Page 86 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
“I love you too,” he said, lowering his head until his mouth was inches from hers. “Thanks for helping me find it again.”
And then he kissed her softly on the lips, feeling their hearts dance around each other all over again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
After the photo shoots with two of the male volunteers, Lucy found herself grading her own photos with nothing better than a C for the final product, like the average students in her class. At least her instincts on capturing the perfect moment still deserved an A+.
The lighting on Jill’s face in Lucy’s favorite photo was too harsh, to her mind. The sad-yet-hopeful expression on Old Man Jenkins’ face was a winner, but the flag he was holding looked blurred on the corners. And Rhett Butler Blaylock’s whimsical smile as he kicked back wearing an open leather vest…well, the focus was off ever so slightly on the best photo of the lot. They would need a lot of touching up, and while she knew the images were great, she couldn’t help but feel frustrated.
Andy loved them and kept telling her that she was her own worst critic. But she was three photo shoots into the project, and she was floundering. Doubt seeped into her like unwanted water in a leaky basement. Her mother’s frequent calls and texts didn’t help. Today’s had been short but sweet.
Lucy, I want to see the photos you’ve taken so far. Stop ignoring me. I know your tactics, missy. I have a right to see them.
Perhaps she did have a right, but Lucy didn’t have enough confidence to show them to anyone but Andy. She was tight every time she picked up the new camera, and her nightmares had changed from twisted memories of the village bombing to garish versions of the calendar photos resembling fun-house mirrors. Everything she captured seemed distorted right now.
The only part of her life that felt in focus was her relationship with Andy. She’d never been more in love with anyone. Never imagined it could be possible to want to be with someone every day and night and still want more. Of course, they couldn’t be together every night because of Danny. They’d agreed not to spend the night together in Andy’s house. It didn’t feel right. That meant they met at her house during his lunch hour or spent time together while a family member took care of Danny.
Tonight they were going to have dinner together at Andy’s house and play Wii afterwards, something he and Danny did a couple times a week. Lucy had attended a few of the boy’s T-ball games and hung out with the Hale clan at Sunday dinner.
They were weaving more than their hearts together. They were beginning to weave their lives together. She was trying not to freak out about what that meant for her and her career.
Her vision hadn’t improved past the day of Jill’s photo shoot, but Dr. Davidson assured her it still could. Her color vision wasn’t better, though, and that bothered her.
She was sitting in her home office, grading photos of starving cats and dogs at the local pound, when herphone rang. She picked up her phone because there was no evading the caller any longer. “Hello, Mother.”
“Hello, Lucy. I thought April and I could come over and see the photos you’ve taken so far since you don’t have class today.”
Lucy pushed her sandwich aside. There was no way she could eat any more rye and Swiss. “Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? I prefer to assemble the calendar in draft and show it to all of you at the same time. Most of the people I work with prefer it that way. They can see the complete?—”
“I’m not most people,” her mother said crisply. “I’m your mother. Stop putting me off. When I asked you to do this, I thought we could have fun together. I’ve respected your wish not to have me present at every photo shoot, but I want to see what you have so far.”
“Old Man Jenkins would have been uncomfortable with you in the room, Mother,” she said, trying and failing to keep the aggravation out of her voice. “And Rhett probably wouldn’t have been as relaxed if there had been any bystanders besides his wife.”
“You’re underestimating Rhett,” her mother replied in a hard tone.
Lucy didn’t think so. Under that tough, devil-may-care attitude was a vulnerable man full of emotion. He’d gotten all teary-eyed while telling her stories about his uncle. And so had his lovely wife, Abbie. More than one tissue had been passed around. Of course, Rhett blamed it on his impending fatherhood. Lucy knew better.
“Edith said she wouldn’t mind if I come to her photo shoot this weekend,” her mom said, using her words like a railroad worker poundingnails for Union Pacific.
Lucy decided to stop arguing with her. “Mom, I’m really serious here. Can’t you trust me?”
“This isn’t about trust,” her mother said, her tone growing sterner. “It’s about the calendar, and since April and I came up with the idea, we want to be more involved. That means seeing the photos you’ve taken so far.”
This was going to be a disaster, but she knew her mother. Reason and compromise weren’t in her lexicon. She was done taking no for an answer. Lucy could show them the photos she’d taken and explain the reasoning behind her selections, all the while making it clear they weren’t completely touched up to her liking. Heavens knew that was the case.
“Fine,” she said rather petulantly. “Come on by in the next hour or so. After that, I’m going on a hike and then over Andy’s.”
“We’ll be there in a jiffy,” her mom said and hung up.
Lucy pressed her fingers between her brows. Her mother wasn’t going to see things the way she did. She never had. Rising from the table, Lucy threw out the rest of her sandwich and decided to make her bed to keep her hands occupied until they arrived.
She was tugging on the pillowcases when she heard a knock on the door. As she walked to open it, she told herself she was a grown woman with an award-winning career in photojournalism. People admired her work. When she saw her mother’s sour expression, she had to admit the harsh truth.
Her mother wasn’t one of them.
Part of her still didn’t fully understand why her mother had asked her to do the calendar in the first place.
April gave her a hug first, which was telling, and her mother’s greeting was perfunctory.
