‘You look fantastic, darlin’,’ Michael reassured her from the doorway. His smile was so bright it would have glowed in the dark. ‘You look like a princess.’
‘You don’t think I’ve gone too far? I’m showing so much bare skin.’
‘Nonsense. Anyway, your skin’s lovely. It should be seen. You’ll knock ’em dead tonight.’
She turned sideways to check her gown from a different angle and told herself it was too late to back out now; she’d taken the bull by the horns. She was going to the Mullinjim Spring Ball to start her husband-hunt. In earnest.
Knowing she desperately needed help in matters of make-up, hairstyles and ballgowns, she’d followed up an advertisement in the local paper and hired the services of a travelling beauty and grooming consultant. The whole process had been a steep learning curve!
April, the consultant, had been quite definite.
‘White,’ she said. ‘The dark vamp look is so last century. You should certainly wear white. It’s dramatic and it’s classy and you have the perfect youthful complexion for it. Not everyone can wear white successfully, you know.’
It crossed Piper’s mind that a white gown would scream virgin to the entire population, but she held her tongue.
‘And you’re slim and fit, so a tight, low-necked, low-backed gown will be best, to show off your figure and that beautiful pale skin,’ April continued with growing enthusiasm. ‘And your shoulders are so nicely defined you’ll only want the tiniest halterneck strap to hold everything up.’
‘What about…?’ With a grimace, Piper indicated her inadequacies in the chest department.
‘You wait till you see the dress I have in mind. Your curves will be shown off to their best advantage,’ April reassured her, and then she winked. ‘At least you should be grateful you have firm breasts that haven’t started heading south yet. Most women have the opposite problem.’
So the dress had been couriered out from a Cairns boutique, and this afternoon April had attended to the final details of hair and make-up.
‘You need after-dark glamour to bring out your eyes. They’re a pretty blue, but they could look a bit quiet at night, so I’ll apply shadow to define them. And then we’ll add false eyelashes.’
‘Oh, no, we won’t!’ Piper knew when enough was enough. ‘I couldn’t possibly wear false eyelashes.’
‘You wait till you see the way I do it, ducks. I’m a genius. I cut them and just apply a few extra lashes to your outer lid. It gives you a sexy, long-lash look, but I promise you won’t look like a drag queen.’
Pushing a host of doubts aside, Piper had bravely submitted to the superior knowledge of an expert. Now, as she viewed the results, she had to agree that April was indeed a genius. A very expensive genius, but she was definitely up there with fairy godmothers when it came to transforming tomboys into princesses.
The white gown was a silken dream. It seemed to give Piper’s body a sexy allure she’d never imagined possible. She’d expected to leave her hair down, the way Gabe had suggested, but April had done it in an elegant twist— ‘To show off your neck and shoulders.’
Her face looked amazing. She’d been worried that her eyes would look overly painted, but April’s artwork was subtle. She turned away from the mirror to see Michael regarding her tenderly.
‘I have one last thing that will add the finishing touch to make you look beyond perfect,’ he told her as he stood there with his hands behind his back.
‘What is it?’
With a little boy’s look-at-me-Mum smile, he brought his hands forward. ‘These were Bella’s.’
Piper’s heartbeats quickened. Michael had never before shown her anything that had belonged to her mother apart from photos. Now, sitting in the palm of his old callused hand, she saw elegant earrings—beautiful teardrop pearls suspended from tiny circles of diamonds.
‘Oh, Grandad, they’re gorgeous.’ She threw her arms around him, and the only thing that stopped her from crying was fear that her make-up would run. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘I never knew my mother had such lovely things. But I don’t suppose she was ever a rough and tumble tomboy like me.’
‘Oh, Bella was a tomboy all right,’ Michael said with a wistful smile. ‘Right up until the day Peter O’Malley arrived in our valley and swept her off her feet. Suddenly there was a flurry of buying dresses and fixing hair and you would have been pushed to recognise her. She turned from a sunburnt and dusty jillaroo into a beautiful princess overnight.’
Piper felt a twisting ache around her heart as she thought about her parents falling in love. Her glance darted to her reflection in the mirror.
‘Yes. You look just as suddenly grown-up and pretty as she did, sweetheart. I’ve always known that you’d steal hearts one day. Your sweet blue eyes are exactly like Bella’s and you have a beautiful, proud profile like my Mary’s…and your father’s yellow hair.’
He cupped his hand and tipped it from side to side so that the earrings caught the light and the diamonds sparkled. ‘Peter bought these for Bella to wear on her wedding day. They were married right here at Windaroo, under the jacaranda tree next to the front steps. It was the prettiest wedding you could ever imagine.’
‘Oh, Grandad, don’t make me cry.’
‘Sorry, Piper. I guess seeing you looking so lovely made me nostalgic.’ As he handed her the earrings he grinned. ‘I should warn you that I have a hankering to see another wedding on Windaroo some time soon.’
‘Don’t get your hopes up, old feller,’ she said, shooting him a warning glance.
He chuckled, and then, as if to change the subject, said, ‘Hey, that’s nice man-bait you’re wearing.’
‘Man-bait?’
‘Perfume.’
She turned away quickly and slipped the first earring in. ‘Do you think the scent is delicate enough?’
‘It smells better than bread in the oven.’
‘That’s very reassuring.’ She laughed and finished securing the second earring. Another glance in the mirror told her they were the perfect touch of elegance. ‘What do you think?’ she asked, turning back to him.
The old man’s eyes gleamed as he saw the jewellery in place. ‘You’re going to capture a whole battalion of hearts tonight, little girl.’
Arm in arm they walked out to the verandah.
Old Roy, who was keeping Michael company this evening, was there sitting in a squatter’s chair, and he jumped to his feet when he saw them. ‘Holy smoke!’ He stared at Piper.
Michael beamed at him. ‘What do you think of our princess?’
Roy ran his hand over his bald patch several times. ‘Holy smoke,’ he said again. ‘Strike me pink. Piper—geez, you look a bit of all right.’
‘Thanks, Roy,’ Piper said with a smile. What would she do without these two old darlings? They were certainly good for a girl’s ego.
She and Michael walked on to the ute, parked in the driveway. As he opened the door for her he patted the battered frame. ‘You should be heading off in a golden coach with six white horses, not this old rattletrap.’
With an exaggerated roll of her eyes she climbed behind the steering wheel and tossed her evening purse onto the passenger’s seat.
‘At any rate you should have a partner to take you to this ball,’ Michael added. ‘I’m not happy at the idea of you going by yourself.