“That’s clever.”
“Well. Thanks. You’re a little taller than the usual actor, so you might have to hunch to see out.”
“Okay.”
She frowned up at him. “Have you put on stage makeup before?”
“Uh...”
“I’ve got it,” Shiloh said. She was standing in the door to the dressing room—all mushroomed up. She was wearing a short, full red skirt that looked like the cap of a mushroom, with white polka dots. The rest of the costume was a long-sleeved red leotard and white tights. Her facewas painted white with red-circle cheeks. And she was wearing a cartoonish gold crown.
“That skirt is too short on you,” Kate said.
“It’s too small, too. I’ve got it pinned.”
“Let me see if I can find some bloomers.”
“I won’t bend over in the meantime.”
Kate squeezed past Shiloh out the door.
“Thanks!” Cary called after her.
Shiloh was grinning at him. “Look at you.” She poked his shoulder. “Did you learn your lines?”
“Some of them.”
“The makeup is simple. It’s mostly just eyebrows. You want me to do it?”
“Sure.”
Shiloh leaned past him to get a clean sponge. Her skirt pushed into his stomach. It was made of scratchy net with wire supports. It would look good from a distance, though. “Sorry,” she said. “This is why we do makeup andthencostumes.”
She hovered over his face with the sponge and some tan-colored base.
“You look adorable,” Cary said.
“You should see the real mushroom princess.” Shiloh leaned past her skirt and rubbed the sponge over his cheek.
Cary put his hands on her waist to steady her. He closed his eyes. “I’ve been working on my tree voice.”
“Let’s hear it.”
He let his voice drop and get gravelly. “Something like this.”
Shiloh giggled. “I like it.”
“But the Oak Tree’s supposed to be wise, right? So maybe more like...” Cary added an ounce of Jimmy Stewart waver. “This is my faintly amused and world-weary tree voice.”
Shiloh laughed. He squeezed her waist. “Even better,” she said. “Close your mouth.”
She was moving quickly, gently. After a second, he felt a cold, wetbrush over his eye. “Your only important line,” Shiloh said, “is ‘Not my favorite branch!’ when Tom tries to break one off.” She switched to his other eyebrow. “Otherwise, you can just stand there. I’ll cover for you if you miss a line.” The brush pulled away. “All done.”
He opened his eyes.
Shiloh was looking down at him, smiling. “It’s so good to see you,” she said.
Cary wrapped his arms around her waist. He knew that he looked ravenous—did she?
