Page 32 of Beach Cottage Kisses

Because Scott was there.

Not avoiding her.

Or them.

As he approached, every move she made was calculated. Chosen deliberately. Drawn from memory of their three years as friends. Acting as she could remember acting in the past. Forcing something that would come naturally as soon as she was certain that Scott was still in a good place with them.

The same place.

He didn’t want permanence, but the man was emotionally fully alive. And what had happened the night before…well that had been…a once-in-a-lifetime combustion. For sure.

It was possible it had awoken emotions in him that wouldn’t fit who they were.

“So…” he said while he was still a few feet away.

And for a second there, she panicked. Chest tight, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. “So…”

What?

Was he waiting on some kind of review of the night before?

Her thoughts and opinions in the fading light of day? After having had time to process?

She had none. Hadn’t processed. Wasn’t planning to. Ever.

There were no words available when one didn’t entertain thoughts on a topic.

“So…you going to let me see?” he asked as he reached where she’d stopped dead cold upon his first communication.

Let him see?Was he…on the beach…and…

He was looking at the camera she had slung over her shoulder. Put there, not because she planned to take it off her shoulder, but because she wore it on the beach a lot.

Usually to show Scott some photo or another.

“You had the Amur shots today, right?” Scott said then, a frown forming on his face.

“Yes!” Brain activity returned, normalizing, and Iris maybe overdid the enthusiasm in that first word, but had herself firmly back on track as she pulled the camera off her shoulder, and quickly brought the shots up on-screen.

Handing him the camera as she’d done in the past, she stepped back. Taking no chances that he’d lean in to share a shot with her as he commented. Giving herself no option to move her head closer to his chest in order to share what he was seeing.

She’d left the job so abruptly, she hadn’t even had a chance to go over what she’d caught that day. Something she always did before leaving a jobsite. Making certain she had enough good shots to work with.

“These are phenomenal, Iris.”

Scott’s tone held a note she hadn’t heard before. Scaring her.

Had emotion for her clouded his judgment?

They couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t give him back the adoration he deserved. He’d get hurt.

She’d rather die, or live alone with no other souls in sight, than hurt Scott.

“Seriously, shot after shot, I feel like I know what he’s thinking. Feeling. I want to comfort him. Reassure him. Praise him…”

She stared. Never…in all the time since death…in the years she’d known Sage and Scott…in her years as a photographer… Never had anyone seemed to know exactly what she’d been thinking, feeling, grasping, without her saying…

Still scrolling on her camera, his attention fully focused on the screen,Scott didn’t seem to notice that Iris was fading. Getting cold. Feeling the blood drain from her face.