Dark Masterpiece (Serendipity Series 3) (18 page)

She giggled. “I’ll find something to wear
between now and then.”

He nodded. “Excellent. Now be quiet and read
so I can keep sketching.”

She grinned and went back to her book,
turning on her stomach so she could bend her knees and swing her
legs in jubilation.

Traevyn looked at her and smiled. Seth’s
words continued to echo in his mind, but he pushed them away. After
all, the boy was only seventeen. What did he know?

Chapter Fourteen

A week and a half later found Evie sitting
down by the beach in Monterey. She had gone shopping with Seth to
see if she could find anything for the gallery opening. So far it
wasn’t looking very good. She leaned back against the rock she was
sitting in front of and smiled as she watched Seth chase around
some children who had been playing down by the shore. Two of them
had been throwing a Frisbee while Seth and Evie ate lunch. It had
veered off course and nearly scalped Seth. He threw it back, but
the kids must have liked something about him because they kept
throwing it at him.

After about three times, he’d gone down to
play with them and had been at it ever since.

Evie sighed and looked down at her bag. She
reached into it, pulled out a brown, leather journal, and ran her
fingers over the front before she opened it and glanced across
Traevyn’s elegant cursive. Over the past week and a half he had
continued to open up to her, sharing small bits and pieces of his
past. He was still reluctant to discuss the events surrounding his
divorce and his daughter’s death, but he did relate stories of his
daughter once in awhile. He would tell Evie of silly things she had
done, or things she had liked. Evie hated the sadness that washed
over his features whenever he spoke of Leanna, but she was glad he
trusted her enough to tell her such things.

She remembered so well the night Traevyn had
entrusted the leather journal to her. They had been in the office,
reading their favorite poems to one another and discussing what
they thought they meant. He had read a lot out of the Shakespeare’s
Sonnets book that she had first discovered in his office.

“It’s funny,” he said after studying the
well-worn front of the book. “I used to read to Amy out of this. I
couldn’t even look at it for the longest time.” He shook his head
as if slightly puzzled. “It’s strange, but since I’ve been talking
to you, I’ve come to realize that I shouldn’t shut myself off from
good literature just because of the painful memories I associate
with it… The same could be said for anything, I guess.”

To think that she had made some sort of
small difference in Traevyn’s life.

After reading many more of their favorites,
he read her a poem out of the brown, leather journal. When Evie
asked who it was by, he informed her that it was one of his own.
Later, when she had been heading to bed, he’d stopped her at the
door and slipped the book to her.

“I want you to take this,” he said. “Read it
if you want to. Anything you might want to know about me is in
there.” At the questioning look in her eyes, he had merely
shrugged. “You already own part of my soul, Evie. You may as well
know what it is you have.”

She had been beyond stunned. Poetry was a
very private thing and the fact that he would entrust his own work
to her spoke volumes.

“What is that?” Seth asked suddenly.

Evie jumped, startled by his unexpected
presence. “Oh,” she said, closing the journal on instinct. “It’s
Traevyn’s poetry book.”

He frowned and sat down next to her. “He
writes poetry?”

She nodded and opened up to a poem that was
her favorite. She had already read through the entire book, but she
kept coming back to this particular piece. “Look…

“‘
Beauty is an open canvas that spreads across my mind, causing
shattered glass to pierce my broken side.

We all paint upon the canvas with colors of
our desire, perfecting the picture until we are able to see music,
feel love, hear kindness.

My canvas is blank as I look in the mirror,
attempting to portray who I am in poetic beauty. The paper is too
small and simple to hold such a complexity.

And so I paint, making the best of the
situation. Waves upon waves of color, a little of everything here,
a portion of something there, all ending up in nothing.

And as I look upon myself in the mirror I
still cannot see the beauty others have placed upon me. It has been
lost for so long. Yet I try and draw it to the best of my knowledge
and ability.

The reflection changes constantly as I
paint, yet I try and stop the change from changing, trying to
remain myself. Then I realize, change is what started it all…

Change brought upon love at one time in my
life. So I add the sweet, sadistic color of love, and I find myself
lost inside the screaming agony of the color that is held within
the painting.

And as the mirror shatters across time and
space, unable to hold the complexity of me, I finish the painting
and find myself saddened.

Upon the canvas is an empty face because I
know not who I am. Love and change caused me to lose myself at some
point in time and so in my painting I depict that.

Others may see differently, but that is
because I paint them a different picture. One with a face and a
smile. One without a past. One with a marvelous future.

The truth is, I am nothing, I am nowhere. I
am lost within myself. The painting falls to the floor and I
collapse in sorrow at what I’ve become.

I know not who I am, or
what I shall ever be, and I am frightened
…”’

She finished with a sigh and turned to look
at Seth. “What do you think of that?”

Seth shook his head. “That’s pretty heavy… Is
that whole book full of his poetry?”

She nodded. “He told me I could read it. Can
you believe that?”

Seth glanced up at his sister. “I believe
it.”

Evie frowned, wondering how he could be so
nonchalant about it. “I just think it’s an awfully big deal.” She
closed the book and ran her hand across the cover. “These are all
his deepest thoughts and feelings. He entrusted them to me.”

Seth smirked. “You like him.”

She met his eyes. “Of course I like him.
He’s my mentor and my friend.”

He rolled his eyes and
groaned dramatically, flopping down onto his back. “No, I mean
you
like
him.
Don’t even try to deny it, Evie. Contrary to popular belief, I’m
not stupid.”

She turned to give him a pointed look. “Seth,
you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No,
you
don’t know what you’re talking
about!” he exclaimed. “Geez, is this what I have to look forward
to? I grow out of the teenage years and automatically become
ridiculous? You people are killing me!”

She frowned. “You people? Who else is pissing
you off?”

He snorted and sat back up. “Look, from
where I sit it seems pretty simple. You like him. He likes you. You
make him not evil and heinous and he actually gets you. Why don’t
you just hook up already and give my gag reflexes a rest?”

She looked out at the rolling waves. “Life
isn’t that simple, Seth.”

“So you do like him?”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, yeah, but that’s
not really the point.” She shook her head. “Someone like Traevyn
would never go for me.”

“Why?”

She huffed. “Okay well, first of all, I
think that Traevyn Whitelaw is about the last person on the planet
who is looking for a relationship at the moment. He had his heart
ripped out and stomped on.”

“That happened three years ago.”

She met his eyes again. “Does it seem like
he’s coped well to you?” She shrugged. “Besides, even if he was
looking for someone, I doubt he’d look my direction.”

Seth appeared to
contemplate strangling Evie for a minute, but decided against it.
“Why wouldn’t he?” he asked. “Evie, gimme a break. You guys love
the same things, you laugh together, he opened up to you when he’s
been living like Quasimodo in the bell tower for the past three
years. You spend hours every night in his
bedroom
by the
fireplace
reading classics and
drawing! Come on! Do you not see the signals?”

She shook her head vehemently. “It’s not like
that. I think Traevyn would have opened up to anyone who just cared
a little. He doesn’t like me that way. He couldn’t. I’m totally not
his type. You’ve seen pictures of his wife. She was beautiful and
elegant. I’m neither. I would look frumpy and ridiculous in
Traevyn’s world.”

Seth frowned. “Evie, don’t be stupid. Who
gives a crap if his wife was beautiful and elegant? She was a
sleazy ho who turned him into a complete loner. I mean, come on,
the girl had no shape. She was an anorexic stick. You, on the other
hand…” He made the shape of an hourglass with his hands. “Va va
voom.”

She smacked him in the arm.

He laughed. “Seriously, Evie. Don’t get all
down on yourself. He opened up to you for a reason. He turned his
living room into Italy and celebrated your crazy anniversary with
you for a reason. He let you read this,” he pointed to the journal,
“for a reason. Don’t ignore all of that.”

Evie chewed on her bottom lip as Seth’s
words rolled around in her head. Could he be right? Could Traevyn
really feel anything for her besides friendship? She thought of how
badly she had wanted to kiss him that night they had danced and how
many times she had wanted to kiss him since then. She thought of
his laugh and how she would do anything, give anything, if she
could make him laugh every day for the rest of his life. She
thought of the many innocent touches they seemed to share. How he
would stand behind her to watch her paint and rub her back just
before he walked away. How she liked to rest her head on his
shoulder if they happened to be watching a movie or something on
television. How sometimes he would absently play with her hair if
she was near him while they were reading together. Sometimes he
would even just touch her arm briefly when he would walk past her
in the kitchen. Could those be signals? Small signs that maybe he
could care for her?

She shook her head and let out an aggravated
growl. “Seth, you’re insane,” she stated. “This is just my lot in
life. I always fall for guys I can’t have.”

Seth frowned again. “What’s
stopping you from having Traevyn? He’s not seeing anyone… Unless
you want to count me since I’m the only other person he’s
ever
in contact
with.”

“Well, I could never compete with you,” she
teased.

He puffed his chest out. “I am a sexy stud
in a waiter’s uniform.” He sniffed.

She laughed.

“I’ll make a deal with you,” he said. “I bet
that Traevyn will make a move on you by the time we come back from
Sedona. If he doesn’t, I won’t play anymore video games for the
rest of the summer.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You are going to be
one bored guy.”

“I really doubt it, but I guess I’ll have to
be proven right for you to believe me.”

“Whatever.” She glanced at
her watch and sighed. “We’d better keep shopping because
I’ve
got
to find
something. At this rate I’ll be going to the gallery opening
naked.” She stood and brushed the sand off of her pants.

“That would definitely insure Traevyn making
a move,” Seth remarked.

Evie giggled and they headed back up toward
town.

* * * *

The bedroom was on the top of Evie’s list of
places to mope as she entered the house exhausted and empty handed.
She heaved a sigh and headed into the kitchen to try and figure out
what she was going to make for dinner. She took a step back in
surprise when she entered and saw Traevyn standing over the stove,
stirring something.

He glanced over at her and smiled. “Welcome
home.”

She fought a shiver at those words. “What are
you up to?” she asked, pushing her feelings aside.

“Making dinner,” he replied.

He smiled at her. A soft, gentle,
affectionate smile that tugged at her heart. An entire scene snuck
up and played through her mind like an excerpt from a movie. One of
her coming home to this exact situation, only it really was her
home, and when Traevyn smiled, he bent to press a soft kiss to her
lips. He would whisper how much he had missed her and nuzzle her
neck, then pull her into his arms… She sighed. Great. Now the
romantic fantasies were starting. If she had to count how many
times she’d had imaginary romantic interludes with Maxim deBoer
over the years…

Evie forced herself back to the present. “So,
why are you making dinner?”

“You were shopping all day. I thought I’d be
nice and let you rest. Why don’t you go up to your room and relax?
I’ll come get you when it’s ready.”

“What is it?” she asked, peering into the
pot.

He glanced down at what he was stirring.
“Well, this is mac and cheese.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Gourmet.”

He gave her a playful scowl. “It’s just a
side dish.”

She giggled. “All right,
I‘ll go upstairs and wait till it‘s ready.” She shot him a warning
look. “And
don’t
use the gong to call me to the table.”

He chuckled.

She wandered her way up the staircase and
into her bedroom. She swung the door open and started as her eyes
fell on the closet door. She stared in bewildered wonder at it. A
gown was hanging there. A shining gown of a shimmering turquoise
color. The sleeves weren’t really sleeves, but sheer strips of
material that tied at the elbow, then flowed freely. She walked
over to it slowly and touched one of the gossamer sleeves. Tiny,
sparkling rhinestones spilled down the skirt, and all she could do
was gape at it. It was the most beautiful garment she had ever
seen.