Page 94 of Leave a Mark
She turned to him with a question in her eyes.
“You’re perfect for me,” he whispered. “In every way.”
Her eyes softened, and her lips fought a smile before her cheeks turned pink and she looked away.
“I love it when you blush,” he whispered, dragging a knuckle of his free hand down her cheek.
Wren snatched his hand and anchored it to the table. “Behave!” she hissed, and even though she spoke with narrowed eyes, she couldn’t quite contain her smile this time.
Mamaw Gigi returned to the table with a grin, and Lee was pretty sure she hadn’t missed much of the exchange.
“Alright then…” she said, settling back in beside him.
Lee was about to dig in when Wren’s grandmother took his right hand, making him jump.
“…let’s join hands while we say grace.” Mamaw Gigi reached across the table for Wren’s free hand and closed her eyes.
Lee cut a look at Wren who, now, was trying not to laugh at his expense.
She squeezed his fingers again and mouthed silently to him,“Close your eyes.”
Lee closed his eyes. It wasn’t at all what he expected, but it was nice. The Hawthornes hadn’t said grace in more than twenty years, and he would have never guessed that Wren had come from a home that did.
“Dear Lord,” Mamaw Gigi began, “thank you for this day and this meal. Thank you for every hand that toiled so that we could enjoy it together. Thank you for the guest at our table and the smile he brings to my granddaughter’s face—”
“Oh, jeez,” Wren whispered beside him.
“Shh,” he scolded.
“Sometimes your greatest blessings lie where we least expect them,” Mamaw Gigi continued. “And it’s our job just to open our arms and be grateful…”
Lee opened his eyes and found Wren staring back at him. It lasted just an instant, but Lee knew then he was staring into the eyes of someone who loved him. The welcome in her look, the pure, sacred joy was for him alone. And he saw it before she slammed her eyes shut, before her fear had its say. And he closed his eyes gently, concentrating on listening to Mamaw Gigi and fighting the urge to pull Wren’s lips to his.
“…even be grateful when we have lost those dear to us and suffered so much. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
“Amen,” Wren and Lee said together.
THE MEAL WASsimple and comforting and fantastic. He ate two steaks and three helpings of peas and potatoes. And he might have eaten more, but Mamaw Gigi produced a plate of brownies and a glass of milk, and Lee thought he’d died and gone to heaven.
After dessert, he insisted on helping to clean up the kitchen, and Mamaw Gigi eventually allowed him. The evening had begun awkwardly, but by the middle of dinner, he felt at home, and he’d been able to see Wren in a new light. She was still sassy — even to her grandmother — but she was also clearly devoted.
Over the course of the evening, Wren and Mamaw Gigi planned a trip to the grocery store, one to the hairdresser’s, and one to the cardiologist all in the same week. Mamaw Gigi didn’t seem frail or infirm in any way, but she didn’t drive. Wren, it seemed, did most of the driving for her. Lee picked up, too, that Wren paid for the lawn service that took care of Mamaw Gigi’s yard, and she carried Mamaw’s phone on her mobile plan.
It was a lot, and Lee realized that, as her grandmother aged, Wren would take on even more. And it wouldn’t be easy.
He knew Wren lived three blocks away from her grandmother — on the second floor of a duplex. And yet, Mamaw Gigi owned a house with a second-floor duplex. As he dried dishes next to the two women, Lee found himself asking the obvious. “Wren, wouldn’t it be easier for you to live in the apartment upstairs? I mean, if you’re here several times a week any—" He halted mid-sentence when Wren’s face blanched and Mamaw Gigi’s eyes widened behind her thick glasses.
The dessert plate Wren held slipped back into the dishwater with a clank, and Wren stared at it, unseeing. Mamaw Gigi curled an arm around her granddaughter and seemed to brace her.
“I said something wrong,” he blurted, ice filling his gut. “What did I do?”
Neither woman looked at him.
On instinct, Lee stepped closer to Wren. She held up a hand to stop him.
“What did I do?” he asked again, his heart breaking into a race.
“Wrennie, would you like to take your guest outside for a breath of fresh air?”
