2011: It's been ten years since the sky literally came crashing down around Yael Malkah and upended her world. Now she's returned to New York to visit her ailing grandmother. With no other family, it's up to her to take care of the family business...
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Haustin shifted, moving from foot to foot and fighting to keep his annoyance in check. He and Miles waited, not so patiently, inside a fancy makeup store, two feet from the doors, so close to freedom. They were the only men to be seen, except for a male employee with pink-tipped hair, and perfume inundated the air, thick and cloying. Add in pounding music and snippets of body glitter comparisons, Haustin figured he may as well be in Hell.
"This place is intense," his son whispered.
"We should have stayed outside."
"But you promised Luna something since you got me the new Xbox controller, so it's kinda your fault."
"Momentary lapse in judgment."
He shared a grim look with Miles and watched Luna, a few aisles over, listening raptly to whatever Yael was telling her. From the hand gestures and pointing, he guessed lipstick to be the hot topic. The throbbing in his temples grew, and he reached automatically into his pocket, dismayed when his fingers failed to brush against the familiar hard plastic of his pill bottle. Damn. He could use a little haziness right now.
"Dad! I need these."
Luna stood before him, face happy and expectant, holding three tubes of lipstick for him to see. Glancing over her head, he spotted Yael and wished he felt one iota of her calmness. Refocusing on Luna, he examined her find.
"You don't need all those."
"But, Dad!"
"You're too young to wear that much lip junk."
"This is lipstick. The other two are glosses, for when I need a little shine."
He wiped a hand down his face, not in the mood for an argument. "Pick one of the glosses and if I buy the lipstick, you have to promise me it's only for practice. I don't want to see it on you in public."
"Fine." Luna's sigh was accompanied by an exaggerated eye roll. "I'll get Glimmer Vixen."
"Vixen?" Haustin choked on the word.
"It's the name of the tint," Yael reassured him, stepping forward to place her hands on Luna's shoulders. "It's fun."
The urge to make it a bigger deal burned hot on his tongue, but he didn't want to ruin what had been a near-perfect day. Sighing, Haustin reached into his wallet and pulled out a twenty. Luna took it and cocked her head, not moving.
"More than twenty?" he asked.
"Well, yeah. This is the good stuff."
"Robbery," he muttered, passing her another twenty. "We'll be outside."
Before turning, he noticed the twitch of Yael's lips.
"It's not funny," he shot over his shoulder as he pulled his son to the safety of the sidewalk.
