Chapter 28 Leith
Leith
The sound of my phone buzzing on my nightstand woke me up. I blinked my eyes open. I didn’t have any idea what time it was.
I reached to flip it over and saw Clarke’s contact photo—a selfie I took of us on prom night lighting up the screen.
“Hey, honey,” I said on a yawn. “Are you okay?”
“Leith?” The voice on the other end sounded like it could be Clarke, but I knew it wasn’t. “It’s Collins. Something happened and Clarke got…hurt, in a way.”
I was out of my bed and had my clothes on before she finished her sentence. “Where are you?” I asked.
“Boone’s.”
“I’ll be there soon.” It was three in the morning, so the roads were deserted aside from a few stumbling lingerers outside of Old Church, and I raced for Boone’s.
I barely remembered going from one end of Sweetwater Peak to the other, starting with the switchbacks from my farm and ending with the ones that led to Boone’s property.
All the gates were open as I drove along the dirt road—presumably because Collins already drove up this way. Normally, I’d get out and shut them because I’d want someone to do the same for me, but all I could think about was Clarke.
I’d been up here a few times. We sold Boone hay for his cattle and horses, but I’d never stayed long. Boone was a grumpy old bastard, but his love for the Cartwright family—especially for the twins—was well known.
An orange glow came into view as I got closer to Boone’s cabin.
I parked next to an old Buick. It felt like I was out of my truck before it was completely stopped, but I didn’t stumble.
I ran to Boone’s front door, taking the steps up to his porch two at a time.
I realized that I probably should knock, but it opened before I could.
Boone Ryder stood inside the doorway as I walked through. “Where is she? Is she okay?” My voice cracked.
“She’s on the couch,” Boone said. His voice was gruff.
“Sleeping. That way.” He motioned to the right, so that’s where I went.
I’d never been in Boone’s house. It was both exactly and nothing like I thought it would be.
It was small and simple, but also warm, cozy, and filled to the brim with photos—on the walls, on side tables, everywhere.
When I turned the corner from the entryway, I saw them. Clarke’s head was in Collins’s lap on the couch. Her eyes were closed, and Collins was combing through Clarke’s hair with her fingers. Collins looked up when she heard me.
“What happened?” I asked. I fell to my knees next to her waist.
“Her head started to hurt,” Collins said softly. “She passed out, and she’s been in and out ever since.”
I felt like someone punched me in the throat.
“Why did you bring her here? Why didn’t you bring her to me?
” I didn’t know if I had a right to ask that, but I did anyway.
Collins was Clarke’s sister, and I knew both of them would always do what they thought was best for the other, but I wanted to be what was best for Clarke.
And I wanted her sister to see me that way too.
“It’s quiet for her here,” Collins said. I remembered the cemetery. Clarke said the same thing when we were there, about her head.
“What does that mean, Collins?” I asked.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s up to her to tell you the specifics, but…
” Collins chewed on the inside of her cheek.
She and Clarke had the same mannerisms. “Clarke doesn’t get normal headaches or migraines.
They’re…intense and exhausting, and this one seemed particularly bad.
I’ve never seen her like this before.” Collins’s fear was apparent, and it did nothing for my own nerves.
“I knew that,” I said. “She…she got one a couple of weeks ago while we were at Toades. She had me take her to the cemetery.”
“She had one of these recently?” Collins asked. The concern in her voice was clear as a bell.
I nodded. “You didn’t know?” I assumed that Collins knew everything about Clarke.
But then I remembered that Clarke and I had agreed to keep everything about us a secret.
I got hit with a pang of guilt. Did she not tell Collins about what happened at Toades because she’d have to tell her that I was the one who took her to the cemetery?
Would that raise questions for Collins that I’d asked Clarke not to answer?
“No,” Collins said. “Both Clarke and I have this incredibly annoying habit of thinking we need to do everything alone. It usually does more harm than good.”
“But she doesn’t have to.”
“I know that,” Collins said. “She’s just never had anyone prove it to her.”
I swallowed hard. I wanted to prove that to Clarke—that she didn’t have to walk the world alone, that she could lean on someone.
“Do you want to trade places with me?” Collins asked. “She’s in and out, and I’m sure she’d much rather wake up to you than me. I was kind of…laying into her when it happened.”
I nodded. There was nothing I wanted more than to be with Clarke right now. Collins held her sister’s head up gently while she slid herself out from under it, and I took her place. Clarke sighed in her sleep when I ran a knuckle down her cheek.
Boone made his way over to Collins, who was now sitting on a rocking chair across from us, with a cup of tea. He gave me a disapproving look, but I didn’t take it personally. He was protective of Clarke, and I liked that she had that. “Where’s the city boy?” he asked Collins gruffly.
“Sleeping,” Collins said. “I told him I’d be back when he woke up.” Boone grunted. “Thanks for answering my call,” she said.
Boone nodded. “Every time.”
“You should get some sleep,” Collins said. “Leith and I have this under control.” At that, Boone gave a stiff nod and walked down a narrow hallway to the right of us.
“He still scares the shit out of me,” I whispered.
“You and Brady both.” Collins smiled. “But a man in his midseventies who wakes up to let the twins he’s known their entire life into his house with no questions asked is probably one of the best men to ever walk the planet.”
“Probably,” I agreed. “How are you and Brady?”
Collins smiled. “Good,” she said. “I heard you took advantage of his keys, though.”
“Only a little,” I admitted.
“I know, you know,” she said. “Clarke didn’t tell me. I…guessed, and she denied it, but denials like that don’t work when your twin sister can basically read your mind. So, she didn’t break any…agreement or anything.”
“I don’t mind,” I said. And I didn’t. I trusted Collins with this. I felt terrible that I had been the reason that Clarke had isolated herself from the people she loved most. That I had, inadvertently, done this to Clarke.
“Collins, can I tell you something?” I asked. The person I needed to tell was currently mostly unconscious, but I figured I might need a practice run.
“Is it something that I’m going to have to tell Clarke later?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll tell her. I just don’t want it to be a secret anymore.”
“Okay,” Collins said and then took a sip of her tea. “Unburden yourself.”
“So, this whole thing between Clarke and me got started because we got caught kissing in Ron’s office,” I said and Collins nodded.
“And obviously, the rumor mill started to spin. Presumably, Ron immediately went home and told his wife, who then probably pulled out her phone tree and started dialing away.”
“I mean, yeah, probably.”
“But I poured gasoline on the fire,” I said.
“I saw an opportunity to save my farm, and I took it. And I’m scared I tricked Clarke into doing this thing with me.
” Collins didn’t say anything—just waited for me to continue.
“I felt like I needed the gossip to move faster in order to convince her to do it, so…” I swallowed.
“I’m the one that posted about us on Sweetwater Peakers. ”
Collins blinked slowly a few times. “Is that all?” I nodded, and she seemed like she was stifling a laugh.
“I mean, yeah, you absolutely need to tell her that, but I don’t think you should beat yourself up too much.
Maybe you sped things up, and maybe you didn’t.
You can’t stop the gossip train in Sweetwater Peak, and at the end of the day, Clarke didn’t say yes because of other people’s perceptions.
She said yes because she wanted to help you, and she cares about this place. She cares about you too.”
“Did she say that to you?” I asked.
“No,” Collins said. “But I can tell. I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t know it was true.”
I nodded. “Thanks for calling.”
“Thanks for coming,” Collins said. “I’m happy she has you.”
Clarke sighed in her sleep, and I stroked the side of her face with my thumb. “Leith?” she said dreamily.
“I’m here, honey,” I said.
“Head…hurt…”
“Get some sleep. I’ve got you,” I said softly.
“I believe you,” Clarke whispered and then drifted back to sleep.