Read Online Through a Magnolia Filter by Nan Dixon - Free Book Online Page B

always the truth.”
    Dolley pulled the lens cap off her camera. “She’s my favorite statue.”
    Liam moved next to her, trying to see what she was framing. In the distance, faint streams of lavender and pink threaded through the clouds. He pulled his camera up to his eye. Would the sunset be too far away?
    Dolley waited. And waited. Finally, the sky flooded with color. Her camera clicked away. It was a joy to watch her concentration.
    He knelt behind her, wanting to see what she’d done.
    Pulling the camera away from her eye, she replayed her photos, tipping it so he could look over her shoulder.
    The statue was swathed by the soft sunset as if Corrine were an angel caught in the clouds.
    â€œPeace,” he whispered. “I feel it.”
    â€œYes.” She stared into his eyes. “That’s what I wanted.”
    Dolley was talented and took direction.
    But Kieran had been talented, too. Kieran’s problem had been insatiable ambition.
    A fiery curl blew across Dolley’s eyes. He brushed it away, but his fingers lingered, fingering the silky texture.
    Her green eyes grew as big as saucers.
    A cart drove up next to them. “Cemetery’s closing, folks.”
    He yanked his hand away as she jumped up.
    â€œI lost track of the time.” Dolley stuffed her camera in her bag, her actions clumsy with haste. “I’m sorry. It’s after five? Really?”
    â€œWell past,” the guard said. “Hop in.”
    Shoving her hair off her face, she took the passenger seat, leaving him the backseat. She stared straight ahead.
    Fingering Dolley’s silky hair had been feckin’ stupid.
    â€œI’ll be your mentor,” he blurted out. He wanted to spend more time with her.
    She turned, a frown plowing a furrow in her forehead. “You will?”
    He nodded.
    A grin ignited her face. “Thank you.”
    His motives for helping Dolley mixed with a budding awareness of her as an interesting, exciting woman.
    Of course, they might be working together for months.
    He would button up this...attraction and concentrate on improving her skills. For now.

CHAPTER FOUR
    It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.
    Alfred Eisenstaedt
    D OLLEY HANDED THE clean porcelain wall sconce to Bess. “This one has a chip.”
    Bess turned the sconce, found the chip and dabbed enamel on the spot. “Not anymore.”
    â€œI hate cleaning lights.” Dolley picked up a rusty sconce and plopped it on the worktable she and Bess had set up in the carriage house.
    This mindless work wasn’t enough to keep her from reliving the moment two days ago when Liam had brushed back her hair at Bonaventure. His fingers had rubbed the strands like they were...precious. Was the pull she’d felt between them the reason he’d agreed to mentor her?
    She’d almost reached out and touched his hair. Thank goodness the cemetery guard had arrived.
    There was too much at stake. She was sticking to her dating hiatus. She’d given up her day job to work with Liam. Just spending an afternoon together had improved her pictures. He could take it away as easily as he’d agreed to work with her. Nothing was going to screw up her apprenticeship.
    Dolley shot a glance at Bess. She needed to break the news to her sisters. Not only was she working for Liam, Jackson had changed her employment status. She blew out a big breath. Already this morning, she’d bid on a project for one of her old clients. That sucked.
    With a toothbrush, she loosened the dirt around the base and metalwork. “How many more do we have to clean?”
    Bess glanced at the boxes. “I don’t want to depress you.”
    â€œGreat.” Dolley dipped her cloth in the soapy water and rubbed gently on the bronze fixture. “Should we take off the patina?”
    They both stared at the sconce.
    â€œMamma had us strip all the Fitzgerald House’s lamps.”