Secret Millionaire for the Surrogate

Now they were sitting there smiling at each other like idiots, and as the moment drew out, she wanted him to lean over and kiss her.

The doorbell sounded out front. “Excuse me for a moment,” she said, scrambling to her feet. “I’ll be right back.”

It was Juny, who’d returned with a coffee for herself and an iced fruit-infusion tea for Harper. “I got them to add a splash of soda water for some fizz,” Juny said as she handed over the cup.

Harper thanked her and told her to take the money out of petty cash and then took a deep breath, grateful for the interruption, before going back to Drew again.

“Sorry about that. It was Juny, bringing back some drinks.” She took a sip of the cold tea—cranberry and pomegranate from the taste of it—and sighed. It was delicious and refreshing, just what she needed.

“No worries. But I would like to see the bear before I ask you for a favor.”

A favor? Curiosity whetted, she resumed her seat and brought up the thumbnails, then picked one of her favorites.

“Oh, man,” Drew said, drawing a breath. “He’s huge. That’s magnificent.”

Her heart leaped a little at his praise. “I like the balance of it, and the grey tones of the rocks play with the water and the coolness of the green in the evergreens.”

She hesitated. “There are other ones where I’d adjusted the exposure, but I don’t like them as well. Even with this one, I considered changing the hues slightly, or playing with the contrast, but I actually like it as is. I just made a few minor tweaks.”

He was quiet for a moment. “You’re right. The eye’s drawn to the bear itself. The rich brown really stands out.”

She was pleased he understood. “Now, want to see something fun?”

She scrolled until she got a photo of the canyon, the narrow expanse of water with the forest on either side. She brought up her editing software and made a few clicks. The photo changed and Drew let out a quiet, “Oh, cool.”

“Right? It’s fun to play with.” She’d basically turned her photo into a watercolour painting. “If I chang

e the opacity and contrast a little, the definition of water against the sky is better.” She dragged her cursor and watched the shades pop a little more.

“Do you do a lot of editing this way?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Not really. I play with it, mostly. Like...look at this.” She opened up a picture of a wild rose. “This is an ‘underpainting’ feature. What do you think?”

“I think someone could easily go down a rabbit hole of playing with all sorts of photos and wake up a week later.”

She giggled. “Pretty much.”

“Know how those would look great?”

She frowned. “How?”

“If you took some of your favorites and did them up as greeting cards or postcards in the storefront. You could keep the gallery as is, but add a small section near the counter for cards or smaller photos, perhaps pre-matted.”

He wasn’t wrong. Except...

Except it felt like commercializing on something that she took very seriously. Reducing it to a short-term consumable that could easily be tossed aside, rather than appreciated and cherished.

But what Drew saw was a business opportunity.

“It’s an interesting idea,” she offered, feeling the need to toss him a crumb, although she didn’t know why.

“I have them now and again. And now...for my favor. Could you come with me this afternoon? I’d like for you to see the building I’m considering. Tell me if there’s something I’m missing.”

“Why me?”

“Because you have a sharp eye and attention to detail. I went in and saw all the possibilities. But I’d like a second pair of eyes to go through it with me this time, and pick out where I’m going to have issues.”

She chuckled. “I am so flattered that you want to use me as a fault-picker.”