Literary Las Vegas: Vicki-Ann Bush

Although fictional, “The Garden of Two” is based on Las Vegas author Vicki-Ann Bush’s experiences with young love. The centerpiece of the historic romance is a garden James Whitman commissioned for his wife, Elizabeth, “a place to sort out whatever weighs heavily on your mind or heart,” a place he keeps tending to even after his wife is gone. The garden also serves as an oasis for the next generation, Whitman’s daughter Lillie and the young man who loves her, Charlie. Divided by World War I, both fight to reunite in the peace of the garden.

Bush is also the author of The Dusk Chronicles trilogy, the horror novel “Room 629,” the thriller “The Joshua Tree,” the novel “The Queen of It,” the children’s book “Winslow Willow the Woodland Fairy” and the paranormal romance “Fulfillment” and its sequel “Procurement.” Visit vickiannbush.com.

Excerpt:

He looked down. A pool of red seeped through the hole in his shirt. He had been shot. He grabbed his chest and tried to keep running, but the mud was slippery. Pain seared through his body and consumed him, a branding iron pressed against the gaping hole in his flesh. He fumbled through the pocket in his coat for the compass. His hand clasped it, squeezing it tight and close to his body.

Collapsing, he sank into the mud. His eyes, clear of the muck, looked skyward, where he thought he saw Lillie’s face. The very last thing Charlie could remember was the hazy vision of the woman he loved and the compass that would get him home. Then his world went completely black.