Despite my fear that the content of those Dickson films were irrelevant to the crimes taking place inthistime period, I’d be lying if I said it was reason enough to give up the mystery. There had still been a murder. There had still been a conspiracy against Dickson. If I didn’t shine light on what had happened all those years ago, who would?
I plucked a textbook and read the cover.From Edison to Hollywood, A History of American Cinema. I set it aside and removed a tome of a book next:A Study of Silence, Storytelling Before Talkies. The last of my film course books I’d kept from college, mostly because I couldn’t bear parting with something that had cost an arm and a leg to purchase, was calledCinema Truth, Before Chaplin, Keaton, & Lloyd.
“Morning.”
I glanced up to see Calvin leaning against the doorway. He was dressed and ready for the day in a dark suit. I felt a flutter of butterflies in my gut when I met his smile. Despite dating for months now, and having been naked and intimate more times than I could count, it sort of felt like those first-time jitters all over again. You know, now that I was being up front and honest about life, sex, death, and everything in between.
“Happy birthday,” I said, by way of greeting.
Calvin smiled a little. “Thank you.”
“I—er—I don’t have your birthday present here. With me.” Okay, I was being honest with him about everythingbutthe fact I still hadn’t found a gift.
“That’s okay,” he said.
“Feel forty-three?”
Calvin rubbed the back of his neck. “A bit. I think I’m a year or two too old for sex on the linoleum floor.” He slid his hands into his pockets and inclined his head at the books. “What’re those?”
“Textbooks from college.”
“A Complete History of Romanticism?” he guessed.
“From my Film History, and Theory and Criticism classes.”
“Sounds like some real page turners.”
I bit back a laugh. “I’m going to call my old professor and see if he’ll meet with me today.”
“Ah. About the footage?”
I nodded, stacked the books in one arm, and stood.
“How’d you get the shiner?” he asked next, touching his own cheekbone.
“Oh.”
Calvin raised his eyebrows.
“Something happened yesterday.”
“I gathered as much.” He reached out as I moved toward him and put his arm around my shoulders. “Does it have anything to do with an antique revolver?”
“Sort of.”
“Let’s grab breakfast.”
Chapter Fourteen
“I THOUGHTyou wanted waffles?”
“I do, but I’m still paying off student loans. I don’t want to go into debt over breakfast confections too.” I shifted my books to one arm and tapped the outdoor case displaying an outrageously priced menu.
“Don’t worry about the price.” Calvin leaned close, kissed me, took one of the doorstops from my arms, and walked into the café.
“But it’s your birthday!” I protested.
“And I want to eat here,” he called from inside.
