“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 t
o 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.
She loved it when he did that, she loved the quiet togetherness, the sea their view, comfortable in each other’s company without words.
But something told her tonight, knowing she was tired, Christmas less than an hour away, he wasn’t in the mood to sip whisky and stare at the sea with her back tucked to his front, his arms around her, her head resting on his shoulder.
It was something else.
And tomorrow was Christmas so that something else could be something else.
Prentice exited the closet with one of his thick, wooly sweaters.
“Pren –” she started.
“Socks on, Elle,” he interrupted her.
She stared at him for another moment. Then she bent over and pulled on his socks. When she was done, he was close and he pulled the sweater over her head. It was huge and covered her from neck to thigh, well past her nightgown but it left her legs bare. Even with her legs bare, the minute she shoved her arms through the sleeves, Prentice grabbed her hand and led her out to the balcony.
Heart still racing, Elle didn’t argue or resist.
She followed.
He closed the door behind them and guided her to the railing before he stopped them and guided her into his arms.
She tipped her head back to look at his face in the moonlight and the illumination from the soft lamps lit on either side of the bed that were coming through the windows of their room. When she did, she saw he was already looking down at her and she noted he looked serious.
She opened her mouth to speak, knowing he had to feel her heart beating against his chest where it was pressed close but she didn’t utter a peep.
Because he spoke first.
And when he did, it was to ask, “You’d throw yourself in front of a bus for me?”
She bit her lip as she tried to control the beating of her heart. This was an impossibility so she answered, “Well –”
That was all she got out before Prentice spoke again.
And when he did, this time it was a thick, hoarse whisper, “You’d throw yourself in front of a bus for me.”
She would and he knew it. He knew it and she knew that he felt that knowledge burrow deep and he liked it.
Elle felt tears stinging the backs of her eyes, her body melted into his, her arms tightened around him and she whispered back, “Yes, Pren, though I hope I never get the chance.”
A short, sharp laugh escaped his throat but that was it before his head dropped and his forehead came to rest on hers.
Then he said in his soft, low, sweet, beautiful voice, “You know I love you.”
“I know,” she replied just as soft but probably not as sweet and beautiful.
“You love me,” he declared.
“With everything I am,” Elle confirmed, his eyes closed slowly and his arms squeezed her tight.
Then they loosened, his eyes opened to look into hers and that voice kept coming at her. “And you know I want you in my life until my last breath.”
Her heart tripped over itself.
“Pren.” That was all she could get out, she could say no more and Prentice didn’t give her a chance.
He pulled slightly away at the same time he reached behind him to wrap a hand around her left wrist. Then he shifted it between them as his other hand went to the pocket of his pajama bottoms. The next second he was sliding a large diamond ring on her finger, the diamond brilliant, gorgeous and huge but the setting was simple, unadorned, the luster, brilliance and size of the diamond the only thing it needed.
“I’m making that official,” Prentice told her, his voice still sweet but it was again thick as Elle stared at the ring and couldn’t speak at all because her heart was still beating a mile a minute but now it was doing it in her throat. “That is the ring I wanted to give you twenty years ago. That is the ring my Elle deserves to wear on her finger, the ring that lays my claim to her, shows the world she’s mine and shows her how much she means to me. So that is what she’ll have.”
Elle’s eyes, filling with wet as her lips trembled, lifted to his and when they did his hand, warm and strong, curled around hers tight and pressed it to his chest.
“Merry Christmas, baby,” he whispered.
Elle stared at the man she’d loved for forever, the man who breathed life into her, the man who set her free, the man who, again, slid the perfect ring on her finger making all her dreams come true and she knew she was right earlier.
She had her happily ever after.
And it was happy.
So she stuffed her face in Prentice’s sweatshirt, yanked her hand free from his so she could wrap her arm around him again, both her arms spasmed and she burst into tears.
Prentice gathered her closer, pulling her deeper to his warmth and he held on tight as she wept tears of joy into his chest.
When this went on for a good long while, he whispered into her hair, “Baby, we need to get you inside. It’s cold and your legs are exposed.”
Her head jerked back then it jerked side to side.
Then she pulled her arms from around him, lifted her hands and placed them on either side of his head. With wet on her face, tears still spilling over, she got on her tiptoes to get closer.
And in a fierce voice, Elle told him, “When Cinderella is on her balcony with her handsome Prince, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, they don’t feel cold, Pren, they don’t feel anything. They just feel happy.”
She watched his face shift, go soft, his eyes warm and his arms convulsed around her as he murmured, “Elle.”
“I love you,” she whispered, got higher on her toes and touched her mouth to his then moved back half an inch. “I love you.” Her fingers slid into his thick, fantastic hair and she repeated, “I love you.”
“Elle –”
Her fingers clenched in his hair and she pressed her body deep into his.
“I love you, Prentice Cameron.”
Elle stopped talking and stared into his beautiful eyes, eyes she’d look into every day for the rest of her life and for the first time in that life she felt blessed.
Prentice allowed her a moment to experience that added gift then his neck bent and his mouth crushed down on hers.
Some time later, his body bent so he could lift her in his arms and carry her to their bed.
In their bed he gave her another gift and as often as she got it (which was often), it was always special.
But this time, after, sliding to sleep with Prentice’s warm, strong, big body curved into hers, his arm around her, his fingers laced in hers, keeping her safe, holding her close and doing it with his ring on her finger, it was beyond special.
It was magical.
Chapter Twenty-One
Then they were gone.
And he knew she was too.
Elle
Elle was sitting in her Land Rover outside the school waiting for Jace and Sally to get out.
It was three weeks after Christmas, there was a dusting of snow on the ground and the weather had hit a chill so cold the snow was going nowhere, not for awhile.
Elle’s gaze was on the kids pouring out of the school but she didn’t see them. She had a dozen things on her mind.
First, she had to get Jason to his guitar lesson, something he requested after he got the electric guitar and, about five minutes after the last present was unwrapped on Christmas morning, he worked with his father to set it up. He strummed once, the sound blasted back from the amplifier and he instantly fell in ten year old boy love.
Considering the amount of time he practiced, Prentice had agreed to the lessons. It was clear Jason was committed to the guitar and, further, Prentice liked the idea that it linked him to his mother in an unusual but beautiful way.
When Jason got his guitar lessons, Sally, not to be left out, declared she wanted dance lessons and gymnastics lessons. Surprisingly to this too, Prentice agreed. He decided at her age she couldn’t know which she had more of an interest in he was just pleased she had any interest at all. So he told Elle that Sally might as well try them both and later, if she was still committed, follow through with the one she preferred.
Therefore Elle had to get Jason to his lesson, Sally home to change into her leotard then off to her lesson, then, after dropping Sally off, head to Fern’s to make final decisions on furniture and bedding (their rooms were, at that very moment, completely bare and being painted, they were sleeping in the guest suite) then back through town to pick up Jason then Sally then get home and start dinner.
She’d spent the morning booking their Disneyworld holiday on-line, the rest of the day cleaning the house and doing laundry all the while intermittently making tea for the painters and she hadn’t thought once about what they were going to have for dinner.
So as she sat in her Land Rover contemplating the mad dashes through town she would soon be making, hoping she could do what she needed to do at Fern’s in time to pick up the kids as well as thinking about what she had in the fridge for dinner and not concentrating much on her surroundings.
Until she saw something that caught her eye and she focused on the figure that appeared to be trying to hide, and poorly, around the corner of the school.
Hattie Fennick.
Hattie Fennick with a camera around her neck.
Elle pulled in a shocked breath as she watched Hattie scanning the kids streaming out of the school and Elle knew, she knew Hattie was waiting to take Jason and Sally’s picture. Just like she sold her and Prentice’s story to the gossip magazine, she’d been selling the recent photos too. It was Hattie who was their source, keeping the photos and stories coming and thus the interest alive.
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