Page 194 of The Re-Proposal

“I...” She tilts her head to the side. “You know, I’m not sure. They said they were from the local paper, but I kept checking and never saw a write-up. I just figured they’d decided not to print.”

“I think they did, but it wasn’t a local newspaper.”

A sick realization crawls over her face. “I was bamboozled, wasn’t I?”

Holding in another rough sigh, I punch Clay’s number.

My brother answers brusquely. “Hello?”

“Clay, can you scrub an article from the web?”

“I don’t control the internet, Cody.”

“Is that a yes?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

I hang up and call Vargas back.

Liandra is sitting at the edge of her seat. “What’s going on? Who was that reporter? Why would they lie to me?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.”

“Bolton,” Vargas sounds nervous, “this article is spreading like wildfire. It feels just like that smear campaign against you earlier this month. Way too organized.”

I grit my teeth. “Winifred.”

“I think it could be.”

“I want my lawyers all over this. If we can’t shut down these tabloid sites, I’ll buy them over. I don’t care how it’s done. Take those articles down. Now.”

* * *

Clarissa racesinto her mother’s arms and squeezes her tight. “Mommy.”

“Hi, baby.” Liandra rubs up and down Clarissa’s back.

We’re standing in the hospital hallway. Through the glass pane in the door, I can see Joel lying down. The machines keeping him alive are loud in the room and the tubes sticking in and out of his body look like something out of a sci-fi movie.

I hate how helpless the kid looks.

He should be up and glaring at me, eyes full of life and mouth full of insults. He doesn’t belong on that bed, looking like death warmed over.

“Thank you for picking mom up.” Clarissa beams and I drag my eyes away from Joel to look at her. “Did you two have a good time at the co-op?”

“It was fine,” Liandra says stiffly.

“Mom, did you meet Ms. Phoebe?”

“Yes.” Liandra scowls harder. “She seemed to have nothing but good things to say about Cody. A little try-hard if you ask me.”

I see I’m still no closer to winning Future Son-in-law of the Year.

“Ms. Phoebe doesn’t lie or sugarcoat things. Cody played a big part in getting us all the help and resources we needed. He went above and beyond for all of us.”

“Don’t bother singing his praises in front of me, Clarissa. I’m not raising my hands and shouting amen, no matter how hard you preach.”

Doberman appears in the hallway. He nods once.

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