“What does he do?”
“Something online, I think. To be honest, I haven’t chatted with him much. I’m just counting it a win that he has a job.”
He nodded, readjusting in his seat slightly. “How many marriages is this for her?”
“Number four. Countless relationships before that and in between. Four have cheated on her, one scammed her and stole quite a bit of money, and one was not a very nice drunk.”
His hands gripped tighter on the steering wheel. “Did you or your sisters ever get hurt? Or your mom?”
“No, he didn’t hurt any of us. He just destroyed our living room.”
He shook his head slightly. “Do you think this marriage will last?”
I shrugged, playing with the strap on my purse. “Granted, I’ve spent a grand total of about three hours in his company, but he seemed like all of the others. She loves to date the same person, just a different face. But I guess you never know. I hope, for her sake, she’s happy. And mine.”
We drove in silence for a bit before Duke rubbed his hands together. “Okay, I’ve got a plan.”
“Should I be scared?”
“We’re headed to Idaho. Land of possibility.”
“And cows,” I added.
“What do you say about finishing out our bucket list?”
Some part of me had known he was going to say that. That same part was cautiously thrilled. The other part was hearing Anita’s dumb threat of going to HR on repeat in my head.
“It just doesn’t seem like something a person would do on a very professional business trip.”
Duke rubbed his face. “What are you talking about? Bucket lists are vital to the structure of our company. We have meetings reporting our progress. And more importantly, you owe me.” He had me there, and he knew it.
“I know.”
“My grandpa has a pond.”
“I didn’t bring my swimsuit.”
He grinned and motioned with his head to the gym bag sitting in his backseat. “I’ve got two options for you.”
A smile found its way across my face at the memory of a cozy night shared together in the ER.
My first instinct was to say no. It was always no. Fun meant idleness when I should be working. But Iwasworking today. I was driving with my boss to Idaho to meet with clients.Myclients. No matter that they were my boss’s grandparents and that he had probably spoon-fed me this job, it was mine. Today, I was going to claim it. Today, I wasn’t stuck at home, worrying about my dwindling bank account. I was driving to a farm, and there was a pond, and I was with Duke Webber. It felt so reminiscent of our night three years earlier that I couldn’t deny myself this chance even if I wanted to. Which I didn’t.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Duke’s questioning gaze found mine. He looked like he thought I’d promised to buy him a puppy but wasn’t sure I meant it.
“Yeah,” I supplied, my excitement growing. “If you think your Idaho muscles can handle it.”
“Oh, they can handle it. You just make sureyoucan handle it.”
His words were rimmed with something I couldn’t quite place. Teasing and laughter were still at the core, but something else lined the edges. It was more than excitement. More than determination, even. It took a while into our drive before I put my finger on it. It came to me as he was explaining a stretch of our drive. I had told him I rarely had reason to venture this far north of Salt Lake. I was almost embarrassed by how little of my own state I’d seen. Instead of making me feel awkward about it, he began telling me about the sights we were passing.
He pointed to a town at our right, nestled up against the base of a small mountain chain. “Brigham City has a stretch of road that’s lined with orchards and fruit stands every summer. You like peaches, right?”
His question caught me off guard, and I assured him that I did.
“I’ll take you back here in August, then. Next month. We’ll get us a box. Best peaches in the state.”
