“Ha, ha, ha.”
“I’m serious.”
What really terrified me was the possibility that he was right.
10
Ten
Sebastian hung out until I finished my shift and then followed me up to my apartment. His expression was dubious as he glanced around.
“Are you a minimalist? If so, we can’t be friends.”
I laughed at his reaction. “I don’t know that I would say I’m a minimalist. It’s more that I own nothing, so I can’t decorate.”
“I don’t know. Who doesn’t like a painting of a bear catching a fish?” He moved to the lone piece of art on the wall, a piece that was painted by my great-grandmother when she opened the restaurant. The birch bark frame made it all the more tacky in my book, but he seemed intrigued. “Do you know who painted this?”
“I think it was my great-grandmother.”
“Really?” Sebastian looked intrigued. “Is she still alive?”
“Yeah. She lives in Florida. She still comes up once a year to visit the family.”
“She’s the one who gave the restaurant the name, right?”
I laughed and nodded. “Yeah. I think my grandfather would’ve changed it long ago if he could. She made keeping the name a point of contention when she sold it to him, so he’s stuck. He thinks Archer’s Fine Dining has a certain ring to it.”
Sebastian chortled. “I don’t know. I like the Two Broomsticks thing. Besides, living so close to Hemlock Cove, I think the name is a bonus these days.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, sliding into the bedroom. I gave the bed a long look, as if I expected to be swept into the air again, and then shook my head. “I’m going to change really quick and then we can head downtown for coffee.”
“That sounds good to me.” His voice told me he was drifting through the apartment. “I have to be back at the funeral home at two o’clock.”
“Oh, yeah? Do the caskets get unruly if you’re not there to supervise them?” I laughed at my own lame joke.
“Vera Axe is coming in to make arrangements for Roy.”
I froze, my shirt halfway over my head. “Vera is going through you for Roy’s arrangements?”
“You sound surprised.” Sebastian’s voice was closer this time, but I didn’t rush to shut my bedroom door. I wasn’t concerned about him seeing me in my bra. “I am the premiere funeral director in Shadow Hills.”
“You’re the only funeral director in Shadow Hills.”
“My statement stands.”
I chuckled as I slipped into a T-shirt and a pair of well-worn capris. By the time I returned to the living room, Sebastian had made himself comfortable on the couch. His gaze was speculative as I moved to join him.
“What?” I was feeling self-conscious. I still couldn’t shake the dream — or the fear that almost caused my heart to pound out of my chest as I tried to rouse myself from it. The panic I’d felt when flying over the bed had been real. I knew what happened had only been a vivid hallucination thanks to my beer-soaked mind. That didn’t change the fact that I felt off my game because of it.
“I was just thinking.” Sebastian eyed my hair. “Have you ever considered layers?”
The question caught me off guard. “Yeah. I had layers when I was doing press for the book. I hated them. It took me two years to grow them out.”
“Is that why your second book didn’t sell as well? Were you fixated on your bad layers?”
I let loose a sigh. “I don’t want to talk about the book.”
“Which one?”
“Either one.”
“Does talking about it make you sad? Do you feel as if you’ve missed out on something important? Is it worse to be close to living your dream and then lose it?”
The tidal wave of questions caused my stomach to tighten. “Sebastian ... .”
He didn’t allow me to unload on him. “I want to know what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking I could use some real coffee,” I said pointedly. “I don’t mind the stuff in the diner, but I’m a Starbucks girl, and the closest thing we have in town just so happens to be right next door to your funeral home.”
“Yes, that was a stroke of luck.” Sebastian stood, resting his hands on my shoulders as he stared soulfully into my eyes. “You haven’t lost everything until you believe it. Have a little faith in yourself, Stormy. I think the best things in life are still in front of you.”
He was so serious I could do nothing but stare ... and then laugh. “Have you been reading motivational books again?”
He balked. “I did that one time.”
“You did it every winter when we were in high school. You always got depressed around February and needed a pick-me-up.”
“That’s ... completely true but not relevant to this conversation,” he challenged. “I’m serious. I know you’re struggling. Anyone who has ever met you can see it. You had high self-esteem as a teenager, one of the reasons I gravitated toward you. There was never time to feel sorry for yourself in Stormy’s world.”
The words made me smile. “I don’t really remember that. I felt sorry for myself a lot back then.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. I just remember feeling sorry for myself.”
“I believe you didn’t start feeling sorry for yourself until after you said goodbye to Hunter.”
“Ugh. Here we go.” I rolled my eyes. “Why must every conversation come back to him? I don’t understand.”
Sebastian snorted. “You understand. You just don’t want to acknowledge it because you have that whole girl power thing going for you.”
“And what’s wrong with girl power?”
“Absolutely nothing. I’m all for girl power. Trust me, I always fancied myself the pink Power Ranger for a reason. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a man in your life and still be all about the girl power.”
What he said made sense, but I didn’t want to deal with Hunter. “He has a girlfriend. I’m trying to ... fix my life. I don’t think either one of us is looking to each other for anything other than the occasional, ‘Hello, how is it going?’ I’m sorry if that disappoints you.”
“Oh, it disappoints me on a level you can’t possibly fathom. I don’t believe it. You do, though. Well, at least right now. When things change, I’ll be here for you. Now, let’s get coffee.”
I wasn’t in the mood to argue further. “We definitely need coffee if we’re going to keep this up for the next few hours.”
“I told you I have to go to work.”
“I’m going with you.”
He paused at the door, surprise etched across his handsome face. “Why?”
“I have a few questions for Roy’s widow.”
His smile turned into a frown. “That’s a really bad idea.”
“Are you banning me from the funeral home?”
“No, but ... I don’t want you scaring away my customers.”