Chapter 9
SHELBY
With the camera strap around my neck, I lined up my shot, keeping my body as still as possible while my fingers moved the dials.
The sunrise over the mountains and the Salmon River had lured me out of bed two hours earlier than usual.
The overlook Jake had told me about had been fairly easy to get to, if you count three steep switchbacks easy, but the view had been worth it, just like he said.
The mama moose and her calf, drinking in the river down below, had been a bonus for my efforts.
Since moving back to Eugene after college, I’d discovered an old camera of my mom’s in a box in the basement.
There had been a few things of hers saved for me that I’d been given over the years.
Some clothes. A couple of scarves. Her books.
But I’d never felt such an instant connection to anything like I had when I’d first picked up her camera.
It was just an old SLR film camera, but I immediately began scouring websites and searching for tutorials and classes on photography.
It had come at a good time. Basketball had been my whole life’s hobby, but as a coach in Eugene, it became a job.
Photography had provided me with a creative outlet that I hadn’t realized I needed.
After some trial and error, I began taking pictures of friends and family until I built up a little name for myself, even taking on a few weddings.
Over time, though, I became more interested in nature photography, specifically the kind that didn’t have grumpy husbands or high-maintenance mothers of the brides attached.
But until recently, I hadn’t imagined a world where nature photography could pay my bills.
I was too high for the shot I wanted of the moose. I wanted to showcase the grand mountains in comparison to the animals, so I scrambled down from my perch and began a light jog down the mountain trail while attempting to keep my camera bouncing to a minimum.
I had already been given the office manager position for the Wild Horizon Magazine office starting in September, but I checked the website daily for photography openings. I was usually disappointed.
Until yesterday afternoon.
I immediately emailed my boss at the office and asked her about the position, and she said she’d love for me to apply and that she’d call me this morning with more information.
But from what I could tell, the position was for a wildlife/photojournalist photographer.
It was a long shot, but I wanted to try for it.
The only problem was, nature photography was a completely different beast from portrait. And I needed to practice. Hence, my early morning shoot after a late night on the court with Jake.
I found a safe spot I deemed perfect, tucked between two trees, and peered out at the moose and her calf. The sunlight dappled through the trees. And now, with the moose on the river, the light reflected off their backs like a halo.
The jagged mountains on both sides. The river. The moose. The back light.
It was perfect.
For the record. It was not perfect.
It was so beyond not perfect it wasn’t even funny.
Arriving home, I couldn’t wait until tonight to load the pictures onto my computer.
I waited impatiently for them to load, certain I’d be submitting them to Time magazine for the best picture ever taken by anyone in the world, before my illusions were rapidly swept away when I remembered that I was just a self-taught novice with a dream.
I’d been so absorbed in framing the scene that I hadn’t adjusted my settings properly for each shot.
Some pictures were too dark, and even with the power of an exposure adjustment, it lessened the quality too much for me to be proud.
The light bouncing from the water aggressively glared off the picture.
I should have framed the moose differently, more to the left or right, for a more interesting composition.
Deflated but an overall more humbled human being, I showered and washed my hair before spending sixty minutes of torture, drying and straightening my curls into submission.
I dressed in jeans and a tank top before taking a bowl of cereal out onto the porch, greeted again by the crisp and dewy summer morning.
I planned to be out early enough to help Jake with the feeding this morning.
And as much as I hated my camera right now, I obviously needed the practice.
Maybe I could get a few good shots of Jake lifting hay bales.
It would definitely attract a younger audience to this place.
Bypassing the rocking chair that sat out front, I opted to sit on one of my porch steps. To my right, Jake’s cabin door squeaked open, and Sophie walked out with a bottle of bubbles. I heard Jake’s voice call something to her from the kitchen, to which she replied distractedly, “Okay.”
The screen door shut, leaving her jumping from step to step until she reached the bottom of the stairs.
I smiled at her outfit. A princess dress with purple leggings on underneath and pink cowboy boots rounding out the look.
Her blonde hair was a tangle, and she had what looked like a smear of jam on her cheek.
She took a moment to unscrew the bottle lid and got to work blowing an impressive fleet of bubbles.
Admittedly, kids were as foreign to me as makeup was in high school.
So far, any interactions I’d had with Sophie, coming and going from our respective cabins, had been minor.
Most resulted in her either ignoring my wave or shyly hiding behind Jake’s back.
My brain told me that I should just stay here and wave, but this was Jake’s daughter.
It felt strange being so connected to him but having nothing to do with the most important person in his life.
I swallowed my last bite of cereal for fortification and stood.
“Hey, Sophie,” I tried to mimic the way Kelsey Williams talked to her young children at the campfire, and by nature, the octave in my voice went up a few notches.
She whirled around and gave me a piercing stare, which made me stop in my tracks.
I gave her what I hoped to be a friendly wave. “Do you want me to blow some bubbles for you?” When she still didn’t say anything, I added, “When I was little, your dad and I used to try to jump over the bubbles before they hit the ground. We could try it if you wanted.”
Her eyes flitted from me to the ground, back and forth, probably deciding if what I was offering would be worth it, before finally relenting. “Okay.”
I may as well have won the lottery with the way the grin split my face at her words.
Once I had a good stream of bubbles going, it was no time at all before we were both trying to jump over them.
At first, we were quiet, concentration etched across our faces.
Until I decided we were too quiet. Too stiff together.
Something needed to break the ice. I took a play from Jake’s book, who was always so natural with kids, and took an extra-large leap and pretended to go down, rolling dramatically on the grass and groaning.
When I peeked an eye open, Sophie was staring at me incredulously until I exclaimed a very loud, “Yikes!”
One giggle, which showcased a very cute smile full of baby teeth, came bursting free.
A glutton for punishment, but now willing to do anything to keep that infectious giggle going, I attempted to stand before something in the air would violently knock me back down.
More giggles. This time from both of us. I wasn’t sure why someone wouldn’t just do everything in their power to make her laugh all day long. We played like this for a few long moments, me doing crazy movements to keep this going and her laughs getting more raucous as I went.
Eventually, my body resisted any more wild movements, and I sat up but didn’t stand yet. I didn’t want to break our spell.
“I can do a cartwheel,” Sophie exclaimed proudly.
“Really? Can I see?”
That was the right question, and soon she was off, stopping after four cartwheels to ask what my name was.
“I’m Shelby.”
“Shelby, watch this!”
“I’m watching!”
From behind me, the screen door opened, and after a moment, I felt Jake’s shoulder nudge into mine as he sat by me. The scent of his aftershave and the warm press of his arm against mine caught my breath for a second, though I kept my eyes on his daughter.
“I hope you know what you’ve done,” he said lightly. “You’ll be hearing those words the rest of your time here.”
“She’s adorable.”
“She’s cute, but she was supposed to finish her breakfast before coming outside!” Jake exclaimed loudly enough for Sophie to hear.
They had an exchange, Jake teasing her and telling her she’d have to eat the twins’ scraps at Kelsey's, to which she squealed a very resounding no.
He looked at me, his hair slightly messy up top. “You going to put the moves on Briggs today?”
“I think I’m going to let whatever magic was between us die.”
“Probably for the best. I saw him limping into work a bit ago.”
My head whipped his way. “You did not!”
Jake’s demeanor relaxed into a teasing grin. “I did, but we’ll just imagine he pulled a muscle.”
“Hey! Watch me!” Sophie’s voice rang out between us.
We both turned at the same time and clapped at an attempted cartwheel by Sophie in front of us.
While Jake picked Sophie up and spun her around, I was suddenly struck by how handsome my friend was, with his strong jawline and deep-set eyes. If I looked close enough, I’d see the tiny scar on his chin from accidentally catching himself with a fish hook when he was a teen.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. The number calling me was one I didn’t recognize.
“Is this Shelby Tucker?” a friendly female voice filled the line.
“Yeah.”
“Hi, Shelby. This is Heather from Wild Horizon Magazine.”
“Yes, hi. How are you?” I asked, carefully keeping out any sign of panic from my tone. I had been very optimistic about this opportunity before I realized how terrible a photographer I was.