Page 42 of Her Hidden Smile

I couldn’t help myself.

First, there was that seductive Spanish accent.

Then there were those beguiling words that tempted me to believe in him.

And then there was all of his emotion.

Dammit, he sounded like he really cared.

I needed to get myself together. I needed to put all thoughts of Renzo aside. It was time to focus on the here and now.

I glanced over at my phone on the nightstand—just to check the time, not to check to see if Renzo had texted or called. Little Grandma and her family were going to be here in less than an hour, I needed to get it together. I rushed to the closet and grabbed the outfit I’d planned to wear. I pulled on my underwear, then stepped into the white-denim cropped pants with the hem folded up. I put on the white blouse with cherry blossoms. I even bought some red and silver jangly bracelets to go with it. The girl on the website wore her hair up in a high ponytail, so that’s what I did. I felt cute. Now I just needed to get my butt into the kitchen and make sure brunch was ready.

By the time I heard the buzzer at the gate, I had the food ready. I never knew who would be with Little Grandma so I always made sure to have enough. Today was brunch day and I had something special for them that I hoped would knock their socks off.

When I pressed the button to open the gate, I peeked outside and saw Little Grandma’s sky-blue nineteen-sixty Oldsmobile coming up to my front steps. Thank God Little Grandma wasn’t driving anymore. I remembered when I was little and she would come over and visit my mom and dad, she could barely see over the huge steering wheel.

I opened the door.

“Hey y’all! I brought a couple of people,” Little Grandma yelled out the window from the backseat. I couldn’t help but grin at her enthusiasm. She’d celebrated her hundred-and-first birthday four months ago. She’d tried real hard to talk me into going to her party, but it just wasn’t possible. There were three other people in the car with her. Her daughter Patty was a go-getter at seventy-seven and Patty’s daughter Lettie didn’t let anything slow her down at fifty-two.

I bit my lip when I saw it was Theresa driving. She was nice and all, but I still didn’t feel completely comfortable around her. She was Lettie’s seventeen-year-old daughter. She reminded me of some of the girls I had to go to school with in Des Moines before I talked Aunt Marge and Uncle Phil into letting me do online courses.

She’s a sweet girl, and you’re not fifteen anymore. Suck it up.

“I wanted to bring Theresa’s cousins, but they’re out with their daddy today. He sure does have his hands full with those three.” Patty helped her mom out of the car. I knew about those Magill girls. Little Grandma called them high-spirited.

“Come inside. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Lord yes,” Patty said as she patted her stomach.

“You’re always hungry,” Little Grandma said to her daughter. “You’re tasting too much of the food you’re cooking.”

“The customers like the food, don’t they?” Patty lifted her eyebrow as she slowly guided her mother up the porch steps.

“Yes, they do,” her mother admitted.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m doing taste tests.”

“I gave you my recipes. You don’t need to do taste tests if you follow them,” Little Grandma grumbled. She held out her arms to me and I gave her fragile body a soft hug, but she was having none of that. She gripped me hard, then whispered in my ear. “Love you, Sweet Girl.”

“Love you more.”

She let go and I stood up and found Patty grinning at me.

“So, what treat do you have for us today?” Lettie asked as I ushered them into my house. I crossed my fingers that they would like the eggs as much as I did. Yesterday, I had thrown out three batches before I had gotten them right.

“Why don’t y’all have a seat, and I’ll just put some food out for you to munch on before I get the eggs benedict out to you.”

“Honey, you don’t have to go to that much trouble,” Patty said as I put the platter of deviled eggs on the table. Everyone but Theresa put one on their plate. I knew they looked different from the norm, but I was pretty sure they were going to like them.

I tried to hide my grin when I saw Patty sniff hers. Theresa just smiled politely and took a sip of her orange juice. Lettie pulled the little piece of bacon out of hers and nibbled on it. Leave it to Little Grandma. She took a big bite of hers, then moaned as she started chewing.

After she was done with her bite, she looked at me with wide eyes. “Darlin’, what is this sinful delight?”

“Do you like it?”

“I don’t like it. I love it.”