Vision in Faith (Legends of the North Book 3) (3 page)

Her gaze dropped to the papers as she took them from him and skimmed the first page, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

"Should we go?"

"Oh, yes," she said, and practically skipped out of his office.

***

Stealing glances at James as they walked down Main Street towards the shop, she considered pinching him to make sure this was real. Her thoughts drifted to the man's mother and why she'd said what she had about her, and him. Vicky's mum had warned her about "Lady Muck," her endearing term for James's mother. She knew there was no love lost between her mum and James's, but she just didn't know why.
 

Vicky had asked, but all her mum would ever say was "leave it in the past." So caught up in her own thoughts, she walked straight in to James, who had stopped outside the shop door. He was half turned to face her as he unlocked the door, and her hand hit him in the crotch. She heard his sharp exhale and stepped back.
 

God, maybe this is what his mother meant. Did I just sexually harass
my new landlord?

"Shit. James, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to touch you… there. I didn't mean to touch you at all. I just wasn't looking where I was going."
Stop talking, Vicky. Just stop talking. And remove your hand. You're basically just cupping his crotch now.
She jerked her hand back and covered her mouth with it. Her face heated, mortified with herself.

He didn't say anything, and the quiet of the village suddenly seemed deafening. It was broken by the creak of the door as he pushed it open and held out a hand, indicating for her to enter first.

"Thanks." Not wanting to see his face, she kept her head down and walked inside.

The room was dark and smelled musty. Squinting at the sudden light coming from the bare bulb overhead, she blinked several times. Slowly, she turned to take in what could be a dream come true.
My dream come true.

Downstairs it had been a paper shop before, and the racks were still fixed to one wall. The stone walls had been painted white, but it was flaking off in patches. A metal counter ran across the back of the room.

 
She could imagine it though, rows of shampoo, conditioner, and hairspray filling the shelves. On the opposite wall, huge mirrors and a chair, black leather perhaps.
 

Smiling at the image, she walked into the back room and flicked on the light. Boxes lined one wall; it had clearly been used as a storeroom. In the corner was a once-white washbasin, and she wrinkled her nose at the smell coming from it as she stepped back. She'd be able to put a new one in for washing hair.
 

Peeking out the window to a small yard, she bounced on her tiptoes, pressing her hands together. The thought of being her own boss, something she'd been saving every spare penny for the last few years, made her want to jump up and down.

"Is it what you were expecting?"

She whirled around at James's voice. Tilting her head, she contemplated his words. She was beginning to think
he
wasn't what she had expected. "It's going to be better than I expected. So much better."

And with those words, a goofy smile spread across her face.

As Vicky left for work, she felt like she was being swept along on the breeze. With the lease agreement tucked away in her handbag, along with James's stern words to "get a solicitor to look over it before you sign it," she still hadn't stopped smiling.
 

 
But her thoughts were looping endlessly. All the things she would need to do, like buy equipment and fit out the shop. Supplies and paint. A name! She'd have to come up with a name. Not that she didn't already have several in mind, but she'd actually have to pick one. Someone would need to paint the sign, advertising, get leaflets printed—oh, it was endless. But she didn't care; she'd been dreaming of this for so long, and she wanted everything to be perfect. She wasn't afraid of a bit of hard work.

She was still adding to her mental list as she walked to Emma and Matt's house the next day. The nearer she got though, the more her thoughts returned to the episode she'd had at Jess's on Friday night.
What did James call it? A vision? A vision of what? The future?
If it was, it had been a pretty crappy image. And if Emma had them too, why hadn't she been in touch with her? The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. It had been two days with no word from Emma. Seemed like she had been keeping a whole lot from Vicky these days. Maybe Matt was a bad influence. Bloody Altenburys!

Vicky had managed to wind herself up nicely by the time she rapped her knuckles on the front door. When it opened, she wanted to blurt out all her angry thoughts but stopped short when she saw Matt standing in front of her.

"Hi. Come on in. Emma's nearly ready. She'll be down soon."

"Thanks." Her anger had simmered to be replaced by awkwardness. She didn't really know Matt all that well. And having never been alone with him, she found she didn't know what to say. He apparently didn't have the same issue.

"Take a seat," he said as he lowered himself onto one of the leather sofas. Taking a seat opposite him, she folded her hands in her lap and glanced around the room.

"How have you been?" Her gaze flicked from the bookshelves to Matt. "After Friday, I mean. They can be quite… disturbing."

It came out sounding more like a question, but she wasn't sure how to answer it as she cocked her head to the side and stared at him.

"James told us that you seemed okay afterwards. Emma wanted to check on you, but he said to give you some space to deal with it. Until today, at least." He smiled as he said the last few words, and her eyes began to fill with tears. She had no idea why; she wasn't a crier. Pressing the heels of her hands over her eyes, she took a steadying breath. "Did James tell you? Did he say what it was about?"

"Yes, he told us. But they can change."

She was about to ask him what he meant when Emma walked in and sat down beside her. Taking Vicky's hand in her own, Emma turned to face her.

"How are you? Do you want to talk about it?"

Tears stung at the back of her eyes again and she closed them, shaking her head. "No, not really. Nothing much more to say besides what James has probably already told you."

Emma squeezed her hand, and Vicky gave her a smile that was hopefully believable. "Why don't you tell me what's going to happen at James's instead?" At her question, Emma laughed. "What?"

Emma grinned at her. "Sorry, it's just the way you said it. You made it sound like we make animal sacrifices or some other weird cult rituals."

Vicky laughed and relaxed a little. "You mean it's not? Damn, I'm disappointed. I was at least expecting some chanting and blood."

Emma shook her head and started to explain what they usually did when they got
together.

***

As the three of them walked down the lane towards James's cottage, Emma nudged Vicky. "James also told us about Spinner's Cottage."

"Did he now." Hmm, it seemed James was chattier than she thought. At least with other people, anyway.

Emma continued, "Are you going to take it? Is that why you've dyed your hair again?"
 

Vicky laughed because Emma knew her so well. Whenever some big event was going to happen, she liked to dye her hair a different colour. "I thought going darker would help me look more professional. You know, say 'I run this salon' kind of colour."

Emma laughed. "You don't need a hair colour to say that, Vicky. People will know when they come in to
your
salon."

She shrugged because she knew Emma was right. But she didn't do it for other people; it was more about how it made her feel. It wasn't "armour," but it was a way for her to be in that role. If she looked like the owner of the salon, maybe she could believe she could be one.
 

"James thought you were probably going to rent it."

"Mmm. James has been saying an awful lot lately."

"James told Matt, who told me."

Vicky glanced at Emma and slowed her pace a little so Matt could get further ahead. Then she said quietly, "Did James tell you that I also hit him in… in his… in the crotch? I basically felt him up."

"What?" Emma shouted, and Matt turned back to look at them. She waved a hand at him and he carried on walking.

"It was an accident."

Emma covered her mouth with a hand, smothering her laugh unsuccessfully. Vicky was still glaring at her when she asked, "How do you hit someone in the crotch accidentally?"

Vicky let out a sigh and explained. Emma laughed again and that time, it was no accident when Vicky's hand hit the other woman's shoulder. "Okay, okay," Emma said, holding her hands up in defence. "Just tell me this. Was it a sizeable target, or just a lucky hit?"

Vicky gasped and stopped walking. "Emma! This is James we're talking about. You know, your future brother-in-law."

Emma stopped walking and looked back at Vicky. "What? Just making sure I picked the right brother." She winked at Vicky and then started walking again. Vicky stared after her, knowing she'd been joking, but… Was Emma interested in James? Was she not happy with Matt? An image of Emma and James standing outside Altenbury Hall together flitted through Vicky's head. And the bitter feeling starting in the pit of her stomach had nothing to do with that image.
 

She knew she would never be welcome at Altenbury Hall and she was fine with that.
I don't want to be.
 

Following after Emma and Matt, she tried to catch up.
 

I don't want to be.

Chapter 4

James threw the remains of the bread he had just cremated into the trash and slammed the cupboard door shut. He was just tired after a bad night's sleep, he told himself, but that didn't explain his foul mood as he dropped two more slices into the toaster.
 

The night had been spent dreaming of Vicky—okay, maybe fantasising was a better word—as he imagined telling her she was late on the rent, and she offered an alternative payment, right there in the shop.
 

Stop it!

Pulling at the suddenly much tighter material of his jeans, he grabbed at the toast as it was flung from the toaster. The other dream was much less pleasurable and much more insistent.

 
The sound of the front door opening had him sticking his head through the kitchen doorway as Matt walked in.
 

"Hey."

"Hi. You're early," James said gruffly. Matt checked his watch and shook his head as James walked back into the kitchen to butter his toast. "I'm running late then," he said over his shoulder with a sigh. He hated being late.

"Well, your day's about to get better," Matt said as he leaned against the kitchen counter, his hands gripping it on either side of him.

James looked over at him, knife hovering over his toast, pinning Matt with his gaze.
 

Matt held up both hands and laughed. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger. It's got nothing to do with me."

Cutting his toast in half, James said, "Just spit it out, Matt. You know you want to."

Matt pushed off the counter and walked over to James. "I know you don't want to believe it, but I don't think even you can deny it any longer."

James threw a puzzled look at his brother then turned at the sound of Emma and Vicky chatting. Turning in their direction, James sucked in a breath and Matt clapped him on the back.

"Told you, bro," he whispered.

Closing his eyes, James saw his dream play out behind his closed eyelids. Always the same. The same woman every time, even though he couldn't see her face because it was hidden behind the curtain of her hair.
 

Her dark brown hair.
 

Releasing the breath he had been holding, he opened his eyes. All three of them were staring at him, and he couldn't blame them.

"Hi," he mumbled, turning to pick up his plate of toast and heading for the living room with his head down. Taking a bite, James stared out the window towards the river. He heard the front door and smiled, distracted from his thoughts, as Jess's laughter filled the hall followed by Rob's voice. It turned out Rob was a good guy after all, and Jess seemed happy, so he was happy.
 

At the sound of Matt's voice, James turned to face them as they all took a seat. Rob chose the armchair with Jess on the floor between his legs. Emma and Vicky sat on the sofa looking at Matt as he wrote something on the wall.
His bloody spreadsheet
, James thought with a roll of his eyes.
 

Vicky's head dipped as Matt explained to Rob and Jess the details of Vicky's vision on Friday night. She looked so vulnerable, sitting there with her hands folded in her lap. Then he thought back to Friday night, and how she looked anything but vulnerable when she'd tried to put him in his place.

"James?"

Jerking his head away from Vicky's direction, he glared at Matt. "What?" From the smirk on Matt's face, James had a feeling he wasn't going to like whatever his brother had to say.

"I said, I thought it was about time you shared your dreams with the rest of us."

James looked from his brother to his baby sister. Then to Rob, who'd been there when Jess had her visions. And Emma, who had seen Matt attacked and had her own visions to deal with.
 

And then there was Vicky. They were all involved, all in this together; he'd just rather not share if he had to. Clearing his throat to say exactly that, Jess beat him to it.

"I know it's hard, James, but we're family. You can trust us. We're in this together."

 
Swallowing hard, he tried to clear his throat again as Jess smiled at him. God, how could he refuse when she looked at him like one of the knights in shining armour from his legends book?

James kept his eyes on Jess, who continued to smile at him encouragingly.
Okay, if my little sister could do this then so can I.
Leaning against the windowsill, he gripped the wood on either side of him and started.