So she just smiled.
Jason smiled back.
Sally rushed forward again and hugged Elle’s legs.
The little girl tipped her head back and asked, “Can you make a chocolate cake so we can celebrate?”
“No, lass, we’re going to dinner to celebrate,” Prentice replied as he shifted Elle to his side.
Jason was now smirking. “Elle might want to do something with her face.”
Elle’s hands flew to her cheeks, exclaiming in feminine horror, “My mascara!”
Prentice tipped his head down to look at her and Elle saw he was grinning.
“Just wipe it all off, baby, we’re going to be late,” he ordered.
“I’ll do a touch up. It won’t take a second,” Elle replied, swiping at her cheeks, hoping she wasn’t making it worse.
“Just wipe it off,” Prentice repeated.
“It won’t take a second,” Elle repeated too.
“Elle –” Prentice started.
“Pren, it won’t take a second.”
“Can I come?” Sally asked excitedly.
Elle extricated herself from Prentice’s arm and caught Sally’s hand, answering, “Of course, sweetheart.”
They walked to the stairs as Prentice called, “Do it in a hurry.”
Elle looked down from her ascent of the stairs and repeated, yet again, “Pren, it won’t take a second.”
As she and Sally turned out of sight, she heard Jason say, “I don’t get it. She looks prettier without all that gunk.”
Elle slowed their gait so she could hear Prentice reply, “I know, mate.”
“So why?” Jason asked.
“She’s a woman,” Prentice sighed.
“Seriously,” Jason said, “totally mental.”
Elle giggled as she entered her rooms, Sally’s hand in hers and she led Sally to the bathroom so she could do a touch up.
* * * * *
Dinner ran long, mainly because Prentice felt the need (and acted on that need) to tell everyone they encountered that Elle was moving, permanently, to the village.
And at this news, everyone they encountered behaved like it was Christmas and their birthday all rolled into one and they all decided to sit down and chat for awhile and some of them sat down and chatted for a long while.
By the time they got home, it was well past Sally’s bedtime and the little girl was drooping. Elle didn’t even take off her shoes before she saw to getting Sally to bed.
Sally was so tired she didn’t want to be read a book. After Elle got her to brush her teeth and change into her nightgown, Sally just curled up with a somehow equally exhausted Blackie in her arms (though, Elle figured Blackie’s exhaustion had something to do with the decimated toilet roll in Jason and Sally’s bathroom) and snuggled into her pillows while Elle tucked her in.
“Elle?” Sally whispered after Elle turned out the bedside lamp, leaving only the glow of the nightlight.