TWO YEARS AGO
WILLA
Inever should have come home.
Home?That’s a supremely loose definition for Fort Bender, California. Crystal Beach is one of the few things I love about this place, but the spiced ocher sunset glistening off the shore doesn’t set me at ease like it usually does. Neither does the Northern California breeze, or the camera strapped around my neck. Not with my mother’s shrill rebuke replaying in my head.
To berate me behind closed doors is one thing, but cornering me in front of family friends while I shot their wedding was humiliating. She damn near ruined Chase and Kayla’s photos. It was completely uncalled for, no matter how much she disagrees with my life.
I’ll never come back.
Securing my camera on the tripod at the edge of the pier, I hope to capture the golden hue glistening off the waves before I lose my light.I’ve already lost it,but this place sure as hell won’t help me get it back.
Peering through the viewfinder, I shut out the noise and focuson the paradoxical sea. The crashing tide, forceful and demanding, yet flowing with serenity. Whitecaps kiss the shore, enchanting the wind with a soothing melody—a mighty calm with the power to destroy.I need to be like the sea. I pause, peace washing over me as I marvel at the ocean, wishing I could bottle this feeling and take it back with me to LA.
“Semper Paratus,” a voice says from behind me. I jump and almost knock my tripod over. Too-friendly Trevor sidles up next to me, his loosened tie flapping around the lapels of his champagne hued tuxedo. “It’s Latin for?—”
“Always Ready. I know.” I roll my eyes at his dimpled smile and the way the sun illuminates his warm sepia skin. He’s been trying to get my attention all weekend. I’ve managed to curve him every time, except for now.
“Just sayin’, don’t worry. If you fall in, I got you…”
“The only thing I’m worried about is who will pay for my camera if you make me knock it into the water.”
“You sure that’s all you’re worried about? You’re staring at the waves like you wish they’d take you away…”
Idowish they’d take me away. Erase every decision I’ve made that led me to the hell I just escaped back in LA. But that’s none of Trevor’s business. We’re barely acquaintances. “I was just lost in thought.”
“About?”
I sneer at the annoying lilt to his voice.He’s so damn aggravating. What is it about people seeing me with my camera that makes them think I want to have a conversation? Just because I don’t plaster a smile on my face like he does, doesn’t mean I need to be checked on. I was doing just fine out here by myself. “It’s not important.”
“Try me.”
Squinting at him, I chew on my lower lip. Even with irritation sizzling in my chest, something about the way he’s looking at me makes me want to share. “I was just thinking about the water.” I drop my eyes and turn back to the waves. “Did you know thecrystals here used to be glass bottles?” He nods and takes a step toward me. “I was lost in thought over all these jagged pieces of glass—rough around the edges—viewed as garbage that was only worthy of being dumped into the ocean. They were meant to be forgotten, but the waves swept them up and breathed new life into them. Molded them. Gave them a sparkling new purpose. The ocean turned them into gems people come from all over just to witness. They had no value until they were completely changed. It’s sad, really.” I’m breathless by the time I finish, having lost myself in the ocean’s beautiful transformation process. I glance at the tall man next to me, the sunset casting gilded rays over his auburn hair.
“Gems, huh?” His hazel eyes are plastered on my face as ifhe doesn’t see the waves at all. It sets me on edge, and I look away, wringing my hands to distract myself.
“See? Not important.”
“Sounds like it is… Sounds pretty heavy too.”
“Yeah, well, not more important than me getting this shot.” Whipping back to my camera, I peek through the viewfinder. “If you’ll excuse me.”
He lets out a breathy chuckle behind me, and I try to ignore the tiny current beating in my chest. “I’ll take the hint…but, Willa?” He clears his throat. “Maybe it’s time to let go.”
Yeah right.
His footsteps retreat, and I suck air into my lungs, finally able to breathe now that I’m alone again. I snap a few test shots, adjust my camera once more, and take the photo.What would it be like to let it all go for the first time in my life? No. There’s too much to figure out, too much riding on my success, too many people rooting for my failure. I glance down at the camera screen. The motionless blur of the waves under the setting sun is frozen in time, exactly as I want to remember it. As much as I hate coming home to Fort Bender, this moment makes it all worth it.
CHAPTER ONE
WILLA
Present Day
“Don’t be scared, Mo…” I send a reassuring smile to my photography intern right before I turn off the lights. “Crank that ISO up.” Apprehension scrunches her bronzed features as the Framed Orchid logo on the wall bathes the studio in a lavender glow.
“But the grains, Willa…” Monique’s dark, curly pigtails dangle when her head falls back with a groan. “The grainnns.”
