Lost & Found Read Free Page B

reason, one of the side effects is this goddamn light sensitivity.” He shook his head. “It’s apparently a pretty rare side effect, the doctors down there had to look it up on the Internet. And of course, it didn’t affect Mike. Just me.” Bitterness burned inside him. It was the worst fucking thing that could happen to a photographer.
    “But you can see?”
    “Yeah, I can see, but I can’t take off these damn glasses except inside with the curtains drawn. Makes it pretty hard to take pictures.” It was like constantly looking at everything through a neutral density filter.
    “Oh, Nate.” She looked at him with distressed eyes. “It must have been awful. Botulism can be fatal, can’t it?”
    “It can be, especially if it’s not treated right away. Often, they don’t realize what’s wrong until it’s too late, so, like I said, I was lucky.”
    He grimaced, ate some beef, not wanting to offend Krissa by turning away the food she’d just served him.
    He looked up at her. “Derek said you’ve started your own business.”
    “That’s right. Consulting. I am now Inspired Solutions.”
    “So have you finally found what you want to do?”
    She met his eyes—although she probably couldn’t see his behind the damn glasses—and smiled faintly. “I think so.”
    “Took you long enough.”
    Krissa’s job hopping had been a source of teasing since he’d met her. In her ten years since college, she’d probably worked for ten different companies, ranging from a brewery to a pharmaceutical manufacturer to an insurance company. There was always something wrong with every place she worked, yet her employers always loved her and she never had trouble finding another job.
    She laughed. “I know, I know. Luckily Derek’s been doing well, so we could afford for me not to have steady income coming in. But as it turns out, I’ve been really busy.”
    “All those companies you worked for probably hire you. They want you back.”
    She grinned. “Actually, that’s true. A lot of my clients are former employers. Hey, I know what they need.”
    “Good for you.”
    “I love it. I don’t have people bossing me around. I get to tell them what to do, and if they don’t listen to me—no problem. I don’t have to work there but I still get the money. It’s perfect.”
    “So what do you do for them?”
    “Mostly human resource issues—employee rewards and incentive programs, talent acquisition and management, employee health plans. One of my clients is in the process of merging with another company so I’m helping them blend the two cultures. I help companies survey employees about attitudes, satisfaction, engagement and other employee behaviors, and then come up with a plan to deal with whatever issues come to light. I also do retirement counseling. Lots of different things.”
    Her passion for her work lit up her troubled eyes and animated her, and she sounded so knowledgeable. She was a smart girl, he’d always known that, despite his teasing. He smiled and a glimmer of pride warmed him inside.
    After dinner, they sat on the couch in the family room adjoining the kitchen. The glow of the fire provided just enough illumination, casting flickering lights and shadows over them. Krissa pulled her bare feet up under her on the ivory leather sofa, and clutched a brightly-patterned cushion on her lap.
    Then his attention was caught by something behind her—one of his photographs, beautifully framed and hanging on the wall in their family room. He’d taken it in Japan, a black-and-white seascape with his trademark water-smoothing long exposure, the rocky outcrop a jagged black outline against silvery ocean. Huh.
    “So are you…is there someone in your life? A girlfriend?”
    Her words dragged his attention back to Krissa. Firelight painted her skin with a golden glow, flickered in her eyes. “No.”
    “Nobody?”
    He frowned. “No.”
    “Do you still miss Lauren? It’s hard to get over something like