Hi, Walker:

I (27F) found a silver earring in my car after my boyfriend (32M) had been using it — now I’m unsure how to feel.

About four weeks ago, I had major knee surgery and haven’t been able to walk or drive since. My boyfriend has stepped up and taken great care of me — helping me around the house, driving me to appointments, and using my car to get to work.

Since I can’t bend my knee easily, I’ve always been sitting in the back seat during these rides. Yesterday, for the first time since surgery, I was finally able to bend my knee enough to sit in the front seat. We went out to grab some food — it was the first time I’d been out in weeks and I was really looking forward to it.

When we got home and I was getting out of the passenger seat, I noticed something shiny on the floor. It was a silver ball earring — definitely not mine. I only wear gold jewelry and I don’t own anything silver.

I asked my boyfriend about it right away. He seemed startled (which makes sense because I can be a little intense sometimes), and he said maybe it got stuck to my shoe somehow. That didn’t really make sense to me.

Here are the facts:

• I haven’t driven my car in four weeks.
• I’ve only sat in the front seat once in that time — yesterday.
• My car is new (only had it 2–3 months).
• I haven’t had any of my female friends in the car.
• The only people who’ve been in it recently are my brother, my boyfriend, and his male friend.
• I don’t own any silver jewelry.
• The earring was found in the front passenger seat.

I trust my boyfriend, and he seemed genuinely unsure of how it got there. He denied having any female coworkers in the car. But I can’t help that nagging feeling — the facts don’t quite line up, and I don’t want to assume the worst, but I also don’t want to ignore it if there’s more going on.

How should I handle this? How do I process this without spiraling or making unfair accusations?