Page 83 of The Hook Up
“It’s about looking at the stuff you’ve got,” Henry said. “The good stuff and the bad stuff, and how you make the best out of all of it.”
“That’s right,” Ty said with a note of surprise. Even the teacher appeared impressed, and several kids nodded. Ellie reached over and tousled her son’s hair, pleased by his powers of recall. Ty wasn’t the only fast learner in the room.
“So now, let me show you an edited version of the footage from that same trip to Great Wolf Lodge.” Ty clicked the remote again, toggling to another video file.
Ellie held her breath, not sure what to expect.
Then an image appeared on screen—Henry’s face, lit with delight as water droplets glittered on his lashes and he laughed so hard his whole body shook.
Several students shrieked with surprise, and Ellie heard the wordsHenryandfamousand a lot of others she couldn’t make out.
But it was the images on the screen that stole her breath. The camera panned back, sweeping into a dramatic view of the waterslides and pool. Up-tempo music pulsed with the surge of water, and Ellie found herself moving a little to the beat. There was an energy to this footage, something raw and powerful and so filled with happiness it made goose bumps prickle her arms.
The shot cut away again. Another close-up, with her in the frame this time.
But it wasn’t the swimsuit-clad shot she’d feared, or even the water park at all. It was a shot of her, bent low over Henry’s sleeping form, tucking him into his little bear den bunkbed. His lashes fanned on his cheeks, and as Ellie leaned down to kiss his forehead, she heard a soft murmur of joy from Mrs. Colt.
Or maybe that was Ellie herself. She sat transfixed, savoring this precious moment with her child, treasuring the simple sweetness of it, loving the man who’d captured it.
Then, the scene ended.
The Great Wolf Lodge logo flashed on-screen, but Ellie barely saw it through the sheen of tears in her eyes. Her heart brimmed with gladness and nostalgia and love and so many other things she had no name for.
“That was beautiful,” Mrs. Colt whispered.
Ellie nodded and licked her lips, wishing she knew something to say.
“It was just like being there,” piped a little girl in the front row.
“That made me happy all over,” said the boy beside her.
Voices erupted all over the room, some of them asking Henry what it was like to be famous, while others gushed about how fun the park looked.
As Mrs. Colt shushed them, Ty’s eyes locked with Ellie’s.
Very slowly, he smiled.
“That’s editing,” he said. “Taking the good stuff and the not-so-good stuff and all the stuff in the middle and making the very best of what you’ve got.”
That’s editing.Ellie nodded, her gaze still locked with his.
That was more than just editing. That was…that was…
“Magic,” she whispered.
Ty smiled wider. “I’m not the best cameraman in the world,” he said. “But I do know how to take what I’ve got and do my very best to make something good. Something meaningful. And I hope that’s what each of you gets to do someday for your job.”
A few hands shot up in the air, and kids began to pepper Ty with questions about everything from dinosaurs to how many famous people he knew. Most wanted to share rambling stories of their own with little bearing on the lesson he’d just given, but he took it all in stride, responding with patience and grace and a little humor.
Ellie sat watching, amazed by the sight of the man she loved doing the one thing he said he’d never do. Here he was, in front of a room full of kids, being there for her.
For Henry.
As the questions wound down, Mrs. Colt stepped out from behind her desk and got the class’s attention. “That’s it for our first speaker today, boys and girls. Who’s ready to head down to the music room for singing practice?”
A few kids squealed with delight, and several of them began to line up at the door. “Make sure you say thank you to Mr. Hendrix before you go,” she called.
“Thank you, Mr. Hendrix!” shouted a sea of cheerful voices as the line began to move toward the door.
