Fairytale Come Alive (26 page)

Prentice opened his mouth to speak but Jason was suddenly standing in front of Carver Austin,
close
in front of him.

“You’re not taking Miss Bella anywhere!” he shouted and Carver didn’t hesitate. He shoved Fiona’s son aside, striding toward his daughter.

Fiona prepared to launch a ghostly attack but she didn’t get her chance.

Bella wrenched free of Prentice’s arm and she took two angry steps toward her father, switched directions and caught Jason with an arm around his chest. Pulling him roughly so his back was against her front, she backed up, dragging Jason with her.

Her hold and actions fiercely protective, her words, spoken in a tone so harsh, it was scratching and hard to hear, seconded her actions.

“Don’t you
dare
touch him. Don’t you
dare
. Hit me, humiliate me, criticize me, but don’t you
dare
touch Jason.”

She backed into Prentice and stopped. His arm slid around her waist instantly. Sally, face full of fear, ran through the crowd and threw her arms around Bella’s thighs. Burying her face in her own arm, Sally held onto Bella as she trembled.

Bella’s hand not around Jason went to the nape of Sally’s neck.

Carver took this all in, not missing a thing, especially not the fact that Jason shared his father’s unusual eye color.

“Well done, Isabella. Ready-made family. You claimed your fisherman and now you can finally play house like you’ve always wanted.”

The cruelty of his words sent Fiona reeling back several inches.

Was this man actually Bella’s
father?

Prentice had a different reaction.

Again in a growl, this one as frightening as it was threatening, he demanded, “Fergus, I swear to Christ, get him
the fuck
out of here.”

It was Dougal that strode forward stating, “You’re done, mate.”

Carver glared at him. “Don’t lay a hand on me.”

“Allow
me
to lay a hand on you,” Mikey said from behind Carver then he bunched Carver’s suit jacket in his fist, turned and hustled the older man inelegantly out the door.

Fergus and Dougal’s father, Hamish, followed.

Bella and Fiona’s family stood still on the dance floor, the eyes of everyone in the room were on them.

Bella moved first. Pulling free of Prentice’s arm and gently disengaging from Sally and Jason only long enough to crouch down, she brought Sally in close with her arm and, with her other hand, she cupped Jason’s jaw and looked in his face.

“Are you okay, Jason?” she asked softly.

“Is that your Dad?” Jason asked in reply.

Tears threatening to roll down her cheeks, Bella didn’t answer. She just nodded.

“He’s a wanker,” Jason announced.

Fiona thought her son was
not
wrong.

Bella gave him a trembling smile.

Then she stood, letting go of the children, face pale, tears now rolling silently down her cheeks, she took in the assemblage gazing at her with varying degrees of sadness and compassion.

Her eyes caught on Annie.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“Oh Bella,” Annie whispered back and started to walk toward her but Bella’s hand shot up.

“No,” she said, taking in a breath. “It’s me. That dark cloud follows me. I shouldn’t have come.”

Fiona’s heart squeezed.

Bella wrote
a lot
about her “dark cloud” in her journals.

A lot
, a lot.

“Bella,” Annie breathed, obviously knowing about the dark cloud.

But Bella looked away.

She laid a hand on Jason’s head, sliding it down to rest on his cheek, she allowed herself that minute touch and then her hand dropped away.

She turned to Sally, cupping Fiona’s daughter’s cheek in her trembling hand, her fingers curled and she stroked that cheek with her knuckles before she turned to Prentice.

“Elle,” he murmured, his hand moving to her waist but she scurried away.

“I shouldn’t have come.”

“Baby.”

That was something else Fiona could do without. Prentice called Sally “baby” and Fiona had heard, a long time ago, him calling Bella that same endearment.

He’d never called her anything but “Fiona” or, when he was feeling affectionate, which she had to admit was often, he called her “Fee”.

She could do without hearing her husband’s deep brogue calling Bella “baby” in the same way he held her in bed that morning, like she was precious.

“I shouldn’t have come,” Bella repeated.

Then she turned on her hopelessly high heel and she gracefully ran.

Fiona always
knew
she could run gracefully in those heels.

Prentice didn’t hesitate, he went after her.

“Watch the children,” he ordered Debs when he passed his ashen sister.

Fiona sped behind them.

He caught her at her rental car.

Hands to her hips, he pulled her from the open door, slammed it, twirled her around, took a step into her and pinned her against the car.

“You didn’t leave me,” he declared, his voice hoarse.

She shook her head, those silent tears sliding down her cheeks.

“What did he do to you?”

She shook her head, refusing to answer.

Prentice’s hands went to either side of her neck and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“Did he hit you?”

She stared up at him, mutely crying.

Prentice dipped his face to hers and his voice got soft, “Baby, did he hit you?”

She bit her lip and her eyes slid away.

Prentice’s head came up.

“
Christ!
” he swore so viciously, Fiona was surprised the windows on the cars didn’t shatter.

Bella winced.

“He kept you from Annie, didn’t he? When she got hurt. Because she was here. He kept you from her to keep you from me.”

She closed her eyes slowly.

Then she opened them and nodded.

“I can’t fucking
believe
this,” Prentice growled.

Bella finally spoke, her voice timid and soft, a voice Fiona had never heard, a voice
Prentice
(by the looks of him) never heard.

Nor did he like.

“It was for the best.”

“It was for the best?” he repeated, sounding appalled.

“I’m… you…” she stammered. “You wouldn’t have Jason. You wouldn’t have Sally.” It was Prentice who closed his eyes then and Bella went on, her voice getting stronger. “You wouldn’t have had Fiona.” Prentice’s eyes opened and pain was there, Bella saw it and she swallowed. Then her hand lifted and she touched the laugh lines at the sides of his eyes with her forefinger. “You wouldn’t have those, Prentice, because you wouldn’t have had the laughter I know Fiona gave you.”

Fiona felt her throat close as she watched Prentice bend his neck and rest his forehead against Bella’s.

“I have to go,” she whispered and his head shot right back up.

“Sorry?” he asked in a dangerous tone.

“I have to go,” she repeated.

Fiona watched Prentice’s eyes narrow. “What the fuck are you on about?”

“I have to go,” she said yet again.

Fiona got close and shouted,
Don’t. Don’t Bella. This isn’t you. You aren’t the dark cloud. That was all your father. Don’t do this. Don’t go.

“You aren’t going,” Prentice declared.

“I am. I have to,” she told him.

“You aren’t and you can’t,” he shot back.

“Don’t you see?”

“No, I fucking well do not.”

Her body jolted. “Annie and Dougal’s wedding, perfect, except for me.”

“You didn’t ruin their wedding.”

“No? Who did? Me being here brought my father here and –”

“This is insane, Elle. You aren’t –”

“Insane? Like my mother?” Fiona watched Prentice’s head jerk but Bella wasn’t done. “She was insane, Prentice. People in their right minds don’t kill themselves.”

“People in their right minds find reasons to kill themselves every day,” he returned.

“You don’t know.”

“You don’t either.”

“I know my mother wasn’t in her right mind. I know that for certain.”

“Elle –”

“And you don’t need
that
in your life
or
in your children’s lives.”

Prentice’s face grew stunned. “Are you saying –?”

“I’m saying I’m a product of
her
and
him
and
that
is what you’ll have around your children if we carry on with this madness.”

“You may be a product of them, Elle, but you’re
you
.”

“And who’s that, then? You said yourself you don’t even know me!”

“Yes, I do. You’re the girl I fell in love with twenty years ago. That girl came home drunk two nights ago. Last night, she let me make love to her, telling me it’s never been that good, and later, she slept in my arms.”

“That girl isn’t
me
.”

Prentice glared at her.

Bella glared back.

Then he tore his hand through his hair and, at that gesture, Fiona knew he was losing patience because she’d seen him do it many times before.

“This is ridiculous,” he clipped.

Yes, losing patience.

“I agree, just let me go.”

His eyes narrowed. “I told you, this time I’m keeping you.”

She put her hands to his chest and gave a hearty shove. Prentice’s torso rocked back but then came in closer.

“You can’t
keep
me,
” she snapped. “I don’t want to be
kept
.”

He put his face close to hers. “Bollocks.”

She pulled in breath through her nose and looked at the heavens.

When she looked back at him, she asked, “Prentice, don’t you
see?
”

Fiona shouted,
No! No, he doesn’t
see
! You have to tell him. You have to tell him so he can sort you out. He has no idea. You HAVE GOT to TELL him.

Bella shook her head to clear Fiona’s words.

And then she said, “It’s for the best. It was twenty years ago, and you can’t deny that.” His mouth got tight at that and Bella went on, this time quietly, “It will be again. You’ll find happiness, Prentice. It’s just never something you’d find with me.”

Prentices eyes got hard. “Elle, you get in that car and drive away, that’s it. You leave me
and
the children this time, if you get second thoughts and you come back, I’ll no’ make you work for it. There’ll be
nothing
to work for.”

To Fiona’s shock, disappointment, anger and sadness, although Bella’s face paled and her throat convulsed, her head nodded.

Prentice felt those same four emotions and he didn’t hide them.

His voice was gruff when he stated, “The last time, even though I didn’t know it, you were taken from me. This time, if you leave, it’s all you.”

Fiona saw Bella’s eyes flash with indecision.

“Prentice,” she whispered.

Don’t get in that car, Bella,
Fiona shouted,
Don’t do it.

Then, seeing Bella make her decision (the
wrong
one) and shift toward the door, Fiona tried yelling at Prentice.

Don’t let her go. She needs you to save her. She needs her knight in shining armor, not a man who’d let her go. This is twice, Prentice, and you don’t even know this is all on you. Twenty years, and it’s all YOU. You should have gone to save her the last time and you let her go. This is the same. She isn’t leaving you, she has this idea that she’s saving you. This is NOT her LEAVING. This is YOU LETTING HER GO!

As usual, Prentice didn’t hear a word Fiona said.

And by the time she was done yelling, Bella was in the car and she didn’t even look at Prentice’s angry, tight face as she reversed the rental out of the spot and she didn’t look back as she drove away.

Isabella’s Return

Isabella

The next three weeks went by in a fog for Isabella.

Well, not all of it.

She remembered texting Annie and Mikey repeatedly to let them know she was okay and not about to drive her car over a cliff.

And she remembered Fergus showing up at the hotel she’d checked herself into after her mad flight from the wedding reception. She remembered him having a drink with her in the bar, guiding to her room and holding her while she cried and tucking her into bed when she was exhausted from her tears. She also remembered him taking her to breakfast the next morning and to the airport that afternoon.