Beyond the Broken Angel

CHAPTER SEVEN

She rolled her eyes. Maybe she should just avoid him all together. That had seemed to work out perfectly the past few days.

Little did she know, that would never work, either.

• — • — •

"Please! I wanna do it! Please, Will!" Barbara begged, arms desperate to grab onto the old camera in Will's hands.

"Barbara, no," Will said. "You can play with it later." He scooped up the little girl, earning a giggle as he plopped her onto the bench Giselle sat at with Selene to her right and a squirming baby Dorothy in her arms.

Will turned to Selene. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she looked to the boys behind the bench, positioning them just right before getting herself settled. "Alright, kids, hold still while Will takes the pictures."

"Do we have to take pictures?" Albert asked from behind Giselle, a hint of complaint in his voice.

"Yes, we have to. They're to show Giselle's family when she goes back home." Selene and Giselle shared a look.

The pictures were much more than that. They were evidence—evidence that the tale of the tree was real and that Selene was trapped in time.

"Barbara smile. You too, Albert. Hold it! 1 . . . 2 . . . 3." Will snapped the picture. "Alright, there you go," he said, holding out the camera to Selene. "I'll be in my study if anyone shall need me."

"Wait," Selene stopped him, "let's take some with you."

Will frowned. "No, all you needed was a picture of you and Giselle. There's no need for me to be in a picture."

"But we don't have any recent pictures of all you guys," Selene said. "Come on, let's get a family picture together."

Giselle stood up from her place on the bench, handing the baby out to Selene. "Here, I'll take the picture for y'all." Selene took Dorothy into her arms, going to sit back on the porch.

"This is pointless," Will muttered. "I don't know why she insists on this."

"Because you always regret the pictures you didn't take," Giselle told him. "You'll never get this moment back in your life, it's best to cement it into a photo."

Will stared at her as he handed her the camera, seemingly perplexed, but he said nothing of it.

"So, how do I work this thing?" Giselle asked, looking down at the camera.

He showed her what to do before departing to stand at the back of the group in between Frank and Albert. Unlike the others with their bright, happy smiles, Will had a scowl.

"Smile, Will," Giselle urged him.

His frown didn't budge, even when Giselle sent him a sharp glare. Eventually she gave up and snapped the photo.

"Good. Are we done now?" Will asked.

Selene shook her head, propping Dorothy up on her hip as she went to take the camera from Giselle. "No, I want to take a few more pictures."

And she did, getting shots of each person by themselves and making the kids take a group picture. By the time she had finished taking an all-boys picture to match the one she made Will take of all the girls, everyone had thought she had run out of ideas.

Until, "Giselle, why don't you and Will take a picture together?"

Giselle and Will looked to each other and then to Selene. "Why?" Will asked.

"Just because," Selene said, smiling. "You two go sit on the bench."

They did, keeping about a foot of space between them. "Oh, squeeze in closer, would you?" Giselle scooted over an inch, but Will remained in his spot. Selene frowned at Will. "Follow my directions, and I promise this will be the last photo."

Will sighed, moving in closer to Giselle. "Good, now smile."

They did, and Selene took the picture. "Oh, that wasn't a good smile, Will. Give me a real smile," she told him.

"I don't think he's capable of that," Giselle mumbled.

Will shot her a look. "Maybe I would smile if there was something worth smiling about."

"Think about your precious study."

"No, I think I'll try to conjure up the image of you leaving. That should do the trick," he smirked.

Giselle smirked back. "What? You can't handle a girl who will call you out when you're being rude—?"

Click.

Giselle and Will looked up to Selene, who grinned at them, lowering the camera. "Alright, you two are free to go."

"But we weren't even posing," Will pointed out, unmoving from his spot, his arm still draped around Giselle.

"You didn't need to. The shot I got will be perfect, I'm sure."

•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •

Word count: 1,879 words.

Question: What musical artist have you been listening to recently?

I have been almost exclusively listening to Dionne Warwick. I barely knew her before writing this book, but got into her music when I was doing research for an upcoming chapter revolving around old music.

I listened to one of her songs and then found a Top Hits playlist of hers and ONLY listened to that whenever I would work on this book.

I am seriously thinking about dedicating this book to her when I get it published, because somehow her music shoots me into a writing mood.

PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT TO MAKE ME SMILE!!!

P.S. I LOVE YOU DIONNE!!!