Black (Clashing Colors Book 1) (32 page)

“Some are maybe wondering how we can ignore the fact that you’re my stepbrother’s daughter, and you and I both know: it took us some time too.”

He smiled. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you agreed to marry me, because I can honestly say that there is no one I would rather live my life with. I love you, Mrs. Thomas, and I’m proud to call you my wife.”

Tears broke out from my eyes at the same time as applause broke out from the small crowd standing in front of us.

“Do you have anything you want to add?” Gabriel asked.

I was drying tears away and shook my hand. “Just that I love you,” I managed to say.

“What did she say?” Granny said loudly from her seat next to the wedding cake.

“She said she loved him,” Charlie told her in a loud voice.

Granny threw her hands up in the air. “Of course she loves him. Why else would she marry him? Ask them when they are cutting the cake,” she said in that loud clear voice that cut through the crowd and made everyone smile and burst into laughter.

“We’ll cut the cake now, Granny,” Gabriel assured her. “And you can have the biggest piece.”

“Good, because this will probably be my last wedding cake ever.”

“Don’t say that, Mom,” Katie shushed her.

“Why not… I’m adult, and you know what that means.”

“Yes, Mom, you tell me often enough.”

“That’s right, because I always say that the best part about being an adult is that you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission.” Granny looked around at all the people standing with their best clothes and champagne flutes.

“Except for that guy over there.” Granny pointed her walking stick to Darren, who stood in the middle.

“He clearly needs help with dressing. He looks like a clown and he’s fat too.”

Chuckles broke out all around, and Katie shot Darren an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry, I think you look very stylish.”

Darren didn’t even flinch. He walked closer to Granny with an amused expression on his face.

“You really think I look fat?” he said and she squinted her eyes at him.

“I actually just lost five pounds,” he said and brushed off some invisible crumbs from his sleeve. “In case you’re wondering how, it was simply because I got circumcised.”

“Impossible,” she exclaimed.

“Not at all, do you wanna see?” 

Granny widened her eyes when Darren pretended to unzip his pants. A lot of people were laughing and some just held their breath.

“Does he want me to see his penis?” Granny asked Charlie, who nodded.

“Yes, he said he lost five pounds of skin when he got circumcised.”

“I heard that.” Granny looked up at Darren, who stood in front of her with a calm expression on his face. “Five pounds?” she repeated in awe and then her eyes lowered to his crotch as if she was ready to see the wonder. 

“He’s joking,” my mom said and tried to get between Granny and Darren.

Granny pushed her away. “I haven’t seen a penis in twenty years… if he’s showing I want to see.”

A roar of laughter broke out all around.

“I would show you,” Darren said with a smile and backed away, “but I never brag at weddings.”

“All right then!” Gabriel clapped his hands. “Who wants a piece of cake?”

We did the mandatory thing about feeding each other cake before everyone else got a piece. The cake was a gift from Melody and tasted deliciously of vanilla and strawberry.”

“Uhhm, this is sooo good,” I told her and she lit up.

“I’m so glad you like it. It’s all vegan.”

“It’s super delicious.” Gabriel gave her a thumbs-up. “By the way, are you the one who bought us Cia’s paintings?

She shook her head. “No, I gave you a gift card to my store.”

“Thank you so much – I love your store.”

Gabriel and I had been by last week; it was a really cool place with high-quality, organic food and a great atmosphere.

“Mom got you at least one of the paintings,” Melody said. “I’m sure of it because I saw her hand her credit card to your friend that night at the gallery.”

Gabriel and I both looked at Katie, who was still calming Granny down and trying to convince her that Darren had been joking and that no man had five pounds of foreskin.

“Mom,” Gabriel and I made our way to her. “Are the paintings from you and Steve?” he asked.

She lit up in a smile. “Just from me. Steve has another gift for you.” She looked up. “Steve, come here for a minute. Why don’t you tell them about your gift?”

Steve came over and looked almost mild when he patted Gabriel’s shoulder. “No wedding without a honeymoon, this is for you.”

He pulled out an envelope that Gabriel opened. “Wow… jeez,” Gabriel stood baffled for a few seconds. “I don’t know what to say, Steve, that will make for a lot of honeymoons.”

I resolutely gave both Katie and Steve a big hug. “Those are the best gifts you could have given us. I can’t thank you enough.”

Steve actually kissed me on my forehead and Katie gave me such a genuine warm smile that it wasn’t hard to see why Gabriel had turned out to be such an amazing person himself.

“I thought you might like the paintings,” Katie said. “My idea was to give you one painting for each of your birthdays but with the marriage I figured it was better to give them to you as a complete set.”

Gabriel and I both hugged her again.

“Don’t I get a hug?” Granny said grumpily. “I bought you a present too, you know.”

Gabriel leaned down to hug her and I followed him. She smelled of old lady, a bit sweaty and with a too-sweet perfume.

“What did you give us, Granny?” Gabriel asked her.

She looked up at Charlie. “What did we get them?”

“A rocking chair,” Charlie said.

“Why would you buy them a rocking chair?” she complained.

“Because you told me to. Remember you said it will be good for Cia when she nurses the little ones.”

“What little ones?” Granny looked down at my belly. “Are you with child already?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“A rocking chair,” she snorted at Charlie. “What a stupid gift.”

“I love rocking chairs,” I hurried to say and saw Charlie light up a bit. “That’s a very thoughtful gift. Thank you!”

Granny held a hand to her hearing aid. “What did she say?”

Charlie leaned in and talked loudly into Granny’s ear. “Cia said thank you. She loves rocking chairs.”

Granny nodded. “Of course she does. That’s why I told you to get her one. I know about things like this.”

We moved on and I looked at Gabriel when we were out of earshot. “You know I love you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But if you grow to be as mean to me as Granny is to Charlie, you better prepare to suffer.”

“Ditto,” he said and winked at me. “I’ll put itching powder in your bed if you ever talk that way to me.” 

“I’ll put Super Glue on your dentures so you can’t get them out.” I retorted.

“I’ll put laxative in your tea and laugh when you run like this to the bathroom.” Gabriel imitated an old person hurrying in slow motion with a bellyache.

“It would be more like this.” I did the same imitation but this time making farting sounds, and we laughed hard.

Gabriel was still laughing when he pulled me into his arms. “I hope we’ll laugh together for the rest of our lives, and I want you to know that I intend to love you and cherish every minute with you.”

I closed my eyes when he kissed me, knowing in my heart that I was the luckiest woman in the world. 

This concludes Clashing Colors #1 - Black

Thank you so much for reading Cia’s and Gabriel’s story.

If you liked it, please, please, please take a second to leave a review on Amazon. It helps other readers take a chance on this book, and makes it possible for me to write books full time for your entertainment.

Want more?

This was only the first book in a series of five books called Clashing Colors.

In the next book we’ll follow Violet, whom you’ve come to know as Cia’s friend in this book.

Clashing Colors Book 2 – # Violet

Ever since I was eleven, I’ve felt that Jake and I were destined to be together. Unfortunately, we’ve grown up to be complete opposites. I’m a psychic medium and he’s a scientist who doesn’t believe in anything that can’t be proven with data.

It seems unfair that I can clear a house of spirits and demons, but I have no idea how to clear my heart of Jake.

Violet is surprised when she’s called upon by a group of scientist to investigate supernatural phenomena in their lab. It could be her chance to prove to Jake, her longtime crush, that what she does is valid. But can she produce evidence strong enough for the biggest skeptic to believe that all psychics aren’t frauds and that she doesn’t belong in an asylum for mentally unstable people?

Clashing Colors #2 – Violet will be available for sale on Amazon as a paperback and e-book in November. 2016.

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About the author

Elin is the kind of person you end up telling your darkest and deepest secrets to, even though you never intended to. Maybe that's where she gets her inspiration for her books. One thing is for sure: Elin is not afraid to provoke, shock, touch, and excite you when she writes about unwanted desire, forbidden passion, and all those damn emotions in between.

Elin is around forty and curious by nature. She likes to explore and can tell you about riding elephants through the Asian jungle, watching the sunset in the Sahara Desert from the back of a camel, sailing down the Nile in Egypt, kayaking in Alaska, and flying over Greenland in helicopters.

She can also testify that the most interesting people aren't always kings, queens, presidents, and celebrities, because she has met many of them in person.

After traveling the world and living in different countries, Elin is currently residing outside Seattle in the US with her husband, daughters, and her black Labrador, Lucky, which follows her everywhere.

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