Page 5 of Her Honorable Hero

“Mrs. Bell! Where are the flowers for Mira?”

Miranda could hear Leslie’s laugh float toward them. By the time they got to where Jeremy was, he was practically jumping up and down with excitement. He was standing in front of one of the chairs and as Miranda got closer, he jumped to the side and then she froze.

“Ta-da!” Jeremy shouted.

She stared at the bouquet of flowers.

“Do you like them Mira? I picked them out. You’re pretty like the sun. So I got you yellow flowers.” Miranda had to look closer to realize they were large Gerber Daisies and not sunflowers. But even that didn’t dispel the feeling of dread.

“Miranda, are you okay?” Susan looked from her to the flowers and back again. Then she laughed. “I steered him away from the sunflowers because I know those are special to you.” She laughed and nudged her with her elbow.

“Yeah. Special.” Miranda said sickly. Thank God it was dusk so Susan couldn’t get a good look at her expression.

“Mira? Aren’t you happy?”

Oh Bloody Hell.

Miranda crouched down. “Jeremy, this is a wonderful present! I love my flowers!”

His grin was huge.

“You’re going to like my present, too,” Hope said from behind her. “It’s a s’prise,” she said again.

“You two are so special, I’m going to love both of your presents as much as the whole wide world,” Miranda threw out her arms out wide.

Hope giggled and Jeremy’s grin just got bigger.

“Hey, I think I see some of the kids getting in the bouncy house,” Susan said. Both of her kids’ heads spun to take a look across the lawn.

“Can we go?” Jeremy begged.

“Yep. Just be sure to come out when your Dad tells you to. Got it?”

“We promise,” Hope said as she grabbed her brother’s hand and started to drag him across the grass.

“God I love your kids,” Leslie said as she got up and moved the flowers off the chair. “Your son Jeremy is going to be a heartbreaker.”

“He is growing up so fast. He wants to be Mike when he grows up.”

“That’s a pretty good aspiration if you ask me,” Betty said.

“You two are a sight for sore eyes.” Miranda said as she sank down in the now empty chair.

“I think she’s talking about the sangria,” Leslie said as she lifted the pitcher. She picked up an empty glass, poured a hefty amount and handed it to Miranda.

Miranda took a small sip. She needed it after the flower incident. She needed to keep herself together. She really couldn’t take much more.

She took a deep breath, and then smiled. Okay, enough wallowing, she was here with dear friends, she was going to enjoy herself.

“I was waiting for you to get here,” Betty beamed. “I wanted to show you something.”

Miranda looked at the middle-aged woman. She’d retired from Amtrak soon after the wreck. She’d been smart enough to get some counselling for her PTSD after the accident. No moss grew under that stone.

“Does that something have anything to do with those gorgeous diamonds you’ve been trying to hide?” Leslie asked as she crossed her legs.

“Dammit, nothing gets by you,” Betty grumbled. Then she gave a delighted laugh and thrust her hand out. “Look at this. Jared gave it to me. When we got married thirty-five years ago, he could only afford a wedding band. I was stunned when he bought me this eternity ring.” She looked at it lovingly. Miranda couldn’t be happier for the woman, then she started to laugh again. “Of course he bought it from a diamond store called Jared.”

“If there was a diamond store called Mike’s, you can be damn sure my husband would have bought my ring there. Instead I just get subs from Mike’s Sandwich Shop. He loves bringing home the bag with the Mike’s logo.”