Things That Shine

by Bria Quinlan

  Zelda snorted and muttered something under her breath about needing a bigger budget. “I have to check things.” She stood up and stumbled over her bag. “I need to show people things. I’ll be back.”

  Sage let his eyes drift to Emily, who was looking a little shell-shocked. He could understand that, too. It had been a very big twenty-four hours for her.

  “Terrible day for you?” he teased.

  Her expression remained flat and she nodded. “The worst. I hated all of today.”

  “People adoring you?” He nodded. “I can see how that would be annoying.” He moved to take a seat beside her on the floor, bracing his back against the wall. He kept his feet flat and his knees pointed to the ceiling.

  “You see these people all of the time,” she said. It wasn’t awe-filled or a question, just a statement of fact. “At first I thought maybe you didn’t realize what an incredible job you have. But they’re just regular people. Like working with Abby.”

  He arched an eyebrow and she caught it.

  “Okay, no one is like Abby. But you know what I mean. They’re people. And I got to see that in detail tonight. Observing, cataloging, learning.” She sighed. “They’re amazing people. Who work hard.”

  “Like you,” he pointed out, bumping his shoulder against hers.

  “I’m not—”

  “Nope.” He cut her off. “I’m not letting you do that. I get to call you amazing, because it’s true. And you get to call me awesome, because that’s true.”

  She sniffed a laugh. “Awesome and amazing?”

  “Yep. The ultimate power couple.”

  29

  Emily

  I handed Mr. Nash a lemon bar instead of his bran muffin, and you’d think I’d offered him arsenic.

  Well, if you were anywhere near Abby, you’d think that.

  “What is with you?” Abby demanded before rushing on. “I don’t want you to go getting an ego or something, but you don’t usually suck.”

  “Be still my heart. I’m not sure I can take this much effervescence from you.” I gave Abby my best smile and considered pairing it with a hug just to totally freak her out.

  “Yeah, well, today you suck. So your heart can be as still as you need it to be.” She picked up an empty cookie tray and marched in the kitchen, leaving me smiling after her.

  We were in the mid-morning lull, so I went out to the seating area and started putting everything to rights. It was amazing how messy a café could get in under twenty minutes. But, I liked keeping everything just right. I didn’t mind that we were the place people didn’t pay attention to their behavior. As long as I could make it comfy for the next folks, everything was good.

  Because, everyone should have a place to relax, and—somehow, even with Abby running the joint—The Brew was that for a growing number of people.

  I tried not to jump when my phone dinged, but my hands were almost shaking I was so excited.

  It’s such a cliché—the whole I’ve never felt this way before thing. But I really hadn’t.

  Of course, it had been years since I’d taken a chance on a guy. I don’t think it was the timing, the moving into adulthood that did it. I think it was just him. Sage.

  I pulled the phone out and was surprised to see it was from an unknown number.

  UNKNOWN: Hey! It’s Zelda. Good to proof photos tonight at the studio. Six. Dinner here. K?

  I programmed her into my phone, trying to remember what the text said, but really just thinking, Omigosh, Zelda Fitzpatrick’s number is in my phone. I have Zelda Fitzpatrick’s number. I could call her. Not that that’s stalkerish or anything. But totally I could. I have that ability. Just by hitting that little phone icon right there.

  I was smiling down at my phone when Abby came out of the kitchen.

  “You’re not going to become that girl, right?” Abby set a rack of cookies in the pastry display and gave me a look that clearly said she didn’t want to give up on me—but she would.

  “What girl?” Was it that obvious? Did I have stalker written all over me?

  “The one who carries her phone just so she can giggle over her boyfriend’s texts?”

  Oh. Phew. That was close.

  “Nope. It was work.” I stuck my phone back in my apron. “Zelda needs me at the studio by six to do proofs.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Abby gave me A Look, as if to say that was okay, but she was watching me. “And the herb?”

  “What?”

  “The herb you’re dating?”

  “Sage?” I couldn’t help laughing at that.

  She nodded.

  “We’re not really dating.” I glanced away, trying not to grin at the idea of dating Sage. “We’re just…you know.”

  “Dating,” Abby stated.

  “No, we just went out on one date.”

  Abby tossed her hot mitts down and came around the counter, mumbling something that sounded like just like the others. But that made no sense.

  “Sit.” Abby pointed at the comfy chairs by the fireplace that was decorated for summer with cute little teacup-shaped candles. “We’re only doing this once because I’m exhausted from all of you hopeless hearts who wander in here.”

  “I’m not—”

  “Uht!” She chopped her hand through the air, effectively silencing me—and kind of scaring the snot out of me, too. “You two have been covertly dating for weeks. He comes in here, you guys have coffee and chat and flirt. Emily, for goodness sake! You work in a coffee shop. Dates are like half of our income. And then he’s all going places with you and you’re going places with him. This is called dating. Welcome to adulthood. There’s no soundtrack.”

  “But—” This time Abby didn’t need to move to silence me.

  “Do you like this guy?” She waited, as if she didn’t already know the answer. “Right. Obviously. Look at you. And you’ve been liking him and he’s been liking you and you’ve been doing stuff to get to know one another, and now you’re here without even realizing how, in a relationship.”

  She stood, her work obviously done as I sat in stunned silence.

  “Okay. Good talk. But don’t be one of those girls with the phone, or I’ll put it through my blender.”

  She wandered off, leaving me sitting there stunned to find out she was right. I was in a relationship with a guy I really liked. I could feel my eyes narrowing. Sage. He sneak-attack relationshipped me.

  Why was I not surprised?

  But, if this is what being with someone like him felt like, I was willing to take the risk. How could it not be worth it when someone that sweet, that talented believed in you?

  It suddenly didn’t feel like much of a risk at all.

  I pulled my phone out one last time while Abby was in the kitchen pulling out her next batch.

  EMILY: Hey. Going out to the studio to work tonight.

  SAGE: Heard. Pick you up at 5:30.

  I smiled, trying not to be that girl, but not caring because that girl was so darn happy.

  When Sage got there I was waiting outside, admiring the new banister. Before he could get out to open my door, I hopped in, just plain happy to see him.

  I glanced over, suddenly afraid Abby was wrong. That we weren’t secretly in a relationship. That he wasn’t sneak-attack-relationshipping me.

  “Hey, beautiful.” He reached out, pulling me to him for a kiss that was all too short, but that still had my whole body flushing hot.

  “Hey.” I grinned, so happy. A type of happy I’d never felt before. Not even when I’d thought I’d found a family of my own. All those other times had been almosts I always felt like something could go wrong at any moment.

  But, sitting there with Sage, I felt so at peace with where I was at.

  I was thinking nothing could make this better when he took my hand. And there it was. That connection I felt every time he was near, but magnified.

  I sent up a mental thanks to Ash and reminded myself to buy her some Reese’s Pieces on the way home.

&n
bsp; “So.” Sage cleared his throat. “You’re ready to get famous?”

  “Ha! Right. I’ll be thrilled if she uses one or two of my shots for pics on the website.”

  Not to mention, they wouldn’t even be credited. But, seriously. Who cared. The guys had all been awesome and signed a waiver Zelda stuck under their noses for the portfolio she said I could create. Nothing published, just shots to show school or potential jobs.

  It was a dream come true.

  And, because of all the work this week, I got to take off from Glamour Paws. Win-win.

  We rode along, getting off the highway and winding through the leafy green back roads to Luke and Lenny’s place. Sage was talking about a new guitar design he was thinking of trying, but he was afraid if Blake heard about it he’d want to—and I quote—buy it so he could massacre it onstage in a vengeful fit of creative destruction.

  Or something.

  We got to the studio and Sage gave a look, pointed at my seat, and said “Stay” before jumping out to run around to my door.

  Before I could hop down, he brushed his lips over mine. I couldn’t help it. I leaned in, wanting more. Zelda who?

  His hand came up and wrapped around my hair again, holding my head gently but just how he liked kissing me, pulling me in, deepening the kiss until I was almost ready to just pull him into the truck with me and forget about my big night of proofing.

  “Ahem.”

  Sage eased away and rolled his eyes heavenward before dropping them shut.

  “I don’t know who that is,” he said, “but I’m getting really annoyed with all these people barging into my truck.”

  “Okay, dude. It’s a truck. Not a building.” Blake glanced around Sage’s shoulder and winked at me. “And I’m just standing here. In a parking lot. Just hanging out.”

  “Whatever.” Sage reached back in, took my hand, and waited while I slid out. “It’s not like hanging out watching people make out is pervy or anything.”

  I snorted as Blake shrugged and turned to walk with us into the studio.

  This guy really had no shame, and no problem with no shame. There was something kind of cool about that.

  But, I was guessing you could get away with a lot more when you were a rock star instead of a barista-slash-nanny-slash-student-slash…geez. Even I was getting tired of all the slashes I had to do.

  “You’re here!” Zelda rushed forward, a camera in her hand. “I got some shots of the equipment this afternoon. A really cool one of their guitars lined up. You have to see it. It screams rock and roll.”

  I loved everything about Zelda. She made you want to fall in love with everything. That was the kind of heart I needed to work on having.

  We sat down, glancing through the proofs of the week’s work, her pulling up some of mine and telling me what she liked about them and where I might want to shift some of my shots.

  She showed me the ones she’d earmarked for the website, and one she thought might be fun for the inside of the CD case. My palms were so damp at this point from having my work critiqued I was probably leaving handprints on my skirt.

  Then, when I thought we were almost done, she pulled out four prints and placed them upside down on the table.

  “I’m thinking these are our contenders for the cover.” She grinned. “I’m kind of in love with all of them, so I’m always glad this part isn’t my job. We’ll give them to the band and their graphics guy, and they’ll probably make the final call that way.”

  She turned over the first one, explaining how she took the shot, what she was going for, how close she got, and what she’d do differently next time. She did that two more times, then flipped over the fourth print.

  “Oh!” It was mine. The print was mine! But… “You don’t have to humor me.”

  Zelda smacked my arm. “I am not humoring you. I was actually pissed off I didn’t think of this shot myself. From behind, with the lights shining on them like they’re onstage? I felt so stupid when I saw it. It’s amazing. Look how you got all of them in it, even Mike at the drums. It has a definite chance of being picked.”

  I looked at her, fighting back tears. I couldn’t believe this. It was like all my dreams were happening at once, and I’d never even admitted I had dreams before.

  Like someone said, You know what? These are her dreams. We’ll let her know about them when she’s ready and it’s time.

  “You can totally girl cry.” Zelda wrapped an arm around me. “I’m all for a good girl-cry occasionally. They’re power tears.”

  I couldn’t wait to tell Sage. He was going to be so floored.

  “Go on.” She shook her head. “I already told Harrison you upped me for the last spot, so hopefully he kept his big mouth shut.”

  I rushed toward the door as she shouted behind me, “But hurry up. I’m putting the sandwiches out.”

  The rest of the evening was crazy. The guys looked over all the shots for the site and the interior while Zelda made a second round of sandwiches—or, as I was betting Harrison called them, tiny snacks.

  They decided to think about the cover and come up with the name and vibe before picking the cover, but none of them said mine was out. So…life made!

  I was just shiny with happiness as Sage bumped my shoulder when he reached for his soda, giving me a broad grin. It felt so good to have someone be that proud of me.

  I glanced around as we cleared up after dinner. These guys, their girls, and their crew—they were a family. Or as close to one as you got. The idea that here I was, just some girl off the street, allowed into their tree house was amazing.

  I was waiting for Sage to wrap up and store his stuff when Zelda stuck her head in the room.

  “Hey, have you guys seen my new camera?”

  “The Canon?” I asked, shocked she’d let it out of her sight long enough to misplace it.

  “Yeah. I…I can’t find it.” Zelda looked as upset as I’d ever seen her—even more than when she’d fallen off a chair trying to get the perfect shot and snagged her Doctor Who T-shirt.

  “I haven’t. Where did you see it last?” I hoped off the counter I’d been sitting on, figuring we could find it before Sage was ready to go.

  “I’m not sure. Before we cleaned up for dinner.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll find it.”

  I glanced toward Sage, still hard at work, and caught his eye.

  “Yeah. Go find the camera that could fly. I have stuff to wrap up and let Luke hear before we clear out.”

  “Great.” I kissed him on the cheek, trying to solidify this whole We’re a Couple thing.

  He grinned before snagging me around the waist for a much better We’re a Couple kiss.

  “Emily!” Zelda shouted from the other room. “Stop kissing the help, and come be my search-and-rescue dog…photographer.”

  I wandered off, lucky I didn’t walk into the door I was in such a daze.

  Zelda and I looked for fifteen minutes before we both started to get frustrated. About that time, the band wandered back in, and Harrison immediately realizing something was wrong with his woman.

  “My new camera is missing. We’ve looked everywhere.”

  He wrapped her in a big hug, pulling her up to give her a kiss on the nose. “Well, you didn’t look everywhere, because you haven’t found it.”

  “Also,” Blake chimed in, “I don’t see a stepladder, so you didn’t look anywhere above the three foot height.”

  “Ha ha.” Zelda glanced at me and we shared a short-girl eye roll.

  Everyone joined us, looking everywhere we could think of—bathrooms, vehicles, the garbage in the kitchen. No one was finding anything remotely like a camera—let alone the dream camera.

  “Hey.” Sage pulled me into an empty room and closed the door.

  “Hey.” I glanced around, thinking this was so not the time for more kisses—but of course I wasn’t going to say no to them, either.

  “So…” Sage glanced toward the door before pulling me to the far si
de of the room. “I won’t be mad. I promise, but…”

  I waited, trying to figure out what had happened that he wasn’t going to be mad about.

  “If you took it, Emily, I’ll cover for you. We’ll just say I found it.”

  “What?” I couldn’t believe he just said that. I had to have misunderstood.

  “Look, I get it. Dream camera. Maybe you just wanted to play with it a little, take a few shots. I’m sure if we just bring it back, everything will be fine.”

  I watched his face, trying to figure out what he was saying—because I honestly couldn’t believe he was accusing me of stealing. From Zelda.

  Sage, of all people, was the one person who knew what honesty, family, and freaking not breaking the law meant to me.

  When he didn’t say anything, I shook my head, fighting to find the words. Fighting to stay calm. “I didn’t take it.”

  “Emily, it doesn’t matter to me.”

  “Then you won’t mind if I ask you to stop accusing me of something I didn’t do.” I stepped back, trying to get my indoor voice back under control. “Not only would I never steal, but from Zelda? After what she’s done for me? I can’t believe you’d think that.”

  Sage stepped back, putting even more distance between us as we just stared at each other.

  “You’re serious.” My heart dropped to my shoes. And stayed there. It didn’t bounce back and start beating again. There was no rapid flutter. It just…died, I think. “You think I took it.”

  “No. I mean, if you did, I would take care of it.”

  “You’d take care of it? You mean, you’d cover for me. You’d lie to them?”

  Part of me realized what he was saying. That he’d protect me from my own actions. But most of me was focused on the part that he thought I was a lying, betraying thief.

  “I’d—I’d talk to them. I’d make sure nothing bad happened.”

  I raised my hand, needing to look at something that was me. Needing to understand if this was real—if for the second time in my life the guy I thought cared about me was ready to throw me under the bus for something I didn’t do.

  I almost physically felt the shields I’d let down slam back into place.