Page 72 of Her Hidden Smile

“What did he do?”

“He gave Harvey sub-standard plumbing material that he imported in from China and foisted it off as the high-grade material Harvey paid for. Harvey and I are going to have to retrofit all the jobs that have sub-standard material. Unfortunately, we don’t know what jobs those were. Harvey is praying it wasn’t the apartment complex he built. We need to find out from Junior. He’s the guy I was tracking when you and I weren’t talking.”

Millie frowned. “I remember Junior. He was a senior when I was a freshman. He was not the sharpest tool in the shed. He was a big guy so he was on the football team, but some of the girls I hung out with were dating football players, so I know that even his teammates made fun of him.”

“Yeah, that’s how he struck me, too. Harvey’s pissed as hell that it is Junior who pulled something like this over on him.”

“Isn’t there anyone else who knows what he sold?”

“They had a guy working at their company who was older than dirt doing their shipping and receiving. He’d enter anything Junior or Senior told him to into their system. I only found out about all of this because Jenny Brooks, their new office manager, put it all together and informed me.”

“Can’t she tell you which jobs?”

“Nope.”

“How is it you didn’t notice the crap plumbing supplies?” Millie asked.

“It was before my time. It was Harvey’s old GC, Red Simpson, who took receipt. Junior packaged the shit material in forged boxes. So that’s the deal. I’ve been trying to track him down, but he’s in the wind. People around town know that I’ve been here, so I think Junior might have come here.”

“What do you think he was planning on doing?”

I rubbed the back of my neck and picked up my iced tea from the coffee table and took a sip. “I hope he was just planning on trying to talk his way out of things. But I also think the dumbass is desperate, so I don’t know what he’s planning.”

“Well, that’s stupid. He can’t have planned to hurt you. He must realize that Jenny and Harvey know, too.”

“It’s like you said, Millie. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.”

When Renzo went to talk to Roan and Simon, I decided it was time to get my house in order. Laundry had been piling up, and the stove needed a thorough scrubbing. That’s what happened when you let a man cook.

My hip was giving me trouble, but not enough to take a pain pill. I just needed ibuprofen. I wanted to have everything clean well before Renzo was due back so I had time to shower again and put on another cute outfit. I’d been living in my sweats and pajamas for the last few days, and I really wanted to show off.

As I walked down the hall toward the laundry room I caught a look at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess and there was grease on my cheek from the stove cleaning adventure. But besides that, I looked different. I stopped to try to figure out what it was.

I laughed when I realized I was going to brush back some of my flyaway hair with my rubber gloves.

“Good one, Randolph.”

I moved in closer. It was almost like I was wearing make-up, and I didn’t mean kitchen grease. I tilted my head and leaned in, then laughed again. There it was. Whisker burn.

Holy hell, I have whisker burn!

I threw my hand up in the air.

Me, Millie Randolph had whisker burn from the sexiest man alive. I turned my face and looked some more. Finally, I realized it was my eyes. They looked brighter. More alive. I was totally, irrevocably in love with the sexiest man alive. And he wasn’t bothered by my scars.

“He says I’m strong.”

I heaved in a deep breath that was almost a sob.

“Stop it! There’s no crying on laundry day.”

He said I was strong and beautiful. He kissed my scars.

I smiled before a tear could fall. I had laundry and primping to do. Maybe I could make up a batch of snickerdoodle cookies.

Harvey’s office was in the county municipal building. He was on the second floor and had four offices, a reception area, and a conference room. It was over-the-top for the size of his business, but that was Harvey.

Roan, Simon, Harvey, and I met in the conference room. Rhoda had gone out and gotten pastries. Because of me, she knew to get things like oat bran muffins and slices and zucchini bread. Harvey liked Bavarian cream donuts. She called it right when she went heavy on the healthy side when Roan and Simon were our visitors.