Falling Awake

advice.”
    Farrell exhaled slowly. “You really think I can save my business?”
    “Sure. You just got a little off course for a while, that’s all.”
    “You mean like when I started offering classes such as ‘Tapping into the Creative Potential of Your Dreams’?”
    “Good example.”

    “I can’t afford you.” Farrell rubbed his temples. “You probably know that.”
    “You’ve got it backward,” Ellis said. “I’m the one who owes you for what you did the other night at the amusement park.”
    “Isabel is family.” Farrell’s mouth quirked. “What else could I do?”
    “You could have asked a lot of questions that I didn’t have time to answer.”
    “There’s a time for questions,” Farrell said. “That night wasn’t the time.”
    “No. But not everyone would have understood that.”
    “I trusted you because I knew that Isabel trusted you,” Farrell replied.
    “Thanks.”
    Farrell sat for a moment, his eyes on the blue expanse of the bay. “I didn’t want to be just successful with the Kyler Method, you know. Every time I thought about Leila, I wanted to be incredibly successful. I wanted to outdo her father. I thought that was what she wanted. It was Isabel who finally brought me up short.”
    “How did she do that?”
    “She reminded me of what Leila really wanted.”
    Ellis reflected on that. “Isabel is good at figuring out what motivates people.”
    Farrell studied him with a considering expression. “Which brings me to another subject.”
    “What’s that?”

    “Your motivations in connection with Isabel. Leila is still a little nervous about the fact that you might be using her in some way.”
    Ellis clamped his hands around the arms of his chair and shoved himself to his feet. “Tell Leila that Isabel and I will soon be making a major investment together.”
    “Bad idea,” Farrell said dryly. “In case you haven’t heard, Isabel quit her job here at Kyler. She doesn’t have any money. Leila and I will try to help her out with paying off the furniture that got destroyed, but frankly, we don’t have much spare cash ourselves at the moment. And I know for a fact that Isabel won’t go to her parents for help.”
    Ellis went to the door. “She won’t need any financial assistance from her family. She’s got two new clients. One of them has very deep pockets.”
    “My tax dollars at work again?”
    Ellis smiled. “We plan to buy a house and new furniture to go with it. We’re thinking Spanish colonial.”
    “Does this mean marriage?”
    Ellis opened the door. “It does.”
    “Fine by me.” Farrell raised his brows. “But some people—the other members of Isabel’s family come to mind—will feel obliged to point out that you and Isabel haven’t known each other very long.”
    Isabel appeared in the hall. She looked past Ellis and smiled at Farrell.
    “I just had this conversation with Leila and Tamsyn,” she said.“I’ll tell you the same thing I told them. Don’t worry, Ellis and I have been meeting secretly for months.”
    “Yeah?” Farrell asked, skeptical. “Where?”
    Isabel put her arms around Ellis and kissed him. His eyes heated and he kissed her back, taking his time about it.
    She looked at Farrell and winked.
    “In our dreams,” she said.

44
    t wo months later, Ellis led Isabel out onto the floor of the Kyler Method, Inc., reception room and took her into his arms for the first dance of their married life.
    A hush fell across the wedding guests. Everyone turned to look at the couple. Ellis did look terrific in a tux, Isabel thought, amused and proud. But then, she had known he would. Hadn’t she dressed him just this way in some of her dreams?
    “You are very beautiful, Mrs. Cutler,” Ellis whispered. “I do not have the words to tell you how much I love you. But I do love you and I will for the rest of my life and beyond.”
    “You are the most handsome man in the world, Mr. Cutler, and I love you with all my heart.” She laughed with joy and delight, happier than she had ever been in her life. “Although I mustadmit that I was a tad disappointed when I discovered that you had decided not to wear your dark glasses for the ceremony.”
    “Don’t worry, I’ve got them handy.” He grinned. “I may need them later on tonight if you are still glowing the way you are now.”
    The musicians launched into a traditional waltz and Ellis swung her into the first slow, gliding turn. The skirts of her elegant satin gown flowed