32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

C leo grasped Clark’s arm for support while holding her dress off the ground with the other. She abandoned the eggs, sure now that Dottie had used collecting them as a ruse to get Clark some alone time with Cleo. She was pretty certain that Clark’s arrival had been the real cause of Dottie’s earlier scream.

He led her across some grass and through the branches of a weeping willow Cleo had been hoping to explore while she was here. It was cool underneath the canopy, as well as surprisingly quiet. The sounds of the farm and the people working on the wedding preparations in the yard were completely muted here.

Clark grabbed her hands so both of them were captured in his grip. Cleo turned her face up to his and met his probing gaze. “So, what did you want to ask me?” she questioned.

“The dare should come first I think.” When Cleo nodded, Clark stepped closer. What was he going to have her do? Her mind spun with possibilities. He wouldn’t be so cruel as to make her climb this tree, would he? Not in a dress. Or would he ask for a kiss? Cleo liked the idea of that.

No, she didn’t. Fickle heart. She was angry with this boy, even if her body liked the way he was looking at her just now. He was taking his time with it, whatever it was, and it was driving her to distraction.

Licking his lips, he looked down at their hands and squeezed them. “Cleo, I know my sister called yesterday and explained my situation to you. You said it wasn’t completely my fault, and that you’re still mad. You should be upset. It absolutely was my fault, and I don’t know how to reconcile that. Everything that happened was because I was reckless and selfish.”

Cleo tugged on his hands. “Ugh, I don’t even know what to say to you. I believe Greta that you weren’t going to turn my story in, and if Roscoe hadn’t tricked you and taken the story–”

“But there shouldn’t have been a story for him to take! I should never have even started writing it. And then I don’t know why I had it on me when I went to talk with him. I honestly forgot it was even in my messenger bag, it had been so long since I’d written in that notebook.”

“When did you stop writing about me?” It was a question Cleo had been wondering about since he’d said he hadn’t reported on her for long.

“I didn’t write anything after that first night at Dale’s house. That’s when I knew I couldn’t betray you.” They’d had their first heart to heart on Dale’s couches. It was when Cleo first started having feelings for Clark. Could he have been feeling something then for her, too?

“So you never wrote anything in that notebook about my mom?”

“No. I swear I didn’t. Which is why the article had nothing to say about who you were running to, or at least nothing true. Unless you did meet up with your baby daddy after I left?” he smirked. Cleo had the strongest urge to wipe that smirk off his face.

“You know it.” Her smile fell. “I wish I could say that the article doesn’t really matter, but it’s caused some major problems for my father’s business and relations with the Kellermans. Things were already bad; then I left and made things worse, so it’s not all the fault of the article, but it certainly didn’t help.”

Clark sighed. “I can only imagine. Which is why my dare for you is a very selfish one.” He licked his lips. “I’m wondering if you could find it in your heart to forgive me for my part in dragging your name through the mud.”

Cleo pulled her hands free. “I don’t know, Clark. I can’t pretend it didn’t hurt to read it. I felt so betrayed. And though it forced me to reconcile with my father, it’s hard to see him face the fallout of the tabloid, too.”

Pacing, Clark raked his hands through his hair. “I know. Please tell me what I can do?”

“There isn’t anything you can do. You can’t get them to retract it, and suing for defamation of character is pointless. We just have to ride this out.”

He nodded and faced Cleo again. “Please believe me when I say I am so incredibly sorry. I hope someday you can forgive me.”

It was obvious that Clark felt horrible, and Cleo found that she already felt marginally better after seeing the sincerity in his eyes. It didn’t fix anything, but it did make her want to forgive him.

She said, “To be honest, the real reason I blocked you was because…well, it was because I was devastated that you might have been making everything up between us.”

Clark’s eyes darkened. “I’m sure you were. You must have thought me the lowest kind of scum.”

“Lower than pie?” Cleo teased.

“Lower than rice crispy treats,” Clark insisted with a small smile.

It was good to be able to joke with Clark again. Maybe they’d get their old camaraderie back after all. “Let’s just say I was very grateful for Greta’s call yesterday.”

Clark exhaled. “Yeah, I’m still shocked that she did that. Greta hasn’t stuck her neck out for anyone in a long time.”

“She mentioned that. Maybe she’s turning over a new leaf?”

“She’s got a great therapist who has helped her a lot. I’m sure it’s due to her influence that Greta’s come as far as she has.”

“Her pictures really were destroyed? That story will never get printed?”

“Roscoe has assured me the story will never see the light of day. If it had been printed, it would’ve set her way back, and after all the work she’s been doing it would’ve been disastrous.”

“Well, I’m glad that the article had one silver lining at least.”

He blew air through his lips. “I wish her salvation hadn’t come at the cost of your reputation.”

She shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

“Yes, so I read.”

Cleo’s mouth opened. “What do you mean? You read about me?”

Clark smiled. “Darling, I’ve read a lot about you. You were already firmly on my radar before I met you. How else could I have recognized you so easily? I might’ve already had a low-key crush on Claudette Gilbert and couldn’t believe it when she got in my cab.”

Cleo scoffed. “You could’ve fooled me. You practically ignored me the entire ride.”

“I was so tongue-tied and brain-scrambled, I didn’t know what my own mom’s name was anymore. I couldn’t possibly have had a conversation with you. My hands were sweating so hard I almost dropped my phone half a dozen times during that ride.” He peered out through the foliage, like he was picturing them together in that car.

“And then when you stopped taking my calls this week I got pretty low and started looking up everything I could find that had your name on it. I know more about you now than your father does.”

“We both stopped reading anything I was featured in long ago, other than the latest one of course, so you might be right. That is, if any of that drivel written about me were actually true.”

“You mean you weren’t abducted by aliens that summer you spent in Greece?”

“Ha! My lips are sealed.”

He smirked. “If we have little alien babies someday–” Clark’s eyes grew large as Oreos and he covered his face in shame. “I–I did not mean that, Cleo.”

Cleo only laughed and tried to pry his hands away. “I think I can promise that there will be no alien babies in my future, so you have nothing to worry about.” He laughed, and Cleo’s jaw dropped open.

“That might be the first time I’ve heard you laugh.”

“No way. I laugh all the time.”

“No, you don’t. You do courtesy chuckles, but you never laugh.”

“Well, now that some weights have been lifted from my shoulders, I think I’ll be doing much more of that in the future.”

“Those weights being…?”

“My sister’s name being cleared…and maybe your forgiveness given?” The hope in his gaze nearly knocked Cleo off her feet and she found she couldn’t deny him. Neither did she want to.

“I do forgive you.”

“You do? Truly? Cleo, I could….” His eyes found her mouth but he looked quickly away.

What could he do? Instead of pressing him about that she said, “The dare is officially done then. So, what about the truth?”