Page 42 of Always My Love

He smiled. “I’ll let you know.” He kissed her again, this time softer, a quick brush against her lips. “Seriously, you could sell some of these.” He turned back to the stack of photos. “Can I take theses?”

“Sure, I have the negatives.” She motioned to the small file cabinet she kept all of her negatives in, ordered by date for ease.

“How did you learn how to develop film? I mean, it’s sort of a dying art. Everything is digital now.” He tucked the photos into a large envelope that she handed him.

“I watched a few videos. It took a few times to get it right. I think I ruined about ten rolls of photos of my feet before I finally got it right,” she joked.

“How long have you been doing this? The photography, the developing?” he asked.

“Just over a year. I started the month after we moved here.”

“But you took pictures before? Got some training somewhere?” he asked with a frown.

“No.” She didn’t want to tell him that she’d never really seen a camera before getting her cell phone the year after she and Hailey had left Georgia. “We should get back to work,” she suggested and they went back inside after Nick put the envelope of photos into his Jeep. He’d obviously returned his father’s truck the night before.

Harper had seen other kids’ cell phones when they were younger. And she had her picture taken on picture day at school. But never had she snapped a photo before that first day when she’d loaded the roll of film into her uncle’s old camera.

Thankfully, the camera had come with a carry bag, a few different lenses, and the instruction book.

After she’d gotten the job at the restaurant, she’d used a portion of her first few paychecks to buy rolls of film. The rest of her money had gone to reconnecting the electric and paying the back taxes on the cabin.

Thankfully, when they’d gone into the county clerk’s offices, they hadn’t been questioned too intently and had set up payment plans. It helped that they had brought along the letter that had been delivered to their mother’s mailbox showing she had gained possession of the property along with a copy of her death certificate, which Harper had printed out at the library.

When she’d found the paperwork, she’d assumed that Fred didn’t know about the property. It was the reason they’d headed there in the first place. She’d believed they’d be safe there, at least from Fred.

Harper felt a shiver race down her back.

“Problems?” Nick asked and glanced up at her.

He was lying on his back under her new sink, connecting the plumbing while she held the light for him. Obviously, the light had shifted when she’d gotten lost in her own thoughts.

“No.” She aimed the flashlight beam where he’d asked her to hold it. “Sorry.” She tried to focus on anything but her past.

They had already hung the drywall on the new wall separating the two sections. Nick had sprayed it with a can of texture and now it looked almost identical to the rest of the walls in the room and the house. Nick said she could start painting in an hour or two after the texture dried.

“Why photographs?” he asked as he got back to work.

“I found the camera and decided to try it.”

“You have a good eye. That sort of talent usually takes training,” he said. She could tell he was making small talk and since the topic wasn’t about her past, she figured she could open up to him about this at least.

“I’ve always found beauty in nature. When I was younger, Hailey and I would spend a lot of time outside. There was this creek by our place, and we’d hang out there. It was so beautiful, I always wished I could take an image of it with me when I left.” She sighed and realized the light was slipping again and straightened it. “What about you? You obviously liked music lessons enough to continue playing.”

“Sure. Piano was fun once I started learning some of my favorite songs instead of that crap that they make you practice when you’re a kid. I swear I never want to hear ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ or ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ again. He chuckled and then grunted as he tightened the pipe with the wrench. “Then I picked up the guitar and fell in love. I even took one with me when I went overseas.” He scooted out from under the sink. “All done.” He sat up and turned on the faucet. Water streamed out of it perfectly. He glanced under the sink and smiled. “She’s holding.” He moved over to start on the other sink.

She scooted over and held the light in the same place as she had on the other sink.

“This is all just so amazing. I never thought I’d have my very own sink. Hailey is going to flip when this is all done,” she said, letting the excitement roll off her.

“You two have a different a relationship than Kate and I,” he said, as he started to work.

“How so?” she asked with a slight frown.

“Don’t get me wrong, Kate and I are close. I’d kill for her, but…”

Harper’s hearing all of a sudden dulled and the rest of what Nick said was muffled. She took several deep breaths.

“Hey.” Suddenly he was sitting beside her, her shoulders in his hands. “Are you okay?” Worry laced his voice and filled his eyes.

She nodded, not trusting her voice.

“Breathe,” he said slowly, and she focused on his eyes and calm voice until she was back under control.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked when the panic attack was over. She shook her head, but he arched his eyebrows.

“It’s just… For as long as I can remember, it was just us two. Our mother was…” She swallowed.

“Addiction can be very time-consuming and costly to those around it,” he broke in when she didn’t continue.

Harper nodded. “I stepped up. If I hadn’t, Harper wouldn’t…” She stopped, remembering the last day they’d lived under the decrepit roof in the dirty building they had called home all of their lives.

She hadn’t realized tears were rolling down her cheeks until Nick gently wiped them away with his thumb.

“It must have been so hard for you. You’re a sister and a mother to Hailey,” he said softly.

She swallowed hard and then nodded. The weight on her chest lifted slightly at his words.

“Yes,” she agreed. “Everything I’ve ever done was for her. Like you said…” Her eyes met his. “I’d kill for her.”