Page 75 of Her Hidden Smile

“I’m liking the ketchup, Cariña.” I smiled at Bella.

“That’s what Mr. Renzo calls me! Do you know Mr. Renzo?”

“Yes, tell us,” Lisa prompted as she grinned. “How well do you know Mr. Renzo?”

“I know him really well,” I answered. “He comes over and visits me.”

“I didn’t think you liked people coming over. That’s what my mama told me. She said you were shy.”

I heaved out a sigh. “I guess that’s one way to put it. I had to spend a lot of time in the hospital when I was younger. A lot of doctors and nurses were always around me. I never got any privacy. It made me not like people. Then when I had to go back to school, the kids made fun of me because I was the new girl and I limped, so I really didn’t like people.”

“I wouldn’t have made fun of you, I would have been your friend.”

I looked at her troubled little face, and I grabbed her hand. “I know you would have. You are the best kid I’ve ever met.”

“That was mean of the other kids to make fun of you for limping. They were bullies.”

“Yes they were. But between the hospitals and the kids at school I shut down more and more.”

“What about your mom and dad? Didn’t they help you?”

Boy, she sure knew how to go to the heart of the matter. “My mom and dad died.”

Bella looked at me with such sad eyes, and her bottom lip trembled. “When you were a little kid?”

“Yeah. They died when I had to go to the hospital.”

She shot up from her chair and rushed around the table to hug my waist. “I’m so sorry,” she wailed into my chest. “I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t, sweetheart.”

Her expressive eyes were filled with tears. “So you were sad and scared, right?”

“I was.”

“Did you have aunts and uncles like me?”

“I had an aunt and uncle, but they came from far away and I hardly knew them. They took me away from Jasper Creek so that made me even sadder. But I’m much happier now. I have friends like you, Bella. And Lisa. And Renzo. And Little Grandma.”

“And my mama wants to be your friend, but she didn’t think that you wanted her to come over.”

I looked down at her precious face. “Yes, I would love to meet your mama sometime.”

“Mr. Renzo loves my mama’s lasagna. You should come with him when she makes it.”

I shot Lisa a helpless glance. She toasted me with her glass of sweet tea.

“I’ll think about it.” I brushed a kiss against her forehead. “Are you ready for dessert?”

“Did you make us something?” Her brown eyes gleamed greedily.

“I made blackberry peach cake with homemade peach ice cream.”

Her eyes got even wider and she turned her head slowly to look at Lisa. “Did you hear that?” she practically screamed. “She made homemade ice cream! I didn’t know you could do that.” She turned back to me. “Can we make Captain Crunch ice cream?”

“I suppose, but you’ll have to ask your mother first.”

“Maybe we could make it for dessert when she makes lasagna. That would be epic!”