Jasper #3
Jasper stood from where he’d been leaning up against the table. “I told Lacey I wouldn’t let you out of my sight. I guess you’re stuck with me.”
I could think of a million things that would be much worse but couldn’t come up with a single thing that would be better than having Jasper by my side.
“If you think it’s been rough up to this point, just wait. He’s barely getting going. We’ve had some sessions that have lasted fourteen, fifteen hours.” I dabbed at my cheeks and forehead with one of the blotting paper samples Stella had brought.
Jasper took a swallow from his own bottle of water. “Do you like it?”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Getting your picture taken? Wearing a couple of inches of makeup on your face?”
I set my bottle back on the table. No one had ever asked me how I felt about modeling or being photographed before.
It was just one of those things that was expected.
If you were into the pageant scene, you knew you’d have to sit for photos and subject yourself to all the prep work that went along with it.
“Ready for you again, D.” Franco snapped his fingers.
I immediately startled. “I’ve got to get back. We’ll probably be at this for a few more hours. Are you sure you want to stick around?”
“Where you go, I go.” He flipped a chair around, then straddled it, leaning an elbow on the back and resting his chin in his hands.
“You don’t have to look so excited about it. I’d hate for you to be bored all evening. Want me to see if Franco wants to get a few shots of you?” I flashed him a teasing smile.
“Hell no.” He took a playful swat at my backside as I moved away.
Franco had me pose, pout, and posture until my cheeks ached from smiling.
Then he had me do some serious shots as well.
It was after ten when he finally decided he had enough.
Jasper helped break down the equipment and pack it into the back of Franco’s SUV.
Not even Stella had the energy left in her to argue about anything.
When we were done, Jasper carried my bag out to the truck. Stella said she was too tired to be sad, so I appeared to have the night off from trying to make my mother feel better about herself.
I climbed into the front seat of Jasper’s truck and tried to keep my eyes open for the relatively short drive back to Taylor Grove.
“When do we get to see the pictures?” Jasper asked.
“I probably won’t see them until they’re edited and Stella has the marketing company place them somewhere.” I’d outgrown the excitement of seeing my picture on a page a long time ago.
“Why do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You can’t tell me you enjoyed that.”
I pressed my back against the door. “It’s complicated.”
“What’s complicated?”
“It’s just not as simple as whether I enjoy it or not. Sometimes you have to do things because they’re part of your job description. I bet you don’t always enjoy the work you have to do around the orchard.” I studied him in the dim light from the dash.
His jaw set in a firm line. “No, but I enjoy knowing that the work I do is for a greater good.”
“So is this. We’re going to be able to donate a portion of the proceeds to the nonprofit group Monique started.
I might not like having my picture taken for ten hours straight, but if the end goal is to raise money to help other girls so they don’t have to go through the same things I did when I was their age, then it’s worth it to me. ”
“How much of the proceeds are going to the cause?” Jasper glanced over at me.
I didn’t want to answer. Not because I didn’t know, but because that had been a sticking point between me and Stella.
My mother wanted to donate the bare minimum.
She reasoned that the cosmetics line would be our only source of income.
If we were the ones putting in all the work, why should we give up any of the profits?
But I refused to have my name or brand associated with a company that would only give the bare minimum. After days of arguing, we’d finally settled on 12.5 percent. The number was far below the 20 percent mark that I had wanted, but also quite a bit higher than Stella’s initial offer of five.
Jasper shot another look my way. “I don’t want to upset you. It’s just that I feel like I saw two different people today. When you spoke to those kids at Abby’s school, it was like you lit up inside. And I’m telling you, they hung on every word.”
I grinned as I thought about how it felt to stand up there and share my story. So many girls came up to me after and thanked me for not being afraid to open up.
“Then this afternoon, it was like you closed off. That light I saw in you earlier went out.” He reached for my hand. “It just makes me wonder. Is donating a percentage of the profits going to be enough to make you light up inside?”
Jasper
When I pulled up in front of Delilah’s trailer, she didn’t wait for me to come around and open her door. I barely caught up to her as she slid her key in the lock.
“Want me to take a look around before you go in?” Ever since the night of the crickets, I’d worried that Adeline or one of her minions would find something equally vile to unleash. So far, the only thing I’d found in one of my searches was a giant moth.
“It’s okay. We’ve both had a long day. I’m sure you’ll hear the scream if I come across anything that’s not supposed to be there.” She let her hand linger on the door handle. “Besides, don’t you need to get home to let Buster out?”
“I asked Abby to go over when I figured we’d be late.” With me on the ground and Delilah standing on the second step, we almost stood eye to eye.
“What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”
“It’s the butterfly wedding. Do you still want to go?”
“Of course.” Her lips turned up in a weak smile. She had to be exhausted after the last twenty-four hours. But I didn’t want to let her go without making sure I hadn’t said or done something to add to whatever made her shoulders slump forward and had taken a little bit of the shine from her eyes.
“About earlier . . .”
Her head tilted, like she was studying me under the dim light coming from the moon. “What about it?”
How could I sum up everything I wanted to say in a few short words? “I just want you to be happy.”
She nodded, her head moving up and down so slightly that I squinted to make sure I hadn’t imagined it in the semidarkness.
“I appreciate that. And I am happy. Or at least I will be when I can finally start doing something that makes a difference.” She set a hand on my shoulder. “Thanks for being there today.”
“My pleasure.” I picked up her hand and brought it to my lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Tomorrow.”
She ducked inside the camper, and I stood there for several minutes, trying to decide if I should go after her.
It was so obvious to me that she needed to start putting herself first and figure out what would make her happy instead of sacrificing everything for her mother.
She’d probably been doing it her whole life.
The irony of that wasn’t lost on me. I’d been doing the same thing to some degree.
It made me wonder . . . would she ever be able to truly give herself to someone, or would she always be holding something back?