Fairytale Come Alive (Ghosts and Reincarnation #4)(145)

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.

In fact, just last week they’d printed a photo of Prentice and Elle wandering down the sidewalk two villages over, having a date night, the kids at Fiona’s sister Morag’s house. They were illuminated by a streetlamp, Prentice’s arm was wrapped around Elle’s shoulders and both hers were wrapped around his stomach. Her front was pressed to his side, he had his head tipped down to look at her, she had hers tipped back to look at him, she’d said something to make him chuckle and she was laughing with him.

The caption read, It’s Wedding Bells for Isabella and Prentice! And in a little square at the bottom right corner of the photo was a blown up shot of her hand wearing Prentice’s ring and that had its own caption of, And her hunky architect is not messing around!

As annoying as it was, she had to admit she loved that photo. They looked happy mainly because they were.

But that was two villages over; the shot had been taken after they had dinner and were walking back to Prentice’s SUV so it was after nine at night. There was practically no way Hattie would just happen to be in that village (with a camera), which was smaller by half than Prentice’s which meant it was tiny. They had a takeaway Chinese, the Italian restaurant she and Pren went to and a news agent. There was no reason for Hattie to be there.

This meant Hattie Fennick was stalking Elle, Prentice and the kids!

Hattie Fennick was stalking them and getting paid to expose snippets of their lives and steal photos of their memories and sell their privacy to the world.

As this knowledge burned into her brain, Elle lifted her hands and curled her fingers on the steering wheel in an effort to stop herself from opening her door and marching straight to Hattie, yanking that camera from her neck, smashing it on the ground and giving Hattie a piece of her mind.

It would not do to throw a temper tantrum in front of all the kids at Sally and Jace’s school and the parents there to pick them up.

No, she thought as her narrowed, angry eyes stayed focused on Hattie, she’d pick her time and it would be the right time.