“Oh crap,” Annie mumbled in the background.
Prentice obviously didn’t appreciate her tone of voice and Fiona knew this by his tone of voice when he answered.
“Were you with Annie two weeks ago when the police pulled you over for drag racing?” he countered.
Fiona giggled to herself because she thought that Bella drag racing was funny, especially Prentice’s reaction to it when Fergus called and told him it happened. Bella didn’t get in trouble, only a warning but the whole village had heard about it and thought it was a scream.
“We weren’t drag racing,” Bella replied. “I just got my new car and we were testing it out.”
“By racing each other in the streets?”
“Well –”
Prentice interrupted her, “And last week at the pub when you two challenged the rugby team to a game of quarters.”
“Quarters is like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it and Annie and I are good at quarters. The rugby team was smashed and we were only a little tipsy,” Bella defended.
“You play quarters when you’re in uni,” Prentice returned.
“And when your forty and having fun!” Bella snapped.
“I don’t have time for this,” he ground out, sounding like his patience was at an end.
“All right, fine. Just so you know, that night at the pub with the rugby team?” she informed him. “Later, when we were necking in the parking lot, there was a photographer. There’s, like, five pictures in a gossip rag of us going at it. Have a good staff meeting.” Then Bella pressed a button on her phone, turned to the group and announced, “Honestly, it’s like he’s an old man.”
“Actually, it seems to me it’s like twenty years haven’t passed,” Debs whispered, Annie, Fern and Mikey grinned at her and Bella’s phone rang again.
She answered without greeting, simply reminding him, “Pren. Staff meeting?”
Prentice didn’t greet Bella either.
Instead, he demanded, “Don’t put the phone down on me.”
“I… what?”
“Don’t ever put the phone down on me.”
Bella went still at the tone of his voice. So did Fiona’s spectral body.
He sounded serious and he sounded angry. Not Bella-and-Prentice-having-a-tiff angry.
Something else entirely.
Bella turned her back to her spectators and started, “Prentice, I –”
Prentice interrupted her.
“You could get in a car wreck, I could get in a car wreck and the last thing you did was put the phone down on me.” Fiona saw Bella’s face pale as Prentice continued, “When you’re done speaking, no matter how frustrated you are, you f**king tell me good-bye.”
“I’m not going to get in a car wreck,” Bella assured quietly.
He ignored her. “We fight, it’s what we do and as f**king daft as it makes me, I love that about us. But when you’re separated from me and I’m talking to you on the f**king phone, no matter if we’re talking or fighting, you say good-bye.”
“Pren –”
“Twenty years ago, I walked out of a room and neither of us said good-bye.”
Bella pulled in breath and her eyes squeezed tight.
“People who care about each other always say good-bye,” Prentice finished.
She opened her eyes and replied softly, “All right, Pren, I’ll say good-bye.”
“Always, Elle,” he demanded.
“Always,” she whispered.
“Now, I’m late. Don’t, for the love of Christ, get into trouble with Annie.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
He expelled an audible breath, his voice got soft and he said, “Love you, baby.”
Bella’s face got soft when she heard it; she started to say something and then her body jerked.
“Pren?”
“Aye.”
“Are you mad about the magazine?”
“I don’t give a f**k about the magazine.”
“Really?”
“Really, baby,” he replied, still using that soft voice. “Now, I have to go.”
“Bye, Pren.”
“See you soon, baby.”
He rang off and Bella turned back to her friends.
“Pren didn’t like me hanging up on him,” she announced.
“Broody,” Mikey declared and then finished, “Hot.”
Bella giggled.
So did Fiona.
And Fern.
And Debs.
“I need coffee and one of Bella’s Christmas cookies,” Annie declared.
“You made Christmas cookies?” Debs asked, eyes wide, clearly having had Bella’s Christmas cookies (Fiona hadn’t, but she’d heard about them and she’d seen the ones Bella made with Sally at the weekend and they looked delicious).
“She’s Bella. It’s Christmas. That means Christmas cookies,” Mikey confirmed.
“Fern, can you come over for coffee and cookies?” Bella asked.
“I’ll have cookies tomorrow,” Fern replied. “My girl is in to help then. I’ll be at your place at eleven o’clock?”
“Works for me,” Bella smiled.
They said their good-byes and Fiona floated after them as they walked down the pavement toward Bella’s new Land Rover.
While Fiona drifted after them, she thought of her husband, who was good at brooding normally but had honed it to a fine art when Fiona died.
Fiona also thought about it being Christmas.
They’d always had great Christmases except last year which was a disaster although Prentice tried everything he could and had help from both their families.
And although he was definitely happy to have Bella back and Fiona’s family was whole again, Fiona reckoned Prentice was apprehensive about Christmas.
And maybe, even though he had the love of his life back in his life, it seemed he was still missing his wife a little.
This made Fiona both happy and sad.
She forgot about danger and magic and got close to Bella as Bella hit the button on her keyfob to open her Rover.
Take care with Prentice! she shouted, He’s worried about Christmas.
Bella moved to the driver’s side door and whispered, “I know. I will.”
Fiona wished she could hug her.
As they all piled in, Fiona felt a shiver go through her body.
She turned and looked down the street and then stared, her ghostly eyes narrowing, not believing what she thought she’d just seen.
She wasn’t sure because she’d disappeared around the corner but Fiona could have sworn she saw Hattie Fennick standing there.