Chapter 13 What We Choose to Show #2
"I've got it, Sugar Pop."
"I know." She leaned back against me anyway. "I'm letting you participate."
The umbrella opened. Poppy dropped into my arms instead of using the bench, kissed the corner of my mouth, then took the mother's phone and captured a family picture with the lake behind them.
"Better light this way," she said. "And now nobody has a trash can growing out of their head."
The mother checked the shot and laughed. Poppy glowed because she'd made someone happy, not because Mackenzie had filmed it.
At the dock, Luna had three life jackets spread across the bench and a teenager attempting to argue that he could swim.
"The lake doesn't care," she told him. "Jacket first. Ego after."
He put it on.
I stepped onto the pontoon with a cooler while Luna checked the fuel and safety kit. She caught the bow line I tossed her one-handed, looped it cleanly, then pulled me close by the front of my shirt.
"Nice throw, Brewster."
"Nice catch, Sundance."
She kissed me hard and quick, stole my sunglasses, and turned toward the waiting family with them on her face.
"All right. Who wants the good seats?"
Harper swung the camera from Luna's grin to the family piling aboard. Luna made the work look fun because she was having fun. No speech required.
Bristol kept Mackenzie's second phone moving while protecting every edge of the frame. She asked a group near the grill whether they minded appearing. She shifted an angle when a mother declined. She deleted one clip on the spot when a guest changed his mind.
Then she handed the phone back to Mackenzie.
"I want this one," Bristol said.
She came to me beside the unfinished bar, threaded her fingers through mine, and stepped close. Her brown eyes held mine for one quiet beat.
"Hold still, baby."
Her mouth touched mine, soft at first, then deeper when my hand settled at her waist. She pressed her body against me and kissed me until the power tools, pool noise, and camera all disappeared. When she eased back, her thumb brushed my lower lip.
"Keep that," she told Mackenzie.
Then she took the phone again and returned to work, warm and composed and completely visible by choice.
Lucy controlled the hours without trying to control everybody in them. She chose which moments needed a cue and which ones needed room. She sent Harper toward Kit at the desk, held Mackenzie for a clean dock transition, then stepped into frame herself to lead a family from the lodge to the pool.
She wore a fitted black athletic tank and white shorts. Her dark hair stayed in a high ponytail. Every time she crossed the deck, my body remembered how that precision felt when she turned it entirely on me.
Vina gave her motion.
She carried a tray of drinks through a crowded lane in a dark red tank and faded cutoffs, hips moving with the music, cherry gloss bright on her mouth. She could pull a camera with one look, then turn the focus toward a laughing table or the lake at exactly the right second.
"Again," Lucy called after one pass near the bar. "Slower when you turn."
Vina backed up without complaint. "Like this?"
She repeated the walk. On the turn, her hips rolled through the movement and her mouth curved around a private smile meant for Lucy.
Lucy forgot to call cut.
Her eyes stayed on Vina's lips. Vina held the final position instead of closing the distance.
"Ace?" Harper prompted.
Lucy blinked. "Keep it."
Vina's smile widened.
They worked that way for the next hour. Lucy set the pace. Vina filled it without pushing beyond the cue. When Lucy wanted out of frame, Vina stepped forward and made the transition look effortless. When Lucy wanted back in, Vina gave her space and watched her take it.
Once, Lucy crossed behind Vina and placed a hand at the small of her back to guide her two feet left. Vina went perfectly still beneath the touch. Lucy's fingers spread over the fabric of her tank. Her gaze dropped to Vina's mouth again before she removed her hand.
Vina waited until Lucy stepped away.
Then she looked at me.
I was carrying a crate of bottled water, and the front of my khaki work shorts had become less forgiving than I would've liked.
Vina's eyes dipped, came back up, and sparkled.
I gave her a warning look.
She blew me a kiss and returned to the take.
The reel grew through handoffs instead of poses. Kit welcomed. Poppy connected. Luna owned the lake. Bristol guarded the frame and stepped into it. Lucy chose the rhythm. Vina made the rhythm impossible to ignore.
I hauled, tied, carried, fixed, and followed their blocking.
In return, Kit's hand found my hip when I passed the desk.
Poppy stole my water and paid me with a kiss.
Luna squeezed my thigh from the pontoon rail.
Bristol rested her forehead against my shoulder while reviewing a clip.
Lucy dragged her fingers across the back of my neck on her way toward Harper.
Vina pressed her mouth to mine after delivering the last tray and left cherry gloss on my lower lip.
None of it stopped when the cameras pointed elsewhere.
Near the end, Poppy gathered us around Mackenzie's phone for a rough cut. She dropped onto one of my thighs. Kit leaned against my shoulder. Luna and Bristol stood close on either side while Lucy and Vina crowded in front.
"Your gloss is smeared," Lucy told Vina.
"Occupational hazard."
Lucy raised her thumb and wiped a red mark from the corner of Vina's mouth.
The movement lasted one second longer than it needed to.
Vina didn't make a joke. She watched Lucy's face while Lucy looked at the color on her thumb.
Poppy glanced between them, smiled to herself, and pressed play.
The reel opened on Kit and Mom at the lodge. It moved through Poppy's umbrella rescue, Luna's pontoon, Bristol's chosen kiss, Lucy's cues, Vina's turn, and a dozen quick flashes of all six women working, laughing, touching me, and belonging to the place.
It looked like Brewster Bay because it was Brewster Bay.
Poppy posted it a little after six.
The first wave of comments arrived before dinner service found its rhythm. Some still argued about the poll. More asked about the resort, the lake, the unfinished bar, and whether college groups could book next summer.
Two inquiries reached the main account before Sally finished carrying clean glasses to the temporary drink station. Useful attention. Not a miracle.
The poll didn't disappear. People still voted.
A few comments kept trying to turn six relationships into a tournament bracket, and one guy insisted the reel proved nothing because we all knew where the camera was.
Showing more of our life hadn't taught strangers manners.
It had given everyone else something fuller to see.
Mom came out of the lodge with a yellow message slip and handed it to Poppy.
"College group asking about six cabins in August," she said. "We're full, but Sally's putting them on the cancellation list."
Poppy read the note, smiled, and passed it to Sally without announcing a victory. "Real people asking for real rooms. I'll take it."
The phones lowered, and nobody turned back into a resort guest. Kit carried a fresh key tray inside with Mom.
Luna went to help a family unload lake gear.
Bristol checked that the guests visible in the final reel had approved their clips, then stacked chairs beside me.
Poppy answered questions near the pool while Harper and Mackenzie packed the equipment they no longer needed.
Lucy brought me a cold water bottle, pressed it against my chest, and kissed me before I could thank her. Vina joined us as Lucy pulled away.
"Hydrate him," Vina said. "He's decorative, but he also lifts things."
Lucy handed her the open bottle instead.
Vina drank without taking her eyes off Lucy. A drop of water caught on her lower lip. Lucy watched it until Vina wiped it away with her tongue.
Neither mentioned the look.
Harper offered Lucy the phone.
Lucy read long enough to see the direction of the conversation, then gave it back.
"That's enough for me."
"You don't want the numbers?" Harper asked.
"Poppy will tell me if something matters."
"I absolutely will," Poppy said from my lap.
Lucy smiled and returned to the grill.
The work kept moving after the recording stopped.
Kit brought Mom a fresh stack of key envelopes.
Luna helped unload the pontoon. Bristol took chairs from my arms and carried half the stack herself.
Poppy kept one arm around my neck while she answered a guest's question about the pool.
Vina delivered drinks, and Lucy quietly replaced a propane tank without checking another comment.
A college guy near the bar lifted his phone toward Vina and Lucy.
"Can we get all six in another shot?" he asked. "Maybe something more like the poll pictures?"
Vina stepped beside Lucy, close without blocking her. "The reel is what we chose."
"It'll take two seconds."
Vina looked at Lucy. "Want to?"
"No."
Vina turned back to him with the same bright smile. "Then there's your answer. The dock at sunset is gorgeous if you want something worth posting."
He had enough sense to nod and head toward the water.
Lucy watched him go, then looked at Vina. "You asked."
"I'm trainable."
"Debatable."
Vina laughed, and Lucy's attention fell to her mouth again.
The Sam and Sally moment arrived when a woman collecting towels pointed between them and asked whether Sam was staff or Sally's boyfriend.
"Both," Sally said.
She caught Sam by the face and kissed him before he could prepare. His hands found her waist on instinct. Sally kissed him until the woman laughed and Sam's ears turned red.
"Very much boyfriend," Sally added.
Sam looked down at the Brewster Bay shirt he'd been wearing all day. "I thought the uniform answered the staff part."
I set a cooler beside him. "The title upgrade looks better on you."
"I've had the title for weeks."
"Then stop blushing like it's breaking news."
Sally wrapped both arms around his waist. "He can blush. It's cute."