I added some purple around her eyes, smudging it to look like bruises, then used black to create the illusion of missing teeth. A few strategic brown streaks down her cheeks completed the look, like she’d just crawled out of a bog.
“There.” I sat back to admire my work. “You look absolutely disgusting.”
“Really?” Her eyes flew open, hopeful.
“The most disgusting.”
She scrambled off the couch and ran to where Audrey was still holding the mirror. They both leaned in close, examining their reflections with the kind of serious concentration usually reserved for studying museum artifacts.
“We look so gross,” Audrey breathed, clearly delighted.
“Wait until your dad sees you. He’s going to lose his mind.”
The words were barely out of my mouth when Audrey’s tablet started ringing on the coffee table. She grabbed it, her face lighting up when she saw the screen.
“It’s Daddy!” She answered the video call, then immediately spun the tablet around so the camera faced away from her face.
“Hey, monsters.” Cam’s voice came through the speaker, deep and rumbly.
I had to ignore the way it skittered over my skin.
“Just wanted to let you know I’m about fifteen minutes out. How was your afternoon?”
“We had so much fun!”
“Yeah? What did you guys get up to?”
“Emily did our makeup!”
There was a beat of silence. Then, “Did she now?”
The temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees. The shift in his tone hit me square in the chest. Not angry, exactly, but definitely not happy.
“Yeah! Wait until you see it!” Audrey was oblivious to the tension.
“You’re gonna love it,” Alice all but yelled.
“I’m sure I will. See you in a few minutes. Be good for Emily.”
“We will! Bye, Daddy!”
She ended the call and both girls immediately started planning their grand reveal. How they’d hide behind the door and jump out at him. What sound effects they’d make. Whether they should pretend to be actual swamp creatures who’d eaten his real daughters.
My stomach twisted uncomfortably.
He’d sounded off and I couldn’t think why. Or how to fix it.
He’d been fine until Audrey mentioned the makeup, actually. Sooo…
“Hey, girls?” I tried to keep my voice casual. “Maybe we should wash this off before your dad gets home.”
“What?” Audrey turned to me, her swamp monster face genuinely horrified. “No way!”
“We have to show him!” Alice added. “Pleeease, can we keep it on?”
“Maybe he won’t like the mess.”
“We can clean up the mess!” Audrey was clearly getting upset.
