Page 6 of The Devil's Ice

“Yes, you can.” Zoe winked at Willa, knowing that Keira had been dying to wear some pink lipstick. “Atinylittle bit, OK?”

“OK!” Keira kissed her mother, then bounded back into her chair and picked up her cup again. “Thank you!”

“I won’t be too long,” Zoe said to Willa, who was already melting butter in the frying pan for pancakes. “Maybe ten minutes.”

Willa flapped the spatula at her. “Take your time, Zoe. It’s your wedding day.”

“Itis,” Zoe said quietly, as the wonder of it all just rolled over her yet again in a wave of total love and disbelief. “Itreallyis.”

**

Four hours later, Zoe was standing behind the flower arch with Wolf, watching Keira walk sedately down the aisle, throwing handfuls of wildflower petals left and right. Her daughter’s dress was a pale, shimmering pink and the white faux fur scarf threaded with gold was so large that it covered her throat and most of her upper body for warmth. Her cheeks were glowing with a dash of blush, and her little rosebud mouth had a whisper of pink gloss. Her hair had been rolled into a loose twist at the nape of her neck, and the tiny gold tiara was proudly placed on her shining head, picking up the gold flecks in her brown eyes. Keira had been absolutely beside herself with it all, and Zoe had to admit that the excitement had been contagious.

She’d handed herself over to Melissa that morning with acarte blancheand without any major expectations of what the woman would or even could do in terms of making Zoe look very different. Zoe had always been pretty comfortable with her appearance: she knew that she wasn’t classically beautiful at all, but she was totally OK with that. She was unusually tall for a woman, with full hips and an ass that was never going to be referred to as ‘small’. She very much liked her wavy blonde hair – hair that Hailey and Keira also both had – and if pressed, Zoe would say that she thought her eyes were probably her best feature.

She was prepared for Melissa to tame her wild curls a bit, make them sleek and smooth, and she’d surrendered herself to wearing far more dramatic makeup than her usual brown eye liner and pink lipstick. It was a special day, after all, so why not push out the boat a bit?

Truly, all that Zoe cared about was marrying Scars. She figured that he knew what she looked like, and he liked it, and so a bit of extra polish was occasion appropriate but hardly earth-shattering. After all, how differentcouldZoe look, after seeing her own face in the mirror for over thirty-five years?

So when Melissa had finally stepped back, narrowed her eyes at Zoe, rearranged her hair a bit, whisked the protective cover off her dress, and then invited Zoe to take a look in the mirror… well. It had been one hell of a massive shock for Zoe to see herself. For a few seconds, she’d actually been struck dumb as she’d gazed at the woman standing there in a bright patch of autumn sunlight.

Her hair was loose and wild and warm, spilling golden fire over her shoulders. Instead of smoothing down her curls, Melissa had somehow made them more obvious, but she’d controlled them in some way, so they were glossy and perfect, almost like an ocean wave. Zoe’s green eyes were lined with a bold gold pencil, and the color made them just jump right out of her face; she resolved then and there to throw out her usual boring brown. Her cheeks were framed with a soft apricot, her lips tinged with a dramatic burnt orange, and the whole effect was so unlike herself as she usually was, Zoe just stood and blinked and stared and blinked some more.

If the Rockies outside were bright and blazing, so was she. She truly looked like a bit of the mountains’s autumn colour had stepped away for a few moments and attached itself to her: she was all gold and orange and green. She looked like the season itself, and she was astonished to feel emotional at the thought.

“Zoe,” Willa whispered. “You look spectacular.”

“I – I can’t believe it.” Zoe turned to the side, saw how her hair fell over the back of her dress, picking up the delicate gold threading of the bodice in the front. “I – IthinkI finally see myself how Scars says that he always sees me. He says that –” Her throat closed up over the words.

“Ah ah,” Melissa said gently. “No tears, Zoe, or I have to redo your eyes.”

“Shit,” she muttered, blinking harder now to force the waterworks to stop. “Good point.”

“Mommy,” Keira reproved her. “You said a swear!”

“I did.” Zoe tipped her head back, wondering if that might keep the tears held back. “I’m sorry, little flower.”

“Are you crying because you think you look awful?” Her daughter looked worried, standing there in her perfect little dress and tiara, clutching her little basket of flower petals. “Because you don’t. You look the prettiestever.”

“That’s why I’m crying a bit.” Zoe took a deep breath as she collected herself. “I’m just so happy.”

“Happy that you can look this pretty?”

“Partly,” Zoe said, picking up her bouquet of wildflowers in an attempt to distract herself. “But mostly I’m happy to be marrying Scars. Happy that Willa’s here, happy that you’re here. That Wolf’s here.”

“Everyone’shere,” Keira pointed out. “They came for thewedding. Youinvitedthem.”

The three women laughed, and Keira looked a bit taken aback. She hadn’t thought that she’d said anything funny, just stated the obvious, but then again, grownups laughed at weird things sometimes.

“Exactly,” Willa said now, patting her own loose French twist, checking that it was still in place. “And they’re all waiting, Zee, so let’s get our gorgeous butts out there.”

“You look very pretty too, Auntie Willa,” Keira said, clearly worried that her favorite aunt might be feeling neglected. “I like the green dress with your hair.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Willa said, dropping a quick kiss on Keira’s head. “Your Mommy chose the colors well, didn’t she?”

And Zoe realized then that she actuallyhad: she was in white with gold and green, Keira was in light pink with gold and white, Willa was in forest green with gold thread shot through and wearing amazing long white gloves. Somehow it all worked together, the different outfits echoing each other and making the wearer shine that much brighter. She’d been so focussed on making Keira and Willa look good, she’d kind of forgotten about herself… though she loved her dress. She’d never really thought that she’d be the type to go for the full-on, long white wedding dress thing, but damned if she hadn’t when it came right down to it.

Willa and Keira had gone out first, standing at the top of the marquee to give the harp player the nod to begin, and that was when Wolf had come to Zoe, collecting her so that he could walk her down the aisle. Zoe’s father was a full-blown alcoholic and she hadn’t spoken to him in over twenty years, and after he’d abandoned the family when Zoe was barely thirteen, her Mom had gone the same boozy route. Zoe and Scars’ mountain wedding was small and intimate, and she was happy to have it that way.

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