I stand. “I’ll make sure the piece is accurate.”
“That’s all we’re asking.”
We both know it is not.
Outside Jennifer’s office, Samantha Cole is packing a camera into a black case on a bench by the rink windows. She looks up as I pass.
“You look like you just declined a sponsorship package.”
“Do I?”
“Professionally. With cheekbones.”
I nearly laugh. “I may put that on a mug.”
Samantha zips the case. “For what it’s worth, Jennifer isn’t wrong about the organization taking care of people.”
Samantha lifts one shoulder. “She’s also not neutral. None of us are.”
“Including you?”
“Especially me. I make people look worth believing.” She taps the camera case. “That can be honest. It can also be convenient.”
I look through the glass. Practice has already started below. Players move in hard, clean lines, cutting through the cold air. “Does that bother you?”
“Only on days when I’m paying attention.”
I appreciate the answer too much to say so.
“Ryan cares about that room,” Samantha says. “Jennifer cares about what caring looks like from the outside. Those are different jobs.”
“And you?”
“I try to catch the moment before everybody decides what it means.” Samantha smiles faintly. “Good luck with yours.”
I start to leave it there.
Then Samantha adds, “For what it’s worth, the photo package they asked me to prep this morning was all farm-adjacent.”
I turn back. “Farm-adjacent?”
“Ryan at the farm last summer. His mother at the charity barbecue. One old shot of him with the twins on the glass after a home win.” Samantha’s expression stays neutral, but her fingers tighten on the camera strap. “Nothing current. Nothing private. Still.”
“Still gross?”
“I was going to say strategic, but yes.”
The anger that moves through me is sharp enough to be useful.
“Did you send them?”
“I sent the ones that already ran publicly. I held the twins.” Samantha looks toward the rink. “Kids don’t get volunteered into grown people’s narratives because a man in a suit likes emotional texture.”
I look at her for a beat.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I say. “Just revising my theory of photographers.”
