“What?” she prompted, and he hesitated for a moment, his mouth opening and then closing. “Come on, Dante. Spit it out.”
“I’m sorry.” The words were hurried and a little garbled but unmistakable. She raised an eyebrow and noticed that he had trouble meeting her eyes.
“For which item on your long list of indiscretions?” she asked as she toyed with the pen.
“All of them?”
“Please. I don’t do blanket forgiveness.” She waved her hand dismissively and was delighted to see a grin flirt along the corners of his mouth.
“Fine. I’m sorry I had you kicked out of my office that day,” he said humbly.
“And . . . ?”
“And for having security escort you out of the building.”
“Hmm.”
“It was wrong of me.”
“It was,” she agreed.
“I’m sorry it caused you humiliation and pain.” An edge of des-peration started to creep into his voice.
“Are you?”
“Yes. You believe me, don’t you?”
“Maybe.”
“Come on, Cleo . . . I’m really sorry. It was a shitty thing to do, and I’ve regretted it ever since.”
She thought about it, savoring the moment a little longer.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“That one has been struck off the list.”
“Wait a second. How long is this list?”
“It varies. Items get added and removed all the time. Now can we finish this puzzle, please?” The rest of the morning and part of the afternoon was spent on the floor together, amicably arguing over every single answer. Cleo couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed herself more.
Cleo and Dante got along much better after that day. They no longer seemed like strangers forced to live together and felt more at ease around each other. They fell into an easy routine; Dante cooked when he was home, and Cleo ordered takeout for them when he called to let her know he’d be working late, which happened on average about twice a week. And for some reason, Dante always called to let her know that he’d be back late.
Their workouts were almost always done together, usually in the mornings before Dante headed off to work, but as Cleo’s pregnancy progressed, her physical routine became less strenuous, and her en pointe exercises nonexistent. On Saturday mornings, they did the crossword puzzle together even though Dante was dismal at it, and they often watched old action or horror movies together. Dante wasn’t the biggest horror-movie fan, and that’s all she ever chose when it was her turn to pick a film, mostly because she loved watching him freak out.
The next couple of weeks passed quickly and peacefully. But the main source of grief and discontent for Cleo-and she sensed for Dante too-was the fact that Luc still didn’t want to speak to either of them. It was going on longer than any of them had anticipated, and Blue was at her wit’s end. Cleo had actually gone to see Luc at the house and at his office on several occasions. He’d asked her how she was, how the pregnancy was going and-at the house-had found a reason to exit the room and leave her with Blue. At work he’d told her he was too busy to chat. She didn’t know what else to do and decided to let him figure it out in his own time.
“You’re not even watching,” Dante complained, his voice interrupting her thoughts, and she squinted at him before switching her attention back to the television.
“Well, it’s your fault for choosing this boring movie,” she retorted, waving a hand at the screen. It was some generic action movie; she didn’t even think she knew the title. It was badly acted and kind of bland.
“Are you thinking about tomorrow?” he asked. “Are you nervous?”
The dance recital was the following evening, and Cleo didn’t feel the kids were anywhere close to ready. She thought her choreography was lame, and she just knew that something catastrophic would happen. The building nerves and anxiety were pretty much on par with what she used to feel before performing.
“It’ll be fine,” she said, more to convince herself than him. “The kids seem confident.”
“Then what’s bothering you?” he asked.
“Luc.” The name was out before she could prevent it, and he sighed heavily.
“I had no idea he could be so stubborn,” he said with a wry twist of his lips. “Why is he so set against the idea of us living together?”
“Because he knows . . .” Her voice tapered off.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.