“Dawson, of course.” She leaned toward him, cradled his face in her hand, and kissed him.
He suddenly didn’t need ice cream—he had something sweet in Caroline. “Okay,” he whispered against her lips. “Andnowwe’re on implied dates for everything. Birthdays, weekends, lunches, Fridays, Tuesdays, your mom’s birthday, anniversaries, breakfasts, all of it.” He smiled against her curved lips, and kissed her, once again feeling the earth move just a little…tiny…bit.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Caroline looked up to the corner of the mirror when she caught movement there.
“Aunt Caroline,” Judy said in her cute little-girl voice. “Can I help you with your makeup?”
Caroline nodded instantly. “Come sit by me here.” She scooted over a little on the bench where she sat at her vanity, and Judy climbed up.
“Your hair is so pretty,” her niece said.
“Your momma did it.” Caroline smiled warmly at the girl in the mirror. “When I’m finished with my makeup, we’ll take out the net, and the curls will fall down.”
Judy picked up the eyeshadow case and popped it open. “Ooh, this one is blue.”
Caroline smiled at her and said, “You can put on a little bit. It just goes right here on your eye.” She dabbedon a little more of the creamy eyeshadow she’d been putting on. “Not all over your face.”
Judy did that, extending the blue too far up and too far out, but Caroline didn’t correct her. Belle let her put makeup on any way she wanted, and Caroline simply wanted to enjoy the innocence of a six-year-old.
“How do I look, Auntie-C?” Judy got up on her knees and blinked her eyelashes, probably the way she’d seen countless princesses do in animated movies.
“You’re always beautiful,” Caroline said. “With or without the makeup.” She rubbed her nose against Judy’s. “Okay? Remember that, honey. You don’t need the makeup to be beautiful.”
“Why do you wear it then?” Judy put both hands on the sides of Caroline’s face. “I wear my blue dress to be pretty.”
“No,” Caroline said gently. “You wear your blue dress tofeelpretty. Youarepretty whether you wear a blue dress or a red pair of jeans or a big brown potato sack.”
Judy giggled. “No one wears potato sacks, Auntie-C.” She sat down flat again and picked up the eyeshadow applicator again. She hummed to herself as she brushed on more color, and Caroline looked at herself in the mirror.
After her divorce, she’d examined every single thing in her life. Did she make her eggs over-easy because Joe had told her to, or did she like them that way? Did sheeven like any of the clothes in her closet, or had she bought them and worn them to please Joe?
Whowasshe? What didshelike? What madeherfeel good about herself?
She’d had to answer all those painful questions, because she felt like she’d bent herself completely to his whims. They never ate breakfast for dinner, because he wouldn’t allow it. She couldn’t wear jeans more than two days in a row, or she wasn’t taking care of herself according to his terms. In fact, Caroline now wore more makeup than her ex-husband would’ve preferred, and he’d made her wash her face before he’d go out with her on his birthday.
Her birthday?
Ignored. They didn’t go out. He never said a word to her about it.
She blinked, and that past version of herself disappeared. She looked at Judy, and she hoped and prayed with everything inside her that she’d never have to go through what Caroline had.
“Or Belle,” Caroline murmured, but Judy didn’t hear her.
The doorbell rang, and Caroline startled, her adrenaline spiking and shooting to the top of her head. “What time is it?”
“I’ve got it,” Belle called, and Caroline wouldn’t be running down the hall in her netted hair and slip anyway.
She got up from the vanity and stepped into her dress, a pretty white background with watercolored flowers on it in a variety of reds and pinks. Very fitting for Valentine’s Day.
She needed heels, a chunky necklace, and her hair let out, so when Belle appeared in the doorway—a bit flushed—Caroline gestured her closer. “Is it Dawson?”
“He said he was too nervous to wait at home.” Belle closed the door behind her. “Seriously, Caroline, he is the sweetest man alive.”
Caroline smiled as she turned her back on her sister. “Get the net, would you?”
“I mean, you’ve been dating for what? A month? But he’s nervous to come pick you up on Valentine’s Day?” Belle sighed, and she got the bobby pins out of the net keeping Caroline’s curls bouncy and contained.
