I once met a girl at a party, and we woke up together. She left in a rush the next morning, saying she was late. After a relaxed breakfast, I noticed she had forgotten her vintage earrings—ones she said belonged to her great-grandmother.

I slipped them into my pocket and went to her house to return them. A woman who looked like her mother answered the door. “Please give these to Julia,” I said. She flinched and gave me a strange look.

“You forgot them at my place yesterday,” I added.
“Yesterday?” she repeated.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“But Julia died six years ago,” she said.

I froze. Just then, Julia burst in, laughing and yelling, “Mum! Stop messing with him!” Her mother laughed and invited me in for coffee.

That day, I not only returned the earrings—I met my future mother-in-law.