Page 61 of Just Act Natural

Her smile disappears, and her eyes drop from mine. Not the response I expected from someone whose account reaches so many thousands of followers.

“And?”

“You’re a great photographer.” That, at least, gets her to look at me again. “You’ve got a good eye for details.”

“It’s a useful skill to have in marketing.”

“No doubt. Rhett does all that for us, and he’s not nearly as talented as you are.” He doesn’t manage to breathe life into his subjects the way she does, either. Our accounts might do a little better if he tried.

She looks like she can’t decide whether to accept the compliment or deny it. “You don’t find it…insipid? Inane?”

Something tells me she didn’t land on those words by accident. I’m not a violent guy, but it’d be for the best if we don’t run across her old friend Josh anytime soon. Everything I’ve heard about him makes me want to land a punch.

“I won’t pretend it’s all relevant to me, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s clearly important to you, and that gives it value right there.”

She shakes her head. “I call shenanigans. It’s valuable because I like it? Feels like a line.”

I set my drink aside. “Princess, I have logged ungodly numbers of hours in World of Warcraft. I booked a trip to New Zealand entirely around visiting Lord of the Rings movie locations. I built a lightsaber from scratch. So, yeah. I think if something is important to you, it has value.”

A smile slowly works its way across her face. “Does the lightsaber work?”

“It lights up, but I have to make thezzshm zzshmsounds myself.”

She laughs at the way I flick my imaginary lightsaber around. “You are such a glorious nerd. I love it. I want to see the lightsaber some day.”

Lila visiting me in Texas? Nothing sounds better. “Absolutely.”

She shakes her drink, redistributing ice and tapioca pearls. “I startedGenuinely_Lilaa few years agoto try to make friends, if you can believe it. I wanted to connect with people who like the same things I do—cute dresses, cheery motivational quotes, pretty places around the city.”

“You’re still posting about Seattle.” Nothing on her account indicates she lives in Oregon, let alone Sunshine. It’s all cityscapes and botanical gardens and coffee shops hundreds of miles away from here.

She straightens in her seat. “Yeah. I’m not sure my followers are very interested in Sunshine.”

“You could give it a try. There’s a lot of good photography opportunities here.”

I can’t tell if she’s going for a smile or a grimace.

“They’re two very different places.”

“Sure, but you’ve got endless natural beauty. Classic brick storefronts. And think of all the local shops you could feature.”

“Grant, no. It won’t work.”

“Why not?”

She casts around for an answer. “There’s no overlap between people who like big cities and people who live in small towns.”

“That doesn’t seem true. Don’t you think they would want to see the real you?”

“Real?” She draws back as if the word might bite her. “Like how my life fell apart all around me? You think I should sharethatwith my followers? They don’t want to hear about that. Nobody wants to hear about that.”

“Lila, if you give people a chance?—”

“No. If I start posting Sunshine’s buildings and parks and all their cute little shops, I promise you I willbleedfollowers. I’ve seen it happen to other creators when they try similar shifts. I just—” She splays her hands, begging me to understand. “I can’t lose the last scrap of success I have left, okay? Once that’s gone, I’ve got nothing. I’m not ready for that.”

Her belief she really has nothing else hits a sore spot in my heart. I take her hands in mine. Comfort I don’t deserve wells inside me when she holds on. “I’m sorry, princess. I shouldn’t have pushed. I know what it’s like to hold tight to the last pieces of normalcy in your life.”

Her deep sigh loosens her shoulders. “No, I’m sorry. I got worked up over nothing.”

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