Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
On Wednesday morning, Austin left Marco at the gallery to make a quick run to The General Store. A new display stand had arrived at the gallery yesterday, and when he and Marco had tried assembling it, they’d somehow lost one of the screws. Rather than call the company for a replacement, Austin figured he’d find what he needed in town.
The General Store sold everything from tablecloths to groceries to puzzles to seasonal clothing and everything in between, like home décor and greeting cards. Austin found what he was looking for in a bin in the home hardware aisle and took his purchase to the front counter, where the owner was speaking with one of his delivery drivers.
“No, not that one.” Bradley pointed something out on his clipboard. “See here? That order’s for pick up. Cal will be by for it later.”
If Austin were a cat, his ears would’ve perked at the mention of Cal’s name. “I can take it for him and drop it off at his place.”
“Thanks, Austin,” Bradley said, shoving his clipboard into the front pocket of his apron. “But it’s actually for his mom. Her weekly grocery order.”
“I can take it,” Austin insisted. “I’m here anyway. It’ll save him the trip into town. I’ll let him know I’m dropping it off at his mom’s.”
It would save Cal the trip to Barbara’s too. Austin didn’t particularly want to see her either, but if he could save Cal one day of Barbara’s sparkling personality, he’d do it. Hell, he’d help more if he could, but Barbara’s summons were always last minute, and Cal wasn’t the type to foist his mom on anyone else if he could help it, including Austin.
“If you’re sure.” Bradley nodded. “Thanks, Austin. There are a couple of items missing that should arrive with tomorrow’s delivery, but if you could take the rest, that’d be great. Davis, can you run Barbara’s order to Austin’s car?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Austin said as Bradley rang up his purchase. “My car’s at the gallery. I’ll grab it and swing back before heading to Barbara’s.”
He did just that, and a few minutes later, he stood on Barbara Anderson’s front porch, considering his options. Knock and subject himself to Barbara’s poison? Or leave the groceries on the porch?
He’d noticed ice cream in the bags though, which... ugh. Fine.
He knocked.
The door opened a few seconds later, and the expression on Barbara’s face went from polite interest to flat-lipped disgust in less than a heartbeat. “Austin.”
“Barbara. I brought your grocery order.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Why? Cal was supposed to bring it.”
He’s busy , Austin wanted to yell. He’s always fucking busy . But that would only invite her to berate Cal for being too busy to do her one simple favor, and since Austin’s entire purpose for being here was to give Cal a day’s reprieve from his mom, he tried a different tack.
“I was at the store when they were packing the groceries. Figured since I was there I’d bring them myself.” He held up the bags. “Where do you want them?”
She stepped back with a frown that creased her face, slightly unsteady on her swollen ankle. “Kitchen.”
Austin brought the bags to the kitchen and emptied them, putting fridge and freezer items away and leaving everything else on the counter. He hadn’t spent nearly enough time here to know where things like baking soda, crackers, or coffee beans went.
He bundled the bags into one and walked back into the living room. “What else do you need?”
Barbara crossed her arms. “Excuse me?”
“What else do you need? It’s always something. The hedges trimmed? The laundry moved from the washer to the dryer? The weeds pulled? The lawn watered?”
A new broom for your broomstick collection?
“I don’t need anything from you .” The way she said you , one would think Austin had committed murder and then bragged about it. “Not when you’re just trying to get into Cal’s good graces.”
Austin let out a little laugh of disbelief. “Lady, I’ve never needed to get into Cal’s good graces. Can you say the same?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
Sobering quickly, Austin met her gaze. “It means I’d do anything for him. Would you?”
She sputtered and dithered for so long, Austin thought she’d choke on her own words. He let her wear herself out, and when it was clear he wouldn’t get an honest answer to his question, he repeated, “What else do you need?” He checked his watch. “I’ve got an hour before I need to relieve Marco at the gallery. So? What’ll it be?”
“Like I said.” Gingerly, hugging her arms to her ribs, Barbara sank onto the couch. “I don’t need anything from you.”
God, she was so stubborn. “All right. You’re welcome for your groceries, by the way.”
Her eyes hardened.
Since there wasn’t anything else for him to do, Austin nodded once, tucked his bags under his arm, and left.
* * *
“Try adjusting the ISO,” Austin told one of his students. “That should help focus your image a little more.”
There were plenty of places in Windsor that were ideal for night photography, but Austin’s favorite location was a clearing on the north end of Windsor Ranch. Far enough away from the Windsor-March homestead and the guest house, light pollution was virtually nonexistent. With the forest on one side, the mountains on the other, and open fields behind them, students had a variety of landscapes to shoot.
Austin’s instructions for tonight’s practical had been simply to point and shoot, using the techniques for night photography he’d been teaching in his workshops for the past month. Tonight was the final night of June’s night photography workshop, though he’d see some of these students again in July for Night Photography II.
“What do you think of this?” Marco gestured at his camera and stepped away from his tripod.
Austin approached and whistled low at the image on the LCD screen. Marco had used a long exposure to capture a car driving by, and it was a streak of reddish-white against the road, with the mountains in the background. “The mountains are a little dark because you’ve focused your light on the car,” Austin said. “But for someone who’s only been practicing night photography for a year, it’s a damn cool shot. Nice work.”
Marco beamed.
Austin continued on his rounds, giving feedback and advice to his students. Normally, they’d stay in the clearing for an hour and then return to the community center. Everyone would share one of the images they’d taken, and the rest of the group would critique it. With this being the last workshop, though, Austin wanted to give them as much time behind the camera as he could, while offering constructive criticism as they worked.
They were lucky that the night was clear—they’d had to make mad dashes for their cars during one of last week’s workshops when an unexpected rain shower had blown through ten minutes into their practical session.
At ten-thirty, everyone packed up for the night. As cars pulled away from the curb and Austin set up his own camera equipment, a truck parked nearby and a tall cowboy hopped out, sporting a lazy smile and carrying a blanket and a bag of Twizzlers.
“I was going to ask if you wanted me to stick around to help with your night shoot,” Marco said with a leer, nudging Austin in the ribs with an elbow, “but I see you’ve got that covered.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Austin said, laughing. “Get out of here.”
“Hey, man,” Marco said to Cal as they crossed paths, Marco on his way to his car and Cal on his way to Austin.
Cal nodded a hello, then dropped a quick kiss on Austin’s lips. The gesture, so casually intimate, sent a bolt of longing and pleasure through Austin.
“Hey,” Austin murmured. He leaned in for another kiss. “Mm. You smell like soap.”
“Went home to shower before coming over. Hottest day of the year so far, and I was outside for most of it.” Cal jerked his chin at Austin’s tripod. “You done setting up?”
“Not yet. Give me a minute?”
Cal grunted an acknowledgment and unrolled the blanket. He spread it out on the ground, then spread himself out on top of it, hands tucked behind his head, and blinked up at the stars.
Distracted from his task, Austin ran his gaze the length of him and gulped. Cal was all long legs and tapered waist and strong shoulders, and Austin wanted desperately to splay himself out on top of him. Since he was going to be in Europe for the next week, the urgency that strummed through him to do exactly that had him taking a step away from his tripod.
“Finish what you’re doing, Austin,” Cal said without looking, laughter in his voice. “I’ll still be here when you’re done.”
“I’ll still be here when you’re done,” Austin repeated in a childishly mocking voice, making Cal laugh.
He didn’t have a plan for tonight’s photography. He’d been busy all week, and although his fingers had been itching for his camera, now they were itching for something else. Still, he’d brought his equipment for a reason, so he set everything up with his camera facing the mountains, modified his settings, and clicked the shutter.
The photo was... meh.
He tried different angles, set up various light sources he’d brought along with him to illuminate different parts of the landscape, and even had Cal hold a flashlight on the knee-high grass in the foreground.
“Did you take it?” Cal asked from Austin’s feet.
His position sent very naughty thoughts through Austin’s head.
“Nope.” He sighed. “Something’s not working.”
“Not enough light?”
“No, there’s plenty of light. Just... I don’t know. I’ll wait a bit. Sometimes that helps. If I wait, the sky will be a deeper blue and the position of the stars will have changed.”
Cal rose and flicked off the flashlight. “And that will make for a better photo?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Leaving the tripod where it was, Austin sat on the blanket. “What’d you do with the Twizzlers?”
Cal handed them over and sat behind him, nestling Austin between his legs. Letting out a sound of satisfaction, Austin leaned back into him, feeling warm and safe and like everything was right in the world.
Cal kissed his temple. “Thanks for bringing my mom her groceries earlier. I hope she didn’t give you a hard time.”
“She was typical Barbara.”
“So she did give you a hard time,” Cal said, tensing behind him.
“Meh. Nothing I can’t handle. I offered to help with whatever else she needed so I could save you some work, but she wouldn’t have it.”
“No, I bet she wouldn’t.” Cal rested his chin on Austin’s shoulder. “I appreciate you trying anyway. Especially since you don’t like her.”
“No. But I like you.”
Cal tucked his face in Austin’s neck, and Austin could feel the smile against his skin. He settled back more comfortably and gripped Cal’s knee. “How’s it going with Las’s project?”
“Good,” came Cal’s rumbly reply. “We’ve identified which pasture will be converted to cell grazing.”
“It’s not all of them?” Austin asked, pulling a Twizzler out of the bag and handing it to Cal over his shoulder.
“No. Not to start. Just one pasture at first to make sure it works. And that way Las can compare the results of cell grazing versus our current rotational grazing system for his master’s thesis. We start building the cells in a couple of weeks.”
“I’ll talk to Las,” Austin offered. “See if he wants me to be there when you guys are building to document it. I don’t think photos technically go in a thesis report, but he might find them useful for an appendix. And posterity.”
“That’s a good idea. Las has been so focused on the science of things, I doubt he’s thought of documenting the process. Pass me another Twizzler.”
Austin did so and shifted slightly to rest his head on Cal’s shoulder. “Do you like it? Working on Las’s project?”
Cal went quiet for a moment, and Austin closed his eyes, only then realizing that he’d synced his breathing to Cal’s. He smiled into the darkness.
“I do,” Cal eventually said, sounding a bit surprised. “I didn’t think I would at first. Wasn’t sure I had much to contribute, frankly. But it’s been interesting. It’s something different from ranch work. Which, don’t get me wrong, I love. I’ve always loved it. But it’s nice to work on a project that’s out of my comfort zone and learn something new.” He gave a little laugh. “Plus, it turns out I can teach Las a thing or two.”
“Of course you can. You know that ranch better than you know me.”
Cal’s velvety “I don’t know about that” against his ear made Austin shiver. His lips trailed down Austin’s neck, his teeth nipping at skin. “Though you both have some mysteries I’m looking forward to solving.”
“Jesus.” Austin tilted his head back farther, groaning when Cal’s lips met his. The angle was terrible, so the kiss was sloppy, yet somehow, that just made it hotter. “Don’t tease me when we could get eaten by a bear at any moment.”
Cal raised an eyebrow. “Out here? We’re more likely to get mauled by a wolf or coyote.”
“Wow. Way to make a guy feel better.”
Chuckling, Cal kissed his temple. “You packed for tomorrow?”
“Yeah, mostly. Just have to throw a few last-minute toiletries in.”
“You excited to see Ben?”
Austin smiled. “Yeah.” He was going a couple of days early to see Ben in London before meeting Hedda in Norway.
“Does he know you’re coming?”
“I told him earlier this week. I thought about surprising him, but he’s got two jobs. This way he can find someone to cover his shifts.”
“You going to try to convince him to come home?”
“I... don’t think so?” Austin wrapped his fingers around Cal’s wrist. “He sounded excited that I was visiting, but also... tentative? Like he wants me to come but also doesn’t want me to come. I’m afraid maybe he thinks I’ll spend the entire two days trying to get him to come home, so I think I’ll just... not. I want to hang out. Talk. Maybe do a little sightseeing. Make him a home-cooked meal. Maybe several that he can freeze so he doesn’t have to eat frozen dinners for a while.”
Cal’s arms tightened around him. Austin shifted onto the other butt cheek, since his left was starting to go numb, and ate another Twizzler. He liked this. Sitting here with Cal on a quiet night that held barely a breeze. Aside from their breathing, there was only the sound of cicadas, which Austin was trying very hard to ignore.
Still, even with the cicadas, this was nice. Peaceful. Almost magical.
He popped up with a gasp. “I figured it out.” Scrambling up, he grabbed his tripod and moved it behind Cal.
“Your photo?” Cal made to rise, as if he thought he was in the way, but Austin waved him back down.
“Sit. Stay right there.” Austin played with the settings for a minute, moved one of his lanterns, and set the camera’s timer at ten seconds. Then he sat on Cal’s left, shoulder to shoulder. “Smile.”
Cal laughed, the sound booming into the night. “At the camera behind us?”
Austin grinned just as the shutter clicked.
He rose to check the photo on the LCD screen. The stars shone, the mountain was a dusky shadow, and there, in the foreground, was the silhouette of two men sitting side by side.
Something zinged through him. Recognition that he’d taken a good photo. That feeling of a job well done, that he’d just captured something special.
No one looking at the photo could tell that the cowboy was laughing.
But Austin knew. Would remember every time he looked at this photo. Would remember and feel the punch to his gut that told him Cal was his, and he was laughing because of him.
“How’s it look?” Cal asked.
“It’s perfect.”