Free Shades of Desire by Virna Depaul Page A

about business” Bonnie saying “cheese” for the camera, Natalie giggled, even if doing so felt rusty. Her adaptive coach was wonderful at teaching her ways to deal with her blindness, but she was militant about everything having its time and place. Although she tried to understand Natalie’s passion for photography, Bonnie didn’t quite get it. Natalie shrugged. It didn’t matter. Bonnie was patient. Kind. Realistic and encouraging. Heck, she even supported Natalie’s need to take risks every once in a while. When she was ready. Bonnie was exactly what Natalie needed in an adaptive coach.
    “You sounded so much like yourself just then, Natalie. It’s good to hear you laugh.”
    I laugh, Natalie almost protested. But then she tried to remember the last time she had and couldn’t. So she simply smiled and said, “It felt good to laugh. You ready?”
    “Ready.”
    Taking a deep breath, Natalie held her camera up to her eye. This morning, she’d called Melissa and asked whether she’d pose for her. To her surprise, even the fiasco at the coffee shop earlier hadn’t squelched her desire to take pictures. In fact, in some ways her trip to Starbucks just made her more determined to experiment with the camera she hadn’t touched in over two months.
    In the back of her mind, she knew it was Agent McKenzie’s unexpected visit and his hurtful words that had her suddenly wanting to push herself. She’d heard him and his partner talking on her porch after they’d left. Heard him refer to her as a needy woman he didn’t want to coddle. Humiliation had almost made her knees buckle. There she’d been, lusting after him while he’d obviously been seeing her as a helpless, pathetic pain in the ass.
    Despite yesterday’s hurt, however, something was different now. Once again, some part of her felt as if it had been awakened from a deep slumber and was trying to stretch its wings. What would happen if she gave it the freedom to do so? Would she take flight or crash and burn?
    With the bright lights Melissa had set up, she could just make out Melissa’s shape as she lowered herself into a small chair. Hesitantly, she took one shot. Then another. Each time she did, it got easier.
    No, she couldn’t see details or colors, not even what color Melissa had decided to dye her hair this week. The last time Natalie had “seen” her friend, she’d had magenta streaks in her blond hair that had perfectly matched her favorite lipstick. But Melissa’s fuzzy shadow, combined with the clear mental image Natalie had in her head, gave her the instant illusion of vision. Of competence. Of artistry.
    For once, she didn’t see what was missing, only what was in front of her.
    She focused on the framing of her shots and the lines Melissa’s body made against the white screen behind her. Before she knew it, she was instructing Melissa to shift her body in order to maximize the results.
    “Raise your hips and slide forward a bit more. Good. Now, turn a little to the left and lean toward me, but don’t put very much weight on your elbow. No, that’s too much. Ease up a little. Good, that’s good.”
    Natalie snapped one shot after another, losing herself in the motions that had always felt so natural to her. Soon, she even fell into the easy dialogue she’d always shared with her clients.
    “So, how are things going with Mark?” Natalie asked despite already knowing the answer. It rarely changed.
    Sure enough, her friend sighed. “Same as always.”
    She didn’t expand and Natalie dropped the subject. “The same” meant the man was still jobless and depressed. Do not give her advice, she told herself. She doesn’t want to hear it.
    “How about your job with the new photographer? How’s that going?”
    “He’s cool. Not nearly as talented as you.”
    Natalie laughed. Again. The sound was so deep, it actually startled her. “You’re just saying that because you’re afraid I’ll post these pictures later today. I