2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

"We're off duty, right?"

M ayor Bessler's speech was long and over-zealous, as it usually was. The man loved an audience. Gage got some shots of him in action. And some wider shots of the crowd's reactions. They were especially enthusiastic when they sensed he was wrapping it up.

The mayor gave a final wave, then exited the platform in Gage's direction.

"Good afternoon, Gage. I hope you got some good shots."

"I took a lot, so I'm sure there are a few."

"What's the theme this year?"

Gage pointed at him. "You know that's a secret until the cover story comes out."

"Right, of course. You don't want the citizens anticipating your moves."

"That's exactly right, sir."

The mayor clapped Gage on the shoulder. "Keep up the good work, son."

He left before Gage could give a response. Which was fine, because he really didn't have one. He took a few shots of the audience leaving the area and heading for the bonfire. When someone came up behind him, he turned to see Cabe and Jovie.

Gage turned to them. "Hey, it's my nice brother."

Cabe laughed. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Remy and Pax were being…Remy and Pax."

"Gotcha." Cabe looked at Jovie. "Believe it or not, this is Jovie's first Winter Festival."

"Really? How did you manage that?"

"I've been a loner for almost twenty-eight years."

Gage smiled. "I really don't see anything wrong with that."

Cabe shook his head. "Yeah. You wouldn't." He took Jovie's hand. "We're going to go get warm by the fire."

"Have fun." He watched them go and took a few shots of them walking away. A cowboy and his cowgirl. They were the quintessential couple of Calaway Crossing.

Gage spent the next two hours talking to people when he couldn't avoid it, and going through several rolls of film. He ran into all of his brothers and his parents. Clementine and Booker were the only family he didn't see, aside from his grandparents, who didn't attend. Greer had a cold and Lillian didn't want him out in the weather. It was the first year they missed the bonfire. They were in attendance at the first one, and every year since.

When his hands were so cold he couldn't properly work his camera, he decided he'd had enough. He spotted Sydney on the other side of the clearing and he walked over to her.

"Hey boss."

"Are you as cold as I am?"

"I'm sure I am. I lost feeling in my fingers thirty minutes ago." She handed him the camera, and he put it in the bag, then took her arm.

"Let's go get a cider for the road."

They went to the tavern's booth and found Remington and Brynlee. Gage looked around.

"Did Pax leave you to fend for yourself?"

Remington smiled. "He took Elaina home." He put his arm around Brynlee. "And I'm not alone."

"I can see that. Where's the youngest Calaway?"

"Adisyn is with Mom. They took her to the house. It's much too cold out here for her."

"I guess she's going to lose her title in a couple of months when Elaina delivers."

"Then the little dude will only hold it for a couple of months until his two cousins are born."

Gage shook his head. "Scary man. Too many babies. Can we get a couple of hard ciders? And make mine a double."

Sydney held up a finger. "Mine too."

Gage looked at her. "Really?"

She nudged him. "We're off duty, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

They took their ciders and drank them as they headed for the parking area. The fire would burn for another few hours, but it was getting dark, and they wouldn't be able to take anymore photographs. Gage walked Sydney to her vehicle.

"Thanks. Every time I saw you today, you were either taking pictures or talking to someone."

"I had fun."

They got to her car, and he opened the door for her. "I'll see you tomorrow at the Farmer's Market." He nodded toward her cup. "Is that gone? I don't want your next photo to be your mug shot."

"It's gone. Are you headed home?"

"No. I'm going to go spend some time in the darkroom."

"Huh. I don't suppose I could come watch for a little while."

"Sure. That's fine."

She smiled. "Cool. Thank you."

He shrugged. "I'll see you at the office." As he left her and headed for his truck, he spotted Clementine's Jeep, and walked over to it.

She rolled down her window. "Headed home?"

"To the office. I thought you were on leave."

"I was supposed to be. And I will be after this weekend. My replacement got tied up and won't be here until Monday."

"And Booker needed you."

"Of course." She smiled at him. "He hates that he has to work with someone new."

"But he doesn't want you to keep working?"

"No. You look cold."

"I am."

"Well, I'll let you go. I'll see you around tomorrow."

"I'll be there." He continued to his truck and got in. It took a moment for the heater to kick in, but it was warming up as he arrived at the newspaper office. Sydney was already inside. When he went in, she was at the stove in the corner of the reception area, adding wood to the fire.

"Thank you. I'll go get the furnace going downstairs.

The basement was heated by a temperamental gas furnace. Gage removed his coat and hung it on the coat rack, then went to the stairs in the back of the office. He brought the camera case with him and flipped on the light at the top of the stairs before going down. At the bottom, he turned on a row of lights hanging from the ceiling. They hadn't been upgraded for years and the bare bulbs hung beneath green and white metal shades. The light was a bit jarring. But most of the time, he was in the dark with just a red light to work from.

He went to the old black furnace and knelt in front of it. "Okay, I really need you to work tonight. He struck a match and turned on the gas. He lit the pilot light, then waited for the burner to catch. It finally did, and he adjusted the temperature gauge, then stood.

He turned toward the stairs when he heard Sydney coming down them. "So far, the heater is cooperating."

"Good."

He picked up a roll of film from Sydney's camera. "Let's see how you did."

She sucked in a breath. "Are you sure? I'm a little nervous."

"You won't know until we take a look." He took the film into the dark booth he used to load the film into the developing tank. He came out a few minutes later and went to a sink. He poured the chemicals into the lightproof container and waited the allotted time for the developer to work. When it was done, he removed the film strip and rinsed it in the sink. Then he hung it in the dryer.

"I could use some coffee."

"I'll go make some."

"I wasn't suggesting you—"

"It's fine, Gage. Coffee sounds good." She went upstairs and returned several minutes later with two cups of coffee. Gage had a favorite mug he used at the office. It was left by his Great-uncle Lawerence. It was an oversized ceramic mug with The Calaway Report Established 1975 on the side of it. Someone had made it. And as far as Gage knew, it was one of a kind. It was the official editor's mug and had been passed down to Duncan, and then to Gage.

He took a sip of coffee, then set the cup down and picked up the strip of negative film. He cut it into sections of five images each, then switched on the red light while Sydney turned off the overhead lights. A few minutes later, they had a contact sheet sitting in the final rinse.

He turned a light on over the counter and picked up a magnifying glass. "Okay. Let's see what we got here." He studied the pictures and picked out a few he wanted to develop, then glanced at Sydney. He handed the magnifying glass to her. "Take a look." He was very curious if she would pick the same images he did.

"Wow. It's hard to tell."

"Pick five." He wrote down five numbers on a piece of paper and folded it so she couldn't see it. "Let's see if we pick the same images."

She blew out a breath. "No pressure."

"No pressure. And quite often, something will look really good. Then you blow it up and it's not what you thought. Or there's a flaw. Or someone or something in the background that ruins the shot."

She took several minutes writing down numbers as she picked them out. When she had five, she looked at him. "Okay. I have my five." She handed him her list, and he smiled as he read it.

He held up his. "All but one."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

She picked up the magnifying glass again and looked at the image he'd selected and she overlooked. "Why that one?"

"First off, it is artistically composed with the fire in the background."

"Total luck."

"Don't sell yourself short."

"Right. I totally planned it that way."

"Let's develop that one first, and see what we got."

They switched to the red light again, then put the negative in the enlarger. He transferred the image to an eight by ten piece of photo paper. He developed the print, set it, then put it in the final rinse.

Sydney was right next to him, peering into the tub of water. "How does it look?"

Gage turned on the light and studied the image. "It's really good."

She glanced at him. "Are you just saying that?"

He smiled. "Have you ever known me to shine someone on? Especially you?"

"No. You're usually brutally honest."

"Brutally?"

"Well, you're not mean about it."

"Hmm." He looked at the photo again. "You did good, Sydney."

"One out of fifty pictures I took today."

"Hey. That's how it goes sometimes. But we're not done. Let's do another."