Chapter 5 #2
“I want to go too.” Emma looked up at Tyler. “Dad, can we go to Scotland?”
Tyler didn’t even hesitate. “Maybe someday, sweet pea. But not today.”
“I knew you were going to say that.” Emma pouted.
Tyler shook his head, then glanced back at Krista. “We’re heading to the pet store to get some treats for Mochi.”
“You should see her. She’s getting so big!” Emma added, referring to the kitten they’d adopted from Zoe’s cat’s litter this spring.
“Little rascal that she is,” Tyler added.
“From talking with Zoe, it sounds like they all are,” Krista added with a smile. Zoe had kept one of the kittens her cat, Whiskers, had had in the spring. The little troublemaker regularly tore up her flower shop—unwinding ribbon by the spoolful and generally making a mess of everything.
“Come with us!” Emma offered enthusiastically.
“Afraid we can’t. We have work to do,” Krista said, motioning to the camera bag.
“Awww. Okay then. See you around?” Emma’s voice lifted at the end.
“Yeah, definitely.”
Tyler and Emma peeled off toward the lake path, Emma already bouncing as she walked.
Krista watched them go, smiling to herself, when she turned back to Joe.
“Okay,” Joe said, voice amused. “I see it’s true, everyone knows everyone.”
“And now you know why my life is never quiet,” Krista replied.
“Well, if you don’t like quiet, you’re probably not going to like photography lesson number one. ”
“Oh?”
“Sit and observe.”
Krista raised her eyebrows. “Can we talk while doing this, or do we have to be quiet?” When was the last time she’d just sat for a while?
“We can talk,” Joe said, settling onto a nearby bench, “but your focus should really be on watching the world around you. I was going to suggest we grab coffee first, but I have a feeling if we went into that café your photography lesson would never start.”
Krista laughed and sat next to him. “Right. Bench it is.” She fought not to fidget with the hem of her shorts or to smooth her shirt.
Something, anything, other than sitting still.
“I’m not used to this, honestly. Teaching me to be patient is going to be hard work.
” She tried to say it as a joke, but the words were far too true.
“Just give me sixty seconds,” Joe countered.
Krista considered his words. Sixty seconds was nothing. It was less than an online ad. Heck, a microwave countdown was longer.
Except she could already feel her brain reaching for something to do—anything—because silence gave her time to think, and thinking led to feeling.
And if she wasn’t careful, she’d be pulled back into her fantasies, ones that involved her legs wrapped around the very handsome man sitting beside her, which couldn’t be further from the sensible Krista she was supposed to be.
She gave herself an internal shake. They were just sitting on a bench, having a photography lesson. So what if the man sitting beside her made her feel warm and tingly with his quiet focus and the way he looked at her? Like he could see right down to her soul.
“So,” she blurted, to stop herself thinking about soul gazing, “are we observing like…people-watching? Do we get points? Do I win something if I spot the first person who trips on the curb?” She scanned the horizon.
“Not exactly.” Joe pointed toward the flower boxes lining the street. “See the morning light there, how it’s falling across the petals and behind the baskets? It’s creating depth. In photography, we’re always looking for that contrast. The light creates depth and shadow.”
“So, we’re observing the light?” Krista asked.
“Not just the light,” he said. “People too. If I wanted to capture the beauty of Maple Falls, I might start with the flowers and shop fronts. Then I’d focus on the people—the mayor, the older ladies at the bakery, they’d be perfect.
But look there.” He nodded toward the window of the chocolate shop.
Krista followed his gaze. Cassidy and Liam stood inside, leaning close together. Liam’s forehead rested against Cassidy’s before she rose on her toes to kiss his cheek.
“Now that’s a moment to capture,” Joe murmured. “You can see the love between them just in the way they move. They make it look effortless.”
“Yeah,” she said softly. “They really do.”
For a little while, they both sat quietly. Then Joe reached for his camera bag and pulled out the DSLR, switching a few dials before handing it to her.
The setup was heavier than she expected, the metal cool against her palms. Their thighs brushed as he leaned closer, showing her the buttons and settings. “I’ll keep it simple,” he said, voice low. “Auto for now—you don’t have to worry about the technical stuff yet. That’s for lesson two.”
He angled the camera gently in her hands, their fingers grazing. “All you need to remember for now is to keep your grip steady and your touch light.”
She tried to focus on what he was saying, but it was hard with his arm brushing hers and the warmth of his thigh pressed lightly against her leg. His scent—coffee and a trace of soap—mixed with the summer air.
“Here,” Joe murmured. He leaned in, adjusting her fingers on the dial. “Like this.” His hand lingered before he cleared his throat and pulled back. “Now you try it.”
Krista lifted the camera, exhaling slowly as the world narrowed into the viewfinder.
Joe stood then, giving her space to work. “See what catches your eye,” he said. “Don’t think too hard. Just shoot what feels right.”
Krista exhaled, trying to follow his instructions. Through the lens, the world sharpened into layers of color and shadow: the shimmer of sunlight on shop windows, a swirl of petals carried by the breeze, the reflection of the lake glinting in the distance.
And then she turned the camera toward him.
Joe had stepped away, hands in his pockets, watching her with that quiet half-smile. Through the lens, his face came into focus. She cataloged everything, the faint stubble along his jaw, the sunlight catching in his hair, the steadiness in his eyes.
Her finger tightened on the shutter. The click echoed in the air between them.
Joe smiled. “Like what you see?”
Krista lowered the camera, her cheeks warm. “Maybe,” she said lightly.
He grinned, and Krista felt her pulse trip.
She’d been telling herself since last night that this was just basic, primal attraction, that she was only having fun with the new guy in town.
No deeper than that. But as she met his gaze, her heart said this was way, way more than the beginnings of a summer fling.
It wasn’t just that he was handsome––devastatingly so.
It was the way he looked at her, as if he was really seeing her, and not just the version everyone else expected her to be.
For the first time in a long while, she felt awake.
She wanted to lean into this feeling, to see where it might lead before life and logic talked her out of it.
For once, Krista didn’t want to be practical or careful or predictable. She just needed to follow the spark, the pull that made her heart beat a little faster and her breath catch when he smiled like that.
It didn’t matter what she’d told herself.
The energy between them was electric, impossible to resist.