“Let’s get me stuffed in this thing like boudin,” Marina said.

“Now you’re talking.” Halcyon reached into the tote bag she’d brought with her and handed Marina a tin of Crisco.

“You were serious about that?”

“Get naked and slick.”

Marina cringed. “Words you never want to hear directed at you from your sister.”

“C’mon. You’re burning daylight and I’ve still got to address the hem.”

Marina pointed at Snooze, who was lounging in the corner of her bedroom. “Out. I’m not willing to embarrass myself in front of more living beings than Halcyon.”

Snooze rose from his spot and headed for the living room. She could swear he was looking at her as if she’d lost her mind. Refusing to be shamed by her dog, Marina shrugged off her robe and dug out a gob of the Crisco. She hesitated for a moment, then slapped the goo on midthigh where Halcyon had indicated and rubbed it up to just under her chest, giving a silent thanks that Halcyon was busy digging shoes and purses out of the tote bag rather than watching her. She’d already turned her back to the mirror, not even wanting to see the debacle herself.

“How’s it going?” Halcyon asked and looked over at her.

“All done on the front and sides. I can’t reach all of my back.”

“I’ll get that. Turn around.”

Marina faced the wall and got a full-length view of her naked, greased self and frowned. Yes, she showered every day—sometimes more if it was a particularly bad hot flash day—but she usually toweled off and pulled on clothes of some sort. She didn’t really spend time staring at herself naked from head to toe.

At first, she wanted to tell Halcyon to forget everything, pull on her robe again, and destroy all the mirrors in her home. Then she looked again. This time taking into account the last twenty-eight years of her life.

There were stretch marks, of course. She had Avery to thank for those and for the loose skin around her middle. Well, it used to be loose. In the past five years, she’d packed on enough pounds to fill it out. And the cuts she used to have in her thighs and biceps were rounded out now, disguising the muscle beneath that she knew was still there.

She smiled. Honestly, she looked pretty damned good.

“Let’s do this,” Halcyon said.

“What the hell,” Marina said and stepped into the hair band.

“I’ll get the back. You work the front. It’s better if we pull at the same time.”

Marina bent over and grabbed the top of the hair band. “One, two, three.”

Both she and Halcyon pulled at the same time and managed to get it past her knees and onto her thighs, where everything came to a halt.

“Okay,” Halcyon said. “This is where we start inching it up. The top is touching the Crisco, so if we can get it all over the grease then we’ll be good.”