10. Angie

Chapter 10

Angie

I paced in the sitting room off the front entry. We’d closed the glass French doors, shutting out the soft background noise of Mama and Papa’s show. I leaned forward so I could see the faint glow of the television on their faces. They’d passed out on their La-Z-Boys like usual before Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler found the perpetrator, which made this the perfect time for a FaceTime call.

I stood and adjusted the chair into the back corner and sat back down. Remi had removed the pastel kitty art and moved a plant into the corner. Now you couldn’t tell I lived in a broken-down, old farmhouse riddled with the ghosts of my ancestors.

Remi had coached me in the field today while I helped him move the sprinkler pipe. I supervised him more than I helped.

My phone rang. Go time.

In one deep breath, I swiped up on the green telephone icon. In a split second between ‘answering’ and ‘hello,’ I panicked. What was I thinking? I couldn’t do this. At the sound of his voice, I shoved the phone in the chair.

Hello, Angie? Daniel’s muffled voice sounded from under my cushion.

“I can’t do this.” I mouthed to Remi.

Are you there?

An instant later, Remi’s lips were next to my ear, his breath tickling goosebumps along the left side of my body. “Then give up and prove me right.”

Remi leaned back, and I met the quirk of his lips with a determined glare. I yanked the phone out from under the cushion, softening my features. “Sorry, I dropped my phone. Hey, Daniel.”

“Wow.” Daniel opened his eyes wide behind his thick, black-rimmed glasses. “What happened to your head?”

I touched my forehead and looked at my fingers. Blood. I must have reopened the wound when I glared at Remi. “Oh, I hit it on …” Remi held up his finger while he scribbled on a notebook with his Sharpie marker. He flipped the paper around, his face as pale as ever. I squinted my eyes and spoke as I read. “… a rock while I rappelled off a sick cliff this morning.” My voice came out robotic. This was off to a great start.

Daniel must think I was such an imbecile. We should have thought this through better. Behind the phone screen, Remi slapped his hand on his forehead and started scribbling again, pausing only to pass me a tissue, strategically keeping his eyes down. It amazed me how much the sight of blood affected him, and I reveled in the fact I could hold this over him in the days to come. I pressed it to my wound.

“Ouch.” Daniel’s voice came out hesitant like he suspected a prank or something.

Remi flipped his notepad around. Work on your acting skills.

I held back the urge to flip him off. He didn’t understand how good my acting skills were.

With Dan juxtaposed to Remi, I couldn’t help but compare them. Poor Daniel was like a Remington on the sales rack, downgraded in every way. Though thick, his haircut and beard screamed middle-aged man working in the IT department. His features softened into a round face. I wouldn’t call him ugly by any means, but I wouldn’t notice his looks if he passed me in the street. His profile pic showcased his best qualities and was possibly photoshopped.

“Where’d you go rappelling?” Daniel asked.

“The Snake River Canyon.” Boom. Easy question. Next. Remi pointed to his note. Grand Canyon. I continued, “It’s no Grand Canyon, but it’s local, so, you know?”

I leaned back into my chair, getting comfortable in my role, letting the tissue fall away from my head after dabbing off the droplet of blood.

“Bruh, no way!”

Bruh? My feelings for him curdled, but I kept my smile from faltering. Minor things like being talked to like a teenage boy wouldn’t keep me away from a committed relationship. Not this time. Besides, my brother spoke like this too.

“I know Ted Martin,” Daniel continued. “He legit wrote the book on back-country canyoneering trails in the Grand Canyon.”

A slew of curse words flew through my mind. The gig was up. I might as well surrender. Why did this guy have to be not only into extreme sports but also an expert on everything?

“Oh really?” I acted impressed while Remi held his phone up to me so I could read the title of Ted’s book. “Grand Canyoneering?” I tried my best to look like I wasn’t reading a phone screen like this info already existed in the back of my brain. In actuality, I hadn’t known canyoneering existed until this moment.

My performance must not have impressed Remi because he closed his eyes, shook his head, and went back to scribbling in his notebook.

“What trails have you done?”

Remi flipped up the paper, and I read it as I spoke, “Deer Creek Falls.”

“Dude! No way!” Daniel’s smile lit up his face, transferring his joy for the sport to me over the phone. “Some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen was on that hike. The first time I did it, I almost got caught in a storm, and we had to book it out of there to higher ground.”

Another strike against him for calling me dude, however, his enthusiasm erased it immediately. Daniel continued to talk about his adventure in this backcountry I’d never been to, and I made a mental note to Google pictures as soon as this call ended. Not only did I want to experience a fraction of the adventure Dan described, but I also needed to be researched and prepared for the next time I met him.

Wading through gullies and rappelling down waterfalls? Camping under the stars, facing the elements in a wilderness out to basically kill you? Roughing it for me was staying at a Motel Six, but I could change.

Doubt crept into my resolve. Did I really have to go to these lengths to get a guy? No. But a guy like Dan would transform my world and was worth all the efforts I put into making this happen. Dan and I hit it off in our texts. Besides, with Remi’s help, I’d be able to do all the extreme sports stuff.

And was it bad I needed someone’s arms to hold me while I went through losing Papa?

The conversation veered onto safer paths. He asked about life on the farm, and I told him a few of my greatest hits about Papa and me.

“What about this Remi guy you talk about all the time? The guy who works for you?”

Shoot! I thought this conversation would be safe. I didn’t talk about Remi with him all this time, did I?

Remi sat straight up, then shot me a sideways grin.

“He’s still as incompetent as ever,” I answered.

The grin didn’t budge from Remi’s face. He scribbled on his notebook and flipped it around. At least now I know what you and Smoot are talking about all the time.

Heat burned in my cheeks, but I resisted the urge to cover them with my hands.

“Well, it sounds like he’s a good friend.” Dan pressed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. “I’d love to meet him and your other friends.”

This couldn’t be happening.

Remi flashed his notebook at me. I’m flattered.

“S-sure.” I kept most of the hesitancy out of my voice. “I don’t think Remi will have much time to hang out.”

Once again, I read Remi’s scribbled words. I’ll make time. My gaze moved from his notepad to his face. He controlled his laughter, but barely. As per the usual, life was a game for him.

I glowered at him, instantly regretting it as pain pulsed along my hairline.

“No worries. I was hoping to see you next weekend.” Daniel ducked his head and peeked back at me through his glasses in a manner I found adorable. “Maybe we could meet? Like go on a date?”

“A date?” I repeated. This was exactly what I wanted. A fast relationship hopefully ending in a proposal. Then why did I feel pressure tightening my throat?

I glanced at Remi—my lifeline. He flipped his notebook around. I widened my eyes and slightly shook my head.

“Is that a no?” Daniel’s lips tightened together. A telling sign of his disappointment.

“No.” I focused on my screen. “My dog was getting into the plant.” I didn’t have a dog. Not since Kiba died. The lie slipped off my tongue fast. Pretty soon my life would be nothing but lies. “Sure. Let’s meet. We could go to the Bearded Axe next Friday night. Meet you there at seven?”

“Yeah. That sounds great!” Daniel sat up straighter and gave me a bright-eyed look.

I resisted my normal blabbering about everything in one breath. Smoot didn’t say anything either, so we sat in awkward silence until I broke. “Well, I have to go. The pipe on the farm won’t move itself.”

Remi silently laughed at me and shook his head. What had I done wrong this time? Next time we did something like this, I would avoid looking at him.

“Okay.” Daniel leaned closer to his phone. “See you in a week.”

Fireworks erupted inside me, only to be doused by a bucket of uncertainty. The last time I’d been to The Bearded Axe was senior year. I still remember Brady Vaus and his cronies singing the Jell-O theme song behind me after I’d thrown an axe. It hadn’t made it to the target. I’d walked out without picking it up and never returned.

Thanks to Remi, I not only had to confront one of my high school demons, but I also had to learn to throw a fetching hatchet. I hung up and chucked my phone at Remi. “You jerk.”

My phone caught him in his midsection, against his solid abs, then fell into his lap and skidded onto the rug.

“What did I do? I thought the call went well once you relaxed.”

“I can’t throw an axe to save my life.”

“It’s not that hard.”

“For you.” Thanks to Brady, all I could focus on when I threw anything was my jiggling underarms.

“Look,” Remi picked up my phone and handed it to me with a smile, “throwing an axe is nowhere near as hard as jumping off a telephone pole or walking on a wire thirty feet in the air. You’ve done both of those.”

“I’m going to embarrass myself.”

“We’ll practice beforehand. Don’t worry.”

Don’t worry, he says to someone with chronic anxiety. I couldn’t back out now. Maybe everything would be okay.

“So, you talk about me, huh?” He leaned forward on his knees, the pencil and notebook dangling from his hands.

“Only to complain about how annoying you are.”

“That’s not what Smoot said.”

“Shut up.” I touched my eyebrow, testing the bandage and questioning once again why I ever made a deal with a Loki. “Let’s focus on how I’m going to survive axe throwing.”

“Are you going to set up a guys’ night?”

“No,” I responded immediately, even though I knew I would.

I wasn’t a liar. Most of the time.