A Muse Her

Chapter 2

"Girl, these pages are fire!"

"Thanks, Faye." Maia grinned as she listened to her editor gush over the revisions she'd sent her. "They need your magic touch, but it felt good to write that."

"I bet it did. I don't think I've read anything like this from you in a long time. What got you out of that writing slump?"

"Well, I told you I found a muse," Maia said, shuffling into the kitchen.

"Oh yes that's right, Mr. Mateo Casparij. You and your Dutchmen," Faye said, chuckling softly. "Of course you'd find one in that backwater town. He better not be anything like Sven."

Maia rolled her eyes. "Why you gotta bring him up?"

"Because I have every right to make sure my baby sister isn't falling for another blonde haired fake ass Prince Charming again."

"I'm not doing that and Mateo isn't really my type. For one, he's a brunette. Two, I've never seen him in anything other than flannels, jeans and boots."

"So he's rugged, huh?"

"Yes, very much so and you know I like my men suited and chicly booted," she said, opening her fridge to pluck out a block of cheese and a bowl of grapes which happened to be the only two things on the shelf. "You don't have to worry about me falling for Mateo. He's just a friend who happens to be the perfect inspiration for this novel."

"Mm, alright. I just don't want you getting hurt again. Sven really fucked with you, you know?"

"I know, Faye," Maia said through gritted teeth as she chopped up a few slices of cheese. "I was there."

"I'm sorry. I just worry about you." Faye sighed. "You're eating while you're out there, right?"

"Yes, I'm eating."

"More than coffee and muffins?"

"Yes," Maia said, popping a grape in her mouth. "For your information, I'm eating cheese and grapes right now."

"Mm, that better be a snack before dinner. I just don't want you back sliding again. Sven had you eating like a bird and trying to turn you into something you weren't."

"Faye, come on. Can we stop talking about that asshole? I'm eating just fine. You don't have to bring him up every time we talk, you know?" Maia huffed, tugging out a sleeve of saltine crackers from the cupboard. "My therapist said that's not good for me either."

"Shit, I'm sorry. I'll drop it," Faye said. "So, tell me more about your new muse. Why's he got you so inspired?"

Well, I don't know." Maia murmured, nibbling on a piece of cheese as she gazed out the windows at the blizzard blanketing the valley. "I'm sure I've told you about him before. He's the guy who bought that old ranch next to me a few years ago."

"Oh yeah. The one who never came out of his house. The guy you swore up and down was a serial killer."

Maia laughed. "Yeah, that guy."

"So how did you go from thinking he was going to murder you to hiring him as your muse?"

"You remember that time I came out here with Sven and we had that big fight?"

"Uh-huh and he ripped out your power box, took your phone and left you stranded out there."

"Yeah." Maia sighed. "Mateo was the one who found me looking like a hot mess walking down the hill to find someone to fix the power. He just came back with a truck load of feed for his animals, but he insisted on helping me out and we've kinda been friends ever since."