Page 88 of In the Dust

She laughs, talking quietly into the phone. “He’s a collector. When he walked into my studio tonight, the room grew quiet, if that tells you anything.”

“Sell him mine. That money would help us so much.”

Gina’s heels tap against the ground as she walks closer to him and pulls the phone away from her ear. “Sir, she’s only interested in selling the one we spoke about.”

There’s a beat of silence, like the man is thinking. “Fifty thousand per piece,” he offers, and it makes my stomach drop.

Grandpa lets out a wheezing gasp, and a smile tilts his face. ‘Sell them,’ he mouths.

Can I do this?

“Dixie?” Gina says.

Can I sell the only thing I have left of her?

“What’s your answer?”