“To take you home, if that’s what you want.”
“Please don’t,” she whispered. “Everyone is downstairs.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
She looked at the dress. “Marissa says Grandma likes girls who make an effort.”
“You are not a centerpiece.”
“She says Dad gets embarrassed when I come over with paint under my nails.”
Before I could answer, Lloyd appeared in the doorway holding barbecue tongs.
“Mindy,” he said. “Not here.”
“Yes,” I said. “Here.”
“Hannah, go downstairs.”
Hannah didn’t move.
Then Marissa appeared behind him with her perfect smile.
“Mindy,” she said. “What a surprise.”
“I’m sure.”
“We were only helping Hannah get ready for lunch.”
“No,” I said. “You were trying to turn her into someone easier for you to approve of.”
Her smile hardened. “That is a cruel thing to say.”
“Then stop doing cruel things quietly.”
Marissa crossed her arms. “I bought her a nice dress. There is nothing wrong with teaching a young girl how to present herself.”
“Hannah needs respect.”
“I respect her enough to be honest.”
“Your honesty seems to come with perfume and shame.”
Hannah whispered, “Mom.”
I turned to her. “You don’t have to say anything.”
But she did.
“She sprays me.”
Lloyd shut his eyes.
Marissa laughed lightly. “It’s perfume.”
Hannah’s voice trembled. “You make me stand still for it.”
Lloyd said softly, “Han…”
I snapped, “Don’t warn her for telling the truth.”
Marissa lifted her chin. “Offering perfume is not cruelty.”
Hannah’s lips shook, but she stayed silent.
I looked at Lloyd. “And you watched?”
He stared at the floor.
That was answer enough.
I took Hannah’s hand. “We’re leaving.”
Downstairs, the backyard had gone quiet.
Lloyd’s mother sat at the patio table. His sister, Sarah, looked directly at Hannah.
“Hannah?” Sarah asked. “Sweetheart, what happened?”
Before Hannah could answer, Marissa stepped forward.
“Nothing happened,” she said smoothly. “Mindy came in upset, and now Hannah is overwhelmed.”
“No,” I said. “I came to get my daughter.”
Marissa glanced at the dress in Hannah’s hand.
“Hannah, sweetheart,” she said, “don’t you want to change? We talked about first impressions.”
Hannah gripped the dress tighter.
“She already made one,” I said.
Marissa blinked. “Excuse me?”
“She came as herself.”
Sarah set her glass down. “Marissa, why does she look scared to answer you?”
“She isn’t scared of me,” Marissa said. “She’s embarrassed because her mother lets her reject every rule.”
“With perfume?” I asked.
Lloyd’s mother looked up. “Perfume?”
Hannah let go of my hand.
Then she stepped forward.
“I shower when I get home,” she said, her voice shaking, “because I can still smell it.”
Marissa’s face tightened. “Hannah.”
“No,” Hannah said. “I’m saying it.”
The yard went silent.
“Every time I come here, something about me is wrong. My hair. My jeans. The paint on my clothes.”
Sarah looked at Lloyd. “You knew?”
Lloyd swallowed. “I knew Marissa wanted her to look more put together.”
Hannah turned to him. “She said Mom lets me look and smell like I come from a broken home.”
Lloyd’s mother gasped.
Marissa lifted her chin. “That isn’t what I meant.”
“But that’s what you said,” Hannah whispered.
Everyone looked at Lloyd.
He stared at the ground.
Then he said, “She said it. And I should have stopped it.”
