Startled eyes turn to face me, and my mind confirms what my heart already knows. I would recognize those gentle green eyes, dark eyebrows, the strong chin covered in sexy scruff and shaggy mane anywhere. Isaac's back in town. He is just as beautiful to me now as he was all those years ago. If anything, time has improved him. Last I heard, he started a nonprofit to build schools in Africa. Why has he finally come back after all this time? We are locked in a stare that seems to transport us to another place and time, until at last, his gaze breaks away. ______________ Beth Malcolm is pinning all her hopes on winning the Next Big Thing competition that will not only launch her business, but help her save her beloved family home. Things quickly become complicated when the business mentor assigned to her turns out to be her exfiance. Loosely based Jane Austen's story, "Restless Hope" is a modern Persuasion meets Shark Tank. I update every Friday. Enjoy! ©2016 Sarah Benson

#MindOverMatterContest This is my submission for the #MindOverMatterContest . This is my story...this is how I lost myself to a monster...this is how I found myself. ***"There is help out there, I dealt with my own sadness, trapped inside a dangerous mind. I made it out alive but it is taking hold of me again..."