“You were ready for this?” I nod to the container, which she sets on the table. Imogen doesn’t respond right away, grabbing Iris’s plate and scraping the leftover pasta into the dish.
“Oh, come on.” I lean forward, resting my elbows on the table. “I’m not that bad company.”
The look she gives me says anything but. And yet, she keeps her lips pressed shut until she finishes putting the leftovers away.
“Her appetite is going,” Imogen says finally. “I didn’t want this outing to be a total waste, especially because she isn’t into anything at home.”
For all the complaining Iris did about having a new, younger nurse, this one seems to know what she’s doing. At least she appears to be good at listening to what the others tell her.Because this probably isn’t something she picked up after only a few hours with Iris.
“What?” Imogen snaps. Her dark eyes flicker to mine before going back to the food, which she quickly shoves into her bag.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Nothing. You know, she called me when she found out her usual nurse was being replaced.”
“Josie.” Nurse Imogen nods. “Maternity leave.”
“Yeah.” I glance over my shoulder at the table Iris moved to. “She’s over there with her friends.”
Imogen looks over at the table, curious more than anything. “Oh.”
“But I guess that’s the last thing we should be talking about,” I say. “You know, since we have a funeral to plan. But make note of those ladies. They’ll need to be there. Iris has had her hands in all of their lives since they were young. And she might have changed public opinion on all of their exes.”
Nurse Imogen raises a brow, now even more curious. “I’m not saying I’ll help you plan a funeral,” she replies, grabbing her fork. Her salad, which she’d forgotten before, now seems more important than our conversation. She drops my stare to her plate, stabbing her fork into the lettuce. “But why does she wantusto do it?”
“She doesn’t have any family,” I start, which has her looking at me again, sadness pooling in her dark eyes. “Well, the whole town is her family. But blood? She’s got none of that.”
And if she does, she hasn’t said anything to anyone in years. If she had a husband, no one knows, not even the other elderly locals who remember when Iris took over Daisy’sfrom the last owner. And if there were children, they never came for her, not when she got her diagnosis, not when she went into the care home, and they certainly aren’t here now looking after her.
Imogen glances down at her salad silently, like she’s considering what I’ve said carefully. And for some reason, I’mcompletely enamoured by her. I like watching her. It’s a strange feeling, one I’m not sure I feel comfortable with.
She’s just Iris’s nurse, I tell myself. And I tell myself that again and again while she slowly eats her salad, eyes shifting to the table Iris joined. I can’t help but quietly observe Imogen like a total creep.
If Casper were here, that’s exactly what he’d call me. A creep. Maybe a perv for staring for too long. And he’d probably be right.
Because it’s totally inappropriate looking at her the way I am, knowing she’s Iris’s nurse. She’s a newbie in town, too, which means she could just up and leave at any moment like a lot do. She could just be here for Josie’s maternity leave, planning to disappear after she returns.
It’s not a good idea to get tangled with Imogen, especially with Iris trying to influence it.
I clear my throat and look away. “If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. But it’s the least I can do for Iris. Just be prepared to see me—a lot.”
Imogen sighs, setting down her fork. “Fine.”
I glance up, meeting her dark stare. “Fine?”
“Fine. I’ll help,” she says. “By the sounds of it, she deserves something great to celebrate her end of life. And it also sounds like she wants it to be your ranch where she does it.”
I chuckle lightly under my breath. “Yeah. The ranch is…something.”
Imogen’s eyes narrow, but she doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Maybe for the first time ever, I feel a little exposed. It takes a lot to unsettle me, but under her gaze, I don’t feel nearly as confident in myself as I normally do.
She’s just the nurse, I remind myself again.
I hear the walker before I see Iris. She comes up beside me and lightly punches my shoulder. “So, got anything yet?” sheasks, hobbling back to the seat she abandoned. “I let the girls know there’s gonna be a party.”
I snort, heart twisting. “You know, being morbid like that won’t help,” I tell her.
“You’re just delaying the inevitable.” Iris takes a seat, groaning. “You know, I thought I’d at least get to watch one of you Sterling boys get married before I die.”
I shift uncomfortably, eyes darting to Imogen who watches me. “What about Foster?” I ask, pointing a finger at her. “That’s coming up.”