Page 14 of Her Hidden Smile

I chuckled.

“You’re just trying to get me to swear so I can pay you money.”

“I’m too old for that. I have little cousins. I’m the oldest now.”

Her prissy little voice made me laugh harder. “Are you telling me that if I say ‘hell’ you’re not going to ask for a dollar?”

“Well…maybe you. And Daddy. And Uncle Drake and Uncle Aiden because all of you should know better by now. If you think about it, I’m really just trying to help you become better men.”

I damn near dropped my phone I was laughing so hard. “Are you sure you’re only eight years old?”

“I’m eight-and-a-half. Daddy says I’m a chip off the old block. I think he means I’m like my mama.”

“Well, I’ll come over, because I can’t resist your mama’s homemade lasagna.”

“Don’t forget to bring a dollar. You said H-E-double-toothpicks.”

“I’ll remember my dollar, you little swindler.”

“What does swindler mean?”

“Ask your daddy. Now give him back his phone. He needs to make some phone calls for me, okay, Cariña?”

“Okay, Mr. Renzo. I’ll have Daddy call you when it’s lasagna night.”

“Thank you, Miss Bella.”

“Good-bye, Mr. Renzo.”

I was still chuckling when I put my phone in my back pocket.

Chapter Three

I had all the waivers printed out and sitting in my outbox beside my computer. I had the second batch of cookies in the oven, and I just needed to get one phone call done before I could worry about my orchard being invaded by strangers.

I set the timer for the peanut butter cookies, then pushed in the number for Ginny G’s personal assistant and put the call on speaker so I could multitask. Rebecca had assured me that today would be a good day to call.

“Hi, Millie, you called at the perfect time,” Rebecca said as she answered the phone. “Ginny just got done putting Erica down for a nap.”

“How does she get everything done in a day?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” Rebecca laughed. “Let me get her for you.”

“Hello. This is Ginny.”

For just a moment I was nervous. I was such a fan of this woman. I’d been listening to her music since I was sixteen, and here I was talking to her in person.

Get it together!

“Hi Ginny, I’m Millie Randolph. I’m calling from the International Burn Alliance. I really want to thank you for taking my call.”

“Rebecca researched you and said you were on the up-and-up.”

“I’m glad. I wanted to tell you a little bit about why this charity means so much to me. I lost my parents in a fire when I was fourteen, and I was badly burned in that fire. If I hadn’t been able to get to the Burn Center in Nashville so fast, my injuries would have been much more catastrophic. The people there were wonderful, even if I didn’t think so at the time.”

“Aw, hell, Millie. That must have been rough.”

“I know you know, because one of your band members also sustained burns last year.”