Chapter 11

When I got home from school Monday afternoon Greg was waiting for me.

"Are you guys free tonight?"

"Sure. At least I think so but let me check with Beth first. What's up?"

"We'd like to take you out for dinner."

"I'll let you know as soon as Beth gets home." I could have called her, but we'd both agreed not to bother each other during school. Nothing worse than having your phone go off during a class.

Once I got settled, my first job was to run Gail's special picture through Photoshop, although from what I'd seen yesterday there wasn't much to do. A little tone adjustment and removing a few stray hairs, and I was done. The sunset picture took a little more work, but by the time Beth walked in I was almost through.

"Did you get Kevin's pictures ready?" she asked.

"Yeah, just finishing up," I said as I pulled the special shot up.

"Damn, she looks pretty good, doesn't she? Certainly older than sweet sixteen," Beth said, looking at the image of Gail in the water, the sun just touching the horizon beside her. I didn't say anything. Sometimes keeping my mouth shut was just a good idea.

I copied the completed files to a thumb drive to drop off at the lab, backed up everything from Kevin's CF card and the final images to a DVD, then deleted all the temp files from my PC and ran an erase program on all the free space. Paranoid? Probably, but I didn't want to take any chances of anyone but Beth discovering that I was a dirty old man.

"By the way, Greg stopped down earlier and asked if we were free for dinner."

"Sure! After today a nice night out sounds good. You wouldn't believe the work my instructors piled on today and the quarter's just started!"

I called upstairs and soon Greg and Cindy were at our front door, dressed in more than their usual jeans and T-shirts.

"Um, are we going someplace fancy?" I asked.

"Yeah, this is a special night!" Cindy said.

"Okay, come on in and give us a chance to change."

Once in the bedroom I asked Beth, "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Nope, but Cindy looked like she was really excited about something."

"I wonder ... You don't suppose Greg finally popped the question, do you?"

"Could be," my lady said as she pulled a nice dress over her head. "Let's go find out!"

Greg insisted on driving and soon we were at the restaurant we'd pretty much reserved for special occasions.

"Okay, what's up, you two?" I asked after the maitre d' seated us.

"Beth, would you do me a great big favor?" Cindy asked, looking at my lady.

Beth just shrugged. "Sure. What can I do?"

Cindy obviously couldn't stand it any more. She pushed her left hand under Beth's nose where it was impossible not to see the ring sparkling in the light. "Would you be my maid of honor?"

That left Greg and me to ourselves for a few minutes after Beth booted me out of my chair, plopped down next to her best friend, and did the girlish equivalent of a seated happy dance. If we hadn't been in a fancy restaurant, I wouldn't have been surprised to hear a bunch of squealing.

Finally the girls settled down and Beth gave me my seat back. Greg looked at me, and I could just guess what was coming.

"I was going to ask you to take pictures, but I already made other arrangements."

What the hell? Of all the weddings I'd like to do and I wasn't going to get the chance?

"That's okay. Just being there will be special," I said, trying to cover my hurt feelings. I mean, Greg was my best friend and I wasn't good enough to do his wedding pics?

"Nope, I just can't ask you to be our photographer," he repeated, "because I want you to be my best man!"

Damn, blindsided again!

"I'd be honored," I said, suddenly feeling much better about the evening.

"It only seems right, since you two got us together in the first place," Cindy said with a grin.

"Yeah, and I still owe you for that," Greg said in a mock-threatening voice.

I thought back to that that Friday night at the little coffee shop where Beth and I had tricked them into a blind date. Who knew it would turn out like this?

"So have you set a date yet?" Ever the practical one, my lady.

"Yeah, June fifteenth," Gail said. "We want it to be just after school's out."

"Speaking of that," Greg added with a grin, "will you rent to a married couple?"

I glanced at Beth and saw a little smirk.

"Well, I don't know," she said in a mock serious voice. "What do you think, Tommy?"

"Hmmm, I don't know. After all, staid old married people might take exception to our wild parties."

"Yeah, we'd probably have to invite them and that would really put a damper on things," Beth said, just barely hanging on to her serious expression.

"Oh, well, I guess we can make an exception, as long as they agree to invite us to all their wild parties."

I learned something just then: Cindy had been taking elbow lessons from guess-who.

"So where is it going to be?" Beth asked.

"We've reserved that little chapel just off campus. We figured during the summer it wouldn't be too busy," Cindy replied.

Our server came over just then and asked what everyone wanted. Neither girl wanted trout since the pond wasn't open yet.

"It just tastes better when you catch it yourself," Cindy said. So she and Beth opted for shrimp while Greg and I ended up with our usual steaks.

Needless to say there wasn't much talk during dinner about anything but the wedding.

By the time we got home I don't think there was a detail left uncovered. Even Greg and I got pulled into the discussion. And here I'd thought the guys only had to show up on The Day! Something to remember for when it was my turn.

When I crawled into bed later that night Beth was chuckling over something. I decided to wait her out rather than ask.

"You should have seen your expression at dinner! You looked like someone just ran over your puppy when Greg said he didn't want you to do the pictures for the wedding! Did you really think he'd leave you out of things?"

"I didn't know what to think! The funny thing is their wedding was the only one I was really looking forward to doing. I mean, when Val asked I almost said 'no.'

"I can usually tell when Greg is setting someone up, but I missed it big time tonight."

"You certainly did!"

My princess was having entirely too much fun over this. Time for some revenge! I found that special spot on her ribs and soon had her screaming for me to stop. I did—by sliding my hand a little further south, which soon had her making other interesting noises.

Tuesday after school I took the thumb drive with Kevin's pictures to the lab. Tim, the lab manager, was at the counter as I walked in.

"Oh, boy, here he is!" he chortled when he saw me. "What have you got for us this time?"

"Just a couple of files. I need eleven-by-fourteens," I said as I handed him the drive. I had offered to do sixteen-by-twenties for Kev, but he thought that would be a little too big.

Tim loaded the files into the computer on the counter and opened the Caribbean sunset shot. "Damn, Tommy, you do some nice work!"

Then he opened the "special" of Gail.

"Holy shit." He made it sound like a prayer. "Where do you find such beautiful women? That's what, five or six now? Keep this up and you'll have enough for a calendar!" I thought back: Beth, Cindy, Gracie, Sherry Wilson, and now Gail. That was an impressive bunch.

I chuckled at the thought of the reaction Beth, and most of the other girls, would have to the idea of being on a calendar. "I don't think that's going to happen," I told a crestfallen Tim.

"Oh, well, a guy can dream, I guess."

"Dream all you want, just don't start making copies," I kidded him. I knew he ran an honest shop or those images would never have seen the inside of his lab.

"On a note like that, would you allow us to make a copy? Of just the first picture!" he added quickly. "I'd be proud to display it just to show clients what we can do."

"Sure. Just remember to tell people where it came from."

"Oh, you can bank on that. By the way, have you got some business cards I can pass out?"

"Yeah, I've got some in the Jeep, but what would other photographers want with a competitor's card?"

"You'd be surprised how often someone asks. Especially guys who specialize in only one kind of work. It never hurts to be able to refer somebody to another photographer who can help out if they can't or don't want to do a particular job."

"Makes sense. Let me get some cards," I said. I went out to the Jeep and brought back a handful. I also asked Tim if I could get the prints the next day.

"No problem," he said, still gazing at my brother's girlfriend.

When I got home, Beth was already there, busily pounding away on her laptop.

"What'cha working on?" I asked.

"Oh, just a paper on calculating stresses in dissimilar materials." She pointed at the screen as if she thought I'd have the slightest chance of understanding any of the Greek on the page. Or was it Latin? Either way, there were more formulas than text on the screen, and I regretted asking. Well, she could have her technology, I had some of my own. I loaded Photoshop and started trying to figure out some of its more esoteric features.

I was still at it when my phone rang.

"Tommy? It's Gracie! How are you?"

"Pretty good. How about you? Still modeling?"

"Yeah, I just finished another catalog shoot and spent last week showing off some machinery at a trade show. I even had some lines I had to memorize."

"Well, well, a model AND an actress," I kidded her. I remembered how nervous she'd been the first time she had to stand next to a piece of big machinery. "So what's up?"

"Tommy, Joey asked me to marry him!"

"He did? Great. Congratulations!" I whispered the news to Beth, who immediately grabbed my phone, and off they went. I realize weddings are big things for those of the female persuasion, but listening to Beth squeal when I wasn't the cause seemed, well, unnatural.

"Oh, umm, well, I don't know. Why don't you talk to Tommy," my lady said, handing the phone back to me.

"Tommy, can you do the pictures for my wedding?"

"Um, Gracie, you know I'm not really a wedding photographer, don't you?" What was it with my friends and their wedding pictures?

"Oh, please, Tommy. It won't be hard. We're doing it at the little chapel just off the campus. I'm only having one bridesmaid, so it wouldn't be much work. Please?"

Hadn't Greg just said that the chapel wasn't busy when school was out? Looked like he might have gotten that wrong.

"Well, I suppose. When is it?"

"It's going to be the second Friday in June, the eighth"

"Gracie, I'll have to call you back. Beth and I already promised to be in another wedding, I just don't have the date yet."

"I understand," she said, sounding more than a bit disappointed.

"Gracie, I'm not trying to blow you off. Beth and I really have been invited to participate in two weddings already. We've got the date for one, but not the other. I'll tell you what. Give me a day or two to see if I can get the date and I'll call you back by Friday. Okay?"

"That would be great. Thanks, Tommy!"

Now just to pry the date out of Val.

"What is it with this summer and everybody getting married?" I said as Beth came up and gave me a hug from behind.

"I don't know. Coincidence, I guess."

"Are you changing you mind about waiting?" I asked.

My lady giggled. "And if I were?" she said.

Ulp. I knew we'd be married someday, but waiting until we graduated just sounded like a good idea.

"Just asking," I said.

"Relax, Tommy. I still want to wait, but not everybody is as patient as I am."

"What are we going to do if there's a conflict in dates with Val and Gracie? I mean, how do you choose one over the other without losing friends?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to figure that out if and when it happens."

Not much help there.

Wednesday morning Anse came up to me wearing a huge grin. "Tommy, did you hear about Frank Fowler?"

"No, but now that you mention it, I haven't seen him around since break."

"Well, you won't be seeing him. He decided to switch schools. He told one of the other guys that the curriculum here wasn't challenging enough. Can you believe it, from a guy who goofed off and took the easy way out whenever he could?"

"Yeah, I can. So no more Frank, huh? No big loss there. I never could figure out why he was here in the first place."

"Oh, you never heard about his grandmother, then."

"His grandmother? What does she have to do with it?"

"Oh, just that as long as he stays in school she covers all his expenses—rent, food, car, spending money, the whole thing, and it doesn't make any difference which school he attends. As long as he stays, she pays, so he going to try the University. Probably one of the Liberal Arts tracks with his knack for BS."

Some people get all the breaks.

I'd finished classes for the day about noon. Next stop: the photo lab to pick up my prints, but food first. I hit the cafeteria, grabbed a sandwich and a Coke, then looked for a seat.

"Hey, Tommy!"

I looked around and saw Val motioning for me to join her. Perfect! I needed to talk to her anyway about her wedding date.

"Hi, Val. How are things going? Getting the jitters yet?" I kidded her when I sat down.

She started chewing her lower lip. A nervous reaction that was the same as Beth's.

"Val, is something wrong? Something with Brad?"

"N-no, it's just that ... Tommy, would you be disappointed if we didn't ask you to do the pictures?"

"No, but can I ask why?" Why had she changed her mind? Was it something Beth or I had said?

Val let out a big sigh and looked ready to tear up. "Tommy, we were going to just have a small wedding. You know the story about my folks, and Brad's family probably wouldn't be able to fly in from Oregon, so we talked about it and decided to get married by a JP instead of having a fancy ceremony. We still want you and Beth there, but I guess that would make Beth a witness, not my maid of honor. Oh, and could you be a witness too, even if you're not taking pictures?"

"Sure, I'd be honored to be there," I answered, almost grinning at the relieved expression on Val's face.

"Val, have you set a date yet?"

"Well some time in June, probably the second weekend or so."

"Um..."

"Is that a problem?"

"Well, it's just that we've got two other weddings in June already, one June eighth and the other the fifteenth."

She just giggled. "We female-types really cause you headaches, don't we?"

"Yeah, but you're worth it," I replied with a grin.

Val jumped out of her chair and gave me a bone-crunching hug. "Oh, Tommy, I can't believe what a nice guy you are!

"Let me talk to Brad, but how about the twenty-third? That's a Saturday?"

"Sounds great. Have you talked to Beth yet?"

"No, I was going to call her tonight."

"Okay, I won't say anything and let you tell her."

"Oh, thanks, Tommy," she said, accompanied by another hug.

Well, so much for the month of June. At least there wouldn't be any conflicts. Now to call Gracie and tell her I could do her pictures.

I walked in the door at the photo lab and dead-stopped when I saw my Caribbean sunset as a forty-by-sixty print covering most of the wall behind the register.

"Hi, Tommy. What do you think of that?" Tim said as he gestured toward the huge print.

"Damn, I've never seen any of my work that big. When you said you were going to display it, I never expected anything like that!

"What does a print that size run?" I asked.

"Oh, about a hundred and fifty bucks, un-mounted. The mounting is the same again."

"Three hundred bucks? I guess I'll have to come back and look at it here."

Tim just chuckled as he reached under the counter and brought out an envelope with my prints for Kevin. I slipped them out to look at them over. The sunset was on the top, but after seeing it covering a good chunk of the wall, an eleven-by-fourteen looked tiny in comparison. I had just slid out the second image when somebody walked in the door. I quickly put both prints back in the envelope.

"Can you bill me for these?" I asked Tim.

"No problem. You sure you don't want a copy that size?" he said motioning to the huge print on the wall. "Of either of them?" he added with a grin.

The thought of seeing Gail almost life-size gave me all sorts of un-professional, dirty-old-man thoughts.

"Um, I-I don't think so," I stammered as I headed for the door, trying to adjust my jeans without being too obvious about it.

My next stop was the frame shop, where I made up the frame and mounted both prints, including the backing paper over the "special." I'd leave the official unveiling for Kev.

It was obvious when I got home that Val had called about her change in plans. Beth had that look that meant somebody was in trouble. I just hoped it wasn't me for a change.

"Damn it! Why would parents treat one of their kids like that?" I assumed she meant Val's folks and the way they let her know that they'd wanted a boy and that she was pretty much useless because she wasn't.

"I don't know. It seems like if you're going to have kids you would want to love them no matter what."

"Exactly! Val's father's attitude, just because she doesn't have a set of balls, well ... damn it, Tommy, somebody should remove his!"