Chapter 21 - Callie
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Callie
ONE WEEK LATER
“So where exactly is she taking us?” Jensen asks, carefully maneuvering his truck around a massive pothole. We’ve been bumping along a dirt road for more than half an hour now with no real idea of where we’re headed.
I hold up the crumpled pink post-it note Mabel handed me yesterday. “Your guess is as good as mine,” I tell him. “All she gave me was this.”
The location for the photoshoot isn’t on Google Maps, so she’d jotted down a few vague directions and landmarks for us to follow.
“You can’t miss it!” she’d told me confidently.
But now, I wasn’t so sure. Dayton Springs is a small town and fairly rural, but I’ve never been to this particular area.
Uninhabited and wild, there’s not a soul in sight.
“You know, it kinda looks like a place someone might bury a body,” Jensen deadpans, his voice low and deep. When I look over at him, the right side of his mouth is quirked upward, which makes me laugh.
“Let’s hope not,” I joke. “Otherwise this is going to be a very different type of photoshoot.”
Jensen chuckles and then casually reaches across the seat to take my hand. My heart trips and stutters and nearly stops when his thumb begins gliding across my skin in soothing circles.
Ever since the dance hall, things between us have felt different, and even more so in the last few days since our Good Day, Alabama interview.
Charlotte Cannon’s suggestion to do a second photoshoot went nearly as viral as our original one, and all our social media accounts have been blowing up with notifications and mentions ever since.
It’s nuts how invested everyone is in this whole thing—a little unnerving, too.
I’m still trying to figure out what to do about my not so-uncomplicated feelings for Jensen and having what feels like the entire world focused on us doesn’t help.
The one thing I do know is that when I’m with Jensen, everything else just fades away.
I want to be near him, to spend my time making him laugh—even if there is a small part of me that still worries, still wants to run screaming the other way in the name of self-preservation.
The rest of me, though, wants to take Ms. Dorothy’s advice and jump right off the cliff to see if I can fly.
Hell, I think I already have. And god, I want Jensen to fly with me.
I steal a glimpse of him. He’s keeping his focus on the road ahead, but he’s still holding my hand firmly in his and his expression is content, his features relaxed. Is it because he’s feeling the same thing I am?
Will you fly with me, Jensen? My heartbeat is pounding so hard, I wonder if he can hear it.
Thankfully, a much-needed distraction appears around the next curve. My cousin is standing on the side of the road, waving at us from beside her car, which is parked at the edge of a dilapidated barn.
Jensen lets go of my hand so he can maneuver the truck behind Mabel’s car, and the loss of contact makes my stomach flip over.
Sighing, I unbuckle my seatbelt and get out.
“You found it!” Mabel beams, hurrying over to wrap her arms around me.
“Barely,” I tell her, returning her hug. “Where on earth are we?”
“You’ll see,” she tells me with a wink. “Come on, we have a bit of a hike ahead of us, and I want to get there before we lose the light.”
“A hike?” I look over at Jensen who lifts his brows. “We’re not doing the shoot here?” I point to the barn.
“Definitely not.” Mabel scrunches her nose like I’ve just suggested we do the photoshoot in a trash heap. “It’s just the landmark that marks the beginning of the trailhead.” She slings her camera bag over her head. “Follow me.”
I look down at my maxi dress and sandals. “Um, Mabel. I didn’t exactly dress for a hike.”
“There’s a path,” she assures me. “It’s a little overgrown, but you’ll be fine. I promise.”
Without waiting for any kind of response, she forges ahead, slipping between two tall trees and into the woods. “Uh . . . ” I start to protest, but Mabel pops her head back out of the tree line and waves me forward. “You coming?”
Jensen moves before I do, heading toward where Mabel is waiting, but as he passes me, he holds his hand out behind him.
It’s a simple thing, a small gesture that might not mean much to someone else, but to me it’s an acknowledgment of my feelings.
It’s not the first time, either. In his own quiet way, Jensen makes me feel seen.
Adam had an uncanny knack for always making me feel like I was too much. Too loud, too needy, too everything. And I spent so long trying to make myself be smaller.
But with Jensen, I don’t have to be small. Even if it’s something as silly as being hesitant about traipsing through the woods in a dress, he somehow gives me the quiet assurance that my feelings have value.
I take his hand, as gratitude swells in my chest, and let him lead me down the path.
Mabel is already several feet ahead, bounding along like the uneven terrain isn’t at all an issue for her.
The path is more than a little overgrown, and we have to slow down several times to go around or directly over fallen logs and limbs.
We come across a particularly large tree laying directly in our path. Jensen hops up and helps me up onto the tree’s trunk. “She really is trying to kill us,” I grumble, as Jensen jumps down and then reaches for me to help me to the ground.
“Don’t worry,” he tells me, his hands lingering at my waist. “I’ve got you.”
The words soothe my irritation, and I step a little closer. “Thank you,” I murmur, peering up into his face. His grip tightens, and when his hand lifts to cup my neck, every cell in my body seems to ignite. When he touches me, I don’t want him to stop.
“Hey you two!” Mabel’s voice cuts through the air. “Save it for the photoshoot, will you?”
I step back automatically with a groan. “So, remember that whole burying a body thing?” I ask Jensen and then cut my eyes over to my cousin.
He lets out a laugh, and the sound is so wonderful, it makes me want to say something else to make him laugh again.
It’s literally the best sound in the world.
“Come on,” he tells me, re-claiming my hand in his.
We walk for another fifteen minutes or so before Mabel spins around, her eyes bright. “It’s just beyond here,” she tells us.
“What’s . . . ” I start to ask but trail off as a sound registers in my ear. “Is that a . . . ”
“You’ll see,” she singsongs gleefully, holding out her arm to indicate that we should go on ahead.
Whatever sarcastic retort was forming in my head completely evaporates the moment Jensen and I step through the trees.
The clearing isn’t very big, but just ahead is a towering rock formation and one of the most beautiful waterfalls I’ve ever seen.
Silver-white water spills over the edge of the stones like a silken curtain, sending tiny droplets of mist into the air.
The pool below looks cool and inviting with mossy rocks outlining its edges.
Overhead, golden sunlight filters in through the canopy of trees and catches the spray from the falls making it shimmer. It’s breath-taking.
“Whoa,” Jensen murmurs.
“Yeah, what you said,” I agree, my eyes still focused on the falls.
“Well?” Mabel bounds up beside me. “What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful. How did you even find this place?”
Mabel gives me a coy smile. “A good photographer never reveals her secrets.” She winks and then taps her camera bag. “You guys ready to get started?”
I look to Jensen who nods. “Yeah, we’re good to go. Where do you want us?”
“Why don’t you start right over there?” Mabel points to a spot by the water’s edge. “I’m gonna need a second to adjust the setting and check the lighting, but then we’ll get this show on the road.”
While Mabel fiddles with her equipment, Jensen and I head over to the spot she indicated.
I don’t know why, but I’m feeling super nervous all of a sudden.
I want the photoshoot to go well, for Mabel’s sake if nothing else, but it also feels like this is some kind of tipping point for Jensen and I.
I’m not sure what to make of the tangled ball of emotions sitting in the pit of my stomach.
“You ready for this?” I ask, keeping my voice light and cheery.
“I think so.” If Jensen is feeling any of the nervousness I am, he doesn’t show it. He reaches for me, his fingers trailing down my bare arm. “I’m here with you.”
I almost groan out loud. How am I going to pretend I’m not falling for this man when he says stuff like that?
Or maybe you don’t pretend. Maybe you tell him?
I press my lips together to keep from yelling, “Mind your business!’” at the logical side of my brain.
“Okay! I think I’m ready.” Mabel bounds over, a thick, red camera strap around her neck and her Nikon in her hand. “Let’s start with some movement photos. But don’t look at the camera, look at each other.”
Jensen holds out his hand, and I loop my fingers through his. I use my other hand to grasp the edge of my long skirt, lifting it up just slightly so I can walk more easily over the rocky ground.
When Mabel gives us the signal, we walk in her direction, smiling at each other.
It feels a little awkward at first, especially with Mabel yelling directions over her camera, but then Jensen makes a funny face at me and it makes me laugh, the sound bursting out of me.
He laughs too, and Mabel squeals, “Yes! That’s perfect! ”
We walk a few more paces while Mabel snaps more shots. “Okay, I want you right here.” She directs us to a spot with the waterfall just off to the right behind us. “Jensen, I want you behind Callie, with your arms around her.”