Fairytale Come Alive (Ghosts and Reincarnation #4)(143)

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.

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.