Page 49 of For Fox Sake

“Straight As, of course.”

He grins. “Of course.”

I straighten in my seat. “Okay, what about you?”

He rubs his chin. “Hmm. Best gift.” He snaps his fingers. “It was from Archer. He bought me a blanket.”

My brows lift. “A blanket? That’s the best gift you’ve ever received?”

“It was an oversized blanket with his face printed on it.”

I burst out laughing.

We go back and forth for a few minutes about various likes and dislikes, favorites, least favorites, and then guilty pleasures.

I wrinkle my nose. “I don’t know. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

He snorts. “I’m not ashamed. I love K-dramas.”

My mouth pops open in surprise.

He shrugs. “They’re too good to miss. Romance, drama, excitement, what’s not to love? Now your turn.”

I chuckle. “Liking K-dramas is not that bad.”

He shifts in the seat, leaning toward me. “Well, now I’m really curious. Is yours very bad? Are you a nose picker?”

A startled laugh escapes me. “Oh, gross, no! All right, lest you think I enjoy picking my nose and eating it... my guilty pleasure is that I really like to daydream.”

The corner of his mouth twitches. “That’s it? Daydreaming?”

I lean forward. “It’s more than that. I like to vividly daydream entire scenarios and conversations and different realities, like I’m rich and donating a bunch of money to people in need, or I’m a world-class athlete at the Olympics, or a famous singer impressing a crowd.” My face burns and I lift my hand to my head. “It’s weird, right?”

A grin spreads across his face and some of my discomfort ebbs. “No. I think it’s normal, actually. I fantasize about beating Oliver all the time at... anything, really.”

I laugh.

“Do you ever fantasize about applying to a nursing program again?”

I take a sip of my tea and try to ignore the pang of regret and frustration lancing through my gut. There’s no point in fretting over things I can’t control. “I wish. It could never be more than a fantasy. I can’t leave Dull. I can’t move Mom, and there are no nursing schools nearby, even if I had the time.”

“But what if all barriers were removed? Assume you have no other responsibilities.”

“In that fantasy world? Yes, of course. In a heartbeat. It was my dream. I wanted to be a transplant nurse.”

His gaze sharpens on mine. “Because of Mia?”

I fiddle with my napkin. “They do regular nursing care, but they also coordinate everything for the transplant, working with recipients and their families through the whole process. The nurse we had was incredible. It made a truly daunting experience so much better, you know, to just have someone that could keep us informed and be there from start to finish.”

He leans back in the booth seat. “Seems like it would be a really fulfilling job.”

“Absolutely.” And a way to honor my sister’s memory and everything we went through together. Having family in and out of hospitals all the time has been a living nightmare. But the nurses and other hospital staff who have worked with Mia and Mom have made the most awful situations bearable.

His head tilts. “You all moved to Ithaca because of Mia’s condition?”

I nod. “Yeah. There’s only the one hospital here, and they wouldn’t have been able to do a transplant if an organ became available. We would have had to get to Portland.” I blow out a breath. “It was too far. Organs have a specific timeframe where they need to be transplanted, and hearts are only viable for four to six hours. Mia needed more than Dull could provide, even on a regular basis. So, Mom found a job in Ithaca, and we moved.”

Our food arrives, ribs for Jake, salmon for me. We eat in silence for a minute, but it’s not strained. My earlier nerves have vanished, but awareness still throbs between us.

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