20 Cora
It had been a while since Cora had gotten up before the sunrise to take pictures. This used to be what she lived for, what
she most looked forward to on vacation. But somehow over the years, she’d just fallen out of the habit.
Of course she still got up early when she had to for work, but that was different. That was her job. She did that because
she had to. She did this because she wanted to.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to in the past few years. She just hadn’t .
But something about this trip reignited her passion. She wasn’t taking pictures because she had to. She was doing it because
she wanted to. Because she needed to. Photographing the world as it was just waking up was life-giving. It felt pure and optimistic
and magical.
So when her alarm, which was set on the lowest volume so she wouldn’t wake her sisters, went off in the wee hours of the morning,
Cora crawled out of bed and dressed in the dark. She grabbed the camera equipment she’d left by the back door the night before
and silently slipped out of the house.
Should she have at least brushed her teeth before she left?
Maybe. But she wasn’t going to see anybody, and even if a human happened to appear in her general field of vision, she certainly wasn’t planning on talking to them.
Mornings, while magical and optimistic for photography, remained her least favorite time to “people.” No way was she conversing with anyone until she had consumed at least one Diet Dr Pepper and the sun was a respectable distance from the horizon.
At this time of day, she wasn’t even willing to make direct eye contact.
Luckily for her, the beach was pretty much vacant at this hour. She lazily wandered down the shore, snapping shots here and
there, enjoying the predawn light. After she’d walked a little ways, she found a spot that drew her attention. She sank down
in the cool sand just behind a giant driftwood log that had washed up onto the shore next to a small section of the beach
that was undeveloped.
The water was a perfect transparent sea glass color that rolled gently into the white sand, and the sky glowed a sort of rose
gold. The colors were magnificent, and just thinking about the ways she could use them excited her. She took pictures of herons
soaring in flight, sandpipers running from the waves and colorful crabs skittering across the sand.
This was her happy place. This was what gave her peace. She breathed it in, letting it fill her and cherishing the moment
as her camera shutter clicked away.
She’d been to a lot of beautiful places in the world, but this one resonated differently.
The beach wasn’t completely vacant. There were a few early morning joggers and some avid shellers who made their way out at
this early hour, but none of them paid any attention to her. As the sun got higher, more people made their way out to the
water’s edge. It would only be a matter of time before people outnumbered the wildlife on this beautiful day.
She sat up on her knees to get a better angle of a pelican diving into the water, but a sheller walked right in the way. To
be fair, she was completely unaware of Cora or what she was trying to capture. The sheller, whose attention was focused on
the sand at her feet, paused to pick something up, something that, according to the look on her face, was a rare, precious
find. Since Cora found her reaction fascinating, she took a picture of her, too.
When both the sheller and the pelican had moved on, she sat back and flipped through the images she’d captured to see how they’d turned out. It had been less than a minute of activity, but Cora had captured almost thirty shots, and several of them had real potential.
Her attention was so focused on the tiny screen that she didn’t even notice someone approaching.
“Morning, sunshine. I wasn’t expecting to see you out here.”
Startled, she looked up. Jax, dressed in running clothes, trudged his way through the sand in her direction. He was sweaty
and flushed from his workout, which somehow made him look even more attractive. His eyes had their usual twinkle, and his
half-hitched grin was almost as radiant as the sunrise.
She couldn’t help the smile. Okay, maybe there were some people she’d talk to before having a Diet Dr Pepper.
“Didn’t expect to see me where I stay? I think the bigger question is, what are you doing running on my beach when you live
on the other side of town?”
He looked amused. “You live almost a mile that way.” He pointed down the beach.
“Really?” She looked around, trying to get her bearings. Had she really wandered that far?
He pointed to the ground where he was standing. “This is the turn-around point for the five-mile run from my condo. So technically,
we’re not on either one of our beaches.”
“What you’re saying is we’re on neutral ground?”
He chuckled. “Something like that.” He motioned to the spot next to her. “May I?”
She stared at the empty sand, then up at him with a skeptical look. “That depends. Are you planning on talking the whole time
and disturbing my wildlife? Because it’s kind of hard to take wildlife photos when all the talking drives the animals away.”
He pretended to lock his lips with an imaginary key and sank down on the sand next to her. “What kind of wildlife are we taking
pictures of?” he whispered.
“You’re talking,” she said, focusing her camera on a sandpiper in the glassy part of the sand where a wave had just been.
“Oops. Sorry. I hate when that happens.” He pressed his lips tightly together as if he were trying to seal them shut, which made her laugh.
They sat there, side by side, for several silent minutes while she took more shots. After a while, she lowered her camera
and reviewed the images she’d captured. When she got to one she especially liked, a heron perfectly framed in front of the
round morning sun, she tilted the camera in his direction so he could see the image on the screen.
“That’s beautiful.” There was genuine awe and admiration in his voice, and he leaned in to study it closer, which was probably
a good thing. It kept him from seeing the way his compliment sparkled through her or the involuntary smile it painted on her
face.
Apparently he had a talent for triggering her involuntary smile reflex.
Or maybe she just liked him.
Okay, who was she kidding? Of course she liked him. At this point it wasn’t even worth denying. But so what? He was a likable
guy. Was he a little cocky and at times infuriating? Sure. But everyone had their moments.
But once you got past his Casanova exterior—which she was starting to think was a defense mechanism—he was caring and thoughtful.
He was the kind of guy who put his life on hold to keep his buddy’s business afloat without taking any of the credit. The
type of person who spent his afternoons playing games and encouraging kids in the hospital.
He was the kind of guy who helped her overcome her fear of the hospital. And maybe even her fear of trusting people.
Really, it would be weirder if she didn’t like him.
But it wasn’t like she liked him enough to call off the bet. It was just a fact. Something she was acknowledging. In a way
it was kind of nice. He’d made the time she had to spend on winning her bet enjoyable.
And, as long as she was being honest here, she wouldn’t hate it if they got to hang out a little longer. After all, the bet
wasn’t officially over until Chris and the girls got there. There was no need to rush things.
“May I?” He motioned to the camera, signaling that he wanted to look at some of the other pictures she’d taken.
Her art was one of the most vulnerable things she could share.
It was an unfiltered look at who she was and what she loved and how she could capture it.
Yes, she shared photos with people all the time.
After all, she was a professional photographer.
But pictures of products were different.
They were business. She could look at them objectively for their specific purpose.
These pictures were personal. She didn’t share these kinds of pictures with anyone until they were edited and perfect. And
even then, sometimes they were just for her. While she liked him, she wasn’t sure she was ready to completely open up to him.
“I, um...”
He looked deep into her eyes. “I would love to see them, but only if you’re ready to share them. If not, I completely understand.”
His words were kind and gentle and safe. Much like, she realized, how she felt when she was with him.
She hadn’t really wanted to spend time with someone before, but she wanted to spend time with him. And she hadn’t wanted to
open up before, but she was willing to open up to him.
What did that mean? She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to think about it right now. She might be willing to make an exception
to talking to people before her Diet Dr Pepper, but she sure wasn’t about to sort through deep thoughts without it.
She tentatively handed over the camera. “You should know that out of a hundred pictures, there are only a handful of keepers
and maybe only one that is truly breathtaking. Which means there are a lot of really bad shots on there.”
He flipped through the images, pausing every now and then to admire one for longer than the others. “Then I’d say you beat
the odds, because most of these are amazing.”
“Thanks.” Once again, sparkles fluttered through her. She pulled her knees into her chest and looked out over the view she
loved. “This beach was where I first fell in love with photography. I was fascinated by the beauty of nature here.”
“It’s easy to be captivated by it.”