Dark Masterpiece (Serendipity Series 3) (16 page)

Evie stared at him, dumbstruck.

“You know when I knocked Traevyn’s picture
albums down—”

“And you conveniently disappeared?” she
interjected. “Yes.”

“Well, I heard him yelling at you. I heard
him talk about how broken he was because of losing his family. When
you didn’t call me last night and I thought something could have
happened to you, all I could think of were his words.” He looked up
at her. “Evie, you’re my only sister. You told Traevyn that no one
should have to be alone. If something happened to you, that’s what
I would be.” He looked down for a second, then snorted and waved it
away. “Aw, never mind.”

She smiled. “No, Seth, listen to me.” She put
her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry I didn’t call. Traevyn was having
this soul outpouring and I didn’t think. I was selfish. I’m sorry.
I won’t do it again…okay?”

He glanced up at her, stared at her in sour
silence for several moments, then huffed. “Whatever, dude. Just
don’t do it again. I’m giving you a warning.”

She arched an eyebrow and raised two fingers
to her forehead in mock salute. “Aye, aye, Captain!”

He pursed his lips and hunched his
shoulders, continuing to look disgruntled, but she could have sworn
it was somewhat forced. She grinned. “And I love you too.” She
grasped him around the neck and noogied him.

“Ugh! Get off!” he shouted, shoving at
her.

She giggled and sat back. She couldn’t deny
that Seth’s words surprised her. She had never thought she actually
meant anything to him at all.

“So did you guys do the wild monkey dance?”
he asked.

She frowned. “Huh?”

“You and Traevyn. You were
stuck together all night. You had to have done
something
. Did you at least make
out?”

Evie felt her face flame and she grabbed
Seth’s pillow, bludgeoning him with it.

He laughed and jumped off the bed, bolting
out the door. She followed.

* * * *

Traevyn was eating at the
table when Seth tore in, laughing. Evie followed, crashing after
him. She chased him around the table, then back out again. Traevyn
blinked, then chuckled as he heard Seth laugh then make an
ooof
sound, which was
promptly followed by, “Dang, Evie! You just took out my
kidney!”

As much as he had come to relish his
solitude, he thought that it was nice to have life back in his
home.

Chapter Thirteen

Life went on rather uneventful for the next
week or so. It was now late June and Evie had been in Traevyn’s
home for a little over a month. Since the night they had spent
stranded on the side of the road, Evie and Traevyn had been more
friendly with one another. Traevyn ate dinner with her and Seth
every night and joined them sometimes in watching TV or a movie
afterward. Many nights he and Evie still sat and read, or
painted.

Traevyn remembered the day after the night
they had spent in the car. After Evie and Seth had finished
wrestling in the living room, she had disappeared into the art
studio for most of the day. Traevyn had left her alone with her
creativity, knowing that sometimes the best work was done in
solitude.

When he had gone into the studio later that
evening, he’d almost stopped breathing. There, sitting on his
easel, was the oil pastel he had been working on at the beach. Only
she had finished it. The once blank fourth of the canvas now had
the silhouette of a woman mirroring that of the solitary man. Her
shadow was stretching out in a contrasting angle, but that wasn’t
the point. The point was that her shadow was shaped like two hands
reaching out to hold the broken heart that his shadow
portrayed.

He’d stared at it for what seemed like an
eternity, filled with such emotion over her astute symbolism and
her selflessness. He could say with all honesty that he had never
met a person as kind as Evie. Her compassion was enough to cradle
the world.

He hadn’t said anything to her about the
painting because he couldn’t find the proper words. He knew that
probably unsettled her, made her wonder if he liked it at all, but
a simple thank you just seemed too bland. He wanted to do something
for her in return, something to show her he cared, that he could
give back kindness instead of just taking it from her. He just
hadn’t figured out how yet.

It was now a rather boring Thursday and
Traevyn sat in the living room reading while Seth played an
acoustic guitar and Evie cleaned. She was finishing up his wing of
the house and he wanted to stay out of her way. She looked mean
with that duster and mop and he didn’t want her yelling at him if
he accidentally walked across her wet floor or something.

He glanced up at Seth and smiled. “How long
have you been playing?” he asked.

Seth looked up at him. “A little over two
years. I still kinda suck.”

Traevyn shook his head. “You sound fine to
me, but then again, I know nothing about music. I remember when my
brother Talis was learning to play I thought the scales sounded
good.”

Seth smiled. “Your brother plays guitar?”

He nodded.

“Acoustic or electric?”

“Acoustic mostly. He plays for the belly
dancers at renaissance fairs.”

Seth raised an eyebrow. “Hey, that’s a sweet
way to make a living. I have my acoustic with me because Evie
didn’t think it would be good to bring my amp and electric, but I
prefer electric. I would love to be in a band.”

Traevyn smiled. “You look like a rocker.”

Seth grinned. “I love Bleeding Passion. Do
you know who they are?”

Traevyn chuckled and shook his head.
“Sorry.”

“Well, they’re my favorite band. They rock
the universe. Van Marshall is the front man and an awesome guitar
player. I’ve seen them in concert three times. He’s a genius.”

Evie came down the stairs out of breath and
frazzled-looking. “Done,” she stated. “By the way, I’ll be gone
tomorrow.”

Seth frowned. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to Cambria for the day. I was
looking at it on the internet, and I’m going to go have a nice day
to myself.”

“And you’re not taking me with you?” Seth
cried.

She frowned. “Since when do you like antique
shops and art galleries?”

He snorted. “Hello! Van Marshall lives
there!”

“Who’s Van Marshall?”

“The front man for Bleeding Passion,”
Traevyn supplied.

Evie looked at him in
bewildered surprise, but shook her head and turned her attention
back to Seth. “I am
not
stalking rock stars, Seth. Tomorrow is
my
day.” With that, she
went into the kitchen.

Traevyn frowned. “What was that all
about?”

Seth rolled his eyes. “Oh, tomorrow marks
the sixth year anniversary of when Evie did her first real
painting. She celebrates it by herself every year for who knows
why. To celebrate the birth of her creativity, or something like
that.”

Traevyn pondered that for a moment and closed
the book he was reading. “She celebrates it every year alone?”

Seth looked up at him and shrugged. “Yeah.
No one else understands it.”

Traevyn smiled. “I do.”

“Yeah, well, you’re just as much of a nut job
as she is.”

He grinned. “Seth, since you’re stuck with
me tomorrow, do you think I could enlist your help?”

Seth gave Traevyn a suspicious look. “With
what?”

“I want to surprise Evie with something. I
want to celebrate with her.”

Seth blinked as if Traevyn’s words had
surprised him. “Really?”

He nodded.

Seth shrugged. “All right. That’d be cool.
She deserves a nice surprise. She’s always doing things for
everyone else.”

“Precisely.”

Evie walked back into the room, carrying a
bottle of water. She glanced at the two men and frowned. “What are
you two doing out here anyway?”

“Male bonding,” Seth replied.

She raised her eyebrows. “That horrifies
me.”

Seth grinned and Traevyn chuckled. “Evie, do
you think you could be home by six tomorrow?” Traevyn asked. “I’d
like to work on something with you.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”

He nodded. “Good.”

She continued on her way up the stairs and
Seth and Traevyn exchanged a conspiratorial smile

* * * *

By six o’clock Evie was tired, but pleasantly
so. She had spent the entire day strolling leisurely through the
small town of Cambria shopping, drawing, relaxing.

Every year she stopped to
reflect on the day she had first started considering herself an
artist. She thought of how far she had come, what she had
accomplished, and what her goals for the future were. It was
her
day.

She sighed as she walked up
to Traevyn’s door, wondering how he had fared with Seth all day.
She was just reaching for the knob when the door swung open, and
Traevyn stood before her in a black suit with a loose, black neck
tie. It wasn’t a formal tie, just one of those ones that resembled
a modern day cravat. He looked stunning. Stunning in a way that
made her make sure her mouth was closed for fear she might drool
all over herself. “Geez,” she breathed. “Where are
you
going?”

He smiled devilishly and offered her his arm.
“Come with me.”

She frowned, but obeyed and allowed him to
lead her inside. She let out a little shout of surprise. Most of
the furniture had been cleared out of the living room, and the
dining room table had been brought in and set in the center of the
room. The lights were dim and there was a candle in an amber holder
on the table, which was set for two. A white tablecloth covered the
top, and wine glasses were turned upside down next to cloth napkins
held together with elegant napkin rings. The dark, medieval
tapestries were gone from the walls and several Mediterranean
paintings hung in their place. Italian music played softly in the
background.

“What’s this?” Evie murmured.

“Italy,” Traevyn replied, “or the next best
thing.” He guided her over to the table and pulled a chair out for
her. “I figured that, until I have the time to show you the real
thing, this will have to do.” He pushed the chair in as she sat and
leaned over her. “Happy anniversary, Evie,” he whispered in her
ear.

She shivered at the feeling of his warm
breath against her skin and stared at him in wonderment. “How did
you know about that?”

He grinned and sat down across the table from
her. “Seth told me.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “I
didn’t even know
he
knew about that.” She looked around again, dumbstruck. No one
had ever given her such a thoughtful surprise. “This is incredible.
Where’s all the furniture?”

“In the kitchen and dining room.”

“I feel so underdressed.” She glanced down
at her teal, hippie-style skirt and black tank top. She’d dressed
for a casual day in an artsy, coastal town. She had even used a
matching teal scarf as a headband. Sure, she imagined she looked
okay, cute even, but Traevyn was dressed so upscale. She definitely
didn’t want to feel “cute” in the midst of all the splendor he had
created.

Traevyn’s gaze traveled over her and he
smiled. “You look perfect, Evie.”

She met his eyes, then looked down shyly.
“Why did you do this?”

“An artist should always celebrate the birth
of their creativity.”

She turned her eyes back up to him and
grinned.

Just then, Seth walked in from the kitchen
wearing a white dress shirt, black slacks and a black bow tie with
a white apron around his waist. His usually spiked blonde hair was
slicked back and he had a bottle of white wine nestled in the crook
of his elbow like he was carrying a child. In the crook of his
other elbow, he held a bottle of red. “Good evening,” he
greeted.

Evie took once glance at him and burst out
laughing. She covered her mouth and dissolved into giggles.

Seth kept a straight face. “Could I interest
you in a glass of wine? We have our finest—” he looked down at the
bottle of white “—Pe-nut griggio.”

Evie had to bite down on her lip to keep
from guffawing.

Seth looked at the bottle of red. “Or we
have…” He glanced at the label and let out a little huff.
“Shy—razz.”

Traevyn winced. “Give the lady a glass of
white and me a glass of red, please,” he instructed.

Seth filled both Evie and Traevyn’s glasses.
“I will be back shortly to take your order,” he said suavely before
sauntering back into the kitchen.

Evie glanced at Traevyn, who watched her with
a smile on his lips. “That is fantastic,” she said. “How did you
get him to do that?”

“His idea,” he replied.

She just stared at him. “Are you
serious?”

He nodded and his lips turned up in a wry
smile. “Guess I should have told him how to pronounce wine titles
before I gave him the job.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I’ve got to say, I’ve
never heard of Peanut Griggio before.”

Traevyn chuckled.

Evie shook her head. Despite his lack of
finesse, her brother was really surprising her lately. She looked
up as he came back into the room with a basket of bread and a dish
of olive oil.

“Olive oil with garlic and rosemary,” he
announced.

Evie grinned so wide that she thought her
face might split in half.

“All right, may I take your orders please?
We have some excellent choices for you this evening. We have
chicken marsala, chicken marsala, or may I suggest my favorite, the
chicken marsala?”

Evie had to fight not to laugh in a very
undignified manner. She resorted to a giggle instead. “Hmmm,” she
teased. “I think I’ll take the chicken marsala.”