"Now, what was Esther Schriever thinking giving you that photo?" Theodora said. "What are we supposed to do with that? I'm a beautician, not God."
For once, Tess agreed with her mother. "We'll have to go as close to memory as we can. Esther dropped off all her mother's makeup when she brought her clothes last night, so at least we know we'll have a pretty close match. Go ahead and start washing her hair and I'll do the body."
They each donned a plastic gown and gloves, and Tess soon realized she was going to have a problem with the wrist brace. She removed it, put on a glove, and then put the brace back on top of it. Her mother didn't seem to notice the brace, and if she did, it didn't cross her mind to ask about it, which didn't surprise Tess since, after all, it didn't directly affect her. They also put on polycarbonate face shields that looked a lot like welder's masks, but they were made of clear plastic. Hair and makeup could be a messy business.
Theodora got started washing Mrs. Schriever's hair, and Tess took a bucket and filled it with tap water to sponge Mrs. Schriever down one last time and massage the hands into a position where the makeup would be easiest to apply.
"Last time I saw Delores was at the Fourth of July parade downtown," Theodora said. "Never would've known by looking at her she'd be dead a couple weeks later. She had a prime spot right on the corner. Parked her wheelchair out there all afternoon to make sure nobody took her spot. That's dedication. She was wearing a baseball cap, so I didn't see what her hair looked like, but if I recall she was always fond of pin curls. I'll get her set and then tease them up real nice around her face to give her some volume."
Tess kept her fingers crossed she wouldn't have to minimize the damage too much. She didn't remember ever seeing Mrs. Schriever with teased anything. She went to look through the makeup bag and found a bottle of foundation inside. There was enough to cover Mrs. Schriever's neck and hands as well.
"Ooh, that's the good stuff," Theodora said, looking at the makeup. "It's real expensive."
There were tricks to applying makeup to the dead. Once a body was embalmed, the skin was no longer as soft or pliable, and it no longer absorbed anything, so using a sponge to apply regular makeup could be challenging, to say the least. But Tess had learned a cool trick at her last conference. She poured Delores's foundation into an airbrush gun, along with a small amount of epoxy and water so the color would stick to the skin. It was also important for older people to thin the foundation down with water because you still wanted the age in their skin to show to some degree. The last thing the family wanted was to see their loved one as someone unrecognizable.
Tess gently put a headband around Delores's head, to keep any makeup out of her hair, and then pulled down her face mask to get to work.
The quiet was the part of her job she enjoyed the most. Being with the dead never bothered her, and there was something comforting in the fact that she was entrusted with the job of making sure the family had a great last memory of their loved one. It wasn't something she took lightly.
Tess turned on the airbrush and started at the neck to make sure the color came out right, and then she got down to business.
"You don't suppose that Dante is around somewhere, do you?" Theodora asked. "Talk about putting color in a woman's cheeks. He gives me hot flashes and I finished menopause two years ago."
"Don't hit on the help," Tess said. "And stop biting him. That's just weird."
Theodora growled like a feral cat and then laughed. "I just can't help it. He's very bite-able. I just want to pounce on him every time he walks by."
"That's called assault. Don't do it. Besides, he's young enough to be your son."
"Who cares?" she asked. "Good grief, when did you get that stick lodged so far up your behind? It must be mighty uncomfortable. I could tell you stories about what younger men can do."
"Please don't," Tess said. "What happened to the therapist?"
"He certainly makes our sessions more entertaining. I don't have to worry about all that 'Why do you make such destructive choices, Theodora?' crap. But Herald just isn't marriage material. I'm sure I'll be back on the market once he signs my release papers for the judge."
"Hmm," Tess said, but Theodora didn't hear her since she'd turned on the hair dryer. Tess was tempted to give her mother the fifty dollars and finish the job herself. It had already been a long morning, and a headache was brewing behind her eyes.
Family was often a burden. It was what it was. But she wondered what life would be like without worrying if the sheriff were visiting because her mother was behind bars, or what it would be like to skip a Friday morning visit to the Clip n' Curl. She loved her family . . . really, she did. But love and sanity didn't always go hand in hand. Cutting the strings to Last Stop was seeming more and more like the right idea.