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I’d found the lens during an impromptu visit to a pawnshop two days after Adam left for Rome. It’d been underpriced and a dream come true. I’d never anticipated being able to afford such a rare lens. I’d taken it as a sign that despite Adam’s absence, and the weirdness with my mom, the summer was going to be a good one.
Eager to test the lens in the twilight, I pulled into the nearly empty parking lot at Carl Cowan Park. I took a moment to glance around and get my bearings. I hadn’t been to the park since I’d tried and failed at tennis lessons when I was twelve.
A brand-new Cadillac and a rusty Buick were parked side-by-side, the male driver of the Caddy talking to the female passenger of the Buick out their open windows. I suspected a drug deal and hesitated before getting out of the car with my camera. Minutes ticked by, and I was losing precious light as the man and woman chatted. I exhaled in relief when both cars backed up and pulled away.
I slung the camera strap around my neck and hitched my small camera bag with extra film over my shoulder, setting out for the riverside nature trail that led from Carl Cowan to Admiral Farragut Park.
Alone on the trail, the green leaves shimmered in the evening light above my head. The only sound was the crunch of my feet in the pine needles. Relaxing, I let go of a long-held breath and focused my mind.
Green moss inched up the side of a fallen log. I snapped a shot. My rangefinder found the hollowed-out center of a stump and a serendipitously artistic arrangement of yellow leaves to capture next. The nearly silent click of the shutter, the fresh, sweet air of the woods, and the satisfaction of doing what I loved best washed away the residual tension from the intense conversation with my mom.
The sun neared the horizon, and light glittered on the river as it flowed steadily alongside the trail. I stepped out onto the rock outcroppings, careful of my balance, snapping a shot of the hope I saw in those shimmers.
My breathing came easier than it had in weeks. When I finally broke through the woods into the field above the parking lot of Admiral Farragut Park, I was sweating like crazy, but I was smiling.
I lifted my head to the sky, closed my eyes, and took long, deep breaths. This was what I needed—a break from everything and everyone. Some time to just be with my camera.
There was a crunch of feet from the direction of the trail I’d just left.
The peaceful moment shattered. I snapped my eyes open, clutching my camera tightly. I hadn’t seen anyone during my walk from Carl Cowan, and the idea someone might have lurked in the woods, watching me, set me instantly on edge.
“Peter?”
The surprise in Daniel’s voice couldn’t have been plainer than the shock in mine when I said, “Daniel?”
Anxiety that had been crunched into a tight ball in my stomach now exploded in twittering excitement and shaky disbelief. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Wearing a pair of knee-length cargo shorts and an orange R.E.M. T-shirt that stretched over his broad shoulders, Daniel looked teeth-achingly good. My heart did a little jump and skip as he ran a hand through his hair. It shone gold in the setting sun. His skin, pale when I’d met him at my boss Robert’s house in winter, was tan and shimmery with sweat.
I cleared my throat self-consciously. “I mean, uh, hi.”
“Didn’t mean to startle you. I was just—” He glanced back over his shoulder with an embarrassed grin, his brown eyes crinkling with his smile. “Taking a piss.”
“In the woods?”
He laughed. “Yeah.”
“Just couldn’t hold it?” I laughed too. Who hadn’t been there?
Eyes still twinkling, he motioned down to the parking lot at his car, Betty Blue, which I recognized now. “Long story short: I was taking care of my little brother today—he’s twelve—and my mom was supposed to meet me here at six-thirty to pick him up. She ran late. Didn’t even show until a few minutes ago.”
There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, but I figured if my mom had left me stranded with a kid, and I’d had to pee, I’d have been frustrated too. The angle of the fading light told me it was nearly nine o’clock. She’d made him wait a long time.
I nodded toward the little concrete slab with the unisex, single-toilet public bathroom. “And that was occupied?”
He fake-gagged. “Clogged.”
“Oh, well. My dad always said the woods are a man’s to mark.” I chuckle. “But my dad says a lot of weird things.”
Daniel laughed again, and I lifted my camera to snap several shots of his broad, wide smile. I had to admit, I was a sucker for a guy with a great smile. Adam’s had been one of the first things I’d noticed about him.
But I wasn’t going to think about Adam right now.
I took another picture of Daniel. A sweet coil of anticipation sprang through me. I’d have to find a way to develop these photos sooner rather than later. Fresh pictures of Daniel to hold while jerking off? Yes! Like finding the new Summilux lens, it was another unexpected boon. So long as I didn’t overthink it or let the guilt sneak in after I came.
“I’d ask what you’re doing here, but I think I know.” Daniel nodded at my camera.
“Yeah.” I clicked another picture of him. “I’ve been braving the wilderness to hunt the great wild photo.” I hoped that sounded less dorky to him than it did to me. Why couldn’t I ever be cool? Not that it mattered. Daniel was older and already in college. He was only being polite by talking to me at all.
