Happy New Year

 Happy New Year! Here is a scene from my next book Beauty Found, which is Book 2 of my Fairy Tale Series.

“Vincent?” she called out as she closed her door.

“Hazel?” he asked as he unzipped the tent. “What’re you doing here?”

Each word seemed dragged out. He was drunk. Great.

“I brought you food,” she said as she held up the bag. “Come out. I’d prefer not to eat alone.”

“Go away,” he said as he started to zip the tent up.

“Wait,” she said as she walked toward the tent.

“What?” he asked as he popped his head out of the tent.

“The insurance agent called me. They need you to call them back,” she said as she stopped a few feet away from him.

“Why’d they call you?” he asked as he unzipped the tent completely.

“Because you don’t have a phone,” she said. “Now come on, our food’s getting cold.”

“Leave me alone,” he said as he fell back. “I don’t need anything.”

She narrowed her eyes as she thought about what she wanted to do next. His stubborn mood was no match for hers. She’d played this game long before he tasted his first drink.

“Get out of the tent!” she said as she moved further away. “Or I’ll grab my tent and sleep out here with you until you’re ready to rejoin the world.”

“Maybe I don’t want to rejoin the world,” he said without moving.

“Oh, you’re rejoining the world,” she said.

“Hazel, leave,” he said as he waved her away. “It’s not a good day.”

“When is it ever a good day?” she asked as she knelt down to see into the tent. “One day, you’ll have to rejoin the living. This in-between living and death don’t work anymore. I’m tired of babying you. Yes, you were injured in a roadside bomb, and yes, you lost men who were your family. But it doesn’t give your license to roam around as if you’re a zombie.”

“Go away,” he said as he rolled over to look at her.

“I didn’t take you for a coward,” she said as she stood up.

Ten seconds later, he tore out of the tent and rushed after her.

“Coward?!” he yelled as she spun around and stepped to the side.

He slipped and fell.

“Yeah, you’re a coward,” she said as she watched him struggle. “You wallow in your pain and misery because you’re scared to live.”

“It’s not that I’m scared to live,” he said as he stood. “I have nothing to live for.”

“Then live for me,” she said as she took a step forward. “Live for me.”

“I can’t,” he said.

“Why? I’m not changing or moving. I’m here,” she said, tapping her chest.

“Everyone I’ve ever loved is dead,” he said as he looked at her.

The hollow look in his normally warm chocolate eyes pierced her. She should’ve come out here days ago.

“I’m not dead,” she said as she set the bag of food on the ground between them. “I’m here when you’re ready.”

#beautyfound #fairytaleseries #2021