Page 106 of Her Hidden Smile

“Then some of my sisters.”

I closed my eyes. “Just how much shopping did y’all do?”

“Just a little. It’s mostly the clothes you bought off the internet that you had sent here.”

“Okay, then. I just didn’t want Renzo to see, in case I can’t do this.”

“Well, get your butt over here, Millie Jane.”

I laughed. “I’ll see you soon.”

I hung up. I put the butter in the refrigerator and the sugar in the pantry. Then I pulled out a bunch of the pumpkin spice cookies that I’d baked out of the cookie jar and put them in a Tupperware bin so I could take them to Trenda’s. I wondered what I was going to be dealing with.

“Mom and Dad are really chomping at the bit to come and meet Millie,” Jase told me for the umpteenth time.

“I know, man, but they have their hands full. Sandy’s moved back home, and they’re babysitting Gustavo’s kids while he and his wife are on that cruise. They don’t have time for a visit.”

“Sandy is babysitting Gus’s kids. You know she wants at least five of her own. Grandma Maureen is doing great. Let the parents come and visit.”

“It’s too soon.”

“Are you having second thoughts?”

“Fuck no! I was holding out the teeniest bit of hope that she would make it to your wedding, but it’s not looking like that’s in the cards. Don’t get me wrong, she’s doing a lot better. But I just don’t see it happening.”

“That was a big ask in such a short amount of time. The fact that it was even a possibility is amazing.”

“I’m worried if Mom and Dad come before the wedding that she’ll think I’m pressuring her. So no, I don’t want them to come for a visit until next year. Could you talk to them? I just have too much on my plate. I’ve got to look for another job and I still want to be Millie’s biggest cheerleader.”

“What do you mean you need to look for another job?”

“That old coot I’ve been working for wants me to buy into his company for a half mil before he’ll make me a partner. I could do it, but I refused. I’m going to double his business in the first three years, and he knows it. That’s the reason he should make me a partner. The only other way that I can become a partner is to marry his daughter.”

“Are you shitting me?”

“Not even a little.”

Jase laughed. “Okay, so where are you going to work?”

“I just need another nine months to get my architectural license here in Tennessee. Then I’ll decide if I want to hang out my own shingle or sell myself to the highest bidder.”

“With your resumé it will be a really high bid.”

I could hear the pride in my brother’s voice and it made me happy.

“I’ve got your back, bro. I’ll see you next month,” Jase promised.

When I got to Trenda’s house, it was like Macy’s had exploded in her living room. I counted six women in the house and no sign of Bella. Of course, she could be hiding underneath a dress.

“Trenda, what have you done?” I asked. I tried to keep my voice normal, and not make it seem like I was panicking, but I was kind of panicking.

Lisa got up off the couch and rushed over to me. I took a step backward. Even though I loved Lisa, this was a lot.

A lot!

She gently took my hand in hers. “Trenda? Can Millie and I go hide out in your kitchen for a minute or two?”

“Sure.”