Page 50 of Fight for Me
“It’s my Aunt Christy’s, actually. Apparently, it was a wedding present from somebody important,” he replied.
“And she’s letting you use it?”
“Yeah, but I’ve been threatened with hard farm labor if it doesn’t return in pristine condition.”
Lexie chuckled, imagining Jake shoveling out a horse barn or something equally disgusting.
“Did you work on the farm as a kid?” she asked as she helped him spread the old quilt on the grass and smooth it out. She toed off her sandals and settled onto one side of the blanket.
“Of course. We all did,” he answered, stretching out beside her. “I’ve hauled hay, chopped wood, herded livestock, repaired barns and fences, planted crops—the works. It’s a family enterprise.”
Lexie watched him pull two wrapped sub sandwiches, chips, cut fruit and several kinds of baked goods from the wicker basket, and she bit the inside of her lip when she recognized the university’s logo on the wrappers.
“Did you steal this from the cafeteria?” she asked, trying hard not to laugh.
Jake shrugged and gave a sheepish grin. “I have a meal plan, so it’s not stealing. It’s like... taking an advance.”
Lexie laughed, then unwrapped her sub and popped open a bowl of strawberries. It was a beautiful day—the kind of October afternoon that could be painted on canvas. The lake reflected wispy white clouds, and dragonflies darted here and there among the reeds lining the shore. Lexie looked around, amazed that she’d spent three and a half years living barely ten miles from this spot and had never taken the time to explore it.
“I take a lot of pictures out here,” Jake said, nodding toward a long wooden dock at the edge of the lake. “There’s an eagle’snest on the other side, and I’ve gotten a few good shots of them bringing fish back for the eaglets.”
“Do you take a lot of wildlife photos? I’ve only ever seen you shoot school events.”
Jake nodded as he pulled a bottle of Dr. Pepper from the basket. He cracked the seal and passed it to her before opening a second one for himself.
“Wildlife is what I love most, actually. Animals behave in so many different ways, and you never know exactly what you’re going to get. Take the eagles, for example. Sometimes I can wait for hours and they do nothing but sit on their nest. Other times, I can be out here for thirty minutes and watch them dive toward the water to hunt and then carry a trout back to their babies and rip it to shreds.”
Lexie’s eyebrows arched, and she scooted closer to Jake. “Can you show me some?” she asked.
Jake wiped his hands on his jeans before reaching for his phone. He opened a photo album called “Valley Lake” and handed her the device before planting his hand on the blanket behind her. They weren’t actually touching, but Lexie could feel him hovering the same way he had during the awards dinner—just close enough to make her squirm. She wondered if he was doing it on purpose, if he knew how all the tiny hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight up.
“This one was after a big rainstorm,” he said, reaching around her to enlarge a photo of an adult eagle perched on the edge of a massive nest, water droplets clearly visible on its sleek feathers.
He swiped to another image. “Then this was last June when the trumpet creeper opened up,” he said. The photo was stunning—a tiny hummingbird hovering near a crimson blossom, its iridescent wings frozen in time.
Lexie stared at it, mesmerized. She almost expected the bird to move.
“These are amazing!” she said. She flipped through a few more images—a fish breaching the surface of the lake, sending ripples in all directions; a duck stretching its feet toward the misty water as it landed; a tiny frog resting on a leaf. “Why didn’t you tell me you were this good?”
Jake shrugged, and Lexie could almost feel the motion against the back of her shirt.
“It’s just about patience, really. Half the battle is being willing to wait for the right shot; the other half is knowing how to program your camera.”
“Jake,” Lexie said, “this isn’t just luck. This is real talent! You could put these in magazines.”
“Well, that’s what I hope to do,” he said. “National Geographicis the dream, of course, but there are lots of smaller places to start and work my way up. Tennessee Farm Bureau, for example, publishes a magazine a few times a year—lots of wildlife and scenic shots. I could start somewhere like that and get a few years of experience, then transfer to something bigger.”
Lexie felt her chest tighten as she shifted to look back at him over her shoulder. He was so sure about his career path, already taking steps to get where he wanted to go. For the first time, she realized that the end of the school year would inevitably take them in different directions. The months suddenly felt too short.
“I’ve wasted so much time,” she said, her voice softer and sadder than she’d expected it to be.
Jake frowned and held her gaze, his eyes studying hers. “What do you mean?”
“I mean we could have been doing this for months.” She swept her arm over the blanket and the picnic and the lake. “And it’s my fault we didn’t.”
A spark of something flashed through Jake’s eyes, but then he blinked, and it was gone. Instead, he lowered his head slowly and placed a soft kiss against the curve where her neck met hershoulder. He stayed there for a moment, like he was thinking, and Lexie felt her bare skin burn under his touch.
“Maybe we could have dated sooner, but we aren’t starting at the beginning,” he finally said, shifting until the front of his shoulder was resting against her back.
