“Cards at Christmas and birthdays, that sort of thing. It was our foster dad who got me into reading. He’s a librarian. All we had to do was tell him what sort of book we wanted to read, and he could tell us a title and author just like that.” Stefan clicks his fingers.
“I’d have loved to have known someone like that as a kid.” I start to work on defining and shading his body. I’m pleased with how the drawing is turning out so far. I hope he’ll be happy with it too. “Have you and Beau always lived together?”
“Yes. At eighteen, we got our own place. Beau went to uni, and I started working for Charles.”
“I think it’s amazing that you supported Beau through his degree.”
Stefan shrugs. “He’d have done the same for me. He had a dream—a really worthwhile one at that. He’s helped a lot of families since he qualified as a lawyer. A lot of kids like us. I hope I didn’t lose brownie points with your parents because I didn’t go to uni.”
I shake my head. “I doubt it. It tends to be an automatic question for Dad because he’s in academia. But he’s not an education snob or anything.”
“That’s good. How come you ended up doing art when your dad’s a physicist?”
“Last time I checked, being a science nerd wasn’t hereditary.”
Stefan laughs loudly.
I grin. “I dunno. Like I told you before, I could draw before I could write. I started by trying to draw cartoon characters I liked and just went on from there. My school exercise books were full of little doodles in the margins.”
“Did you get into trouble for drawing in class?”
“Sometimes, but most of my teachers didn’t mind as long as I got the work they set done.”
Stefan nods at the sketchbook. “How’s the drawing coming along?”
I tap the end of the pencil against my lips. “It’s coming.”
“Can I see?”
“Nope. Not until it’s finished.”
“You’re not cold, are you?”
I shake my head. “Are you?”
“No.”
“Why a dog?”
“I don’t know, really. I can just see myself with a dog in the future.”
“A black dog?” I waggle my eyebrows.
Stefan’s chest heaves as he cackles. “That would suit me, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes. Maybe a black Labrador. You could call it Dracula.”
“I think Labradors are too soft to pull off a name like Dracula.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Maybe.”
“Shadow?”
“Too obvious.”
“I’ve got plenty of time to come up with a name for my hypothetical future dog.”
“That’s true.” I pause drawing and stare at him, lips pursed.
