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Chapter 1

Harrison

The rapid clicks of the ca sound toelse was ever changing

As a photo-journalist for a respectedto new places It was h pictures Soer Other times, I immersed myself in the local cultures, an extended vacation that earned me a paycheck I had even spent days alone ild ani to another soul until I left their company

No h, it kept me on the move and I loved every minute of it And, everywhere I went, the purr of the shutter on my camera ith me

Lowering the lens, I looked up at the sky and then back at the scene I was photographing The sun was fading, and I was about to lose ital screen, I nodded tothem Carefully, I packed awayto the party below the bluff where I was perched

This small town on an uncharted island in the South Pacific had a rich culture, and I was grateful at their open and friendly h my camera

A young couple danced in the center of a large circle of people Their clothes were bright and decadent, befitting a bride and grooazed into each other’s eyes with such love, I felt a slight pang in my chest My lifestyle wasn’t exactly conducive to relationships, and I’d never been interested in one-night stands I was married to the job And at thirty, I still had a lot of years left to devote to it But lately, I’d begun to feel an odd restlessness, a longing that I didn’t quite recognize or even understand

Heading down to the village, I dropped my equipment in my hut and joined the celebration It re my older brother’s nuptials in the states

I drove through the small town of Fentonville, Florida, and looked all around My face twisted in disgust, the photographer into take a picture of It was sleepy and boring Perfect for my brother, Stanley

As I pulled up to the address he’d given h Stanley had warned me that his fiancée, whom everyone called Bunny apparently, was a bit of a free spirit Which was quite a shock co inside the lines with ultimate precision

Noas even h, y brother needed some spark in his life The sht enough to stand out ae, plastic flowers on metal sticks stuck haphazardly around it andI blinked Yep, there was also a flao

There was also a sanized with co colors It seemed a little out of place until I rehter was much different than her mother

I would have plenty of ti weeks Stanley had askedand stay while they went on a honeyh school and they didn’t want to leave her coraduate for a few months yet and like most parents, it was clear they wouldn’t see their child as an adult until graduation I didn’t ood to take a break, even if it , soon-to-be niece

Magnolia Bloom A real flower-power name, I chuckled to ly teen ild, curly hair, ripped up jeans, and glasses that were too big for her face, conjured in my mind It just seemed to fit the name