“Where are you taking me?”
He squeezes my hand gently and flashes me a smile. “It’s a surprise.”
Thirty minutes later, we pull up to a cemetery. I open the car door and stretch my coat tightly across my body. The wind blows, making it colder. I feel like someone is watching us, so I peer around.
My pulse accelerates.
“What are we doing here?” I ask.
Irvin steps out of the car with a picnic basket in his hand and a black cloth.
“We’re having dinner with my mother.”
I crunch up my nose. “It’s dark out here.” I twist the hem of my dress. “I heard this town is haunted.”
He stands in front of me, beaming. “Don’t worry, princess. I’ll protect you from the three-thousand-year-old ghost.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
I roll my eyes. I can’t believe Irvin is convincing me to have a date with the dead. Creepy. Weird—but so Irvin.
“Don’t patronize me.” I punch him in the arm. “Have you done this before?”
He nods, intertwining his fingers with mine. “I do it every month. I eat and drink with her.”
My belly warms from his touch, and I squeeze his palm gently.
“So you practice hoodoo?”
“Hoodoo?”
“Yes. African Americans venerate their ancestors by having food with them.”
“Well… isn’t it folk magic too? Yeah, I don’t believe in plants and herbs, but I like to do this with my mother because she’s the only person I was close to as a child.”
A wolf howls in the distance. I hold on to Irvin’s arm, carefully scanning the graveyard. Goosebumps sprout on my skin as we pass a few graves. Some are filled with dirt, some are new. I stop to read the headstone of a one-year-old. I wipe the tear leaking down my cheek. Kids don’t deserve to die, they are the most innocent souls on this planet.
I like Irvin, but he’s strange—and I think that’s what draws me to him.
He sets the blanket down on the grass and pulls out plates and forks, setting everything up.
“This is where the people who were part of the American Billionaire Club passed away.” He tucks a hair behind my ear. “Mom, this is Lilac. Lilac, this is Mom.”
He pats the spot beside him, and I sit, reading the tombstone.
Loving mother and wife.
May her soul rest in peace.
I never visited my parents’ grave after their death. I couldn’t handle the grief nor face what had happened to them. I often heard growing up that death is the most heartless thing on thisplanet—and it’s true. I don’t want anyone to ever experience what I went through.
Tears gather in my eyes, and I wipe them away quickly.
Irvin stares at me for a few seconds. “Are you okay, princess?”
“I’m fine. I think it’s unique you honor your mother.”
“She’s the only person I deeply loved. She was my best friend.”
My mother was my best friend up until her passing. She was a strict mother, but she was gentle, soft. Volunteered at the shelter and wrote the biggest check to charity.
