Page 35 of Trust Fall
“Yeah, where did she take you?” Jade added with a laugh, but also genuine intrigue.
“She took me to a hidden wine bar; that’s somehow a book shop too.” Cleo smiled softly, remembering how the book lamp in the alcove lit Ivy’s sparkling eyes and gleamed against her constellation necklace the night before.
“So, she basically took you to your dream location then? Damn, she’s good!” Rob said with a laugh.
“Rob, play nice,” Fiona warned. “I’m so glad you reached out to her last week. I wondered if you would after the tough time this pair and your brother gave you.”
Jade, dramatically grasping at her chest, “What did I do?! I merely encouraged my dear beloved lonely sister to get over herself and reach out to the hot barista who had given her their number. What’s sotoughabout that?” Jade grinned at Fiona as Rob started laughing over her shoulder.
“You know fine well what I’m talking about Jade Alexis Foster!” Cleo laughed at the look on her sister’s face when Fiona rested her hands on her hips and used her full name to scold her.
Cleo sat down at the table, and the rest of her family followed. Fiona dished up plates of lasagna for everyone, and they each reached for salad and garlic bread to add to their plates before eating.
“So,” Rob started, “given you’ve seen her twice in a week, would we be right in saying your mom can start talking about her as your girlfriend to everyone?”
“C’mon, give me a break, please?! We’ve not talked about it, we’ve talked about almost everything else, but not that. Not yet. I don’t know how to bring it up.” Cleo looked down at her plate.
She had intended to talk about this with Lana at work today, but she’d called in sick, so her day had been much busier than normal, and she was now exhausted. It also meant having this conversation with her family instead.
Fiona reached out a hand and placed it on her arm. “But do youwanther to be?” she asked softly, as if being careful not to spook Cleo in case she may run away. Or shut down. Which she would have done in years gone by when met with a topic she didn’t want to discuss. But talking about Ivy was… different.
“Yes, I do,” Cleo admitted, as she looked up at her mom.
Picking up on the tone Fiona was using, Jade piped in. “If she’s put up with you on two dates within a single week, I think it’s safe to say that she wouldn’t be opposed to the idea, sis,” her words tumbled out of her mouth uncharacteristically gently.
“I hope so,” Cleo admitted. “But I just don’t know how to bring it up. Like, what do I even say? We’re not kids anymore, as much as I’d love to, I can’t get Lana to slip her note when placing a coffee order and asking her to tick yes or no.” She moved the food around her plate distractedly with her fork, a lost look on her face.
“Maybe not, but I’m sure you’ll think of something, love,” Fiona added.
The next day, Cleo collected Sophie from Evan’s house.
“You’re sure you don’t need me to take her for the whole weekend? You can take someyoutime, relax, go see a movie, call up your friends and head out to grab a beer, I honestly don’t mind?” Cleo asked her brother.
“Is that because yourgirlfriendis busy working this weekend and you need my daughter to help distract you from all your daydreaming about her?” Evan said before moving out the way of a swipe from Cleo at his arm.
“Just because you weren’t there last night, doesn’t mean you can make up for lost time and give me a ribbing over Ivy now. For your information, we’ve not talked about being official. So, you can’t call her that,” Cleo replied.
“Yet,” Evan added, but this time didn’t move quickly enough and found himself on the receiving end of a dead arm. “Ow, ok, fine,” he chuckled as her rubbed his upper arm with his other hand. “Let me know when she is, and I can warn her about you.”
“I thought as my brother you’re supposed to warn her about not hurtingme?” Cleo deadpanned.
“Nah, I’ll leave that up to Soph,” he grinned.
At the mention of her name, Sophie came into the kitchen with her hairbrush in hand and offered it to Cleo.
“Auntie Cleo, can you do my hair today? I’ve brushed it already, but I want it braided, and Dad’s useless at anything other than a plain old boring ponytail.” She rolled her eyes at her Evan.
“Of course I can kid, anything to prove I’m better than your Dad.” Cleo winked at Sophie who giggled as she turned around to let Cleo start styling her hair.
Fifteen minutes later, they all headed out the door.
“I should be finished by five, so I’ll swing by your house not long after six to collect her.” Evan said.
“That’s fine, I figured we’d go to the park for a bit and see where the day takes us, then back to mine for movies and pizza later for dinner. I’ll order a large then you don’t need to worry about dinner when you get back, ok?” Cleo checked with her brother.
“You’re a lifesaver, thanks Cleo. I know it was last minute, but Clara had to go visit her brother after he took a nasty fall in the supermarket yesterday. He’s fine though, and she’ll be back tomorrow and can take Soph as usual on her days next week,” Evan said.
“It’s no problem at all. Right, kid?” Cleo checked with her niece by placing an arm around her shoulders.
