs would come from. He wanted to work hard every day, and see the results of that hard work reflected in his hometown. And yeah, he wanted to see a goddamn gold bracelet on Myrna’s arm.
Wasn’t supposed to cost them much. Just them giving up their coal. Mako was the future. With a new reactor, Corel’s future was going to be bright. Barret made a case for it. Convinced others that it was well worth that small initial cost, when the return on their investment would be a more prosperous future.
This is what it cost, Barret thought later, numb and bleeding, knees in the dirt and Myrna’s body clutched to him with his one remaining arm. His future. His arm, his best friend, his entire heart. Everything.
Barret had been empty, ready to lie down next to Myrna and die himself. He’d tied off his arm with a clumsy tourniquet, but it still bled. With one shaking hand, he slipped the gold bracelet off Myrna’s arm and threw it aside. He reached for the cloth knotted just above his elbow.
That was when he heard the cry.
Right away, he knew what it was.
Just when you thought you had nothing to give, life demanded more. It cost Barret everything he had left to do it, but he let go of Myrna. He got up.