The Girl in the Painting

**Ansel Bray, an artist known around the world for his tragic hiatus from the canvas.

Ansel Bray, a broody, handsome man not known by me, at all. **

*Long dark hair, blue eyes, and dimpled cheeks. I’ve never met her, but her image is imprinted in my mind. An angel muse who inspires me to paint again.*

**There is something about him. Something that spurs a need to be as close to him as possible. A need to find out why.**

*There is something about her. Something that draws me in. Something that urges me to find out what her presence means.*

**Why does the girl in his painting look so much like me?**

*Who is this girl, and why can I see her so vividly?*

**I shouldn’t fall in love with him.**

*I shouldn’t fall in love at all.*

**But fate plays her hand.**

*But fate has other plans.*

**The lines of my life will blur.**

*The needs of my heart will change.*

**What a beautiful mess we’ve made.**