Fairytale Come Alive (61 page)

“Do not put your hand on me again,” he warned, straightening, his eyes now glued to Prentice.

“Won’t say it again, mate, get off my fucking land,” Prentice clipped.

“What’s happ… oh my
Lord,
” Mikey breathed from behind Elle who was standing, silent and stunned to immobility, in the door.

Laurent didn’t tear his eyes from Prentice who’d stopped, blocking the front walk and planting his fists on his hips.

“I wish to speak to Isabella,” he announced.

Elle stared at her ex-husband who she hadn’t seen in person in ages.

Tall, though not as tall as Prentice, very lean to the point of almost being too thin, he carried it off and made it attractively lanky due to broad shoulders and consistent workouts through playing tennis and polo that did not bulk out his body but nevertheless kept it fit and athletic. Dark blond hair. Deep blue eyes. Chiseled features which were almost feminine but not quite, the constant sardonic expression he wore coupled with the world-weary sophistication he emanated adding to his allure.

Women the world over thought he was unbelievably handsome.

Elle, knowing him all too well, absolutely did not.

“I’m afraid that’s no’ a Christmas wish that’ll come true, Evangelista,” Prentice returned, his voice low, vibrating and rough with anger. “Now, again, get
the fuck
off my land.”

Laurent glared at Prentice then his eyes shifted to Elle and she watched with surprise as he shifted his features to go soft, coaxing, a look she’d seen often however it was one she hadn’t seen in a very long time.

It was the look he’d assume in the early days of their marriage when he’d approach her about moving on from Paris to Gstaad from Gstaad to Rome from Rome to Istanbul from Istanbul to wherever. He knew she didn’t want to go to the next party, the next villa, the next yacht and, in the beginning, he’d take the time to cajole her, to try and convince her it would be fun, to remind her of all their fabulous friends who weren’t
her
friends but
his
and they were so vain and superior and surprisingly, with all their money, expensive education and travel, uninteresting that she didn’t miss even one of them when they were gone. And when he tried to coax her, he would assume that look.

In the end, he didn’t bother. He’d simply drop the tickets in her lap and tell her to get packed.

And seeing that look on his face, she knew. She knew everything.

She knew he knew she was with Prentice (he couldn’t
not
know with all the magazines they’d featured in). She knew he knew who Prentice was. She knew he knew she was happy. She knew he thought she couldn’t ever be happy in the wilds of Scotland with an award-winning architect and his two beautiful children, not when she could have the world laid at her feet. She knew she spent years trying to convince him she didn’t want the world laid at her feet and he’d never, not once, listened. She knew he was competitive and it was eating at him that he was bested by a man like Prentice, so much more of a man than Laurent it wasn’t funny but that was also something Laurent would never understand.

And lastly, she knew that he’d asked her father how to find her and her father had told him. In fact, it was highly likely Carver Austin
sent
Laurent here.

And instead of feeling beaten, tired or defeated at another indication that life just would
not
give her her happily ever after, she felt something else.

She felt fury.

“Isabella, darling,
please
, allow me to –” Laurent started, Prentice’s body shifted as if to advance but Elle spoke.

“He told you, didn’t he?” she asked, her voice so cold, icicles formed on each word and Prentice’s body shifted a different way, to look back at her while Elle felt Mikey’s hand settle on the small of her back.

But Elle’s eyes didn’t move from Laurent.

“I don’t know what you –” Laurent began but Elle let him say no more.

“My father, he told you where I was,” she declared, watched Laurent suck in a breath to deny through a lie but she went on before he could speak. “It’s Christmas Eve, tomorrow is a big day, a joyful day, there are children in this house, I’m with my family, it’s late and you show up on the doorstep knowing I hate you, knowing that seeing your face could conceivably ruin my day or even my whole Christmas and thinking that’s a perfectly all right thing to do.” Losing her composure, she leaned in and asked on a hiss, “What’s the matter with you?”

“I needed to be certain you were here. I needed –” Laurent launched into his explanation but Elle interrupted him again.

“
You
needed? Who cares what
you
needed, Laurent?” she asked then didn’t wait for him to answer. She crossed her arms on her chest and announced, “I’ll tell you who
doesn’t
care.” She jerked her thumb to her chest, “
Me.
”

Laurent winced then tried, “Isabella, my love –”

She cut him off yet again, “Go away.”

He made to take a step forward, Prentice’s body swung toward him, he stopped and said, “Isabella, I’m asking you
please.
”

But Elle was done.

Because in that instant, seeing Prentice blocking his way, not about to let him get to her; feeling Mikey’s hand warm on the small of her back, his body close; and staring at Laurent’s face, knowing he could be even
more
of a jerk when he was already a world-class jerk, it came to her.

She
was
living her happily ever after.

It just came with some trolls along the way.

Therefore, impatiently, as if he was simply an annoying nuisance (which he was), she ordered on a sigh, “Go away and stay away.” She shook her head and went on, “Honestly, I never want to see you again. Not ever.” She began to turn to walk into the house but thought of something else so she turned back. “And, if you speak to my father, tell him the same thing. He does not exist in my world, not anymore and not ever again.”

After delivering that line, she turned and started into the house but turned back when Laurent called after her, speaking swiftly, urgently and almost desperately, “I only ever loved you.”

“Oh my
God,
” Mikey snapped, his words so heated it was a wonder Elle didn’t get singed by their fire. “Is he
insane?
”

But Elle’s brows had simply lifted with mild curiosity and she asked, “You only ever loved me?”

He nodded, glanced quickly at Prentice, took a tentative step forward then stopped on a sway as Prentice moved aggressively to block him and growled, “I don’t think so.”

Laurent ignored Prentice, though he made no further advance but lifted a hand toward Elle, saying softly but in a voice that carried, “All of them, all the others, they meant nothing to me, darling. I need to speak to you. To explain. This separation between us, this distance, it’s out of hand. I’ve been living a nightmare these last years, lost without you. Something must be done. I loved you in the beginning; you know that, I know you do. But I also loved you in the end and I need to explain why I did what I did, behaved the way I behaved. You need to know it’s only ever been you. I’ve always only ever loved you.”

“No you haven’t,” Elle retorted so instantly to his ludicrous, heartfelt declaration that Laurent’s body twitched and he blinked.

Then he asked, sounding and looking ridiculously confused, “What?”

“You haven’t,” Elle repeated. “You see, Laurent, I know what love is. I have love, a lot of different kinds of it and you
never
gave that to me. Not in the beginning and definitely not in the end. So don’t stand there telling me you only ever loved me. I’m not entirely certain you know what love means and if what you feel for me, considering how you treated me, is twisted somehow in that head of yours to mean love then I’ll give you one more thing. I’ll give you the knowledge that you… are…
wrong.
You don’t treat someone you love the way you treated me. Never. You’d rather die than do something like that. Trust me. I love the man standing in front of you, I would tie myself in knots not to hurt him, I’d throw myself in front of a bus for him, I’m not kidding, and I know he’d do the same for me. That’s love.” She threw her hand out toward Laurent. “You have no idea and that makes me sad for you because, honestly, if you think what you feel for me is love then you’ll never get it and that’s not only sad, at your age, it’s pathetic.”

Then she again turned, this time with determination, skirted Mikey and walked into the house without looking back.

Then she walked to the television room and saw the princess castle was mostly complete. There were some decals left to stick on and the furniture was still in plastic wrap in a pile on the floor but it was assembled and it looked fantastic.

Elle smiled. Sally was going to be in fits of delight.

“Baby?” Prentice called and Elle turned to see him and Mikey coming through the door, both of their eyes on her, both of their faces carrying a mixture of concern and residual anger.

“This looks
great!
” she cried, throwing her hand out to the castle.

Mikey rocked to a halt and blinked. Prentice stopped too and stared closely at her.

“Sally is going to
love
that!” Elle kept exclaiming. “It’s even better than the pictures on the box. I cannot
wait
for the morning.”

Both Prentice and Mikey stared at her. Then they looked at each other. Then their gazes came back to her.

That was when Mikey asked, “Uh… girlie-girl, are you okay?”

“Yes,” Elle answered. “Tired but it’s late and it’s been a hectic day. But I’ll help you with the furniture once we get this out to the great room and then we can go to bed and tomorrow…” she smiled, “
Christmas!
” Then she clapped, her face wreathed in smiles.

Prentice and Mikey again stared at her before looking to each other then Prentice looked back at Elle and walked to her.

Once he arrived, he pulled her loosely in his arms and informed her cautiously, “He’s gone.”

“Good,” Elle replied then asked, “Should we take this in the other room now? I can unwrap the furniture while you and Mikey finish the decals.”

Prentice’s arms gave her a little squeeze and both his head and voice dipped low when he said, “Elle, baby, what happened outside –”

“Is over,” Elle interrupted him. “It’s Christmas Eve and he’s had five minutes of it, he doesn’t get anymore.”

“So you’re okay with what happened out there?” Prentice asked.

“No,” Elle answered. “But
I
didn’t show up on my ex-husband who hates me’s doorstep to act like a selfish jerk then be sent packing,
he
did. He has to deal with that. I don’t. And you said he’s gone so it’s over, I’m moving onto princess castles then to bed then Christmas.”

After making her declaration, she held Prentice’s beautiful every-colored eyes as they held hers. Then she watched his eyes smile. Then she lost sight of them when his head dropped and her eyes closed when he touched his mouth to hers.

When his head came up, he muttered, “Right, let’s get this done.”

“Yes,” she smiled and gave him her own squeeze, “let’s get this done.”

“We’ve got a plan,” Mikey cut in, moving toward the sheet of sticker decals that would adorn the princess castle with printed stone and abundant flowers. “Sally’s castle then bed. I’m
beat.
And sleep means waking up to Bella’s breakfast casserole and the moment I taste that high-calorie extravaganza
cannot
come soon enough. So, chop chop!”

Elle transferred her smile to Mikey, Mikey returned it, she gave Prentice another squeeze, he returned it then he let her go and they chop chopped.

* * * * *

“Baby,” Prentice said softly as Elle wandered out of the bathroom and into their room, ready for bed.

“Yes?” she answered, her eyes going to him then her brows drawing together because he was in his pajama bottoms but he was also wearing a sweatshirt and a thick pair of socks.

She was in a short, silky, lacy nightie and she felt comfortable. The heat was turned down at night; Prentice set the automatic timer on the thermostat to do it so the house could get chill, although she wouldn’t really know because by that time Prentice was using a variety of ways to warm her up. But, considering he knew they’d have a late night, he’d turned off the automatic timer and only turned it back on when they’d finished the castle, said their goodnights to Mikey and headed to bed.

The air hadn’t even gone cool yet.

“Are you cold?” she asked right before he tossed a pair of his thick socks to her.

She bobbled them then caught them.

“On,” he ordered then strode to the closet and disappeared.

Elle stared at the socks in her hand. Then, slowly, her head turned so she could look out the windows to the moonlit sea.

Then her heart started racing.

Prentice took her out there on occasion, not often but it happened. Sometimes he’d take a bottle of wine for her and his whisky, they’d sip and stare at the sea, each in their own thoughts, doing this mostly silently.