Her father grimaced. "Well, I...I ...er... this is ridiculous, Farrah. I thought you would have had enough of slumming it with this guy. Get that annulment and leave the loser."
"Xavier," Farrah said. "His name is Xavier and he is not a loser, nor does he live in the slums, not that I would care, because he is a better man than you will ever be."
She was trembling with indignation. "He is a kind, caring, compassionate guy who..." her voice faltered.
"Loves you," Xavier said behind her.
She spun around. "Xavier?"
She smiled when she saw the warm expression in his eyes. "Are you with Bobbie-Ann?" Her heart was beating rapidly. She had stood up to her father and Xavier had heard.
"No, but I have something to tell you," Xavier said. "I have been meaning to tell you but..."
"See, he can't even be faithful," her father said smugly. "I tell you, these men of the lower classes have women everywhere. They can't be trusted. What is he doing here anyway, collecting food from the buffet to carry home to feed you tomorrow?"
He and his brothers chuckled.
Xavier frowned but he didn't say a word.
Farrah looked between her father and Xavier. "I am going to trust him, because I love him too." She looked at Xavier with all her pent-up emotions in her eyes.
Xavier placed his hands around her and hugged her to him.
Her father grunted. "Let's go, boys. It seems as if Gloria gave birth to an idiot."
"Is it too late to get a DNA test?" her Uncle Art asked waspishly.
Her father moved out of earshot, shrugging off their conversation as if it hadn't happened. "Doesn't matter. I am disowning that one, leaving her out of my will."
Xavier looked at her and said solemnly. "I really have something to tell you."
"Okay," Farrah smiled at him. "What is it?"
"Farrah Knight!" Darla squealed. "Where have you been hiding?"
She was accompanied by Kate, who was not approaching them as enthusiastically as Darla was.
"I was up in Reading, living in a little cottage with my husband," Farrah said, air kissing Darla and then Kate.
"Your husband?" Darla's eyes widened and she looked at Xavier.
"Yum. I mean hello." She held out her hand for it to be shaken.
Xavier took it. "Hello."
"What's his name?" Darla asked at the same time as Kate asked in shock, "Husband?"
"Girls," Farrah said with aplomb, "meet Xavier Bell. My husband."
"No," Darla said shaking her head. "Xavier was, er..."
"A nerd, ugly, not in the same class," Xavier finished for her, "and if she married me she would be like Frankenstein's bride."
Darla closed her mouth but her eyes said it all. She was feeling ashamed.
"I apologize," Kate said readily. "I was young and foolish when I said those things."
"Apology accepted." Xavier smiled, showing his straight white teeth. Darla looked like she was about to swoon.
"I am sorry too," she squeaked. "Really sorry."
"They are about to start." Xavier looked at the stage as they were dimming the lights. He turned to Farrah. "We'll clear up this when we get home, okay?"
"Clear up what?" Farrah asked.
"Later," he kissed her on the lips and headed to the stage area.
*****
The launch went on without a hitch and company personnel gave demonstrations of their various services and technology. Farrah sat at the back with Cynth and Ruby and clapped along with the audience. Darla and Kate had wanted to talk but they had been hastily ushered to their seats. Farrah breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want to tell them anything right now. Maybe she should be reevaluating her friendships with them; she should have done that a long time ago. Oh, how she missed Alka and her quiet wisdom, her modesty and bubbly personality.
When Bobbie-Ann got up to speak, Farrah paid attention. She was an eloquent speaker and she had the audience eating out of her hands.
"Our CEO," Bobbie-Ann said, "is the type of person who does not mind sitting before a computer for hours and figuring out what to do on the technical side of things. Luckily for us, when he figured out how to solve the issues to make this technology work, he did so because he was born with a particular eye condition called strabismus and he was trying to create software that would help persons with spatial awareness problems. One thing led to another and here we are."
She smiled. "I am going to ask our CEO and tech genius, Xavier Bell, to address the audience here and then we'll have one final demonstration."
When Xavier walked onto the stage Farrah almost fainted. She felt light and then she felt her hands getting clammy. Xavier Bell! Her Xavier was the CEO of NorChip.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Xavier said. "I grew up in this city in a shanty town called Norwood. A tiny bit of Norwood still prevails in my company's name. It's a nod to my beginnings—beginnings I am not ashamed of because it drove me to be the person I am today."
He cleared his throat. "I would also like to thank my wife Farrah Knight for actually inspiring this technology because if she hadn't rejected me eight years ago and my heart wasn't broken, I might never have spent so many days before the computer trying to solve this particular problem."
Everyone chuckled.
He went on speaking but Farrah hardly heard a word. He had publicly acknowledged their relationship before a whole room of people, including her father. And he was the CEO of a company. She didn't know what to think. She was so dazed she found herself sitting open-mouthed.
Cynth leaned over to her and whispered, "So you knew he was poor and not very good-looking when he was younger and you were still his friend and after a rejection a couple years back he comes back into your life, handsome and rich, but you didn't know he was rich but you still married him?"
"That's about it," Farrah whispered back.
"Show-off," Cynth whispered. "I am so going to go looking for some of the deadbeat guys I dated in the past. Maybe one of them came out all right." Then she shook her head. "Knowing my luck, that might not even happen, but kudos to you for loving the guy through all his stages."
*****
When the program ended, a flux of people surrounded Xavier and his team. Farrah didn't even attempt to cut through the crowd to confront him. He had given her the shock of her life with that announcement. She would have to just wait until they got home.
A tap on her right shoulder had her spinning around. She thought that it was Ruby with further instructions; instead, she saw that it was her father and his brothers.
Her father had a sheepish look on his face. "Well, girl. I've always known that you are a true Knight. The best child I have out of the bunch that Gloria managed to give me."
"Yes, yes." Her Uncle Joe nodded jerkily. "The very best of them all."
"She's a smart cookie, this girl," Art said, puffing out his chest and rocking back on his heels. "The most intelligent and shrewdest businesswoman yet to come from the Knight clan. Why marry a struggling businessman like Cavendish when she could marry a billionaire? Well played, Farrah. Well played."
Farrah looked between her uncles and her father and shook her head.
"You guys are something else. Didn't you just disown me, Dad? And call Xavier names?"
"That was so long ago," Joe said, butting in before she could continue. "Your father was joking. I can't believe you remembered that. Say Farrah, that technology that your husband has there could save Knight, Inc. a nice chunk of change. Be a good girl and convince him to give us a family rate, huh?"
"After all, he is family," her father said, smiling, "my favorite son-in-law."
Farrah rolled her eyes. "I will do no such thing. If Xavier wants to do business with you, it is completely up to him. I am going to advise him not to get entangled with you. I don't know what to say to you three. Especially you, Dad."
Her father smiled guilelessly. "Oh Farrah, I am so proud of you."
Farrah almost staggered where she stood. If h
e had wanted to confuse her he succeeded, because it was when he retreated with his brothers that she managed to take a breath. Those were the words she had been waiting all her life to hear from him . She looked at his retreating back in wonder. Trust him to throw the word proud around lightly. She checked herself and realized that it didn't matter what he thought anymore. It would never matter again. She was finally happy in her own skin and Xavier loved her. Their eyes met across the crowd and he gave her a slow smile filled with promise.
*****
Xavier and his NorChip group left before Farrah and her crew did. They were the last ones to leave. She was beginning to accept that events planning was a lot more involved than she had originally thought, but she loved it and she was going to stick with it.
When she drove up into the yard all the lights in the cottage were on. Xavier was on the veranda with his guitar playing; his tie was askew and his shirt half buttoned. When she got out of the car he put down the guitar.
"Welcome home," he said softly.
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Farrah went over and sat in his lap.
Xavier chuckled. "I know. In a nutshell, I just have to say it took me a while to trust again, to trust you again. I have a fragile heart but it belongs to you. Always has and always will. The other night I was not out with Bobbie-Ann. We had a meeting in the hotel suite. I fell asleep listening to Hal run over his plans for the rollout of the company.
"Bobbie-Ann and I are just friends now. She is a partner in NorChip and I do have to deal with her on a regular basis. I couldn't love her the way I felt for you and that is why we broke up; according to Bobbie-Ann a woman cannot be second best for very long."
"Oh Xavier." Farrah kissed him longingly.
"I wanted to test you to see if you would love me even if you thought I was poor and had no class. I have hang-ups from days of old," Xavier whispered against her lips.
"And did I pass the test?" Farrah asked, placing her forehead on his.
"With flying colors. I must admit that I laughed the first morning I heard you bathing in the cold water and I kept anticipating that you'd get fed up and leave."
"Mmm." Farrah sighed. "I have confessions, too."
"What?" Xavier kissed her on her nose.
"I have loved you since I was quite young. Warts and all, and you were not even fake poor then. That night at my party I was acting like a snob because I saw my friends behind me. I felt so low afterwards I couldn't sleep. I wanted to call you and apologize but I didn't because I was proud and ashamed. I hugged that little bear to me all night…the one with the name Farrah written on the heart. It was the best birthday present I got that year. I still have him."
"Some things happen for a reason," Xavier whispered, as he claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss and slid his hands beneath her hips to tip her back.
"Oh, and another thing," Farrah said, pulling away from him and saying breathily, "I haven't had any lovers. That is the answer to the question you asked me a couple of weeks ago."
"Seriously?" Xavier asked roughly. "You are an honest-to-goodness virgin? So tonight will be our official wedding night, then?"
"Yes," Farrah said, kissing him softly, "or we could wait to get officially married, with a big wedding and all your friends and my family..."
"Not on your life." Xavier lifted her up and carried her inside.
"I have waited weeks for this. To have you so close with the label of wife and not do a thing about it…"
He kissed her hard as he placed her on the bed. "No more talk of annulment or divorce and no more sleeping on the couch."
Farrah smiled dreamily. "I very much agree with that."
Five months later
"Happy New Year. Happy Birthday," Xavier greeted Alice as he placed the bouquet of flowers on the nightstand.
"And congratulations!" Farrah said brightly.
"Are we the first to get here?" Xavier asked.
"Yes," Carson said from his seat beside the bed. He was holding the baby tenderly in the blue blanket. "Meet Jonathon."
"Gift of God." Farrah hugged Alice. "You guys took my name suggestion."
"It was the best one," Alice smiled, "and he really is a gift of God. I am looking forward to watching him grow."
Carson looked down into his son's sleeping face. "I would never name you Jonathan Jingle Bell," he said softly, "as your uncle Xavier had suggested, though. Never. He can give that middle name to his son."
"You have to admit, it has a nice ring to it," Xavier grinned.
"He wouldn't dare name our child that," Farrah said, laughing. "When we do have a child of our own, I am choosing names."
Xavier's phone beeped and he checked it and handed it to Farrah. "Your father wants to know if we are coming over for New Year's dinner."
She shrugged. "What has gotten into him? All of a sudden he wants us to come over for dinner every other week and he's leaving work early to play golf with his family and he called Ruby to plan a family get-together?"
"Maybe he has discovered that family is where his true riches lie," Xavier said warmly, "or maybe he is making up for lost time…starting the New Year right."
"Or maybe he is just trying to get to know you better since you are the head of NorChip," Farrah said cynically. "He probably wants a better price for the technology."
"Are we going, or not?" Xavier asked. "Because these two are going to be here all day."
Carson carefully placed the baby in the bassinet. "No, actually they are releasing Alice today."
"So that's it, then," Farrah said. "The party will be at your house, Carson. Let me call the rest of the gang and tell them."
"Invite your parents as well," Xavier suggested. "They are really reaching out. Meet them halfway."
Farrah almost refused. She had never seen her father leave his domain to dine with another family. Neither had she seen him take a day off to play golf with family. She dialed his cell phone.
He picked up on the first ring.
"Sorry we can't make it to dinner," Farrah said, "but we are having dinner at Carson's house. You and Mom are invited."
"What time?" her father asked gruffly. When she told him and hung up the phone, Farrah looked shell-shocked.
"Oh my word. My father is coming to dinner. He is going to leave his kingdom and step into our ordinary lives."
Xavier and Carson laughed.
"There is nothing ordinary about you, my love," Xavier said lovingly. He kissed her tenderly. "Nothing at all."
THE END
Author's Notes
Dear Reader,
THANK YOU for reading Tangled Chords! If you enjoyed reading this book, PLEASE leave a review where you bought it.
You can also check out my BOOK LIST, for other New Song titles. You will find other titles and upcoming books and their release dates as well.
If you have comments or suggestions, I welcome them. You can reach me and receive a reply at [email protected].
You can be among the first to hear when I have special prices and new book releases by signing up for my mailing list. It will take you less than 50 seconds to signup. Click here to signup.
Continue scrolling for an excerpt from Broken Harmony, Book 4 in the New Song Series.
Thanks again. All the best,
Brenda
Keep reading for an excerpt from Broken Harmony
Aaron and Alka's story
Chapter One
Summer 2001
Aaron saw her on his family's private beach in the latter part of the evening. The sun was hidden behind a blanket of gray clouds, its golden rays fighting to peep through the mass that surrounded it.
With every step she took out of the water the sun made a weak appearance, highlighting her golden skin. She rose out of the sea like a mermaid, her long black hair trailing behind her. She pretended she didn't see him, but he knew that she did. She walked over to her colorful beach towel that was spread on the sand and stretched elegantly and then sat on the tow
el, her feet crossed in front of her. She stared at the gray swells of the sea before her, waiting for him to approach her, or at least that was what he read in her body language.
He resisted. Something held him back—self-preservation perhaps, or rebellion at the unwanted attraction he was feeling. He was not in the market for a relationship right now. He had a battle to fight at work. He was at war with his older brother for the vice president's position and he couldn't become distracted. Or was his reluctance tied to the premonition of a broken heart to come?
Whatever it was, he pushed his hands into his khaki chinos and refused to analyze why he was feeling the way he did. He turned back toward the house. He could see the colorful bougainvilleas, which were lining the back lawn, waving in the wind. It was better if he did not know who she was. He could tell her that she was on private property and that she was trespassing, but she was alone and she seemed harmless.
"Wait!" she yelled. He stopped and looked back at her, puzzled.
She got up; a line of sand clung to her shapely legs. Her multicolored one-piece bathing suit was modest. He had seen his jovial octogenarian grandmother wear more daring pieces than this girl was currently wearing, but this girl was not his grandmother. She had golden skin, shapely curves, and a breathtakingly lovely face, which managed to look both innocent and seductive at the same time. He wasn't prepared for the depth of attraction that shook him, and he staggered at the impact of it.
"I am Alka," she said breathlessly as she ran up to him. "My family lives next door."
Aaron frowned and looked across the mooring where the yacht was anchored and toward the thick expanse of trees that separated their property from the Gregors'.
Tangled Chords Page 13