Page 105 of Her Hidden Smile

Renzo picked up my hand and kissed my inner wrist.

“You keep doing that, I’ll melt right out of my chair and onto the floor.”

“No, you won’t. You have a spine of steel.”

“You’re just—” I stopped myself. I couldn’t scoff at him. Not when he was looking at me like that. Renzo really meant that. He believed I was strong. He believed I had a spine of steel. And I was kind of believing it too. Did it take me having him as my mirror before I realized it, or was it there all along?

“Here are your drinks.”

Lettie placed our teas in front of us.

I heard the sound of chairs scraping. I looked around and saw everybody standing, including Little Grandma. Even Patty had come out from the kitchen and she was standing. They were all holding glasses in the air. I looked back at Renzo to see if he could tell me what was going on. He was standing with his glass of tea raised as well.

“This toast is to Millie Jane,” Little Grandma said. “I know your parents loved you beyond measure and were always proud of you, but today they are up in heaven applauding you, Millie darling. You have amazed them. Your strength and kindness have amazed us all.”

“To Millie,” Roan said.

“To Millie,” everyone else said.

I did not cry.

I didn’t cry through dinner.

I didn’t cry through cake.

I didn’t cry when I had to say good-bye to Little Grandma.

It wasn’t until Renzo was deep inside of me that night, and he told me he loved me, that I cried my tears of joy.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jasper Creek, September

I shut the door of my Mini Cooper with my hip, then trotted up the stairs to my front door with my one little shopping bag. I needed to stop doing this. I went to the grocery store once a day, just because I could. First, it was just nice to know that I could go to the store and not freak out; instead I could sometimes say hello to a neighbor. Sometimes I even recognized somebody I went to school with. It was ridiculously fun.

Then second, it was one of the few drives I felt comfortable making. There were two stop signs and one red light. I only had to make two left turns on the whole trip, so it was really easy. Poor Renzo. He’d been so proud of me when I’d made it to Down Home six weeks ago, he didn’t know that it was going to bite him in the ass. He came home every lunch hour and taught me how to drive so I could pass my driver’s test in three weeks. Then I made him come car shopping with me, and he hated the car I decided to buy. I told him it was the Mini Cooper or a VW bug. And if it was the bug, I was going to put eyelashes on the headlights. After that, he saw the merits of the Mini Cooper.

I plopped the plastic bag with butter and sugar onto the kitchen island, then I grabbed my cell phone out of my purse. I knew I had Bluetooth in my car, but there was no way I was going to attempt to talk and drive. I was going to kill myself for sure if I tried to do that.

It was Trenda who had left me a message.

We’ve got the dresses. Get over here.

I bit my lower lip. It was only two o’clock. We would probably be done trying things on before dinner time. Trenda and Simon’s house was farther than the grocery store, so I didn’t want to navigate from their house back to my house in the dark. I called her back.

“They all came?” I asked.

“Yes. Plus, we didn’t a little shopping too, so you have more of a selection.”

“Who’s we?”

“Lisa, of course.”

“Sure,” I agreed.

“Jenny Brooks. She works with Renzo, I think you’ve met her?”

“I have, she’s great.”