Page 75 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
“Yep,” her cousin said, shucking off her pants without so much as a what-for. “If Grandma Harriet were alive, she’d think this calendar a hoot. She would have loved my hat.”
Lucy blinked as Jill threw her pants in the corner. Natalie hooted. Moira hiccupped, which might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Lucy had thought she would have to make Jill comfortable. She should have known better. When her top flew off, Lucy covered her eyes.
“Do you mind?” she asked. “I haven’t had a mimosa yet.”
They must have thought she was joking because they all guffawed. But before she could blink, Natalie pressed a glass into her hand. She looked at it and thought, what the hell, and downed half the contents.
“This is going to be so much fun,” Moira said. “Part of me wants to see you shoot photos of Mom too, but the other part…”
“We might be scarred for life,” Natalie said, “although I have half a mind to send the photos to Dad anonymously at the hospital.”
“That would be the day,” Moira breathed out. “Our dad’s turned into a real prick, in case Andy didn’t tell you.”
She cleared her throat. “He’s mentioned it.”
Setting her mimosa down on the table, Lucy unpacked the soft yellow drape she’d chosen for the shoot. She’d thought a uniform color would work best for the calendar, despite what she’d originally told the volunteers about using different settings. Andy had assured her the background she’d chosen was lovely.
While her mother hadn’t initially been on board with a uniform setting, she’d relented after Lucy had explained it in technical terms that had made Ellen’s eyes glaze over in a minute. Besides, she’d agreed that they wanted to keep the focus on the subjects, not what was behind them.
Lucy hung the drape on the center background wall and checked the lighting she’d set up the day before. The dressing bench she’d selected from her mother’s bedroom was already situated in front of the drape. Some people were going to sit, she expected, while others would stand. Lucy would have to see what worked best.
This wasn’t anything like her usual process for shooting a calendar. Normally she created a story with her photos, building on the theme of the project, strengthening theemotion in each of the images. This time, her subjects had already chosen their months and their themes. All she could do was try and make it look as visually appealing as possible.
“Do you need some help?” Moira asked as she was turning on the strobes. “I know I only dabble, but I love photography.”
Oh brother, here we go.
“It’s more than dabbling, Lucy,” Natalie said. “Moira is pretty darn good. She took one of the best pictures of Blake and me at our first wedding.”
“I know it won’t surprise you, but I wanted to be here today to watch you work.” She gave a slight shrug. “I know Andy said to give you time to settle, but I still…really want to see how you do what you do. I promise to contain my enthusiasm. I hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”
Actually, her interest made Lucy’s stomach roll even more. “I’m not uncomfortable,” she lied. “Are you going to have another mimosa?”
“I’d better stop, or I won’t be able to watch you work your magic.” Moira gave her an encouraging smile.
That’s why I suggested it.“Jill, do you have a robe or something?” Turning, she realized Jill was drinking her mimosa in her birthday suit. “Seriously, Jill. You could have at least kept your panties on. I’m not taking any pictures south of the border.”
Jill gave her a smoky glance and walked toward her. “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up,” she purred like Gloria Swanson herself.
“Oh, good Lord,” Natalie said, reaching down and throwing Jill’s shirt at her. “Put something on, for the love of Pete.”
“We’re all girls here,” Jill said, picking up her red-and-green-striped maracas and shaking them madly.
Moira snorted out a laugh.
“Don’t encourage her,” Lucy said in exasperation.
Nothing felt like it was under her control. Here she was taking photos of entirely naked people—so not her thing—being watched by her own peanut gallery.Thesewere the conditions in which she was supposed to relearn her art. To top it all off, she would never hear the end of it when her colleagues got wind of her involvement in this calendar. She wouldn’t be surprised if a few of them suggested that she follow it up with a study of monkeys wearing top hats.
“You’ve turned green,” Moira said. “Is it the nudity or the harsh realization that you’re not doing your normal calendar?”
Now that made her laugh. “Both. All right, let’s get this done.”
Jill fitted her garish hat on her head and picked up the maracas. Equipped with her props, she arranged herself on the bench, stretching out, of course.
Lucy unzipped the case of her new camera, her fingers trembling as she picked up the Leica SL, the company’s first 35 mm format digital camera with an electronic view finder. She’d bought it last week after concluding she had to learn to use an EVF in case her vision didn’t improve enough for her to return to her old way of taking photos.
All she had to do was look at the small view finder and click the button. It couldn’t be that hard, right?
