Page 100 of Extreme Romancing in Idaho

“Not for our Angie,” Nora finished for him.

Ha! They liked me more than Smoot. I’d feel even more triumphant if it weren’t for Tony’s hollowed-out cheeks, made even more apparent in the dim lamplight.

“Does Angie feel the same?” Tony asked.

“She hasn’t given me her answer yet. But she sure does love kissing me.” I smirked.

Tony lifted his hands at his wrists. “I don’t need the details—”

“Speak for yourself.” Nora cut in.

Tony went on with a sense of urgency in his voice. “And I know she doesn’t need my permission, but …” He shifted his hand closer to me. I took it in a firm grip, careful not to bruise him. “… I’ll give you my blessing to marry my daughter if—” Deep-rooted coughs overtook him. Each hacking sound jolted through him, making my body ache while listening to it.

I swallowed past the sudden tightness in my throat. How had I come to care for this man so much? I respected him far more than I ever would my own father. The coughing fit passed, and Nora held his water straw to his mouth.

He took a couple of sips then continued. “If you promise to buy our farm,” he finished.

In a rare show of strength, Tony knocked his forearm against the stack of papers. My plate clattered to the ground, foreclosure notices and medical bills scattering on top of it. “Make this all go away.”

He rested back on the bed. The sleeve of his red flannel jacket brushed against my forearm. I would never forget this image, the picture of an old, withered, stubborn farmer in John Deere pajamas and his red flannel.

Nora gently held onto Tony’s shoulder. The fingers of her free hand shook against her mouth while tears silently escaped her eyes.

The warmth I’d felt at declaring my love for Angie fled, replaced by an ice-cold brick. “I promised Angie I wouldn’t buy her land.”

“We’re out of time, and she won’t listen.” He coughed. “Angie’s true calling is being a baby nurse, not running this place. Between the two she hardly finds time to sleep. And Nora only moved here because she loves me. She’s never taken to farm life, not like me.” He rested more fully into his pillows. “No. It’s time to let it go.”

I rubbed my chin, my soft beard brushing against my fingertips.

Tony took hold of my wrist, squeezing it without much strength. “Promise me.” He locked eyes with me. “Promise me.”

I couldn’t ignore his desperation. Not in his last moments on this Earth. “I promise. I’ll get the paperwork ready.”

“Have it ready with a notary in the morning.”

“Tomorrow morning. I’ll be here.”

And Angie would never forgive me.

Chapter 39

Angie

Istaredatoneof Lili’s perfect boys. Smooshing his tiny lips together, he squinted one eye open only to close it again. Everything in the delivery had gone as best as we could’ve hoped for. Their lungs were underdeveloped, and they couldn’t maintain their body temperature independently. As anticipated, they’d been admitted to the NICU.

We’ll know in the next few hours …The pediatric intensivist’s words ate at my resolve and probably haunted Lili and Blake. I’d fought through those hours with my everything. The scale tipped ever so slightly in their favor.

While I’d assured Lili everything was going to be fine, her little boys were precariously balanced between life and death. Chorioamnionitis: infection of the amniotic fluid. Lili had been leaking fluid from a small rupture for possibly days. Bacteria got in. The babies had been swimming in putrid soup.

Fifty percent. The pediatric specialist had given them the same probability of living as flipping a coin. Lili blamed herself, saying stuff like, ‘A doctor should have recognized a premature rupture.’ She couldn’t accept the fault. With a leak that small, it would be easily confused with urine, even for a medical professional.

Jared left immediately following the delivery, promising to come get me after my shift.

All night long, I’d managed to keep their oxygen saturation above dangerous levels.

Braden Thomas to my right weighed only four pounds two ounces, and Benjamin Jorge to my left weighed four pounds four ounces. Relatively large babies for the NICU, both were perfect, and both were my responsibility to keep alive.

I stood between their oxygen beds. “Hello, little buddies. You’re going to be the most treasured boys on this planet. You just have to fight for it.”

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