Vision in Faith (Legends of the North Book 3) (4 page)

"They're not like the visions you guys have had. I'm not even convinced that they're related to what's happening," he said, turning to glare at Matt.

Matt grinned at him. "Why don't you let others decide that, James? Just tell us."

"Fine. It's always the same dream. It starts off with me standing outside the old house down by the bridge—"

 
"The one opposite my flat?" Vicky interrupted him to ask.

"Yes, that one," James said, the corners of his mouth lifting.
If she's surprised at that, just wait until she's heard the rest.

"So, I'm standing outside the old house except, instead of the state it's in now, the stone walls are intact on the stairs, and the arches at the top aren't crumbling. It looks beautiful. The place is in darkness, but then I see a faint glow flickering in one of the upstairs windows." James took a breath, his gaze resting briefly on Vicky, who stared at him intently. He looked back to Jess, who was still smiling at him.

"So, I walk closer to the old house, and I can make out the shape of someone standing in front of the window. Suddenly, the light disappears and I'm moving towards the bottom of the stairs. That's when I can see that the front door is ajar.
 

"Taking the stairs two at a time, I push the door wide open, but there's nothing but darkness. The farther inside I go, I can hear the shuffle of feet from behind me. I can see the faint glow of flickering candlelight and walk over to where it's coming from. When I push the door open, I see a woman."
 

James stopped to clear his throat, shoving his hands in his pockets, feeling slightly uncomfortable even though he had no reason to be. Nobody else would think it was Vicky except Matt, who liked to wind him up. And he was letting him.

"Go on," Matt said.
 

 
Glaring at his brother, James pulled one hand from his pocket and rubbed absently at the bridge of his nose. "This woman's just standing there facing the window, holding a candle in this old-fashioned metal thing. I can't see her face from the side because her hair is hiding it, hanging down like a curtain. I step towards her and start to say I'm not sure what, but she just… disappears. The room is in darkness, and I know I'm alone, so I run out and I can see candlelight coming from the room across the hall. And then it just carries on like that, her disappearing and me following her from room to room, never seeing her face."
 

 
James let out a deep breath and ran his hand over his head. Keeping his gaze firmly on Jess, he waited for someone to say something. Matt chuckled, but it was Rob who spoke first.
 

"So, whoever this woman is, she has to be linked to this. I dreamed about Jess—"

"I dreamed about Emma," Matt piped up, but Rob carried on as though he hadn't been interrupted.
 

"—dreams that were related to her visions. I'm just going to say it since everyone is probably thinking it anyway. The woman has to be Vicky. She had a vision…"

James heard Vicky suck in a breath and glanced at her, but she was staring at Rob.

"Her vision did include a candle," Emma added, turning to look at Vicky. "Do you think that's where your vision was? Do we know if the old house has a room like Vicky described?"

Vicky shrugged and stared down at her fingers, twisting them together in her lap.

"I don't think it matters," Matt said. "They were both in old rooms, both had candles in them, and the woman had brown hair."
 

"What?" Emma asked. "How do you know that?"
 

Matt looked over at James, but he had turned to stare out of the window again, his back to the room. "Because James told me."

Abruptly, Vicky got to her feet. "Enough! That doesn't mean anything." James turned to look at her, but she was facing Matt, her back to him. "I dye my hair all the time, different colours. It's just a coincidence. And even if it isn't, just because we had some stupid dreams, it doesn't mean anything." She glared at Emma, pointing a finger at her. "And it certainly doesn't mean James and I will… That we'll end up like you and Matt. Or Jess and Rob, for that matter," she said, flinging her arm towards Jess. "It means nothing."

And with those final words, Vicky hurried from the room.
 

***

Vicky burst out of the front door and ran. She didn't even check which direction she was running, just ran, needing to put some distance between her and what they were trying to imply.
 

Vicky was happy in her singledom. She didn't want to be set up with someone, least of all James. She was pretty sure he felt the same way she did with his reluctance to share his dreams. They didn't mean anything.
 

Slowing to a walk—her breathing laboured—she stopped as she reached the river. The rush of it over the stones was reassuring, like the churning inside her wasn't quite so chaotic compared to that of the water.

 
She didn't believe in fate and all that bullshit. She was in charge of her life; she decided what happened to her. Much to her parents' disappointment, she didn't believe in God but as religious as they were, they were fine that she wasn't. Even so, some of their beliefs had rubbed off on her, and if she were totally honest, she was a little scared of James.

When he'd told her about the attack on him, how the others had found him and believed him to be dead, even though that night she had told him about her vision, it was just… weird. Had he come back from the dead? Been resurrected? Whatever had happened, it wasn't normal, and frankly, it spooked her.

Regardless, it still didn't make what they were implying true. So they both had dreams; that didn't mean they were suddenly fated to be together. Bending down, she picked up a pebble and tried to skim it across the water, but it was flowing too fast, and the stone sank from sight.

Picking up another pebble, she rubbed her fingers over its smooth surface, watching the water tumble and froth over itself.

Letting herself get lost in it.

***

James watched as Vicky ran from the room, and even though he knew her words were true, they still stung.
Nothing like being publicly snubbed.
All eyes in the room turned his way, but he wasn't sure what they wanted from him. Vicky wasn't the only one who needed some air. He rose from his chair and strode across the room.

"Are you going after her?" Matt asked. James wasn't sure if he was, so he just kept on walking without answering.
 

As he headed across the fields, he came to the river and followed it downstream. The noise as it tumbled and rushed over the stones drowned out his thoughts.

Rounding the bend, he saw Vicky, who looked like she was trying to skim stones. Someone should tell her a river wasn't the place to do that.
 

Leaning against the tree, he watched her. He didn't understand her. James had thought once he'd sorted the rental issue she might be less antagonistic towards him, but clearly, he'd read that wrong after what had happened earlier.

Most women he knew bent over backwards to be nice to him. Well, to the name really; he wasn't arrogant enough to believe it was all about him. Vicky was the first woman he'd met who truly didn't give a shit about the name. In fact, she seemed to hate him because of it.
So why, exactly, am I standing here staring at her?
 

He watched as she just held a stone that time, not even trying to skim it. She watched it sink then turned and stared straight at him.
 

"What are you doing here?"

That was a very good question. "Honestly?" he asked as he tried not to grin at her. "I have no bloody idea."

She laughed, which surprised him. "I'm sorry. About earlier, you know. Just taking off like that."

He shook his head and pushed off the tree, taking a step closer to her. "It doesn't matter. We've all had a lot longer to come to terms with all of this than you have. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's just… I find it hard to believe that simply because we have similar dreams, it means anything."
 

She looked up at him and gave him a small smile.
Progress. At least she isn't shouting at me.
Walking over to a large rock at the side of the river, he sat down, watching the water as it foamed beneath a small waterfall. He carried on staring over at the river as he started to speak to her. "I don't know what to tell you, Vicky. I've been having these dreams for a long time now." He looked up when she brushed against him as she leaned against the rock and sat next to him. "They didn't start off like this, but the one with the woman? I've had that every night this past week. When I told Matt about them, I never said I thought it was you. That was him."

Vicky glanced up at him. "It's okay." She looked away again, downriver, and he followed her gaze. He let the silence surround them, just the sounds of nature and the smell of damp grass.

He felt some of the tension that seemed to simmer constantly between them ease, and Vicky relaxed a little beside him.

"I never implied that I thought we would, you know, anything. But with your visions, I think it's safe to say you're involved in all of this somehow." From the corner of his eyes, he saw her nod.

"I know. I overreacted by running off back there, but they all seemed so sure that we…"

James glanced her way when she didn't finish that thought. "Honestly, Vicky, they have no more bloody idea what it all means than we do. Don't worry about them." When she gave him a small smile, he stared back into the dark water, wishing that weren't true.

Chapter 5

Vicky couldn't keep the grin off her face, even though it was Monday morning. After her chat with James by the river, she felt more at ease; he hadn't believed their dreams meant they were supposed to be together either.
 

She'd been relieved. And a little disappointed, which surprised her. Not that he wasn't interested in her. No, she was disappointed because what would they tell the others? They all believed her and James being together was a sure thing. What would they do now?
 

Pushing those thoughts aside for the time being, her mind wandered back to the reason she couldn't stop grinning. She'd had a solicitor look over the lease for the shop and had signed it. She just needed to drop it off to James after work.

After that, she'd tell Margaret that she was giving her notice. Vicky did a little happy dance at the thought of saying those words to Margaret. The woman had made her life miserable, and she had no idea why.

 
Margaret had hired her as a senior stylist and then seemed put out when some of her regulars started requesting Vicky as their stylist instead of her. You'd think she would be glad Vicky was doing a good job and bringing in more business too, but oh no, not Margaret.

It had started to get serious a few months ago, which was when she'd approached James's mother about Spinner's Cottage.
God, just the name makes me smile.
She was going to be her own boss. Nobody could make her wash hair to try to humiliate her in front of customers.

 
She'd be washing everyone's hair, and answering the phones herself too until she could afford an assistant. With a shrug, she realised she didn't care. She knew it was going to be hard work but she couldn't wait; this time, she was doing it all for herself.

By the time five thirty p.m. rolled around, Vicky thought she had envisioned every possible way to "accidentally kill" her boss. Drowning her still seemed like the best option. Pulling on her jacket, she hooked her bag over her shoulder and walked back out into the salon.

"Try to be on time tomorrow, dear. The towels will need doing first thing as well," Margaret said with a saccharine smile.

Vicky returned her own fake smile, the one she had perfected a long time ago, just for Margaret. "I'll make sure I'm early. Good night." Not waiting for a response, she pulled open the door and stepped out of the salon. Be on time! Huh, she'd been on bloody time, the silly cow. The sooner she handed her notice in the better. Rooting through her bag, she found the lease agreement and made her way to the bus stop.
 

 
Half an hour later, she was walking down Altenbury Lane towards James's office. She hoped he was in. Knocking on the door, she waited for a response before pressing her ear against it. She could make out a mumbled voice and quietly opened the door.

 
James was sitting behind his desk, talking on the phone. When he saw her, he smiled and beckoned her inside, holding his hand out towards the chair opposite him. She sat down and took the papers out of her bag, placing them on the desk, and then folded her hands in her lap. Trying not to listen to his conversation, she glanced around his office.

It reminded her of him, serious and organised. His desk was a large wooden one, covered with scratches that showed its age. Shelves lined one wall, but the other had an amazing view across to the river. To the side was a fancy-looking coffee machine, and the aroma of cocoa and caramel hung in the air.

"Okay, thanks. Bye." He hung up the phone and swung around in his chair to face her. "Vicky, I wasn't expecting you."

The sound of her name halted her inspection, and she looked back towards James. Should she have made an appointment? "I'm sorry, I should have called first."

James shook his head. "It's fine. I've finished for the day anyway, so how can I help you?" As he said it, he smiled at her, and her mind went blank.

He was handsome normally, but when he smiled… God, he was gorgeous. His eyes seemed to sparkle like the colour of the sea when the sun hit it, and he got a little dimple on his chin, which bizarrely she found incredibly sexy. She wanted to dip her tongue in it.

 
And those were totally inappropriate thoughts for her soon-to-be landlord. Plus, he was still an Altenbury. Although she was beginning to question what she had against them. The mother? Yes, without a doubt, the stuck-up bitch. But Matt? Emma was marrying him, so he couldn't be that bad. And Jess? Well, Jess was turning out to be one of her best friends too. So maybe James wasn't that bad either?