by Chelsea Hale
Coco was touched and looked at Peter with a new sense of admiration. It mattered when people made a difference in the lives of others. That was one of the biggest draws she had to Jeffrey. She hadn’t thought of him in a few days, surprisingly. Not since the last time she’d compared Peter to him.
Coco reached across the counter, took Randy’s grease-stained hand in her own, and squeezed it. Her brain tried to process what she would say to Randy if she really were Peter’s fiancée. “Thanks for sharing that story, Randy. It’s one I hadn’t heard before. He’s certainly remarkable.”
Randy nodded, but didn’t speak as glistening eyes met hers.
Peter cleared his throat. “Yes, well, for good or bad, Randy knows all the dirt on me, so we should get going before my whole life is retold.”
“I know where I need to come when I need a good story.” Coco winked at Randy.
Randy regained his composure and handed Coco a business card. “You call me anytime.”
Peter put an arm around her waist and pushed her gently toward the front door. “Thanks again, Randy. The car looks great.”
“Nice to meet you, again. When is the wedding date?”
Peter and Coco looked at each other and panic hit her chest. She didn’t want to lie to Randy. There was no reason to. Before she had been teasing, and Randy knew moving to Breckenridge seemed like a long-standing joke between them.
Peter’s eyes widened. “We’re still settling on the exact date.” He opened the door for her, keeping his arm around her waist as they walked to her car.
“Still settling on a date?!” Coco whispered. “He needs to know the truth.” Her jaw unhinged at the idea.
Peter opened her car door for her, his back to the store. “Is he watching from the window?”
Coco nodded her chin downward, ever so slightly. “With a huge grin.”
His eyes frowned just a little. “Sorry I roped you into this. The last time I was in town I received no less than twenty phone calls from random people saying that Randy wanted to set me up on a blind date with them. It was so awkward I didn’t think about it until he just assumed that we were the ones in the engagement photo shoot.”
“He’s still watching us.” Coco leaned in toward him so Randy wouldn’t be able to read her lips.
“No sense in standing here in the cold. Have a safe drive.”
“Except he’s still at the window,” she said, huddling against him.
“So?”
“So, dear fiancé. Have you seen engaged couples? They don’t say goodbye without kissing.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Has this been your plan all along?” she asked.
His face reddened. “I’m brilliant that way.” He gave her a hug.
“You should be in film. Live stage acting is not your forte.” She turned him, and they both faced the window, waving vigorously at Randy, who smiled.
“I can put on a good show.” He moved closer to her, his arms tight around her waist, and angled her away from the window. He dropped his head, close to her lips, but hovered above them.
Her pulse raced at his nearness. She was torn between looking at his eyes and focusing on his lips.
He pressed his cheek on hers and whispered in her ear, “With any luck that will look enough like a kiss from where Randy is.”
He moved away, and a tingling sensation spread from where his cheek had lingered on hers.
“You know you’re going to have to set him straight,” Coco whispered, barely able to catch her breath.
“I will, but not today.”
“It was a fun trip,” she said, still standing close to him.
“It was and next weekend will be research.”
She looked up and her hair fell into her eyes at the movement. “That somehow sounds like less fun.”
Peter brushed his finger across her forehead, tucking the loose strand behind her ear. His warm touch sent a silky shiver down her ear and arms. He helped her into her car and paused. “Drive safe,” he finally said before closing her door.
Coco blinked. What had just happened? She turned the key in the ignition, watching his retreating back until he reached his own car.
Her mind swirled like the snow drifts on the freeway as she drove home. Peter had almost kissed her. And for a moment, she’d almost let him. She shook her head trying to clear it, but it was impossible to think of anything else when every glance she stole in the rear-view mirror revealed Peter’s silver SUV. She could see his smile from here, but looked away, trying to make sure she focused on the front of his car the next time she looked up. Why was an almost kiss heating her face? She pressed her palm to her confused cheeks, self-consciously willing them to cool off. It didn’t work.
Chapter Eight
The next day Coco drove to the airport to pick Jeffrey up. He’d been gone a few weeks, and she tapped the steering wheel, her eyes glued on the sliding doors he’d come through. She wore his favorite yellow sweater.
Her phone rang, and she immediately answered it. “Hey sweetie! I’m on level four! Have you already picked up your suitcase?”
There was a pause on the other end. “Uh, Coco? It’s Peter.”
She smacked her head, a flush instantly rising in her face. “Hi, Peter. Sorry, I didn’t look at my screen. What can I do for you?”
“Am I catching you at a bad time? I’m having trouble with the pictures I took with your camera.”
“You’re fine. What seems to be the problem?”
“It’s the format. It won’t open them on any of my regular photo programs. Do you have an encryption code on your computer, or do I need a password? I’ve never had this problem before.”
“You shot in RAW, right?”
“Yes. I did switch over and do a few in .jpeg and RAW, and I can see the compressed .jpegs just fine, but that’s only a few pictures at the end.”
“Off the top of my head I’m not sure, but I can look at my computer when I get home and give you a call in the morning. Will that work?”
“Yeah, that’s great. Thanks. I do my best work at night, so I was hoping to get started, but I can wait until tomorrow.”
“I work better at night, too. I get that.”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.”
She smiled, remembering the fun she’d had in Aspen with him. “Tomorrow.”
Jeffrey tapped on the window as she hung up. She smiled and jumped out of the car. “You’re back!” she said, running to the other side of her car. He gave her a big hug and kissed her.
“I love that sweater on you.” He kissed her again.
That’s why I wore it. Yellow was his favorite color, though it did nothing for her complexion. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” He put his suitcase in her trunk.
“Are you tired from your flight?” It was just domestic, so she doubted he had jetlag.
“We spent all day on a negotiation that left me with getting four hours of sleep.”
She regularly ran on four hours of sleep, but nodded. “That can be rough.”
He held her close, playing with her hands. “Do you hate the idea of just ordering in tonight and watching a movie? I could use some relaxation.”
“And you can avoid this weather,” she added, smiling.
“That too,” he admitted.
“I picked up Chinese on the way to the airport and rented the new action show you wanted to see. It’s available for streaming right now.”
He stroked her cheek and kissed her again. “You know me so well. Thank you.”
At Jeffrey’s apartment Coco put the Chinese food on the coffee table.
“Hey, do you want to watch a few clips that I did of Tyler and Liz’s video so far?” she asked Jeffrey from across the room.
“Is it finished already?” he asked.
“No, but I thought I’d just give you a little taste of it.” She held her laptop, ready to hook it up to his TV.
“Can I watch it when it’s
completely finished?” he asked. “Then I can enjoy it when it’s perfect instead of the rough cut.”
Coco put on a smile. He didn’t like the hashing out of the creativity that she worked so hard to perfect. He wanted to enjoy only the final product. That was fine. She put her laptop next to the door and set the movie up.
She didn’t mind watching action movies with Jeffrey. After taking Film Studies, she was amazed at how much thought went into each scene. It wasn’t just the angles, but the lighting and the contrast. It fascinated her.
Jeffrey came out from the kitchen with drinks. “You sure you want orange juice?” He couldn’t believe she always picked orange juice as her beverage when they had Chinese.
“I like it. It settles my stomach after the spicy food. I ordered it extra spicy. Don’t wimp out.”
“They can’t make it spicy enough.” He started the movie.
Coco glanced up from her lettuce wraps to watch a preview. “He’s the bad guy.”
“What? No way.”
“I’d stake my orange juice on it.”
“How can you tell when it’s a preview, and you don’t know who anyone is?”
How could she tell? Mostly it came with a feeling. How to explain it? “It was the music cue. It gave a slight pause, but it was a contrast from the hero’s moment right before.”
Jeffrey shook his head. “We’ll watch it when it comes out, and then we’ll see.” He’d long ago decided that he preferred watching movies at home to the theater. He said it was his comfy couch and surround sound, but she thought maybe it had to do with the fact that she had to comment through the movie.
They were only two minutes into the movie. “Clay is going to betray his teammates,” Coco whispered when Clay made his first appearance onto the screen.
“No way! He’s the glue in the team. Is it the crooked nose?”
“It’s the way the camera angle changed between him and Ornal. See the way Ornal looked like a prince, but this angle shows Clay in a corner, even though they’re in an expansive room.”
He kissed her on the forehead. “You’re very smart.”
“But you don’t want any more spoilers,” she finished.
He shook his head. “I haven’t seen this one yet. It’s a fun game when you’re seeing it for the first time, and I’ve watched it on the plane, but I don’t want to know everything before it happens.” He didn’t look too upset.
“Fair enough,” she said, snuggling comfortably next to him. She counted two more accomplices that betrayed the team and correctly identified the plot twist with the poison before the movie was halfway over.
An hour later, Coco went to refill drinks, and when she came back Jeffrey was dozing on the couch. She set down the glasses and sat on the small loveseat against the windows for the rest of the movie. She didn’t want to disturb his sleep.
Coco watched until the credits finished, satisfied that her Film Studies class was accurate again. She could predict the movie. Maybe that skill would come in handy someday. She grabbed the throw blanket and put it over Jeffrey. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, but he still didn’t move, then she left, locking the door behind her.
It was midnight when Coco arrived home, and none of her roommates were home yet, so she jumped into Tyler and Liz’s video footage. She didn’t get very far when she remembered Peter’s phone call.
She grabbed her backup camera and popped the SD card out. She was grateful she hadn’t cleared it when she’d given the pictures to Peter. With the big file sizes, it took several minutes to upload all the RAW photos, but they looked great. She tried to remember what Peter’s exact problem was.
She texted Peter. Maybe he’d still be up. He mentioned he worked on his projects late. Hey. I’m home and looked at the RAW photos. They look good on my end. You said you couldn’t open them?
She googled the common issues that might be causing the problem and could discuss it with Peter tomorrow. Her phone buzzed when she was halfway through an article on software compatibility. Coco swiped her hand over the screen and answered Peter’s call. They exchanged hellos.
She scrolled to the end of the article. “I think I may have just figured out the problem with the photos.”
“Do share.”
“You’re not able to read the pictures because my camera software is the only one that can read RAW from that camera. What a pain.” She clicked a few buttons, pulling up the help guide on the camera’s website. “There is a way I can convert the files for you so they can universally be read as a RAW file without compressing, but…” She clicked on a few more screens, scanning the information.
“Wow,” she continued. “They really made this complicated, like they wanted to keep their imaging very proprietary. I can do it, but it’s going to have to be a direct transfer onto the computer you’re going to edit them on. They can’t be moved to another computer without the software hooked up to it as a ghost program, so, I can’t just convert them and send them to you over the Internet. I’ll have to transfer the files directly to your computer from mine, with a USB.”
“Sorry to add extra work to you,” he said. “I didn’t realize shooting in RAW with a different camera would be such a big deal.”
“Life lessons right there,” she said. “When is the best time to do that? How soon do you want to start editing the pictures?” She played with her hair while he thought about it.
“If Tyler and Liz are serious about using winter photos for their engagement photos then pretty soon, but maybe you can get a reading on Liz for that one. I have enough to keep me busy before next weekend. I don’t want you to make a special trip into the city.”
“Oh, I don’t mind.” She rushed her words, then paused, adding, “I mean, whatever you need me to do is fine.”
“Next week will work. Thanks for helping me solve this, Coco. I was banging my head against the computer, trying to figure out what was wrong.” There was a pause. “Since I have you on the phone, let’s talk about the Elegance Bridal Show next week.”
“Sure. What’s the game plan? Liz is coming down to it, too. Mandy will probably be out of town for it, but Jenny is planning on going around with Liz and Liz’s mom and sister-in-law. I guess I’m not needed in the group.”
“If you’d rather go around with them—”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, for the research that I’m doing, going with Liz doesn’t make a lot of sense. She won’t be spending any time in the photography and videography wing, and that’s the only place I really need to see. She doesn’t mind if I’m not there.”
“Okay. Let’s meet downtown then, and we’ll tackle all of your research. Thanks for helping me with the RAW photos.”
“No problem. It looks like it’s going to take several hours to make the transfer and see if it works. Text me your studio address, and I’ll meet you there before we go to the Elegance Bridal Show. We can leave it running while we’re gone.”
“Great idea. Thanks.”
She hung up the phone, pleased she’d solved the problem.
The next morning, Coco joined her roommates for her favorite roommate tradition—eating sundaes for breakfast happened at least once a week, and they’d swap their dating stories. Just the idea of eating ice cream in January made her cold. She boiled water for hot chocolate to warm her up as Mandy dished out the ice cream.
Coco passed around the mugs. She grabbed a few candy canes from a treat bowl, ground them with a rolling pin until they were in small pieces, and sprinkled some on her ice cream and hot chocolate. “Anyone up for some Christmas flavoring?”
“That looks delicious. I’m in,” Jenny said, sprinkling peppermint over her food.
Mandy dug her spoon into her ice cream and dropped it into her steaming mug. “I dished up the ice cream, so I’ll start. I went ice skating with Dan on Friday and had a lot of fun. I hope he asks me out again.”
“That’s great,” Jenny said.
“Also, I’ve added a few more business trip
s to my spring.” She looked toward Liz. “Don’t worry, I worked them around your wedding, so I won’t be gone, but I’m going to travel over spring break.”
“It’s really cool that you go with senior citizens on their dream vacations,” Jenny said.
Liz pointed an ice cream-covered spoon in her direction. “For the record, I’d book your weddings with Coco. That girl has talent with a camera, even if I practically froze all of my toes off.”
“That’s a no-brainer,” Mandy said. “Coco is super talented.”
“Agreed,” Jenny said.
“Thanks, Liz.” Coco laughed. “Sorry about your cold toes, though I’m not the one who chose the middle of the snowy Rocky Mountains for a backdrop on a spring wedding. You only have yourself to blame. Your good taste in fashionable boots didn’t help keep your feet insulated.”
“Ha. So true. That shoe collection isn’t made for hours in the snow.”
“What about you, Jenny? What’s your love life looking like?” Mandy asked.
Jenny chimed in. “This new case I’m on may just be the thing to get me to move up the company ladder.” Jenny had passed the Bar last summer, and since then had spent most of her week at the office or bringing case files home.
“Since when does giving a job update count as Sundaes for Breakfast talk?” Liz laughed.
“Since the rest of us are working through most of our social life time, and you’re engaged,” Jenny said with a laugh. “Besides I’m getting quality time with my job. There’s not time for anything else.”
“I spent most of the week with Liz, and working on her video,” Coco said. “I’m finishing up the rough edit today, and you have to see it. They are so adorable!”
“You can’t report about Liz for your entire moment. Anything new?” Mandy asked Coco.
“Jeffrey got home yesterday. He isn’t in town for very long, but we had a date night last night.”
“Let me guess,” Mandy said, over her cup of hot chocolate. “You had takeout and watched an action movie.” Her eyes smiled.
“Um—”
“Or was it a sci-fi this week, just to shake things up?” Liz asked.