it down like he was nothing but a vague recollection which was so far from the truth.
“He is back in town so I thought it would be nice to catch up with him. The last time he was here…” her voice started to break. It was still hard for either of them to talk about her parents, the pain still fresh in their minds.
“I know Gran. I miss them too.” Her eyes started to water at the memory of that day.
“And you know I invited Kathryn,” Adele smiled changing the subject. “You girls haven’t seen each other in far too long.”
“Yeah it has been a while.” For a reason, she thought to herself.
Kathryn had been at that fateful reading and knew she would lose two special people and that she would meet James, not to mention Vincent. It wasn’t entirely Kathryn’s fault but Ally had felt uncomfortable around her ever since. Maybe it was time to see her again, put the past behind them, but then she realised that James was coming.
Would Kat remember the name? She had never told her that she met him that morning. It was something that she wanted to keep to herself.
“Well I had better get myself something to wear.” Alessandra stood up and started to head for her room. Then stopped dead in her tracks at the full realisation of what she had just thought.
“Vincent,” she whispered.
Pure terror started in her toes then shot straight to the tips of her hair. She looked up at her grandmother. Adele had stopped still and was looking straight at Ally with terror reflecting back at her.
“Who is Vincent?” Adele asked, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke.
Ally looked to the ground, trying to understand why she felt so scared. “I don’t know,” she whispered then paused and bit her lower lip. “All I know is that he terrifies me.” She looked up at her grandmother. “But I don’t know who he is.”
Ally started to tremble, she couldn’t remember last night and she was scared of some guy called Vincent even though she had never met someone called Vincent before, or at least she thought she hadn’t…
Adele rushed over to hug her granddaughter. “I think you need to go back upstairs and spend the day relaxing.”
“Yeah” she said, recovering slightly. “I must be overtired or something.” Turning to go back upstairs, she suddenly stopped. “No, wait, I can’t.” She cried as she realised something of great importance about tonight. “I don’t have a dress. I need to go buy one.”
Adele laughed softly. “Well I was going to surprise you a bit later but I have taken care of that for you. Go on upstairs and I will bring it up.”
Ally walked up the stairs and went into her bedroom. She went out onto the balcony for a breath of crisp fresh air. Maybe that will jog my memory she thought. How strange that I can’t remember last night and now I’m scared of some guy I have never met. She leaned on the balcony railing and lost herself in thoughts while she waited for Adele to bring the dress up.
It was very sweet of her grandmother to organise a dress for her and to try and rekindle her friendship with Kat. They had been so close that she had considered her the sister she never had.
As for James, if he had been an old family friend that was so important, he would have been spoken of at least once in the last five years. Then there was the gleam in her eye. Gran was up to something and she was clearly very proud of herself. It made Ally a little nervous.
The thought of James did strange things to her body that she had never experienced before. He had been in her presence for all of five minutes and he still haunted her to this day. Madame Isabella had been right about her parents and she had met James, maybe there was something between them that was written in the stars. Oh god, she thought to herself, I sound like Kat and she isn’t even here yet.
Just then there was a knock at her bedroom door. “It’s just me darling. Are you ready to see your dress?” Gran asked as she