by Natasha Boyd
“So what happened in the bathroom? I get the sense you were freaking out?”
“I was. Well, a bit. I asked Meredith and Tabitha what I should do.”
“About what?”
I licked my lips. “Whether I should move to France.” I winced. “So we can date. Not that you’ve asked, and I’d never—”
“And what did they say?”
“What?”
“What did your friends say?”
“Um …” I slipped my phone out my back pocket and unlocked it, then handed it to him.
His eyes grew wide as he read Meredith’s response, and a smirk curved his mouth. When he looked back at me, his eyes were burning. He gave my phone back. “Does anything about your friend’s suggestion freak you out?”
I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. “No.”
He pressed his lips together, as if containing a reaction. “Not even the ‘more little frogs’ part?” He raised his fingers in air quotes. “Which I have to say is mildly insulting.”
“No,” I whispered after a short pause and tilted my head. “You?”
His eyes dropped to my mouth as he contemplated my question. “No,” he said at last. His eyes flicked back up to mine. And the gravity of what we’d both just admitted was like a silent explosion. Promises and hope and a future filled with love and laughter and a bigger family suddenly bloomed in the ether between us.
I exhaled, a giddy smile splitting my face even while I tried to bite it back.
He stood. “Good, then come. Dauphine has a question she’d like to ask you.” He held out his hand and I placed mine in his. He kissed my wrist and then led me down the stairs.
Halfway down, I looked up from following my feet and saw the dining room table with food and flowers and champagne. “I-I thought you said you’d eaten and saved me some. Not—” I glanced to Xavier, only to see him looking toward Dauphine. She was waiting, holding an envelope out in her hands.
My name was etched in her chicken scratch across the front. I let go of Xavier’s hand and stepped toward her. “What is this?” I asked.
She covered her mouth and jumped up and down twice.
I took it and carefully tore it open and removed the card. It was written by her in French.
Josie,
S'il te plaît, veux-tu être ma belle-mère?
Je t’aime,
Dauphine.
I was frozen.
“You can turn it over. It is in English on the back,” she pleaded and turned my hands.
“Josie,” I read aloud. “Please will you be my stepmother, I love you, Dauphine.” I choked out the last word. “Oh, honey.” Did Xavier know that his daughter had done this? What if he wasn’t quite ready despite our understanding upstairs? I whipped around to look at him. “Oh,” I gasped.
My eyes landed on Xavier, down on one knee, and my hand came up and covered my mouth.
He held out an open box, a crooked smile on his face, and inside was nestled a brilliant single diamond ring.
Next to me Dauphine jumped up and down.
“Joséphine,” Xavier began, his voice rough. He cleared it. “Joséphine, you are the empress of my heart. You own me. I know it’s been fast. But I have never been more sure. You have made me believe in love again, and I cannot imagine a world in which you are not by my side—”
“Et moi,” Dauphine interrupted.
I laughed, tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Desolé, mon chou. Ahem, I cannot imagine a world in which you are not by our side as part of our family.” His blue eyes gazed at me and into me, fathomless and earnest and full of more love and trust and hope than I could ever have thought myself worthy. “I love you, Josephine Marin. We love you. I know it seems fast, but I have never been more sure of anything in my whole life than how I feel about you. Please will you marry me and make my heart whole again and make our family whole again? I promise I will take care of you. You and your mother. We can live here, or there, or anywhere. On a boat, on land, I don’t care as long as we are together. And you can work, or don’t work. Build ugly buildings or save old ones. Whatever makes you happy. But I will always respect the importance of what you choose to do—”
“Yes,” I cried. I grabbed Dauphine into a tight hug, then released her and fell to my knees in front of Xavier. “Yes. Yes. Yes, I will marry you. I don’t care where we live as long as it’s not a boat. But anywhere else, as long as I am with you.” I took his face in my hands and only this close could I see the glistening emotion in his eyes. I wiped my thumbs across his cheekbones and then leaned in to kiss him, crushing the box with the ring between us just so I could hold him.
I heard him snap it closed and his arms came around me and held me tight.
“Hourra! Hourra!” Dauphine squealed, and then burst into tears.
“Oh no.” I reached for her. Xavier and I folded her between us. “It’s okay, darling. Don’t be sad.”
She sniffed and wiped her face back and forth on my shirt. Xavier’s shirt. “I-I’m not sad.” She pushed us apart and squeezed out. “I am going to call Mémé!”
She ran into her bedroom to call Madame and left Xavier and me alone. We pulled apart, and he kissed me softly one more time, and then brushed my hair back from my face. “You have made me happier than I ever thought possible. I thank God every day that asshole Tate made you quit so you could come to France. That’s the only reason I haven’t fired his firm already.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Donovan is very nice. And Barbara and a bunch of drafters, engineers, and junior associates. It would horrible for them to lose that project.”
“Eh.” He shrugged. “Okay.”
“You’re crazy,” I said.
“Almost certainly.” He kissed me again, then pulled away and lifted my hand. Fumbling with the box, he managed to get the ring out one handed, letting the now empty box fall to the ground. “Is that … a Crogan’s box?” I asked, recognizing the local family and estate jeweler on King Street’s logo. “When—?”
“Yesterday. In fact, I almost thought you saw Dauphine and me. You were on the phone at the window. She helped me pick it out. I don’t know how she kept it a secret at dinner last night. I would have brought a ring from France because I already knew I was going to ask you. But then I thought if we needed it resized, or you wanted to change it—”
“Shut up and put it on my finger, you beast.”
“A beast? You have no idea.” He chuckled and slipped it on my finger.
“God, are you trying to show me how rich you are or something?” I teased, holding it up where the solitaire in an elegant, antique setting of small filigree sent a million light points beaming around the room. “Hmm, though actually,” I brought it close to my face, squinted my eyes, and scrunched up my nose. “There’s no helipad on it. Maybe you aren’t that rich after all.”
He barked out a laugh.
My God, we were both so giddy and sickeningly filled with love and joy. It was a good thing Meredith and Tabs weren’t here. They’d barf. Meredith especially.
Xavier sobered. “Could you love me if I gave it all up tomorrow? The boats, the money, everything, except for you and Dauphine? Because I’d do it. There are a thousand worthy causes. You could pick who we gave my money to. I would retire tomorrow.”
“Yes,” I said, matching him with the same amount of seriousness.
He swallowed. “Je sais,” he said, his eyes growing half-lidded. “I know you would. We would live a simple and happy life on your salary.”
“Let’s not get too hasty. Do you not have a retirement account? Surely, you are not that irresponsible?”
Laughing, he kissed me on the nose. “Yes, we’d be comfortable. But I might get bored not working. But perhaps I can get rid of just the boats.”
“And what would you do with all those amazing people who work for you? I miss them. Besides, I have fallen in love with the Mediterranean. I could learn to tolerate the boats. And what about Sylv
ie, are you not completing the new boat purchase from her?”
He laughed. “I’ve already paid for it and approved all the designs. I had no reason to come here really, except to come for you. Visiting Sylvie was just a courtesy.” He stood and helped me to my feet. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s eat, and then I want you to show me your city and all the history, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And for dinner, you must take me for … qu’est-ce que c’est que la … ah, shrimp and gits?”
“Grits. Soft polenta.”
His mouth twisted. “Soft polenta …”
“You’ll love it, I prom—actually, you might not.”
He shuddered. “Can you invite your mother?” he asked. “I have spoken to her on the phone, but I would like to meet her in person.”
“You have?”
“Of course! I had to ask for her blessing. I have asked Meredith and Tabitha too. We should invite them to dinner too.”
I pressed my hands together and stared at him in wonder. “Wow, you really were serious.”
“I have asked you to marry me, how is this not serious? Wait, you know this is serious, oui?”
“Oui,” I whispered. “It was just an expression.”
Dauphine flung open her door. “Mémé wants to wish you congratulations. Can my bridesmaid dress be like a mermaid? Please, please, please?”
I locked eyes with Xavier and we both laughed, and he squeezed my hand. “Thank you,” he said, sincerely. “For making our family whole. For making me whole.”
The End.
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Read on for a word from me, and my other books. Also there were some characters in this book that feature in my Charleston Series. If you like steamy romantic comedy, you will love ACCIDENTAL TRYST and IRRESISTIBLE BEAU! And if you loved the angsty romantic hero of Xavier, you will adore Jack in my movie star romance series EVERSEA .
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Acknowledgments
From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for reading Broken French. Check out my writing Spotify playlist here, with special thanks to the music of Ursine Vulpine (Frederick Lloyd).
It’s been three years since I published a romance, and if you were still here waiting for my next one, there are no words left to convey my deep and humbling appreciation. I have to thank my husband (thanks for all the tea in bed and G&T’s at 6pm) and my kids for still championing me and still seeing me as an author on days/weeks/months that I thought I’d never write again. Same for all my dear friends and followers on Social Media.
Thank you to Brenna Aubrey for nine plus pages of single spaced typed notes on how to make this a better book (in addition to French corrections). I was so far in the mud and weeds, I couldn’t see. You put your boots on and came to find me and dig me out, and I will forever be in your debt. Anyone who enjoyed this book, should thank her too :) she writes great romances. Check her out at www.brennaaubrey.net
Thank you also to beta readers Lisa Wilhelm, Julie Burke, Brenna Rattai, Caroline Benton, and Karina Asti. And as always Al Chaput and Dave MacDonald, thank you for slogging through 54 chapters rewritten 17 times while I found my footing again! And then massive appreciation to Judy (www.judy-roth.com) for editing, and Karina (Kainaasti.com) for the proofread. Merci, Rose Griot, for the additional French corrections and fun Skype chat!
Thanks to my mom for making sure my kids, husband, and I, were fed during the creation of this book and even on days I just sat like dead jelly fish in front of my laptop. I’m so glad the pandemic caused you to get stuck with us! Thank you also for reading my book. I’m glad Josie and Xavier’s story gave you the giddy feels. And I’m really sorry about all the sex lol.
I used to travel to Southern France as a kid (we lived in England), and I recently returned in the summer of 2019. I knew instantly I wanted to set a book there. I particularly want to thank Minky Gray for her hospitality in Valbonne, FR and hope beyond hope we can visit you again soon. You are owed so, so, many hugs.
Thanks to Le Club 55 for unwittingly being a character in the book. And also the Historic Charleston Foundation who do incredible work to save the cultural heritage of Charleston.
Special mention goes to the color of the Mediterranean. It’s hard to find a picture that does it justice, but my dearest friend Erin Gianni had recently been on a yacht (before Covid times), in the Mediterranean et voilà! This is her original, unfiltered picture. Doesn’t it make you just want to dive right in? Thanks Julie of hearttocover.com for using it to make such an awesome cover.
This book is a homage to the big beautiful world out there, waiting for us all to get well and safely start exploring again. Until then, we can still dream about oceans, yachts, true love and happily ever afters.
Any nonsensical geographical issues, transit times, and French mistakes are mine and mine alone. And yes, Xavier says Merde a lot, but I would have had to include a dictionary ( and contextual explanations) for all the many colorful curse words the French actually use lol!
Thanks for being here, and your support,
With all my love,
Tasha xo
ALSO BY TASHA BOYD
The Butler Cove Novels
Eversea (Eversea #1)
Forever, Jack (Eversea #2)
My Star, My Love (An Eversea Christmas Novella)
All That Jazz
Beach Wedding (Eversea #3)
Deep Blue Eternity /The Recluse
(A standalone contemporary romance )
The Charleston Series
Accidental Tryst
(A Romantic Comedy)
Irresistible Beau
Sunshine Suzy (TBA 2021)
ALSO: Ever wished your favorite romance author would write a “bookclub” type book? Well, I did! The Indigo Girl a historical fiction (or should I say, herstorical fiction?) novel is available now in hardcover, ebook and audio. It’s based on a true story and it’s a woman’s story you don’t want to miss. I am so incredibly proud of this book, and the honor of being able to tell this incredible young woman’s story. I do give talks about it at libraries, museums and schools and bookclubs via zoom. So contact me via my Website www.natashaboyd.com
About the Author
Natasha Boyd (writing romance as TASHA BOYD) is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling and award-winning author of both historical fiction and contemporary romance. Her historical fiction novel THE INDIGO GIRL was long-listed for the Southern Book Prize and was a Southern Independent Booksellers' Association OKRA PICK. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and lives with her husband, two sons, and her dog in Atlanta, GA.
Text NATASHABOYD to 31996
