The Genius and the Muse Read Online Free Page B

babe, you have to come with us.”
    Kate sighed and looked at her boyfriend’s adorable, pleading face. “I’d love to go, but I’ve got to finish this part of my thesis, Cody! Plus, there’s an exhibition of O’Connor’s work—”
    “Not this shit again.” He rolled his eyes at her. “When are you going to be done with all that stuff, Kate? You’ve put so many hours into that project already, and you totally don’t have to. Didn’t your advisor say you had enough for your degree already? You’re doing extra work. Plus, you could get paying jobs right now. That guy from the magazine called the shop again last week asking about you, and—”
    “I told him before, I’m not interested. I don’t want to be taking pictures of surf competitions and doing family portraits as a career.”
    He looked at her cautiously. “So, what? That stuff’s not good enough for you now? You’ve been photographing competitions for years. It was good enough to pay the bills in school, but not anymore? I thought that’s what photographers did.”
    “It’s not that. You know I’m going to keep taking pictures for the shop, and you guys—and I’ll always do portraits for family. I just… if I went on staff full-time for that magazine, that would be all I’d have time for. And I think I have a lot more to say with my photography on an artistic level.”
    He shook his head and went back to sanding the board he was working on. “Whatever.”
    “Plus, I’d be traveling a lot with that job. Do you want me out of the country that much? We hardly ever see each other as it is.”
    He shrugged. “I guess.”
    She stared at him for a few minutes, lulled into relaxation by the repetitive shush of his sanding and the hum of traffic along the Pacific Coast Highway. Searching for a change of subject—something they wouldn’t fight about—she remembered what she wanted to ask him.
    “Professor Bradley and Dee invited us for dinner next week. Do you want to go?”
    “Are you three going to be talking about your art and making me feel like an idiot again?” he asked, continuing to work the sander up and down the longboard.
    “Cody—”
    “Just tell me what day. I’ll see if I can get away.”
    Kate stared at his sullen expression. “Okay, I’ll ask and give you a call.”
    “Okay.” Cody glanced at her. “I really need to finish this board up, babe.”
    Kate watched him quietly for a few more minutes before she got up and left the dusty work room, waving at one of his partners, who was surrounded by the typical gathering of beach bunnies that had wandered in from trolling the beach.
    She walked out of the surf shop and into the bright sun of Laguna Beach. Kate realized she had forgotten to put on sunscreen that morning, so she couldn’t walk along the water like she’d originally planned. With her pale, freckled skin—courtesy of her very Irish mother—she always fried within minutes.
    Kate could hear the laughter of the beach volleyball players in the distance and the sound of children laughing on the playground. Everything about the scene was achingly familiar and yet, she still felt out of place. She blinked in the bright light, turned, and walked to her car.
     

 
     
     
     
    Part Three: The Photographer
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
     
    Claremont, California
    March 2010
     
     
    A week after the meeting with Chris, Kate leaned back in her chair and stretched after a home-cooked meal shared at the Bradley’s table. She smiled at the small, dark-haired woman across from her and rubbed her tummy like a satisfied bear.
    “So good. I’ll never be able to cook like that.”
    “That’s because you have no desire to.”
    “That’s… completely true.”
    Deepali Mehra-Bradley smiled at Kate and leaned into her elbows on the table. Chris had taken baby Sabina upstairs to feed her and put her to bed, leaving the two women at the table to linger over coffee and talk.
    “I love having you over, Kate.