Page 98 of Extreme Romancing in Idaho

“She’s good at everything she does.” Except scaling rock walls, or riding dirt bikes, or jumping from the top of a telephone pole. Even then, I had no doubt, with her stubbornness, she’d gain expertise in anything she desired to do. Taking the plate from Nora, I moved to sit on the sofa.

“Remi? Nora? That you?” Tony’s weak voice came from the cracked open door.

I tightened my grip on the dish in my hand. My heartrate picked up tenfold. I’d been waiting for this moment—for a time when I could talk to Tony and Nora alone. Over the past couple of weeks, Angie hadn’t left Tony’s side, and I couldn’t blame her.

“Yes,” Nora answered him.

We both walked into the room. I sat in the bombin’ vintage green chair, and Nora leaned onto the end of the bed. My sore body eased into the chair.

Bliss.

Pure bliss.

After working an entire day and pushing my muscles to the limit, the moment they got to relax was sweeter than stolen honey. I took a bite of the bread and couldn’t help but thinkthis is what heaven would be like.If only death weren’t staring me in the face. If only I’d known Tony for more than one growing season. How many treasures of knowledge would he have passed on to me?

Closing my eyes, reveling in the quiet, I let out an audible sigh. “This chair is the most comfortable thing on Earth.”

“Remi …” The hesitancy in Tony’s haggard voice had me sitting up and looking at him.

“What is it? Do you need your pillows fixed?” I set down my plate on the nightstand, which was packed full of pills and papers.

Lifting Tony’s skeletal body, I adjusted the pillow beneath his neck. Nora picked up the controls for their bed and raised him to a sitting position.

Fiddling with the remote at his side, Tony pressed a button, and the TV went dark. “I think it’s time we told him, hun.” He spoke to Nora even though he’d just said my name.

Told me what? Did Angie and Smoot get back together? Impossible.

“You sure?” Nora creased her eyebrows together, studying Tony’s face.

Tony met her eyes and gave her one slow, deliberate nod. Each of his calculated movements took up his much-needed energy stores. I’d looked at Tony’s battle against cancer from all different angles, but there just wasn’t a solution to this problem.

“Okay.” Nora placed her husband’s other hand in hers and gave it a slight squeeze. “I’m with you. Always.”

“Tell me what?” I voiced the question, spinning circles in my head.

“We know.” Nora’s gaze bored into me.

“What do you mean, you know?”

Tony ducked his head. “We know you’re with Cockrell Development, and you’re here to buy the farm.”

I fell back into the velvet chair. They’d known this whole time, and still they’d hired me? Tony’s breaths rattled in the quiet until I found my voice. “W-why didn’t you say anything? Why did you give me the job?”

The smell of the buttered bread covered the hospital scent that had taken root in this room. I picked the slice up and took another bite. Before I came here, I’d never known the joy of homemade anything. My mother was always watching her carb intake and made sure the chefs followed her various fad diets. As a result, I’d been raised on mostly vegetables, some fruit, and a little dash of protein.

I couldn’t imagine what my mother would say about my Idaho diet, which incorporated meat with every meal—including breakfast—carbs galore, and potatoes—glorious, giant potatoes.

Dammit. I didn’t want to leave.

“We hired you because we liked you—had a good feeling about you.” Tony’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he paused to swallow.

“And,” Nora took over, “Angie took a shine to you at the airport. Who do you think told Wendy to send you our way when you came sniffing around?” She winked at me.

“Keep your enemies closer.” Tony’s breathy words were so soft I almost missed them.

Were they at the same airport as me? Angie’s shine was about as bright as an oxidized penny. I shoved the last of the bread into my mouth and dusted my hands off over my plate. This was the strangest negotiation I’d ever been a part of, almost like I was the pawn in Tony and Nora’s plans, not the other way around.

“Okay. Start from the beginning.”

---