Fairytale Come Alive (Ghosts and Reincarnation #4)(101)
“Why would you possibly want to know?”
“Because he was part of your life and I want to know about your life which means I want to know about him.”
“He isn’t that interesting.”
“Likely no’. You’re still going to tell me.”
“Pren –” she started, his arms tightened and she stopped.
His voice dipped lower when he demanded, “Tell me.”
She was silent. This lasted awhile.
Finally, she said softly, “Actually, I think this is good.”
“What?”
“Telling you about Laurent.”
Laurent.
Christ, he even hated the man’s name.
Over the years, he didn’t think much of Laurent Evangelista because he didn’t allow himself to think much of Elle.
When Prentice heard about their public split, he did think Laurent Evangelista was all kinds of fool for leaving Elle and going off with a shoddier version.
Now, he hated him.
No, actually, he detested him.
Because someone should have done something about that father of hers, those dreams of hers and how she fisted her hands in that alarming way.
And it was clear Laurent Evangelista did none of those things.
“I didn’t love him,” Elle announced, taking him from his thoughts.
“What?” Prentice asked, surprised.
“I didn’t love him. I never loved him,” she repeated. “Looking back, I’m not certain I ever even liked him.”
At that, it was Prentice’s body that grew solid. Feeling it, with a rough jerk, she pulled away. He allowed this because he sensed she needed it.
He’d disallow it the minute she did not.
She walked two steps, put her glass to the railing and then turned to him.
“You won’t be surprised to hear that I married him because my father wanted me to. There wasn’t much I did that my Dad didn’t want me to do.” She waited for that to sink in and, when she received no response, she went on, “Dad liked him. Thought he was a good catch. Said Laurent was our people. He’d known Laurent’s parents for years.”
“Elle –” he stopped speaking when she turned to face the sea and kept talking.
“I thought, though, that I’d get something from it. Finally get something I wanted,” she told the sea and her voice dropped to a whisper when she continued, “I was wrong.”
She was talking about children. A family.
It was time to disallow the space she no longer needed.
Prentice approached, Elle retreated but he didn’t let her go. He caught her around the waist and pulled her to him, sliding his arms tight around her.
She stood stiff in his embrace.
“Why didn’t you adopt?” he asked quietly.
“Laurent didn’t want to adopt, so, we didn’t adopt.”
The way she spoke made it clear that, in her desire to build a family, she tried that too.
And she, again, failed.
In other words, what Laurent wanted or didn’t want, Laurent got.
No matter what Elle wanted.
Yes, Prentice detested him.
“You know what’s funny?” she asked the sea, her face turned away from him, her gaze thoughtful.
“No, baby. What’s funny?”
“He divorced me.” She looked at him and continued, “I never wanted him and, in the end, he divorced me. Isn’t that funny?”
What it was, was ironic.
What it was not, was funny.
He didn’t answer, he simply pulled her closer. Her head tipped back further to keep her eyes on him and her hands came to rest lightly on his waist.
Prentice liked the feel of Elle’s hands on his waist. He’d like it better if it was her arms around his waist.
“Why do you think that?” she asked quietly.
He put a hand to her jaw and stroked her cheek with his thumb, asking, “Think what?”
“What you said about me. That I was the best thing to come in your life. With all the gifts you’ve been given, how can you think that?”
His mind flooded with all that was Elle.
Her pancakes. Her cookies. Her smile.
The way she cared for his home.
The way she cared for his family.
The way she handled Sally with infinite patience appearing to enjoy every second.
The way she understood what Jason needed and gave it to him after Prentice spent a year trying to figure it out.
The way she kept his children’s mother’s memory alive instead of trying to bury it deep.
The way she could make him laugh when she forgot to be Isabella and, instead, was Elle.
The way she responded to his hands, his mouth, his c**k moving inside her.
The way she consistently gave of herself, second by second, to him, to his children, to her friends the latter to whom she’d been giving for years, without even noticing she was doing it or expecting that first thing in return.
Prentice was in love with her.
And he’d been in love with her for over twenty years.
But now, knowing what he knew about how she’d helped Annie with unfailing determination and seeing what he saw when she dropped everything and raced to his daughter’s bedside at the hospital, he loved her even more.
He’d had a beautiful run with Fiona and he loved his wife deeply.