Katie smiled, jumped up, and dashed from the room. Gump clambered to his feet, seemed to debate whether to follow her, then issued a loud snort and flopped back down. Jasmine guessed the dog had experienced this enough to know he would be booted out of the loft for the lesson, so he might as well not waste his time. Seeing that Katie had forgotten her shoes, Jasmine grabbed them and carried them with her up to the loft.
Will finally joined them about thirty minutes into the lesson. Because she was counting off a sequence for Katie, she just smiled at him and nodded a greeting. He smiled back.
Something was wrong. The smile didn’t reach his eyes.
She had to ignore that for now. If Will wanted to pretend everything was fine for Katie’s sake, she would do the same.
“Okay,” she said after the hour was up. “That’s a good place to wrap for today. You did a wonderful job, Katie.”
Thank you.
“Why don’t you go get changed, kiddo?” Will said, rising from his usual spot on the weight bench.
She nodded and headed down the stairs.
Jasmine turned to him and touched the side of his face. “Will you tell me what’s wrong?”
“Yeah. After Katie’s in bed, okay?”
“Okay.”
He leaned down to kiss her. “Thanks.”
They headed downstairs. She watched him as he sat on the sofa in the family room. He pulled out his phone as she got the oven preheating. His fingers moved in a way that said he was texting.
“Need any help?” Ryan asked, drawing her attention back to the kitchen and his position near the fridge.
Time to focus on dinner, she thought.
“Sure. Could you find a pot to fill with water for the pasta?”
Ryan proved to be a competent assistant. While she got to work seasoning the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper and stuffing the herbed butter under the skin, he got out the pot, filled it with water, and added sea salt before setting it to boil. He then helped truss the chicken while she washed her hands.
“Is there anything I can get ready for the pasta dish?” he asked.
She snapped her fingers. “The recipe’s on my phone and I left it in my bag in Katie’s room. While I run and grab it, would you please pat the chicken down with a paper towel and stick it in the oven? The timer needs to be set for fifteen minutes.”
“That’s all?”
“Just to get the process started. I’ll take it from there.”
“You got it.”
“Thanks.”
Will was no longer in the family room. Growing even more concerned, she walked back to Katie’s room. Maybe he was with her.
When she pushed open the door, her eyes went wide. Katie sat cross-legged in front of her floor-length mirror. Jasmine’s makeup bag was beside her. Most of the products were scattered around her. Her eyelids were covered in sooty gray shadow. Bright pink blush covered her cheeks. She had used the eyeliner like a brow pencil to draw comedic arched eyebrows over her own. Her lips and a significant portion of her mouth outside her lips were caked with plum-colored lipstick. In her hands was a compact, which she appeared to be puzzling over how to open.
Jasmine didn’t know whether to shout with laughter or dismay. She took a moment to calm herself before stepping into the room.
Jerking and dropping the compact, Katie looked at her and said, “Hi,” as though the situation was normal.
“Hi.” Jasmine moved into the room and squatted beside her, carefully lifting her open lipstick and twisting it back down. The shape of it would never be the same. “What’s happening here?”
Katie signed the word pretty, one Jasmine had fortunately learned.
“I see. Do you think your dad will be happy to see his six-year-old little girl all covered in makeup?”
Her lower lip turned out. She dropped her chin and slowly shook her head.
“I’d say you’re probably right.” Jasmine continued to collect the items spread across the floor. “I understand your curiosity about makeup, Katie. All of us girls go through it, and when you’re old enough, I look forward to teaching you things like choosing the colors that look best with your skin tone and how to properly apply them. But you know this wasn’t something you should do, right?”
She nodded forlornly. “Will you tell?” she asked in a whisper.
Jasmine finished replacing everything to the bag and leaned back on her haunches. “Well, let me ask you this. Do you think it’s okay to go through