7. Stevie
CHAPTER SEVEN
STEVIE
After Lux and I finish up at the coffee shop, I finally feel better about partnering with Sebastian on this project. I give her a quick hug goodbye, and I’m on my way to the cemetery while it’s still light out. I switch my cell phone to silent so I don’t forget when I get there.
I started grave rubbing only a few years ago to relieve the occasional stress.
It’s a calming experience and brings a sense of peace each time I create a new rubbing.
The hobby turned into something more meaningful when I began displaying the pieces of art in the lobby and administrative offices at the mortuary.
And eventually, I began rubbing the gravestones of my clients and giving the copies to their families.
The sky is dark from the low evening clouds as I pull into the cemetery right at dusk. Once I’m parked in the spot closest to the entrance, I grab my bag from the back seat and swing it over my shoulder, with one hand on my pepper spray just in case and then get out of the car.
The trees hang low over the metal gate and enlarged archway leading into the protected grounds.
I have only about an hour of light left before night falls, and then I’ll have to pack up.
Walking between the rows of gravestones, I scan each one looking for a headstone that’s not too bumpy or broken.
Some have tailored grass and white roses that grow on the sides, while others are overgrown with weeds and tall grass, showing signs of neglect.
It only takes a few minutes to find the perfect one.
A beautiful, smooth stone with deeply engraved letters.
“Hi,” I whisper, lowering my bag of supplies onto the damp grass at my feet. With a quick look around, I bend down, coming only a foot away from the headstone. “Do you mind if I make a piece of art with your headstone?”
Sitting cross-legged on the grass, I reach over to grab my sketchbook, charcoal crayon, and tape from inside my bag. Pulling my arms over my head with a quick stretch, I prepare to get started.
The cemetery is quiet except for the distant chirping of birds and the soft scrape of my brush against stone. I sit in front of a weathered headstone, carefully cleaning dirt from the engraved lettering.
“People should visit more often,” I mutter to myself. “The dead deserve better.”
Then a masculine voice speaks from directly behind me. “Stevie.”
I whip my head around and scream. Pure instinct takes over. I yank the pepper spray from my jacket pocket and press the trigger. A red mist shoots into the air around Sebastian.
“Jesus Christ!” He staggers backward, both hands flying to his eyes.
I freeze. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry!”
“You pepper-sprayed me!”
“You snuck up on me in a graveyard!”
“I said your name.”
“You whispered it like a serial killer!” I shout, thinking I didn’t hit him directly in the face, and if he actually was a predator, I need to work on my aim.
“My eyes are on fire.” He bends forward, blinking furiously as tears stream down his face.
I bite the inside of my cheek, but it doesn’t help the laugh that escapes. I climb to my feet. “I’m sorry!”
Sebastian looks at me with watery, red eyes. “Are you laughing?”
“Nope.”
“You are.”
Another laugh slips free. “I’m not.”
“You absolutely are.” His expression darkens. Or at least I assume it does, because it’s difficult to tell through all the blinking.
“You think this is funny?” He wipes his eyes on the inside of his leather jacket. “I can’t see.”
“You can see,” I say. “And why would you be lurking behind a woman in the middle of a cemetery anyway?”
“I wasn’t lurking,” he defends himself. “What are you doing out here?”
“What are you doing here?” I bite back. My heart is still pounding from being startled.
He crosses his arms over his chest, annoyed with more than just being pepper-sprayed. “You weren’t answering your phone.”
“I have it on silent. I don’t like to be bothered when I come to the cemetery. But clearly that didn’t work.”
“Do you think it’s safe to turn your ringer off being out here all by yourself?” he counters. And his condescending tone annoys me.
“Why do you keep showing up unannounced?” I step closer to him, trying to meet him in the eyes, but he still has at least a foot and a half on me, so the challenge won’t have the same effect it’s intended to. “Are you stalking me?”
He steps closer, crowding my space. “If I were stalking you, you’d never know. Trust me,” he says playfully, but there’s an unsettling truth behind it.
“That’s not funny.”
He laughs. “I think I’m hilarious.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“Now, tell me what you’re doing in the middle of a graveyard so close to nightfall.”
“I was rubbing the headstone.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows bounce. “I’m sorry, but you’re doing what?”
Pulling my gaze from his, I turn and point toward my supplies on the ground. “I come here to rub the headstones of the deceased.”
The same smirk from a second ago returns, except this time a small dimple appears below his right cheekbone. “Stevie?” he says my name with intention.
“Huh?”
“I have something you can rub.”
“Oh my god. Stop.” I push his shoulder. “Boys never grow up.”
Sebastian mirrors my moves when I squat to the ground. “So, what exactly is gravestone rubbing, anyway?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes. That’s why I asked.”
“Fine.” I grab two pieces of tape to secure the paper to the stone. “It’s basically creating an impression of the headstone. I usually frame it when it’s finished and hang them at the mortuary.”
“And how do you know which ones to do?”
“I check most of them out to make sure they are suitable choices for rubbing.”
Sebastian stifles another laugh.
“Seriously?” Sebastian lets out a full chuckle this time when I protest. “I’m sorry. But it’s cute how serious you get about it.”
Cute? Not what I was expecting him to say. I ignore the little flutter in my stomach. I must have eaten something wrong at the café.
“Oh, well. Thanks. It’s something I enjoy doing, and it’s meaningful to me.” I clear my throat and remember I still don’t know why he showed up again unannounced. “Why are you here again?”
“I met Nick.”
My body stills. “Nick?”
“I stopped by your house to see if you were there, and he showed up.” The annoyance in his voice is unmistakable.
“Oh?” I lower my sunglasses to look him in the eye. “And?”
“Why was he there?”
He brings his hand up to wipe his eye again, and I get a subtle whiff of cigarettes and leather. “You tell me.”
My stomach flutters with a different kind of feeling from being put on the spot. “He used to be my friend.”
“Is he still your friend?” he asks, a noticeable tick in his jaw.
“No.”
“How long ago?”
“It’s been a while.”
“Make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“You don’t have the right to tell me who I can and cannot see.”
“I do.” His jaw clenches. “You’re supposed to be my girlfriend. I can’t have the Society thinking otherwise. Am I making myself clear?”
My lips purse together, and I think about pushing back, but I don’t. I just let it go, because I get why he would be worried I might slip and tell someone I was dating, or they’d be worried if I was gone for long periods of time. “Fine.”
“Good, or I’ll have to take care of him.”
“I got a call that our outfits for the masquerade ball tomorrow night have arrived,” he says, changing the subject like he didn’t just threaten to kill someone. “I can come pick them up tomorrow morning.”
“How about now?”
“Now?”
“It’s getting late, and I don’t want you out here after the sun goes down.”
“Fine. Tonight.”
As I bend to gather my things, a light breeze blows a curl across my face. I go to brush it away, but Sebastian takes his two fingers and tucks it behind my ear. “You need help cleaning up.”
“I can do it.”
“That wasn’t a question,” he tells me, helping gather my supplies before walking me to my car.
I’m about to open the door when he speaks again. “Oh, and Stevie?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t ever come out here by yourself again. Dangerous people like to come out at night.”