Fairytale Come Alive (Ghosts and Reincarnation #4)(45)
Author: Kristen Ashley

Then Annie burst into tears and the makeup artists had to do a touch up.

Now, they were on their way, Isabella and Sally with Annie’s two other bridesmaids, Patty and Hannah, sharing one Rolls. Annie following with Fergus in the other. Neither bridesmaid was a villager (thankfully). Patty was an old friend from Northwestern that Isabella had long since lost touch with and Hannah had been a trainee physical therapist Annie met during her rehabilitation.

Patty and Hannah were both wearing lovely, but differently styled, sapphire blue dresses.

That day, Isabella discovered that they were allowed to choose their style dress.

Isabella’s was Annie’s choice. A strapless sheath, it fit her like a glove and had no ornamentation.

Until just above her knees.

There, it burst in a wide slit, the hem and slit sporting two, layered, opulent ruffles that trailed down and back in a short train (neither Patty nor Hannah’s dresses were anything near as lavish).

Annie had also chosen her shoes, ultra-sexy, very-high, spike-heeled, delicate strappy sandals that were even a challenge for Isabella to wear and she wore high heels all the time.

The dress was gorgeous, as were the shoes. But both were sexy, managing to be sophisticated as well as daring.

She looked like a cosmopolitan flamenco dancer.

It was too bold and too chic for a church wedding attended by villagers who hated its wearer.

Fortunately (or unfortunately as the case definitely was), Isabella had bigger things to worry about.

Things as big as a handsome, tall, powerfully built architect who was likely not going to be happy he woke up alone.

She had no idea what came over her last night. She’d barely even tried to push Prentice away.

No, she knew what came over her. Prentice had always had a unique talent with being able, quickly, to excite her.

Laurent, her only other lover, had called her frigid on more than one occasion (in other words, regularly).

For twenty years, she’d lamented the fact that she and Prentice had never made love. She’d fantasized about it again and again, when she was with him and after they were over.

And last night, she had it.

And, to her shock, it was better than any of her fantasies.

Far better.

Way far better.

And because of that, she’d been weak. A coward. And selfish, selfish, selfish.

She hadn’t protected him. She’d taken what he gave and then got greedy.

She didn’t know what he was thinking and couldn’t let her mind go there. She just knew that her life was not filled with lucky happenstance. Where she went, tragedy and despair followed.

And Prentice, Jason and Sally had enough of that.

Too much.

Therefore, she was sticking to her plan regardless that things seemed to change last night and change a great deal.

She was leaving directly after the reception.

She’d even talked Fergus into following her to the estate where they were holding the reception so she could drop her fully packed rental there and make a fast getaway.

In the car on the way back to his house, Fergus had offered, “With Annie gone tonight, if things aren’t working at Prentice’s, you can sleep in her room.”

“Thank you, Fergus, but I need to get going.”

“Your flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow,” he reminded her.

“I know and things are fine at Prentice’s. Really. It’s just too much, for all of us.” She turned from her study of the landscape to look at his handsome profile and asked softly, “You understand, don’t you?”

“Haven’t had any time with you myself, lass.”

Her heart lurched. He was right and she remembered again just how much she liked Fergus.

She did her best to ignore her heart and her best, as ever, wasn’t good enough.

“Come to Chicago next year with Annie and Dougal. I’ll spend loads of time with you there. I’ll even take you to a Cubs game,” she suggested.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and shook his head.

Then he said, “Never understood American baseball.”

“That’s fine. I’ve never understood English football,” she returned teasingly.

“Football’s football, the world over, except in America, where its soccer. Always have to buck tradition, you Americans.”

She laughed, Fergus chuckled and she relaxed.

For about two seconds.

Then her mind filled with Prentice again and she started fidgeting.

“They’re too pretty to be walked on!” Sally exclaimed, taking Isabella from her thoughts.

“What are, honey?” Isabella murmured distractedly.

“The petals!” Sally cried.

Isabella turned to focus on the girl, kissed the top of her head then put her hands to both sides of her beautiful face.

She examined it at the same time she memorized every feature.

Then she whispered, “It’s tradition. A magical tradition. Every heroine at the end of a fairytale gets to walk to her hero on a bed of rose petals. And you get to create that magic. Don’t you want to do that for Annie?”

Sally’s face had gone from near to pout to spellbound.

“I didn’t know it was magic,” Sally breathed.

Isabella heard Hannah chuckle.

“Well it is,” Isabella told Sally.

Sally nodded enthusiastically. “I wanna create magic.”

“We all do,” Patty commented. “But this time, it’s all yours, precious.”

Sally, eyes wide, sat back and sighed in happy contentment.

Isabella looked out the window and her heart leapt to her throat in terror.

They were arriving at the church and Prentice, wearing a dark suit (not a tux or morning suit, Dougal had put his foot down) that not only fit him beautifully but he was wearing unbelievably well, was standing outside.

Oh dear.

The Rolls Royce barely halted before Prentice was there, hand to the door handle, pulling it open.

He leaned in, his every-colored eyes pinning Isabella to the spot before he grasped her hand and pulled her from the car.

“What on earth?” Hannah whispered.

“Daddy!” Sally shrieked.

The minute her feet hit the pavement, Isabella didn’t get the chance to say a word, Prentice started walking, dragging her behind him.

Annie was out of her Rolls, her face white a sheet.

“Is something wrong?” she asked as Prentice and Isabella came up to her.

Prentice halted and when he did so, he yanked Isabella against his side and his arm clamped firm around her waist.

Annie’s eyes dropped to his arm. Fergus had also alighted and his eyes did the same.