“What?”
“You could talk to him. Like a rational adult. Lay your concerns on the table. Explain that you’re not ready to get into a serious relationship.”
“Ryker’s very persuasive. He may try to talk me into giving some sort of formal relationship a try.”
“Which may or may not be a good idea. Only you can say, sister dear. Unfortunately, I have a meeting with my dean in five minutes so I have to go. Good luck, Mia. Trust yourself to do the right thing. You always have.”
Mia stopped pacing along the frosty banks of the river on the property that now appeared would end up in Ryker’s hands. Ren had called her with the news that morning—the morning after her footloose-fancy-free lover told her he loved her.
Apparently, a handwriting analysis proved neither brother signed the bill of sale. Ryker’s foolish, greedy stepfather made the mistake of transferring the property to Flynn on his thirtieth birthday. Unfortunately, Flynn had proof that he’d ordered Howard to rescind the transfer until Ryker’s birthday so the two brothers could decide what they wanted to do with the land together.
Now, it would be up to Mia to file charges and sue to get her money back. “I’m really sorry to tell you this, Mia. I’m sure you and Edward bought the land in good faith, but since the brothers had no intention of selling…you’ll be entitled to full restitution from their stepfather.”
She looked at the snowcapped mountains in the distance, tears forming in her eyes. She wanted to be happy for Ryker but instead she felt a giant weight pressing on her chest.
A small voice in her head—the one that worked with clients who routinely lied—wondered if Ryker had told her he loved her because he knew he’d won his claim and wanted to give her a consolation prize.
She hit re-dial.
“Sorry. I know. You’re walking into the Dean’s office, right? I just can’t think. I need you to tell me. Did Ryker say what he said because he knew about the decision on the land?”
Meg sighed. “Again. I’m going with the sit-down-and-talk-to-him-like-an-adult option.” She hung up, as big sisters were known to do.
Mia pivoted on one heel and marched to her car. She’d ask him tonight.
Of course, Meg was right. Second-guessing would drive Mia nuts. She’d played that game far too often in her marriage. Tonight, she’d have her answer and then she’d tell him their only sensible option was to end things now before one of them got hurt.
Chapter 12
‡
Six hours later, Mia knocked on the sliding glass door of B. Dazzled Western Bling. Since there weren’t any blinds or curtains on the doors she could see the entire work area that had been a family room in another life. Nothing moved other than sparkling motes that made her think of Tinker Bell.
She opened the door a couple of inches. “Ryker?”
A crashing sound made her reach for her phone. Was he in trouble? Who would break in? Except for his camera, he didn’t own anything worth stealing.
Breathless, Ryker rounded the corner and skated, stocking-foot, into the room. “You’re early. Sorry. But it’s all cool.”
Like the first night they’d been together, the image of Tom Cruise in Risky Business flashed across the screen in her mind and made her smile. Some of the tension she’d been lugging around all day slipped off her shoulders.
She stepped in cautiously. “What’s all cool?”
“You’ll see. No worries.”
He took her arm and leaned down to give her a kiss as he always did when she came to see him. “Hi. How was your day?”
“Okay,” she answered, still trying to figure out what was going on. This was not how their evening bootie calls had been working. She sensed he had a new agenda, but what was it? “Did you talk to Ren?”
He nodded. “Uh-huh. The Pittsburgh DA is looking into the case.”
“I mean about the lan—”
He interrupted her with a classic “time out” gesture. “Later. First, I want to show you what I’ve been working on all day.”
Instead of going to his room, he led her to the opposite door, which was open. She hesitated in the threshold. “Wow. You put together a whole photography studio today?” She smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand. “Duh. I helped you carry in the boxes last night. This is amazing.”
The plain room had been transformed. Two upside-down white umbrellas were attached to big, bright lights on either side of the daybed. Today, the bed was draped in a heavy black material. A backdrop that looked like a roll-up curtain hung suspended behind it.
“That is one beautiful sky.”
“It is, isn’t it? The title of it is Montana Big Sky. There are fourteen other backgrounds, including plain white.”
“This was in your boxes?”
“Not everything. Ren loaned me his truck and I picked it up in Livingston. Turns out Bob Raines—my boss from the school pictures—decided he was done with studio work. He made me a great deal on all sorts of goodies.”
She stepped into the room, walking carefully to avoid tripping over a cord or three. “Pretty impressive. Are you opening up a studio?”
He made a maybe-maybe not gesture. “We’ll see. Mostly, I wanted this tonight. For you.”
Her hand went to her throat. “What do you mean?”
“I want to photograph you.”
“I didn’t agree to that.”
“I know, but…it’s my gift. If our land business is truly over and I have no reason to stay in Marietta, then I have to start planning for the future. It’s a big world and there are lots of options.”
A sour taste that reminded her of chemo made her swallow hard. “You’re leaving.”
“Not until after the wedding. But if I go, I probably won’t be back, and I want to leave you with something to remember me by.”
She started to tell him that wasn’t necessary, but he stopped her. “This is important to me, Mia. And whether you want to admit it or not, it’s important to you, too.”
Her shoulders tensed. She hated when others tried to tell her what was important to her. He pulled her to him and stroked her back, coaxing her to relax. “I need you to trust me, Mia. Do you think you can do that?”
She looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
Her jaw dropped when he explained his plan.
“No, f…reaking way,” she cried the moment he stopped talking. “Are you crazy? Art shots? Naked? Me? Not gonna happen. I’ve seen where those shots wind up…plastered all over the Internet.”
He placed the bulky, heavy black camera in her hand. “This is old school, baby. Film. Not digital. I have four rolls of film here. Two rolls of black and white. Two high-intensity color. Thirty-six shots each. I’ll develop them myself at Bob Raines’s place. I bought his darkroom equipment, but there’s no room here for it.” When she didn’t reply, he added, “You can be in the darkroom with me. Every step of the way.”
Some of the tension inside her eased. “Why do you want to do this?”
“Why? To show you how beautiful you are.”
“I’m not—”
He put his finger to her lips.
“Are you perfect? No. Special? Unique? Brave? Resilient? Yes. The thing about art is sometimes you’re standing too close to see it. If you step back, your new perspective can let you appreciate how wonderful something is. I can give you that perspective, Mia. You can see yourself through my eyes. This is my gift to you. Will you take it?”
There was a finality in his tone that almost broke her heart. She didn’t want this thing between them to end. But she’d thought about the future all day and she knew she had to let him go—for his sake. He deserved someone whole…and hopeful. She’d planned to spell everything out for him tonight.
She swallowed hard. “You and I are the only people who will ever see these pictures, right?”
“That’s your decision. You control everything. Which shots we print. What happens to the negatives. Everything.”
She opened her mouth, closed it, and then tried again.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
*
Ryker couldn’t remember the last time he’d sweated this bad during a shoot. Maybe those early days in New York when it felt like everybody’s eyes were on him and nothing he did would measure up to the masters he’d sought to emulate. It took him years to understand he’d never be another Edward Steichen because he was Ryker Bensen. His gifts were different. The gift that served him best was his ability to put his subjects at ease.
Even modestly covered in the white cotton robe he’d bought that morning, she looked stiff as starched tissue left in the sun. He reached for his brand new iPhone—a splurge with the money Bailey was paying him to shoot her wedding. “I’ve been working on a playlist called Mia’s World. Do you mind if it plays in the background while we do this?”
She seemed baffled by the question. “I…no…that’s fine.”
He hit play.
The first song had a vibrant young beat. The female singer probably wasn’t much older than Emilee. The refrain ordered you to “live it up.”
Mia’s smile was his first shot, followed by her look of disgust. No, not real disgust, just the look she gave him when she thought he was doing something over the top. She put limits on herself and the people around her, but deep inside she wanted to run as fast as humanly possible and climb to heights no one had ever reached before.