I turned to the woman running the sale, a middle-aged lady with kind eyes and sun-spotted hands.

“Excuse me,” I said, my voice shaking. “Where did this dress come from?”

She glanced up. “Oh, that? My husband found it in a box when we cleaned out an old storage unit we bought at auction. He said most of the stuff was junk, but this one looked too nice to throw away.”

I swallowed hard. “Do you know who the unit belonged to?”

She shook her head. “No, sorry. We didn’t get much information. It was from an estate sale after someone passed away. Why? Is it special?”

My throat tightened. “It belonged to my mother,” I said softly.

The woman looked startled. “Oh, goodness. I had no idea.”