A Discovery of Hope (A Coming Home Again Novel Book 3)

by Lowe, T. I.

  I jump as JP slams his fists on the desk and storms over to the boxes. “I should really kick Duke’s a…ace for this,” he mutters.

  “Ace?” I ask with raised eyebrows.

  He starts unstacking the boxes. “Ace is my substitute word for when I almost slip and say something I shouldn’t. I’m trying to break a cussing habit. Savannah demands I do or I can’t hang out with my nephews. It’s a dumb habit that needs to be broken anyway.”

  I try not to laugh, but end up snickering. That sister of his is definitely the momma hen.

  “It ain’t funny.” He glares over at me. He points at the three boxes now lined up against the wall. “They are in order by year. The photos are labeled on the back. They need to be filed by month, year, and captioned.” This is all the instructions I get before he stomps back to his desk.

  I grab a pen and the file folders and have a seat on the floor in front of the first box. I have no doubt this task will take all summer. Ugh. Flipping open the lid, I change my sour attitude quickly. I get to sort through gorgeous unique photographs taken by a photo genius all summer—even if the genius is a jerk.

  Hours pass and I’ve not even made a dent in the first container, but I don’t mind. In these hours, I have gone all over the world and experienced it through his talented eyes. While I’ve been in my photo world, JP has been slammed with phone calls, emails and constant incoming text messages. He has just wrapped a phone conference with a magazine editor from Hawaii. The magazine is featuring his photo journey of the islands. It sounds pretty neat. He took the trip in the spring and is now editing and finalizing matters with the magazine.

  We stop long enough to scarf down sandwiches before going back to work. JP just finished up the volcano pictures and is now emailing them to the editor of the magazine. I didn’t realize until now those were also taken in Hawaii.

  I’m almost out of folders by the time this day wraps up and I’ve not even put a dent in the first container. I’m making a list of more supplies needed for the filing when JP’s phone goes off for the millionth time of the day.

  “Yo,” he answers as he clicks open his emails and those suckers are in the hundreds. I’m on the floor behind him, so I sort of get a glimpse at everything he does all day. No, I’m not being nosy. I’m just being observant.

  I focus back on my list and can’t help but listen to the conversation. “I would totally be into playing with her. I’ve got to finish up a few emails first.” Pause. “I know… Yeah, she’s way too sweet to pass up.” Pause. “Okay, bro, set it up and I’ll be there. I desperately need to get lost in that sweet thang for a while.” Pause. “You have no idea the shi…mess Savannah has pulled this time.” He eases his gaze over to me, but I quickly look away and try to pretend I’m not listening. “Cool. Set it up. I’ll be there.”

  As he ends the call, I mutter under my breath, “Pig.”

  “You say something?” JP asks as he gets busy with the emails.

  “Nope.” I hand him the list. “I need this stuff. If you care to know, I have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I should be back each day by early afternoon.” I slide my flip flops on and head towards the door.

  “You have any idea how much I’m supposed to pay you?”

  I turn back around and eye him. This guy has no clue. “You didn’t take the time to clear any of this up with your sister over the weekend? Or at least read the paperwork for the internship I gave you?”

  “I didn’t have time. Look, sweetheart, you’re not the only one in this universe.”

  “No. I’m well aware of that. However, I’m stuck being a part of yours for the summer, so it would make perfect sense for you to take the time to clear this mess up.”

  He waves his hands around the office. “We don’t have to do this. Just pack up and go back to whatever sorority house you wandered off from.”

  Oh… Now I’m ticked completely off. “This isn’t about playing summer camp with you. This is me trying to earn college credit through an internship. You pay me nothing. You get to have free help. If you would stop being a jerk long enough, you might see how helpful I could be to you. Don’t stare this gift horse in the mouth!” With this, I storm out of his office and up the stairs.

  I have some daylight left, so I swap my jeans for a pair of shorts and pull my camera out of its case.

  “You need to calm down or you will bring on a nasty headache.” I look over to find Hope sitting on my bed with her legs crossed. She looks like she is practicing a yoga position.

  “This isn’t going to work.” I rummage around my bag for a pair of sunglasses.

  “Yes, it will.”

  “No, it won’t. This guy doesn’t have time to deal with me, nor does he want me here.”

  “Then show him what you’re capable of. You’ve already been useful with sorting all of those photos. He will be grateful to see all of that taken care of. Just keep at it.”

  I scoop up my camera and am heading for the door when Hope speaks again. “And Willow. Please remember not to be so quick to judge.”

  This is like a slap in the face. What’s with everyone always wanting to point that out to me? Do I judge? I head downstairs but have to quickly backtrack due to forgetting my keys—I’m always forgetting things. It’s a pain-in-the-butt side effect. Casanova is heading out too and I don’t want to chance being locked out all night. Duke has been MIA all day, so who knows where he’s at.

  I snatch the keys off the table without acknowledging the angel still perched on my bed and head back out. I come close to plowing into JP as I reach the small hallway. He has changed into board shorts and is carrying a well-used surfboard. “I thought you had a date?” I blurt out, like it’s any of my business. Short-term memory loss and no stop sign with my thoughts. I feel like a jumbled mess!

  He smirks at this. “I do. A date with tropical storm Becca. She’s sweeping in some gnarly waves along the coast, and I can’t miss out.”

  Okay. So… I do judge. Sue me. “I didn’t realize there was a storm.” I rub the scar absently, but catch myself and drop my hand.

  “They’re predicting it to do much of nothing. Just dump some rain and fizzle out.” He looks at the camera around my neck. “You heading out?”

  “Yeah. I thought I would do a picture-walk around the neighborhood.” I eye the board. “So you’re a surfer?”

  JP shrugs his shoulders. “I can hold my own.” He guides me back downstairs along with him. “Hold up a sec.” He sits his surfboard down and heads for the back room. Moments later, he reappears, carrying two photo-canvases. He hands one of them over.

  “Cool picture. This is you?” I motion to the guy riding a massive wave.

  “Yep. My buddy took it while we were in Fiji for a surf competition. Those were some sweet rides.” He hands me the other photo. “I took this one earlier in the day of my buddy. Your homework is to compare and contrast.”

  The differences are very clear. The picture of JP is nice, but the other one is so focused and crisp. The sprays of water feel as though they are leaping off the photo. “That’s easy enough,” I comment as I hold them side by side.

  JP seems pleased with this. “Cool. See you in the morning.”

  “Afternoon. I have class, remember?”

  “Yeah. Okay.” He waves over his shoulder dismissively as he grabs up his board and heads out the back door.

  I set the photos down by the stairs for later and head out the front. I need some fresh air and it feels really nice out. I guess the storm moving in has cut the humidity down a notch or two. I take a deep breath and head down the sidewalk.

  ~~~~~

  The tropical storm barreled through late last night, howling and dumping a forceful allotment of rain. I heard JP get in a little before midnight. I hate to think the guy actually surfed in the dark while in the midst of that storm. To be sure not…

  I beat him downstairs this morning and place the pictures along with my notes on his desk before heading to class. I did my hom
ework while the storm kept me company last night, making a detailed list of comparisons and contrasts between the pictures. It’s obvious JP’s buddy is not a professional photographer, but I still caught myself staring at the image of JP one much longer than the other.

  JP looked enigmatic on his board with the teal ocean whirling around him, and he absolutely owned that wave. I think the guy was being modest yesterday. He can definitely hold more than just his own.

  I walk into my Photo Appreciation class and find only a dozen or so students in attendance. I guess summer course attendance is smaller. I sit near the middle and open my notebook. Hope appears. Of course. “What are you up to now?” I mutter under my breath.

  “Oh nothing,” she says too excitedly. We watch on as a young guy is escorted in by another guy. It’s clear the younger one has special needs. He is rambling off about there being two thousand seven hundred seconds of the class and is giggling every so often. He has a small frame and has a whimsical smile on his face as though he is permanently daydreaming about something wonderful. His brown hair is having a severe case of bedhead and his thin framed glasses are sitting slightly askew on his small nose.

  I look away as a gray-haired woman in a long sundress stands before the class. “Welcome to Photo Appreciation. I’m Professor Brooks. This is a five week course and we will be covering a lot of ground. I have all of this outlined in the class syllabus.” She holds up a stack of papers before handing them out along with an attendance sign-in sheet. “We will be studying various images and critiquing them.” She continues on and pulls up several slides on a projector screen. The rest of the class flies by with photo after photo. The young boy sits just off to my right and I can’t help but notice he has slept the entire class away. I notice Hope watching him too and I have a bad feeling about that.

  Chapter Eleven

  Two weeks have passed with me filing an endless sea of pictures and attending class. JP hasn’t had much to say to me. We sort of work in an uncomfortable silence. I show up to his office each day and work on tackling the photo cataloguing with stubborn determination. I’ve made it to the second container now. I was hopeful that maybe I wouldn’t be filing all summer after all. That idea completely vanished after walking in yesterday to find two more containers added to the line along the wall. Great. At least by the end of the summer I will have learned the lesson to never get behind on logging my own photo inventory.

  Class is okay. I like the course itself, but Hope is pushing me to make friends with the young boy. I say he’s young, although I guess he is just petite and is probably seventeen or eighteen. I’m not sure due to his special needs. Hope has informed me he is autistic so at least I understand a bit better. The little guy spends class either sleeping or continuously mumbling to himself. He’s quiet about it so it’s not too distracting.

  Today, Hope and I watch as he takes his normal seat near the front to my right. “Go sit with him.”

  “Can’t you pick a girl for me to befriend? All I do is hang out with guys anymore.”

  “Sure. I’ll find you a female friend next time. But for now, this young man is in need of some company, and most importantly, compassion.”

  “I thought we already established I’m no good at that,” I mumble under my breath as I look around and find a girl eying me curiously.

  Hope nudges my arm and draws my attention back to her. “You need to think of it as a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger your compassion for others will become.” Boy, does she make me feel like a bad person.

  Without another word, I pack my belongings and take the seat beside him. “Good morning.” I smile in his direction, but he won’t acknowledge me. “I’m Willow Carter,” I try again.

  The guy who always escorts him around looks at me apologetically. “Tony Edge,” he introduces himself. “And this shy guy is Jace Wiles.”

  We both look at Jace as he studies his watch. “Only two thousand four hundred seconds left. Someone’s late. Late for our date. Late…”

  “Jace, you want to say hey to this lovely lady?” Tony tries and is ignored. “I’m Jace’s shadow. I make sure no one bothers him and he doesn’t wander off.” He smiles at this, but I think it’s a warning to me not to think about bothering Jace. This makes me like Tony even more. He takes his job of taking care of Jace seriously.

  The professor bustles in and saves me from having to make any more conversation. She apologizes for her tardiness and launches right in on photo imagery before setting her bag down. Jace dozes off within minutes of her beginning.

  Professor Brooks has been propped on the edge of her desk for most of the class when she eases off and taps on Jace’s desk and asks him a question on negative imagery. He rambles off the answer without missing a beat. By the time she’s propped back at her desk, he is back asleep. Well… Maybe he’s just resting his eyes…

  After class I voice my concerns to Hope. “I don’t see how I’ll be any help here.” We watch as Jace and his shadow walk past us with him carrying on a conversation with himself.

  “He just needs your time. You’ve been blessed with plenty of that. I think you should be willing to share your unexpected gift.” She likes to remind me of this as well. I know I shouldn’t be here. But I am, so…

  “Fine,” I agree.

  The next class session goes about the same—me sitting beside Jace as he ignores me and lives in his own little world. Today the professor has made a mistake though. She asked Jace to tell us about something he would enjoy photographing. He goes off on a wild tangent on various pizza crusts and how he would arrange the toppings. Professor Brooks and Tony try to rein him back but it’s like he has to get it all out. They eventually give up and we all sit back and get an education on pizza for the remainder of class. Tony ushers him out with him still continuing on about pizza as we all sit stunned.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, that was the one and only Jace Wiles.” We all chuckle quietly. “I want to apologize and thank you for your patience today. Everyone will receive a one hundred test grade.”

  With this, we are dismissed. Hope follows me to the SUV and goes straight for the radio as always once we’re buckled in. “I don’t get why his parents are wasting their money and effort with college.”

  “His parents need hope that he can have close to a normal life, hence the effort with college. They feel responsible for his autism.”

  I crank the SUV and pull into traffic. “Well, that really stinks for them.”

  “Yes, it does.” She says nothing more, just bounces between radio stations. She never seems to find what she’s looking for.

  I seek out the closest pizza joint and order two large pies. One with thick crust and one with thin. I ask for every topping they have except for anchovies and mushrooms. My mouth waters all the way back to the gallery.

  I push through the door to JP’s office thirty minutes later with the two piping hot supreme pizzas. JP is at his computer as always. I’m elated to find Duke propped near the window with his sketch pad. Both guys lift their noses to the air and take in the savory aroma I brought with me.

  “It’s about time you graced us with your presence.” I eye Duke sternly. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since my first weekend here.

  He looks over his shoulder. “You talking to me this time?”

  I ignore his jab and nod my head towards the food. “I had a wild craving for pizza. You guys want some?”

  Of course they do. They help me polish off one and half pizzas in no time. I send the last remaining half home with Duke and he gladly takes it. I’m too full to do anything so I leave JP to do his thing and head for my room. I push open the door and find Hope waiting on me.

  “Can you tell me what I can possibly do for Jace?”

  “I already told you. Just listen to him.”

  “That’s it?” I don’t think it’s going to be so simple. “I don’t understand half the stuff he jabbers on about.”

  “You don’t need to understand. He ju
st needs someone to be present in his world while he gets to openly discuss something important to him.”

  So this is what I do on Thursday. Jace finally acknowledges I am sitting beside him and whispers continuously to me about how many more seconds we have in class. As we pack up, I absently ask him what type of movies he’s into and this leads to an entire lesson on Transformers after class. He loses me somewhere in the world of robots and the next thing I know it’s two in the afternoon by the time Tony says they have to get home.

  This day is chalked up as a waste, but Hope is there to remind me again that Jace only needed me to listen and I did just that.

  As I drive past a small farm stand close to the gallery, my stomach gurgles a reminder that Jace’s robot tangent devoured my lunchbreak. I’m already late, so I park behind the gallery and walk the block back to it. I purchase a small basket of plump peaches along with a pint of strawberries and a small bunch of bananas. By the time I’ve reached the gallery, I’ve enjoyed a few strawberries and begin munching on a banana. I head straight to JP’s office as is my normal routine.

  He starts gagging before looking up from his computer. “Get out!” he hollers, completely baffling me. “No bananas! Get those nasty things out of here!” I think for a moment this guy has to be joking, but his eyes are watering and he looks pure miserable. He pushes me right back out the front door. “Don’t come in ‘til you get rid of them things.” JP points to the bananas in disgust. “And be sure to brush your teeth before you come back to my office.” He snaps all of this out to me through the closed door while still gagging.

  All I can do is stand at the door and laugh. He’s so tough all the time, yet the faint smell of a piece of fruit wimps him totally out. I stand by the door in bafflement and help myself to another banana as JP bustles through the gallery while spraying a steady stream of air freshener. He glances my way as I take another bite and this sends him to gagging again. Now, that is one serious aversion to bananas. I’ve never seen such in all my life. I’m not a fan of celery, but I’ve never freaked out about it. Gracious me, this has been one strange day.