Fairytale Come Alive (Ghosts and Reincarnation #4)(115)
Author: Kristen Ashley

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.