Page 123 of Banter & Blushes #1
T he clear blue sky seemed to stretch on and on forever from the coast of the Bay as Melanie pulled a camera out of her bag and started snapping photos of the Landings’ coastline.
A string of fishing boats lined the background.
Looking at the digital screen, she smiled at the way the light hit the bows of each ship.
Turning the other direction she hesitated, waiting for a man to clear her shot.
He was walking down the path with a dog running by his side.
He had a serious look to him as if she would bother him by saying hello.
Huh, she wondered how he’d look in the photo.
Holding up her lens she looked through. He was muscular and fit, but rugged at the same time.
His baseball cap was on backwards showing off his chiseled face when he turned his head.
Knowing better than to photograph anyone without their permission, she knew she needed to speak up.
“Excuse me, sir?” She called ahead. He turned slowly as the sun hit his face. “Have you ever modeled? “
“Modeled? You have to be kidding,” he snarled, barely coming to stop. “Whatever you’re selling’ I ain't buying.” He turned around to keep walking with Dozer.
“Selling?” She giggled, bouncing her hair along her shoulders as she tried to catch up to him. “I’m not selling anything. I’m sorry if it was an odd question. I’m a photographer here in the Landings. I think I saw you at the ground breaking?”
“And you shoot models?” His sarcasm was teetering on sarcastic.
“Oh goodness no.“ She thought back to the last few family shoots she did. “Lots of dogs,” she added. Dozer cocked his head to the side. “You’re a pretty boy, aren’t you?” She couldn’t ignore his big brown eyes staring at her.
“Actually I do landscapes, mostly. We have a lot of beautiful nature here. ”
Softening a little from the initial question, he smiled. “You definitely do.”
“Melanie Zander Reynolds,” she offered her hand to shake. “We didn’t officially meet the other day at the job site,” she shook his hand firmly.
“John Mitchell. But most people call me Mitch.”
“You know what? I get it now.” She studied the strong features across his face.
“What do you get?” He did not know what she was saying or how she knew him when he never heard of her.
“Let’s just say that you’ve become very popular in our little circle,” she teased.
“Anyway, this may sound odd, but would you at all be willing to let me photograph you walking down the shoreline? I’m building a new website for North Shores and I want to highlight the beauty of our Landings.
” She closed her eyes, waiting for an assertive no.
“Just walking? I don’t have to do anything else? You don’t need any runway strutting or anything?”
A laugh escaped her lips, “nope. Just walking.” She smiled, thinking he was funny.
Instead of answering her he looked at his dog, “what do you think, boy? Have you ever wanted to be a model?”
“I promise it will only be a few minutes of your time. You won’t even know I’m here.” She glanced at the gorgeous beams of evening sun dancing on the sand, then to her watch. She was running out of the perfect light.
He patted the top of his dog’s head, then letting out a loud sigh he said, “okay.” Walking onto the sand his gate was rigid and strong. Melanie started snapping photos, unsure of how well they’d turn out. At least Dozer running through the breaking waves was adorable.
“Hey, is this a closed set?” She heard Elva’s cheerful voice behind her. She was in a white and blue floral dress, carrying her sandals in her hands. That’s when a light bulb went off.
“Just the person I was hoping for,” she smiled. “What do you think about being a model for me? If you could walk next to Mr. Mitch there and I can get a couple of pics before the sun is too low?”
“A model?” She felt her cheeks blush.
“If you could just walk next to him, like… you know, friends?”
She looked from the photographer to Mitch and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see why I can’t.”
Walking next to one another, Melanie noticed Mitch’s posture soften. His once stiff back was more relaxed, and his face even smiled. “That’s great! You two are naturals.” She complimented, snapping away.
“This is silly,” he glanced at Elva, walking by his side now.
“She’s hoping to make a new website for our town, highlighting the new projects at North Shores. It’s all for a good cause, I can assure you.”
Furrowing his brows, he studied her face. “So you were in on this?”
“Being photographed? ” Her eyes widened. “Oh no. I’m more of a behind-the-scenes kind of gal.” Her hand playfully landed on the back of his bicep.
Watching their adorable exchange, Melanie called out from behind her camera lens, “how would you feel about holding hands?”
“What did she say?” Mitch pretended not to hear.
“She wants us to hold hands while we walk,” Elva repeated to him, not sure if he really didn’t hear or just wanted it confirmed.
He looked from Elva to Melanie and then to Dozer, “that’s showbiz, I guess. I’m game if you are?” He lobbed the ball back into her court.
She offered her right hand out, “I don’t see what it would hurt.”
They continued strolling at a slower pace now. First looking out to the water and then to one another. Their eyes met, and they heard Mel cheering them on, “Oh wow. You guys, this is perfect. Just a few more.”
“I wonder if she even has film in that camera?” Elva smiled through her question, knowing that this was yet another ploy to push her toward this man.
She wasn’t the town matchmaker for all these years without knowing all the tricks of the game.
Well played, though, she thought to herself. This was well played.
“Does it matter?” A mischievous smile pulled across his face. “You have very beautiful eyes. I love how they sparkle.”
Not sure what to say back, she smiled knowing Melanie was still snapping away. “You have very pretty eyes, too. A green hazel?” She offered.
“I don’t believe anyone has ever commented on my eyes before,” he couldn’t help but laugh off the compliment.
“I’m sorry they haven’t. They are worth commenting on.”
Melanie knew she got the shots she needed but didn’t want to break up the moment on the sand. Feeling very proud of herself, she took out her phone and found Jill’s number. “We are a go,” she typed out in a text before quietly walking back to the road.
“Is she still taking photos?” Mitch asked, not taking his eyes off of Elva.
“I’m not sure. Does it matter?” She asked back, keeping her gaze on him.
“It really …“ his train of thought was interrupted by Dozer barking ahead of them. He grabbed something from the water and ran as fast as he could back to the happy couple coming to a stop. He shook bay water off of his fur and all over Elva’s dress.
“Oh!” She involuntarily reacted to the cold water hitting her skin, “thanks buddy.” She smiled.
“I’m so sorry.” Mitch looked at his soaking wet dog sitting in front of him. “You need to apologize. You had the entire beach to shake, and you had to do it right here?”
“It’s okay,” she laughed. “A little bay water won’t hurt anyone.”
Dozer gave a whimper in agreement before holding up the item he found higher for Mitch to take.
“What do you have here?”
Mitch pulled a murky glass bottle from the d og’s mouth and Dozer waited for recognition of his good deed. “That’s a good boy,” he responded.
Her hand found her hip as she shifted her weight to one side. “Huh, is that a bottle? It looks old. I wonder if it washed up during our big storm last summer?”
“Maybe so.” He held it up to the evening light.
“It’s definitely vintage.” The bottom of the murky, aqua tinted bottle was thick glass.
Using the edge of his t-shirt, he wiped the sides of the bottle clean revealing two raised letters on the outside.
Squinting to read them he held it out further and then closer again.
“Want me to try?” She reached for her readers normally on the top of her head, only to realize she didn’t have them.
Laughing that he couldn’t make it out, he held the bottle steady in front of her.
At her hesitation he pulled it back and then closer, “better?” He teased.
“If only we zoom in on it like a photo on our phone.” He laughed again.
“Actually-“ pulling out his cellphone he snapped a photo of the bottle, then one of Dozer out of habit. “Want to take a selfie?” He smiled at his companion, realizing he’d never asked anyone that question before. “I mean,” he stumbled, “all the kids do it, don’t they?”
“Well, this is a photo shoot, isn’t it?” She giggled into a large smile as he angled the phone above them and hit the large circle with his thumb.
Setting the bottle down in the sand he opened the photo he took and zoomed in.
“Oh,” Elva thought she could make it out. “I think it says W…. T? It’s very faint from years of weather.” We may need to get a better look at it. Amazing isn’t it?” She picked it up to examine. Trying to see through the glass, she asked, “Is there something inside of it?”
“Maybe a treasure map!” He sounded more like a boy looking for an adventure than a mature man he was.
“Maybe,” Elva laughed, “we’ll only know if we open it.”
Shoving his phone back in his pocket he patiently pulled the stopper from the bottle. Dozer sat patiently, waiting to see what he found. Sand poured out from inside along with a tightly rolled piece of paper.
Unrolling it they saw written in perfect penmanship the words:
The storms won’t last forever.
The sun is sure to shine again.
Mitch stared at the writing on the paper. “Huh, a weather guy? Or a sailor? “
“Oh, no. Neither. I think it’s about a lost love.”
His nose scrunched, trying to figure out how she got any romance out of a storm. “Really?”
“Sure,” she answered while examining the paper. It was yellowed and torn. Brown on the curled up edges made it like it weathered its own storm.
“OH MY GOODNESS!” She suddenly realized.
Mitch took the bottle from her hands and set it back in the sand before worry covered his face. “What is it?”
Not wanting to concern him, her hand naturally came to rest lightly on his forearm before linking around his bicep.
The two starte d walking as she spoke. “There’s an old story here about a sailor who went out to sea never to return.
His love waited for him, eventually living in the lighthouse and spent every hour of the day searching the horizon.
“Is that a true story?”
“As true as it can be. But this feels like evidence. What if this was from the same time?”
He crinkled his nose, making lines appear in his forehead. “I think that’s a terrible story. She was alone and sad and what about him? Shipwrecked? Lost to the sea?”
Taking in a deep breath she considered his viewpoint, “that does sound sad. I always thought of it as romantic. Their love never dies and she keeps looking for him forever until they are eventually reunited on the other side. Meant to be together.”
“I don’t know,” his free hand threw Dozer’s bumper ahead of them, “it’s sad that she lost him but then she just shut down her entire life . Never to love again? Or even try?”
Watching the footprints they made in the wet sand appear and then soak back into the shoreline, she shrugged her shoulders, “maybe it was too late for her? Don’t you think at a certain point in one’s life it’s not worth trying?”
“That doesn’t sound very romantic at all.
” He couldn’t help but laugh. “I’d think there’s always another chance.
Not necessarily from personal experience,” he added, “but a chance of it, sure. You don’t?
” He stopped walking and turned to her. His eyes focused on her.
With the roar of the surf behind them he was starting to wonder if this was his chance.
“Maybe.” She barely managed to whisper, wondering if he could hear how hard her heart was beating at that very moment.
“I don’t know if I’m swept away by the romantic message or…
” she tried to explain it as her cheeks felt more and more blushed, “I just… I’m not sure what to say right now,” she laughed. She was never at a loss for words.
“We don’t have to speak.” His fingers intertwined with hers as they slowly waded through the surf breaking on the sand.
Even though they just held hands for Melanie’s pictures, this felt instantly different. Elva melted into the feeling of his fingers wrapped around hers.
Wasn’t she much too old to feel this way? Or maybe the storms really don’t last forever. Maybe.