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Ah yes, she’d spoken to Ember earlier and moaned about not being able to make her feet look pretty. Thank God she hadn’t spoken about anything more personal. She made a note to herself – Riley had the hearing of an elephant. Or were they the ones with good memories? Ally wasn’t sure. All she knew was they had huge ears.
“So, what’s your favorite color?” Riley asked, pulling some bottles out. “I love black, but there’s this bright pink if you want to be girly.” She held up a pale taupe. “Or if you prefer neutral, I have this one. This was my mom’s favorite.”
She said it lightly, but Ally could detect the emotion in Riley’s voice. “Your mom had good taste.”
“Yeah, well.” Riley shrugged. “I’d guess you’re more of a pink kind of lady.”
Ally nodded. She really didn’t mind what color Riley used, but she was wary of saying the wrong thing. “You choose,” she said. “I’ll go with whatever you think is best.”
“Pink it is.” Riley pulled out a bottle of remover, shaking it before pressing it against a cotton pad. She rubbed the cotton against Ally’s big toenail. “You want me to trim them, too? I used to do Mom’s when…” she trailed off and looked away for a moment, before glancing back at Ally. “She said I did a good job.”
“That’d be great.”
“If you like your toenails, maybe I’ll do your hands tomorrow.”
Ally smiled. “That would be nice.”
Riley finished removing the polish and threw the cotton pads in the trash. Then she got to work with a nail file, shaping Ally’s toenails into soft squares with a rounded edge.
“How’s school?” Ally asked, as Riley massaged some foot cream into her skin.
“It’s okay.” Riley shrugged. “A couple of the girls I was at the cliff with apologized to me about trying to make me jump. Laura and Alice. They even asked me to sit with them at lunch.”
“They did? That’s great.”
“It was just lunch.” Riley shrugged. But the corner of her lip pulled up into a half smile. “They also asked me if I’d go to the movies with them on Saturday night.”
“Ooh. What are you going to see?”
“Probably nothing. Dad grounded me after you broke your ankle. I’m pretty sure he won’t let me go.”
“Oh.” Ally mashed her lips together. “That’s a shame.”
“I probably deserve worse.” Riley shrugged, but Ally could tell she was disappointed. “Anyway, I’m going to put a base coat on first, so this pink doesn’t stain your nails.” She pulled the bottle open and painted the clear polish on each of Ally’s toenails. “You have really pretty feet.” Riley frowned. “Well, foot. I can’t see the other one very much.”
“It’s almost the same as this one,” Ally said, wiggling the toes on her unharmed foot. “Except in mirror image.”
“Well, duh!”
The front door slammed, making both of them jump, and the shock made Riley’s hand brush the nail polish onto Ally’s big toe. “Frick. It’s lucky I’m still on the clear polish,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “Otherwise you’d have pink feet right now.”
“Anybody home?” Nate called out. Ally tried to ignore her body’s response to his deep, warm voice.
“We’re in Ally’s room,” Riley replied. A second later, he was standing in the doorway, a bemused expression on his face as he looked from Ally to his daughter. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Fine. We cooked spaghetti,” Riley said. “There’s a plate in the refrigerator for you.”
“Oh right.” He blinked a couple of times. “Thanks.” He ran his thumb across his chin. From where she was sitting, Ally could see the shadow of beard growth that had come in since his morning shave. “I was going to order takeout.”
“No need. I asked Ally to show me how to make it, and now I know.” Riley grinned at her dad. “I can make it for you whenever you want.”
Nate turned to look at Ally. “What have you done with my real daughter?” he teased.
Riley groaned. “Dad.”
“I should work late more often,” Nate continued, ignoring her. “If it means I get to come home to this.”
“It’s just dinner,” Riley told him.
