Shit.
“I’m not sure about that, Mom. I want him to keep liking me.”
There was a reason Mom was as crazy as she was—and all fingers pointed to Grams. Grandpa was a man’s man, who grunted and worked hard every day. Grams… God, Jordan would probably run a mile.
“Nonsense, I’ll make sure she’s on her best behavior.” That’s what she always said, and it never happened.
Knowing it was going to happen anyway, I sighed and resigned myself to the fact I probably only had a few weeks left with Jordan in my life.
Unless… Maybe I could get Maddie to warn him and help prepare for the meeting?
Making a plan in my mind to do just that, we spoke for a while longer, and I told her more about the projects Jordan and I were doing together.
When I finally hung up with a promise to send her a photo of Jordan, I tapped my phone against my chin and came up with a plan. If anyone could help me, it was my best friend.
Because I’d spent so many days hunched over in the workshop, I’d decided to take the rest of the day off after I’d called Maddie to ask her for help. I didn’t do it often, but it’d felt so good just to kick back and relax earlier. I needed to have this day.
I was just turning on a movie when the front door swung open, making me jump. What followed it also made me regret my decision to give a spare key to her. Well, that and her walking in on me and Jordan.
“Where’s my boys?” she yelled as she pushed a large case in with one foot. “Don’t get off your butt and help me with rest. I can totally carry all this shit in with two hands and my feet.”
Chuckling, I swung my legs around and got up, skirting around the excited doggy bodies, wagging their tails, and swaying their butts around with it.
I didn’t expect the case I took from her to be as heavy as it was, and my arm jerked when it dropped with the weight of it.
“Holy hell, woman. All I wanted was a lesson in makeup that went past foundation, powder, mascara, and lip gloss. Please tell me that this is full of photos, so Jordan understands how bad Grams is.”
Kicking the door shut behind her, she dumped the rest of it on the ground.
“Pfffbt, that woman’s an angel.” Waving her arm out at all of the stuff, she smiled proudly at me. “This is all makeup and hair products. I dug out everything I could fit in them to help you.”
As I stared open-mouthed at it all, she added, “I have to say, I felt like a proud momma when you called me earlier. Ah, my little bear’s branching out into the world of makeup and sexiness.” Wiping a fake tear from her cheek, she dropped down to her knees and gave the boys some attention, leaving me blinking at the boxes.
“Wait, you dug out everything you could fit in them? You’ve got more of this shit at home?”
“Of course I do. Makeup’s a bit like eating Pringles—once you pop the top, you don’t stop. New shades, new coverage, new makeup tricks… It’s addictive.”
I could confirm from the meager contents of my own makeup bag that she was lying. “I’ve been wearing makeup for long enough to say that’s not true.”
“No,” she said slowly, looking up from Mento. “You buy the very bare necessities and stick to drugstore stuff. Me, I buy every brand and fall into the trap of the ones advertised on social media, too. Long-lasting stuff with special removers was a trend I took hold of, and still do when the mood suits me. But what if I wanted light and good girl makeup? Or smutty and naughty girl? You have to get stuff you can change to suit the purpose, outfit, and intent.”
All I’d wanted to do was look a little better, not fool him into thinking I was a vixen.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to—”
Maddie shot me a glare that shut me up immediately. “You’re an artist. Even when you’re not making pots and vases with designs on them, you’re drawing something and doing that shading shit.” Shading shit? “Trust me when I say you’ll be able to blend and apply like a pro.”
Oh, how very wrong she was.
One hour later…
Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I mumbled, “I look like the love child of Frankenstein and The Little Mermaid.”
Glancing over my shoulder, she winced. “I wouldn’t say that’s an inaccurate description. Why’d you put so much green on your lids? And how did you mess up lining your eyes with eyeliner when you can draw designs with a normal pencil?”
Grabbing up a wipe, I dumped extra eye makeup remover on it. Firstly, I was going to need as much help as I could get to remove the stuff. Secondly, even I knew to be kind to my eyes and not rub them too hard with a wipe. The extra remover would help with that.