Chapter 26 #2
“Oh thank you, Loh.” I squeeze him, “are you excited to go to the greenhouse with me? I looked online and they have some kid activities that you can do there.”
He pulls away from me and smiles, “yeah? Like what!”
I pull out my phone and type in the local nursery we’re going to.
Directing the site until I land on the kid zone section.
I’m surprised when I see they actually have a petting zoo on the property, where you can feed the animals.
That doesn’t interest Shiloh, I mean when your uncle is a vet with his own hobby farm, I don’t blame him.
What really catches his attention is this big thing called a pillow jumper.
It’s this big hill type thing that’s on the property that kids can jump on.
It’s like a trampoline in the ground but it has air in it.
To be honest it looks really cool. You won’t have to twist my arm to go on that.
“Shiloh, why don’t you go get your socks and shoes on so we can head out?” Josie says to him, running her hand through his dirty blond locks with affection. He quickly races to his bedroom to get his socks on.
Nerves skitter through my body as I stand up straight, but it’s quickly squashed when Josie steps forward, cupping my jaw and bringing her lips to mine. She presses her soft lips to mine once, before tracing her tongue along my lips. Stepping into her I open up and deepen the kiss.
There’s a slight gasp that comes from her before she melts into me. It takes great effort but I pull away before Shiloh reappears. Josie’s cheeks are flushed, lips slightly parted and emerald green eyes shining with lust.
She fans her face before she schools her features a bit better. “Here come open your gift before we leave.” Grabbing my hand she drags me over to the island counter where the raspberry pink bag sits.
“You guys really didn’t need to get me anything.
” I murmur as I stare at the gift as if it will jump out at me if I go to touch it.
Josie places her hand on my lower back and walks me closer to the gift.
I feel the warmth of Monty on my other side, and with both of them on either side of me I reach forward, pulling out the tissue paper from the top of the bag.
Pulling out the last one I pull open the gift bag and peer inside.
A loud gasp leaves me, hands flying to my mouth. With wide eyes I look at Josie, then Monty, and back to the bag. I feel the first tear fall down my cheek as it finally registers exactly what’s in that bag.
My hands shake as I reach out and pull the bag close to me and look in again. Grabbing the rectangular box, I pull it out and place it on the counter. A shaky breath stutters out of me, while my fingers trace the stock photo of the Canon EOS R6 that’s on the box.
“I remember how you said you used to take photos,” Monty speaks low next to me, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear.
“But it broke when you moved out of your last place. I thought it was a shame that you haven’t been able to get a new one.
You’re so good with photos, just look at the ones you took of the boys for Mother’s Day. ”
I jump slightly when Josie guides my hand to the side of the box to open it up. “Talent like that shouldn’t stay hidden.” She whispers beside me.
My fingers cautiously begin to open it up. “This is too much.” I say, but there’s no fight behind what I’m saying. It is too much, but that doesn’t stop the trickle of excitement that starts in my chest as I think of all the places I want to go now to try out this camera. “Thank you.”
They both step back, “we’ll let you get it set up.
” Monty tells me, “there’s a camera bag too, but we didn’t want it to sit on top of the main gift.
I’ll go get it.” With that he’s gone, and I pull the camera out of its mold.
The feel of a camera in my hands again brings a sense of peace to me that I haven’t felt in such a long time.
I hear Shiloh enter the room, talking about how excited he is to see the fun zone. Josie talks back to him, and gets him to help fill up the cooler with drinks and snacks so that we can go for a picnic after.
I spend the next twenty minutes playing with the settings and getting familiar with the device again. Stepping out to the backyard I take a couple tester shots, already thinking about the kind of pictures I can take at the nursery.
I bring the camera up to my eye and focus on a scenery shot of the background.
The trees sway in the soft breeze, the clear sky the perfect shade of baby blue.
My finger hovers over the shutter button.
Behind me, I hear the screen door opening.
The soft sounds of footsteps alerts me of someone approaching.
The notes of peach and white tea infiltrate my senses and a smile slowly spreads on my face. I snap the photo of the landscape and spin to face her, not lowering the camera as I fix my focus on her.
“Oh no.” Josie says, hiding her face behind her hands. “You don’t need to take a picture of me.”
“I want to capture the most beautiful thing out here.” I say to her, lowering the camera slightly so she can see the sincerity in my eyes, because she is beautiful.
Breathtaking actually, I find myself admiring her doing the simplest things.
Her dark hair frames her face, hands covering her face still, she peaks through her fingers at me.
“I’ll show you after and if you hate it, I’ll delete it.” I promise, bringing the camera up again and focusing on her. Slowly her hands fall from her face, her cheeks are painted with a soft pink. Eyes averted down as if she’s trying to hide herself.
Then suddenly her eyes connect with mine through the lens and a soft smile spreads on her face.
My fingers twitch on instinct, knowing I caught the moment I wanted. The only noise between us is our breathing and the click of the shutter. I take a couple shots before I’m straightening and heading to her side. I angle my body so she can peer over, angling the display screen toward her.
Pulling up the gallery, it’s silent as Josie inspects the photo. I don’t know why, but nerves flutter in my belly as I wait for her to say something. Photography to me is like breathing, I love being able to capture beautiful, breathtaking moments and immortalizing them.
It was a great side hustle when I was still figuring out college and what I wanted to do with my life. Until I met my ex, and everything changed.
“This is…Evie.” Josie mumbles, her hand resting on the arm that’s holding the camera.
“If you don’t like it, it’s okay” I say quickly. “Here I’ll just delete it.”
My fingers fly over to the trash can icon on the camera, but before I get to do anything Josie’s hand grasps me tighter. “Wait no!” She shouts.
My heart rate picks up slightly, I thought she didn’t like it and I told her I’d delete it if she didn’t.
“Sorry. I mean, don’t delete it. I really love it.” She tells me, her smile brightening as she stares at the screen before her eyes move up and connect with mine. “I never like any photos of myself– but this photo is stunning.”
It takes my breath away, and I get lost in the way she’s looking at me.
“You’re stunning.” I look past her into the patio door and don’t see anyone nearby so I quickly lean forward and press my lips to hers. It’s a quick kiss, but I can’t risk it being any longer.
When my eyes connect back with hers I see the shimmer of tears in her wide eyes, mouth still slightly open. It makes me giggle at the state of shock I left her in, a warmth in my chest making me feel so giddy to be able to have these kinds of moments.
Josie stares at me for a beat longer before she clears her throat, running her hands down her stomach, over her hips and down her legs. “I came out here to tell you everyone is packed up and ready to go.” She chuckles, “if you’re ready?”
“I’m so ready.”