Diamonds and Toads (A Modern Fairy Tale) PART ONE: DIAMONDS

Ch. 11 (The End of Part One)

Copyright © K.E. Saxon 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author K.E. Saxon, the copyright owner and publisher of this book, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Chas’s father’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head as the two of them approached the table. Luckily, the few others in their party that hadn’t left yet were on the dance floor, so he could speak to his father in private. “Hi, Dad. Isn’t she stunning?” he asked before planting a light kiss on Delilah’s cheek and giving her hand a squeeze.

His father stood up. “Yes, yes. That’s—ahem—quite an outfit. Quite an outfit.” He looked around sheepishly as he pulled out a seat for her. “We can’t stay, Dad. I just came to get what you’re holding for me.”

“Oh, yes,” he said, digging for it in the inside jacket pocket of his tuxedo.

Chas took the ring box and hauled Delilah out onto the balcony. The wind was cold up here, so he took his jacket off and tucked it around her shoulders. Taking one last glance at his watch, he said, “Okay, Delilah, this is it. We’re at the eleventh hour of the eleventh hour.” He looked around, up into the heavens. “Fairy, if you can hear this, here’s my choice: I choose Delilah.”

A shadow of a laugh haunted the air around them. “Yes, but does she choose you?”

His heart trembled in his chest. Yes, that was the question.He pressed Delilah into a chair and kneeled down beside her. He opened the box and showed the ring to her. “Delilah Perrault, will you do me the supreme honor of becoming my wife?”

* * *

She gasped. “Chas!” Delilah understood the significance of the ring because she knew its history, knew that it had never left his mother’s hand until the day she gave it to him, and knew as well that Chas would never give it to anyone unless that person really was someone he loved and respected. What remained of her anger—which wasn’t much—fled on gossamer wings of forgiveness.

But there was still a pall that lay over the gift. “Chas. What about your Dad? You can’t forsake him, you can’t.”

The smile he gave her was tender. “I’m not, believe me—I intend to sell a thoroughbred tomorrow, come hell or high water. It’ll give me the cash I need. But, Dee, Dad released me from my obligation to him in any case, earlier this evening. Once I told him that I’d lose you if I took your money, he told me to forget about the business—that you were more important to me than our business, and my happiness was more important to him.”

Her heart thudded in her chest. He was so handsome. Everything that she’d ever dreamed of having and never thought she’d get. But all those lies so smoothly given, so easily manipulating her beliefs. Could she ever trust him with her heart again?

“Chas, I don’t know what to say….”

He squeezed her hands. “Say yes, Delilah.”

She looked at his hands covering her own. She gazed hard at the ring that held so much significance for Chas. “What is your heart’s desire, Lila. Answer that, and all will be as it should.” The fairy’s voice was but a whisper in Delilah’s heart, but she understood every word.

Delilah closed her eyes tight as fear warred with hope in her breast. What do you desire, heart? Opening her eyes, she looked at Chas, who awaited her response with both anticipation and dread clear in his gaze. I desire to love this man and know that I am loved in return. She looked again at the ring.

“On my mother’s grave, Delilah, I love you.”

You humiliated me. If I accept you, am I reverting? “When? For how long?”

He rested his forehead on her knee a second and then lifted his gaze to her once more. “I think I was falling for you for quite a while, but just so tied up in knots over my financial problems, that I didn’t realize it. But I knew without a doubt after we made love the first time.”

“Maybe it’s just sexual attraction.”

“Maybe.” Her heart plummeted. “But I don’t think it is. I’ve been attracted to loads of women before—even been engaged to several of them—and I can tell you that I’ve never had the depth and breadth of feeling for any of them that I do for you. Feelings of both tenderness and caveman possessiveness.”

That made her smile. “I wish—I wish I could believe.”

He squeezed her hand. “You gave me your heart and I handled it as if it meant nothing to me. I will regret that until my dying day. But if you give me another chance—please give me another chance!—I’ll cherish it as I should have done from the start.”

She hesitated. He looked at his watch. “Thirty-five more seconds, Delilah. What more do you need from me? I chose you over the money, I chose you over my reputation, I’ve given you the most precious possession I own. What more, what more?” He looked at his watch again. “Eighteen seconds, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen…”

Oh, God. Could she make that leap again? But if she didn’t where would she be?

“…seven, six…”

“Take a chance, Delilah,” the fairy whispered.

“…three, two—”

“Yes!” Delilah flung her arms around Chas’s neck, toppling them both to the ground. “Yes! Yes, Yes, I’ll marry you!” She kissed him with all the love in her heart behind it.

* * *

Purple mist swirled around their entwined bodies. “And they lived happily ever after,” the fairy said with a sigh. “But, I’ve one more piece of business before my job is done….”

[THE END OF PART ONE]

DIAMONDS AND TOADS: A Modern Fairy Tale is available for purchase in its entirety as an eBook or PDF at SMASHWORDS: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/91067