Holding up her hands, she said, “Not that you need it, but I bought these, too, since a woman should never go out without accessorizing.” A red chiffon scarf, the exact shade as the bathing suit, trailed from one hand and down her arm, a matching red and white striped visor hooked on the index finger of the other.
I looked at them dubiously. “I appreciate it, Loralee, but I think the bathing suit’s enough, don’t you?”
“Enough what? Enough pretty? Oh, sugar, there’s not enough pretty in this world to go around. We have to do what we can.”
Not wanting to argue with a sick woman, I stood still in front of the mirror while she wrapped the scarf around my ponytail, tying it in a long, loose bow. “Just like putting the top hat on Fred Astaire.” She clasped her hands over her chest. “Red is definitely your color. You look absolutely gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” I said slowly, still not sure whether I wanted to wear a red scarf in my hair.
Loralee leaned close to me. “See how easy that was?”
“How what was?”
“Accepting a compliment.” She smiled again, then turned back to my reflection. “Let me show you how to put on this visor without messing up your hair.” Pulling apart the Velcro closure, she adjusted the visor on my head, then refastened it under my ponytail.
“You don’t want it to be too high or you look bald, or too low so nobody can see your face. If you had bangs, you’d feather them over the top.” Her eyes met mine in the mirror. “Do you want me to cut you some bangs? You’d look real cute, and I’ve got a way with scissors.”
I held up my hand, my head spinning. “Thanks, Loralee, but they’re waiting on me downstairs. Maybe later.”
“I wish we had time for a pedicure, because I’ve got the perfect shade for your toes. But I do have a matching red lipstick—I’ll even show you how to put it on.”
“No,” I said a little too quickly, remembering the horror of the earlier lipstick incident. I could still taste the soap I’d used to scrub my mouth to get it all off. “To be honest, I really don’t see the point in this if all we’re doing is going out on a boat and then sitting on a sandbar.”
She gave me a patient smile, the kind I imagined she gave to Owen when he’d said something that was either untrue or beneath his intelligence. “Looking pretty isn’t about how people see you. It’s about letting people know how you feel about yourself.”
I turned to face her. “Did your mother teach you that?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I figured that one out on my own.” Putting her hands on my shoulders, she made me face the mirror again. “Do you feel pretty?”
I hesitated for only a brief moment. “Yes. I do.”
She grinned her widest grin, then let go of my shoulders. “Great. Then my job here is done. You go on and have fun today. And don’t forget your sunscreen.”
I slid my shorts over my bathing suit, then picked up the grocery bag, into which I’d thrown a towel and my sunscreen. “Already taken care of.”
She frowned at my bag. “We’ll have to work on the rest of your accessories. And for heaven’s sake, borrow my sandals. Even if they don’t fit, they’re a good bit easier on the eyes than your loafers with a bathing suit. I left them by the back door.”
“All right,” I said. I hesitated by the door, feeling a dormant emotion stretch in the place where my heart was. It took a few tries, but I eventually got the right words out. “Thank you. For everything. I know I don’t deserve your kindness.”
“You’re welcome,” she said. “Although you’re wrong, you know. We all need kindness. Especially those of us who don’t think we deserve it.”
I remembered how Gibbes had said that he thought Loralee was one of the smartest people he’d ever met, and at that moment I had to agree. Before I could stop myself, I moved forward and hugged her, her bones small and rigid under my fingers. She hugged me back, her hands patting me as if I were a child, as if she understood all the things I wanted to say to her, but hadn’t yet found a way to.
I released her and turned away without another word and left the room, hoping I wouldn’t trip over my feet because I couldn’t see through my watery eyes.
The children’s voices floated up to me as I descended the stairs, and then the back door slammed, leaving the house eerily silent. I pushed open the kitchen door, expecting to find the room vacant.
Gibbes was at the counter, the plane’s passenger list in front of him. When he looked up, I could see the surprise in his eyes. “Wow.”
I almost looked over my shoulder to see whether Loralee had followed me. “Thank you?” I said.
He gave me a slow grin. “That’s a start, but next time try it without a question mark on the end.”
Ignoring him, I set down my bag and examined the refrigerator, its doors open and the freezer defrosted, the inside dark. My gaze moved to the coolers on the floor holding the iced contents of the refrigerator and freezer. “Do we have an extra one to bring with us?”