Age Before Beauty (13 page)

Honestly, each of the four girls at Tori’s party had tried at least three different color combinations, and they hadn’t even gotten to the lipstick yet! At this rate, Allie would have to replenish her demo kit after her very first makeover party. She gave Tori a look that she hoped her little sister interpreted correctly.
Shut up and let me do it!
Tori’s bright blue eyes rounded as she returned the gaze without blinking.

“Okay, give it here.” Lisa snatched the packet and peeled it open. She reached for a clean applicator in the center of the table, and Allie purposefully turned her thoughts away from calculating the cost of the used foam-tipped sticks scattered around the table.

Seated next to Lisa, the brunette named Carrie finished brushing mascara on her lashes and lowered her mirror. “How’s that?”

Allie inspected her work. “Beautiful. That eyeliner really emphasizes the shape of your eyes. I can’t believe you don’t wear it all the time.”

Carrie looked into the mirror again. A smile touched the edges of her mouth. “You’re right. I kind of like it.”

Allie hid a smile. One sale, for sure. Thank goodness. Last night’s disastrous party at Gram’s retirement center had her worried that her success at Mom’s was a fluke. She selected a lipstick and handed it to Carrie. “Now for the finishing touch. Everybody look here a minute.” Four sets of eyes turned her way, and she demonstrated the proper way to apply a lip pencil, just like Sally Jo had taught her.

Heidi, the girl who worked with Tori at the advertising firm, reached for the box of lip pencils. “Oh, goody. I just love lipstick. Look at all these fun colors!”

Lisa returned to the task of smearing green powder, totally the wrong color for her in Allie’s opinion, on her eyelids. The other girl, whose name Allie had promptly forgotten as soon as Tori told her, dabbed a thick layer of powder beneath her eyes.

“Have y’all ever tried putting Preparation H beneath your eyes?”

Tori turned her bright blonde head in the girl’s direction and laughed. “Why would you do that?”

Lisa gave a final green swipe to her right eyelid and dropped the applicator on her foam tray. “They say it gets rid of bags and tightens puffy skin. Haven’t you ever seen
Miss Congeniality
?”

Allie handed her a dark chocolate eyeliner and instructed, “Not too thick on the bottom.” She glanced at the other girl. “Personally, I’m not putting anything on my face that was made to smear on people’s backsides. Just use a little more concealer.”

“Oooh, I really like this one!” Heidi held up a miniature lip pencil and examined the writing on the side. “Pink Satin. I definitely want one of these. But I’d like to try this one too.” She held up another.

Two sales. Allie smiled as she pushed a bottle of remover lotion and a cotton ball toward her. “Go into the bathroom and clean your lips. Be careful not to mess up your foundation, though.”

She’d been disappointed when Tori told her she was expecting only four guests. But unlike Mom’s party guests, these girls loved makeup, so she ought to sell enough to make the drive to Lexington pay off. With luck they’d all book parties of their own, and Allie’s customer base would expand beyond her family.

Allie stepped from the chilly night air into the house. Eric, seated on the couch, glanced up at her for a single second before returning his attention to the television. “Hey. How’d it go?”

Allie looked at the screen. A ball game. She’d figured all the ball games would be over by ten thirty. Of course, then Eric would just watch a recap show on one of the sports channels.

“Fine.” She let her purse slip off her shoulder and land on the chair by the door. “I sold almost as much tonight to four people as I did the other night at Mom’s house.” His gaze remained fixed on the game, but he nodded. “That’s good.”

Allie dropped onto the edge of the chair cushion, still holding her demo bag. “Sort of makes up for last night’s disaster.” Allie had hoped folks who lived in Gram’s upscale retirement center would spend a lot of money, but they’d turned out to be tough customers. A shame Varie Cose didn’t sell anti-aging products.

“Hmmm.”

Allie looked toward the guest room. “Is your mother already in bed?” He didn’t answer. She spoke sharply. “Eric!”

He looked at her, his expression blank. “Huh?”

“Your mother. Has she gone to bed?”

“Uh huh. You just missed her.”

“What about Joanie? How did she do tonight?”

“Great.” He looked back at the television, then straightened. “Oh! Guess what she did? She reached for a toy and managed to grab it.”

Dismayed, Allie dropped her kit on the floor. “She did?”

“Yeah, she was lying on the baby gym mat, and Mom was punching the button on that frog dangling above her, the one that sings and lights up. Joanie stared at it for a minute, then she reached right up and grabbed it.”

Allie leaned back in the chair, her purse pressing into her lower back. Her baby had taken an important developmental step, and she missed it. She pushed her lower lip out and pulled a sad face. Eric didn’t notice. He’d turned his attention back to the television.

Irritation flashed through her. “Eric.” Her voice came out more snappish than she intended, but it got his attention. He looked at her, and she went on in a calmer tone. “Could you please turn the television off?”

His brow creased. “What for?”

Allie’s fingers tightened on the padded arms of the chair. “I’d like to talk, and it’s hard to do when you’re obviously paying more attention to that stupid game than me.”

His eyelids narrowed. “Let me get this straight. You’re gone to a party every night this week, and when you finally decide to come home, you want me to drop everything and focus all my attention on you.”

Anger flared. “I was
working
every night this week. You act like I’ve been out partying without you.”

“Yeah, well, I worked every
day
this week. The way I look at it, if I want to relax at night by watching a game or two, I’m entitled.”

Allie stiffened in the chair. “I think I’m entitled to at least one conversation with my husband every evening.”

“Well, then maybe you ought to stay home every now and then.” Eric shifted his gaze back to the television.

Honestly, he could be so irritating! Allie stood abruptly. “I’m going to check on the baby.”

She marched between him and the television set toward the nursery, her nose in the air. He responded by punching the volume up on the remote control.

As she let herself into the nursery, she gnawed on the inside of her bottom lip. She hated arguing with Eric. Correction. That was not an argument. Both people had to be actively involved in order for it to be called an argument.

She pulled the door shut with a quiet click. It served her right. She knew better than to interrupt him during a ball game. He was just like—

She shook her head and tried not to finish the thought. Mom and Daddy had way more problems than just television. Primarily, Daddy’s unfaithfulness. Eric would never be unfaithful. He just had an irritating addiction to sports, that’s all.

Allie pushed away the disquieting feelings that soured her stomach and looked into the crib. At the sight of her slumbering daughter, her tense muscles relaxed. She ran a finger tenderly over the soft baby hair. She hated missing any important step in Joanie’s development, but at least her daughter had been at home, with her father and grandmother, instead of with a babysitter. And tomorrow was Saturday, the first day Allie didn’t have a meeting or party to go to all week. Maybe Eric would go with her in the morning to deliver Tuesday night’s Varie Cose orders, and they could grab some lunch or something. Then they could spend the afternoon at home, enjoying family time.

Except Eric would probably be plastered to the television, watching college football games all day.

Sports were definitely the worst invention men had ever made, at least as far as wives were concerned. Correction. Sports were the second worst invention. Bathroom scales topped the list.

Eric’s cell phone, plugged into the charger in the bedroom, rang at 10:20 Saturday morning. Seated on the sofa in the living room, he tore his gaze from the article recapping a high school homecoming game and glanced at Allie over the top of the Lexington newspaper. Danville’s paper didn’t have a Saturday edition. Beside him, Mother paged through the sale ads, though why she bothered with the ads from another town he couldn’t imagine.

“Want me to grab it?” Allie sat in the chair sipping coffee, her feet tucked under her.

Eric would have let her, but she hadn’t made a move to get up from the chair. She was quiet this morning, obviously nursing a grudge over last night.

He set the paper aside and heaved himself off the couch. “No, I’ll get it.”

The phone was starting its fourth ring when he snatched it off the bedside table and glanced at the display screen.
Molly Green.
Weird. Molly never called him at home, though all the dispatchers had everyone else’s contact information, in case of a major emergency at work.

Eric pushed the Talk button. “Hey, Molly.”

“Eric.” Her familiar voice sounded a bit breathless. “I’m so sorry to bother you at home, but I couldn’t think who else to call.”

He unplugged the charger and walked back toward the living room. “No problem. Is everything okay?”

“Oh yeah, fine. Well, not
fine
. I’m having toilet problems, and I can’t get a plumber over here until Monday. Or rather,” she clarified, “I found one who will come, but I can’t afford to pay the weekend rates. We only have one bathroom, so I can’t wait until Monday. Could I borrow some tools so I can fix it myself?”

Eric leaned against the wall, the phone to his ear. “I’m not a plumber, but I could take a look at it for you.”

Allie looked up from the newspaper, a crease deepening on her forehead.

Molly spoke in a rush. “Oh no, I don’t want you to spend your Saturday fixing my toilet. I just need some tools, that’s all. All I have is a screwdriver and a hammer, and I think this job is going to take a little more than that.”

Eric shook his head. “Molly, have you ever fixed a toilet?” “Well, no. But I’m hoping it’ll turn out to be something easy.”

“We don’t have anything going on this morning,” he said. “I’ll be there in half an hour.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” Relief made her tone light. “Thanks, Eric.”

“No problem.”

Eric punched the End button and straightened. Frowning, Allie had dropped the newspaper in her lap to watch him. Mother picked up a pen and circled something on the flyer.

“You didn’t have any plans for today, did you?” he asked Allie.

“I have some Varie Cose orders to deliver, and I thought it would be fun if you went along with me.”

“Fun? Running around town like a delivery boy?” Eric gave a snort of laughter. “I’d rather fix a toilet if it’s all the same to you.”

Allie’s eyes flashed and her mouth opened to deliver a retort. But her gaze dropped to Mother and her mouth shut again. Something in her face stopped Eric from turning away. She looked disappointed, like she really had wanted him to drive her around town this morning.

“Listen,” he told her, “Molly’s a single mother. She can’t afford to hire a plumber. Just let me run over there and take a look at her toilet, and maybe it won’t take too long to fix. I’ll probably be finished in time to help you with your stuff before the game comes on this afternoon.”

Her mouth became a hard line. “And what time is that?”

Eric returned her stare. Was she irritated that he wanted to watch the game? She knew U.K. was playing Mississippi State this afternoon. He’d been talking about it all week. “Two o’clock.”

“Well, I was hoping—” Her mouth shut with a snap.

Mother looked up at Allie. “If you need me to watch the baby while you run your errands, I don’t mind.”

Allie’s lips parted as she stared at Mother. Actually, Eric didn’t blame her for looking astonished. That was the first time Mother had volunteered to keep Joanie. Satisfaction settled in his gut. His mother was developing a relationship with her granddaughter, just as he’d hoped. If only he could get Dad down here to meet Joanie too.

“Thanks, Betty,” Allie said. “That’ll be a big help.”

Eric gave a nod and headed into the bedroom to put on some old clothes. Obviously all Allie wanted was someone to tag along after her and take care of Joanie. Mother seemed glad to do it, which suited him just fine. He’d rather be helpful fixing something for Molly than spend the morning on delivery duty. And no matter what, he’d make sure he was in front of the television by two o’clock to enjoy his Saturday afternoon the way a man should—watching what promised to be a great football game.

“Eric, I can’t thank you enough. I feel horrible that you’ve spent so much of your Saturday fixing my toilet.”

Prone on the bathroom floor, Eric gave the wrench a final turn. “Don’t worry about it. It’s really no big deal.”

He glanced up at Molly, who stood leaning against the wall, her arms wrapped around her ribs, watching him. She looked different today, more casual, though the jeans and T-shirt she usually wore to work weren’t much dressier than those she had on now. Maybe it wasn’t the way she looked so much as her attitude. She seemed more at ease here in her home environment. Carefree, even. And embarrassed at having him mess around with her toilet, especially when he’d finally discovered the reason the thing was overflowing.

But Eric was embarrassed too, because a couple of times he’d looked up from his work to find her staring at him. His shirt hung over the towel rack, safe and dry from the mess the malfunctioning toilet had caused. At home he ran around without a shirt all the time, but here, in Molly’s bathroom, he felt as though he was inappropriately half dressed.

Which was dumb. This was Molly, a friend and coworker. Nobody to be embarrassed in front of.

Eric sat up and reached into the bathtub to pick up the Hot Wheels car. He grimaced as he held it out to her. “You probably ought to boil this thing before you give it back to your son.”

Her nose wrinkled as she took it between her thumb and forefinger. “Are you kidding? This is going in the trashcan. Serves Josh right for flushing it down the toilet and then not telling me about it. I’m sorry you had to take the whole thing apart to find it.”