Page 102 of Extreme Romancing in Idaho

Sure, a category five tornado had never touched ground in Idaho. Most of ours were small and puny compared to the ones in the Midwest. But there could always be a first.

Stopping, I looked around. A tall lamp post lit up the halo of light encircling me. I’d walked to the far edge of the parking lot. I turned a full 360 degrees. Cripes. I didn’t know what Remi’s new truck looked like.

He came to the edge of the light. “I parked back there.” He clicked a button on the key fob in his hand, and orange lights flashed near the hospital entrance.

I grumbled and turned back the way I came. “You could have mentioned that sooner.”

“I’m not dumb enough to tease a pissed-off rattlesnake.” He followed behind me and spoke so quietly that I almost didn’t hear him.

A snake? Did he just compare me to a snake? I didn’t want pity or to be treated like a fragile butterfly, but a little respect would be nice, especially considering all the garbage going down in my life.

Clamping my mouth shut, I successfully bottled my outrage and got into his truck. He started the engine and pulled out of the lot. Mesmerized by the blanket of darkness around us, I stared out the window, at the way the headlight beam rolled seamlessly over the grass.

Soothing country music drifted from the speakers at low volume. His radio switched from song to song. Thirty minutes flew by until one of my favorites came on: Taylor Swift’s “Fearless.” The name of her record-breaking album and a song about love, driving in a car, first kisses, and being fearless.

In the cab of Remi’s truck, I could almost forget about the storm that raged outside, waiting to consume me.

In here, I could be fearless. Give him an answer. Say yes.

In here, I could also be furious. Kind of like a pissed-off rattlesnake.

“I remind you of a snake?” I took the second option. “What about me says scaly, deadly beast?” I turned from the peace of the window and glared at him.

“Ah, there’s the venom I’ve missed so much.” He shot me a quirky half smile.

“Now, not only am I a snake, but I’m a venomous one?”

“In the most adorable way.”

“Gah!” I yelled and pressed the palms of my hands to my temples. “You are the most infuriating—Why did you have to come pick me up? I’m handling things fine on my own?”

“From where I’m sitting, you’re half a bubble off a plum.” He made the right turn, taking us into downtown Clear Springs. One blink, and you’d miss it.

“What does the even mean?” I took a breath. “You make no sense.”

“What I mean, dear Angie, is that you are one loose wire away from exploding. I talked to your mom. You haven’t been sleeping or eating much, and this was before Lili’s delivery.”

“I’m doing fine.”

“Would you stop saying fine? I hate that word. Stop lying to me.”

“What? You want me to say instead that Papa means everything to me. Without him in my life I’m going to be so lost—tell you that I’m the failure who walked this farm right up to bankruptcy’s door and knocked—that Lili’s beautiful babies, the ones she and Maddie and Blake have been praying for, have only a fifty percent chance of surviving the week?” The wall I’d held in place since the reality of hospice care entered my world began crumbling. Tears spilled over the edge of my bottom lid, and I could do nothing to stop them. “You want me to confide in you about how I want to get married so badly before my dad dies? That I invested three months into a complete lie? Instead of spending more time with my papa?”

Remi approached my lane.

I pressed my arm to his chest. “Don’t.” Air. I couldn’t get enough air. “I can’t—I can’t let Mama see me like this.”

“It’s okay. Breathe.”

Passing my driveway, he turned into Mountain Meadows, heading to his house.

I pulled on my seatbelt and on the collar of my scrubs. Everything was too tight. Suffocating me. The edges of my vision blurred, and I felt for the handle. “I need to get out. I need to get out of this truck now.”

“Hold on.” Remi slammed on the gas and drifted into his driveway.

I pulled on the handle and threw the door open once he stopped. The cold night air washed over me. I tried to get out, but something yanked me back in my seat. Again and again, I tried.

Remi materialized in front of me. Reaching around me, he unlatched the belt which kept me captive. Like a dope, I hadn’t freed myself from my seat belt. His hands were on my upper arms, guiding me to the ground.

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