Loved By Levi

Thirty-Two

Mylee

"Ow." I nearly stabbed myself in the eye for about the billionth time in ten minutes. I didn't usually wear eye shadow, and the struggle of applying it to one closed eye with the other one squinted reminded me why. Then again, eye shadow wasn't nearly as hard to put on as eyeliner. I sighed, dread setting in. "Ouch!"

A knock sounded at the door and I threw down the tiny brush with relief. "Yeah?"

"Mylee?"

I smiled, recognizing the voice as Marnie Boone's. "Hey, come on in."

She slipped through the door, closing it carefully behind her. "I think you've said the words ow and dammit about fifteen times in the last five minutes and I thought I'd offer some help." 

"Thank goodness! I keep stabbing myself in the eye!"

"Oh no, are you trying to put on eyeliner?" Her voice was motherly and sympathetic, something I really needed right then. 

I shook my head. "Just eye shadow. I'm pretty sure the eyeliner might actually kill me."

Marnie laughed a little at my expense and took a few swift steps in my direction, grabbing the eyeshadow and brush off of my little desk. "Let me see what I can do." 

I sighed in relief and closed both eyes so she could take over completely. The soft brush bristles danced almost soothingly over my lids, coated in the shimmery brown powder I'd started applying earlier. 

"How are you feeling?"

"Really good," I replied, trying my hardest not to move my face at all. With the amount of time it had already taken me to put on foundation there was no way I could risk screwing up the eye makeup. 

"Nervous at all?"

I barely stopped myself from shaking my head. "Not really. The only thing I'm afraid of is falling on my face in front of everyone."

Marnie chuckled, her breath hitting my cheek softly. It smelled like the cinnamon gum she always chewed. "You'll be fine. And even if you start to go down, your dad will be right there to catch you!"

I giggled along with her even though the idea of falling down made my stomach do flips. 

"There we go. Eyeliner next?"

"That was my plan, anyway, but you can do whatever you want. You know I don't usually wear this much makeup." 

She laughed again, sorting through the pile of makeup on my desk. "Only when Camille did it for you. I guess she was good for something, right?" 

"Sure..." My voice dripped sarcasm, but I couldn't help it. Even though I hadn't seen or heard from Camille in over a year after moving home I still hadn't forgiven her completely for all the crap she put me through. "How's the team doing, by the way?"

"Not as good as we did with you on barrels and poles, but decent. The boys have been placing pretty consistently in team roping." 

"I'm glad to hear it." Since moving back, I hadn't kept up with much of the college news. What I did end up hearing came directly from Jack and Marnie who were kind enough to keep me out of the usual college drama. "Are you using the crayon or the liquid stuff?" 

"Mylee Jo, I've never seen you this interested in makeup in my entire life. Are you sure you're okay?" 

I found myself letting out a slightly shaky sigh. "Yeah, I'm good. I just want this to be right, y'know? It's kind of an important day." 

When I didn't feel anything touching my eyelids anymore I opened them to see Marnie smiling softly. "Yes, it is an important day, but if there's one thing I know, it's that you could wear a potato sack with zero makeup and you'd still be beautiful." 

"Thanks, Marnie." Was this what it felt like to have a mama around? I felt guilty letting myself wonder, but I couldn't help it. On a day like this, emotions were high, and really it wasn't out of line to think about her. 

She pulled me to my feet and motioned around us. "I'm sure you're thinking about both of them today, and that's okay. It's probably healthy even. Just know that your daddy is so very proud of you, and me and Jack are, too. But for now, don't think about us. Today is your day, honey!"

I returned her soft smile, feeling my eyes water a little bit, as usual. "I know. I promise I'm trying." 

"Oh, sweetie, don't cry!" Marnie ran and grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on my nightstand. "You'll make me cry, too, and then your dad and Jack will have two bawling women to deal with."

"I'm sorry," I sniffled, trying my hardest to keep the tears from falling, "I'm just kind of emotional." 

"You're allowed to be emotional! And don't you worry, I used the liquid eyeliner because I know what a bawl baby you are," she winked, sitting me back down and stuffing the bundle of kleenex into my hand. Looking in the mirror, I noticed some moisture pooling in her eyes, too. For what definitely wasn't the first time, it hit me how grateful I was that Jack and Marnie had taken a special interest in me from the start. They were like a second family to me, which explained why they were here at my dad's house on this special day. 

"Jack's gonna have our hides if we make him late, though," she added, retrieving the bottle of eyeliner from my desk. 

I nodded and closed my eyes in compliance so she could add the final touches, thinking about how much of a pain it would be to put on mascara without smearing it all over my now pretty eyelids. Again, I thanked God for Marnie.