Page 59 of Her Hidden Smile

“Yeah, I didn’t notice too many vegetables in your fridge,” Renzo whispered as he tugged me closer.

“What happened after that?”

“Mom asked me what homework I had to do, and I kind of lied and told her about a math assignment that I’d already finished. I didn’t tell her about my English essay. We’d been playing this big Scrabble marathon that week and I wanted to see if I could beat Dad. Mom was kicking both of our butts, so there was no way I could beat her. But I really wanted to finish and beat Dad.”

“They sound cool.”

“They were. It was us against the world. We were a team. I could tell how much they loved each other, but they never made me feel excluded.”

Renzo didn’t say anything, he just kissed the top of my head.

I huffed out a laugh. “You know, I forgot about our Scrabble marathons. Part of the reason Dad always lost is cause he would make up words and Mom would always challenge him. She caught him every time.” I smiled at the memory.

“I bet you’re good with words with all the grants and proposals you have to write up,” he whispered into my hair.

“I do okay,” I admitted. “I take after my mom that way. She was a college English professor. Dad was a tow truck driver. He had his own business. He had four trucks and five people working for him…”

Oh my God.

“I don’t know what happened to them. I never asked. Who paid them? What happened after dad died?” I twisted around to look at Renzo. “What happened to them? How do I find out?”

“Easy, Cariña. I’m sure they were taken care of. Your dad had to have had an office manager who took care of everything. It’s fine, baby.”

I blew out a deep breath and felt tears coming.

“There’s so many things that I didn’t think of. That I don’t know what happened, you know?”

“You were only fourteen. You were in the hospital for months. You weren’t expected to take care of anything but getting better.”

I took a deep breath. He was right.

His cheek rubbed against mine. “After Scrabble, then what happened?”

I thought back. Remembering. “It was ten o’clock, and it was bedtime. It was then that I confessed I had an essay to write. Mom was pissed, but Dad calmed her down. He said I had to be in bed by midnight. I knew that meant he would set his alarm to come check on me. I wheedled my way into one o’clock. It was due the next day, and I was going to need the full three hours. Dad laughed and kissed me goodnight. Mom ended up hugging me too, even though she mumbled something about me needing to have better study habits. I remember Dad winking at me. I didn’t laugh, cause then we’d both be in trouble with Mom.”

“I really like your parents, Millie.”

“They were the best,” I whispered. “I miss them so much, Renzo.”

He hugged me even tighter, and I turned and nuzzled his neck. He smelled so good. Tangy. Like lime.

“Can you tell me what happened next, baby?” he asked softly.

“I’d gone upstairs with them and got into my pajamas, then I came back down to do my essay. I curled up on the couch in the living room. I can’t remember when, but I went into the coat closet and got Dad’s leather jacket and put it on because I was cold. It was really big and was like a warm blanket. That’s probably what put me to sleep.”

I remembered the feel of the corduroy couch, and my favorite velvet throw pillows. I remember the paper was supposed to be on my favorite book.

Flowers for Algernon.

“My coughing woke me up. It was so bad that I ended up rolling off the couch. The fire department said that probably saved my life.”

“There was so much smoke, and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see, and I didn’t know what was going on. Nothing made sense. Nothing. I didn’t figure out it was a fire until I heard the roar.”

I was so lost in the past that I didn’t realize I was covering my ears to try to block out the monster’s roars.

“I looked behind me, into the dining room and I saw streamers of red and orange sucking up the table…the Scrabble board. Then they started towards me. They started twisting, turning, and reaching for me.”

I couldn’t breathe.