Page 127 of Scatter the Bones

“You’re welcome!” She gives us a sheepish shrug. “What? It does.”

“I may have used the wordsvampire whorehousebefore.” I shrug. “But devil’s butthole works too.”

Serena walks over to a long vanity table with two chairs and several ring lights stationed around it and asks for one more peek at her son before disconnecting the call.

“Okay.” Serena sets the iPad down. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t apologize,” Shelby says. “I knew you were worried about Link.”

“Hope said goodnight to Grace earlier,” Serena says. “So I got a peek at him then too.” She turns her pretty blue eyes my way and holds her arms out, inviting me in for a hug. “Hi, Margot. I’m so happy to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too,” I say, giving her a quick, hello squeeze.

“How’s the party?”

“Honestly?”No.I don’t know her well enough to complain too harshly. Her man’s the SAA here. Keeping my opinions to myself, I settle for, “Um, it’s been an eye-opener.”

“I bet.” Serena snorts. Her shrewd gaze lands on me again. “I love that red gloss. It compliments your skin tone well.”

My face heats. “Thanks.” I duck my head. I was too nervous to tell her this the last time we met but now seems like a good time. “I’m actually a big fan of your channel, so that means a lot.”

“No way! Really?” Serena squeals, like she’s shocked to meet a fan out in the wild. “Thank you so much.” She turns and gestures toward the vanity. “Shelby and I were filming a tutorial before.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see it.”

On the way over to the room, I’d been too distracted by nerves and dazzled by Shelby’s dress to notice her makeup. But now, up close, I can’t stop staring. Her eyes are framed in a smoky blend of charcoal and deep plum, a razor-sharp cat-eye in metallic gold adding some shimmer. Warm blush sweeps overher cheekbones in a soft, sculpted arc, highlighting her perfect skin. And her honey-toned satin lipstick? Perfectly applied. Not a smudge in sight.

“It came out beautiful.” I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m trying too hard. I mean every word.

“Thank you.” Serena beams at Shelby. “She’s a pretty perfect canvas.”

Shelby ducks her head and shimmies her shoulders.

“I’ve always admired your contouring skills,” I add. “I picked up a few tricks from watching your videos.”

Regret slams into me half a second later. Why did I say that? She’s going to think I’m a freaky fangirl—or worse, realize I mean that I used her tips to contour sunken cheeks, flattened noses, and postmortem eye sockets.

“Margot, you’re the cosmetologist at your family’s funeral home, right?” Shelby asks.

More heat sears my cheeks. I nod quickly. “It’s not the same as what you do, Serena, obviously but?—”

“No, but it’s deeply meaningful,” Serena says. She doesn’t seem uncomfortable or weirded out by me. Doesn’t tilt her head in polite pity or awkward confusion. She meets my eyes with soft understanding. “What you do must give people a little peace in the worst moment of their lives.”

“Yes!” I answer a little too enthusiastically. That’s a topic I could talk about all day. “Sorry. I just—sometimes people bring reference photos from, like, twenty years ago. Glamour shots or their wedding day photos. And they want their mom, or grandmother, or whoever to look exactly like that. It’s hard. But we always try.”

Serena presses a hand to her chest. “Wow. I never thought about how difficult that must be.”

Why would she?

I shrug, trying to downplay how much it matters to me. I don’t want her to remember me asweird lady who wouldn’t shut up about makeup for dead folks.

“Sometimes all they need is something small to hold onto—a hairstyle, or a favorite lipstick shade,” I say. “It’s those little things that matter more than people think.”

Shelby lets out a low whistle. “Dang. I never thought about how much pressure that must be.”

“Anyway.” I hold up my hands like I’m tapping out of the morbid talk. “I think your channel is fabulous, Serena. I’ve learned a lot.”

“Thank you.” She glances at the vanity, then back at me. “You know, I’ve actually had morticians reach out and ask me stuff I didn’t have answers to. Would you maybe want to do a video with me sometime?” Her voice rises to a pleading lilt. “We could give tips, de-mystify what you do a little. Make it less scary.”

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