Page 18 of Boston (Coral Canyon: Cowboys #12)

CHAPTER

TWELVE

C ora looked at the clothes and equipment she’d laid out on her bed—stretchy exercise pants she could roll up that didn’t take too much room, tank tops, as well as a couple of sleeved exercise shirts made of the dry silk that would wick away sweat and moisture.

She’d packed a sweatshirt, because this was Wyoming and anything could happen in the mountains. The wind blew almost all the time here too, and Cora hadn’t been gone so long to forget that the temperatures fell at night and took time to rise in the morning.

She’d packed enough socks for three days and then doubled it, knowing there was nothing worse than wet feet. She wore a pair of hiking shoes already, and she’d packed a pair of water shoes with a tough rubber sole, just in case.

“A flashlight,” she murmured. “An emergency blanket, my one gallon water bladder.” She’d fill that with her favorite spring water, thank you very much. “Bug spray, sunscreen, miniature first aid kit, sewing kit. And visor.”

She had a plethora of hair ties, a brush, deodorant, tooth brush and paste, and a travel sized roll of dental floss.

Boston had said the cabin had a well but no electricity, and to Cora, that meant a cold shower.

She’d packed travel sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the off-chance that she wanted to wash her hair, but she’d gotten up early and showered that morning already, and she pulled the two bottles out and swapped them for a bottle of dry shampoo instead.

Then she wouldn’t have to freeze her scalp off in front of Boston.

It didn’t matter that the calendar sat in the latter half of June. Mountain lakes always ran cold.

An alarm went off, and Cora started rolling and packing everything that she’d gotten out and gone over several times.

She had plenty of room in her pack left, and she added the blow-up pillow she’d bought online.

Boston said there would be a bed there for her, so she hadn’t planned to bring a sleeping bag or anything else.

The blow-up pillow would be more for sitting on something hard while she waited to see the eagles. Tailbone protection.

She moved into the kitchen and opened a few bottles of her preferred spring water from Fiji and filled her water bladder. That added a significant weight to the pack, but nothing that Cora couldn’t handle.

It’s six miles, she reminded herself, trying to remember the last time she’d walked six miles in a single day. Oh, that was right. Never.

“Dear Lord,” she prayed right out loud, having practiced a few times now. “Bless me not to make a fool of myself in front of Boston on this trip. Bless me to be strong and capable and bless us to be safe and have a good time together.”

With that, Cora left the house and headed toward Boston’s apartment, and she found him in the parking lot, putting something in the back of his truck. When she said, “Hey,” he dang near jumped out of his skin.

“Oh, holy Mount Teton.” He clutched both hands to his heart. “You scared me.”

Cora giggled and danced over to him. “Good morning, cowboy.” She tipped up on her toes and swept a kiss across his cheek. They’d been out a couple of times, but a lunch date wasn’t the same as a dinner date, and though Boston had definitely dropped her off at her house, he hadn’t kissed her yet.

In fact, when she settled back on her feet, he looked utterly surprised that she’d kissed him at all. Then he said, “Morning, Cora-Cat,” in a gruff voice that told her he’d definitely felt the kiss.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“I was just loading some equipment that I need to return to the lodge,” he said. “Can we run over there real quick?”

“Of course,” she said. “We’re driving?”

He nodded and moved to open her door for her. Cora had to shrug out of her pack first and then turn awkwardly back to Boston, who took it from her and moved to the tailgate of the truck to put it there.

He joined her in the front seat, and as they rumbled out of the parking lot and down the lane, he said, “We’ll come back to my place and get my stuff before we go.”

“We just take off from here, right?” she asked.

“Yep.” He didn’t seem particularly chatty this morning, and Cora wondered if he’d loosen up once he had a cup of coffee or a bit of time went by. No matter what, the silence made her a bit tense as well.

They arrived at the lodge only a moment later, and he said, “I’ll be right back. Do you take cream and sugar or anything in your coffee?”

“Both,” she said. “And if they have the vanilla creamer out, I’d love that instead of plain.”

He nodded, slammed the door, collected the things from the back that he needed, and headed inside.

The lodge had a coffee cart available for employees every morning from six to eight-thirty, and Cora had definitely taken advantage of it.

In the past week, she’d learned that almost everyone did and that it was a great place to catch up with others or casually run into those who didn’t answer phone calls and emails.

Boston returned about ten minutes later, two to-go cups of coffee in his hands. “Vanilla and sugar for the goddess,” he said, almost a complete one hundred eighty of the man he’d been a few minutes ago.

Cora smiled and took the coffee while he settled his in the cup holder and got back in the truck. “How do you take your coffee?” she asked.

“Just a lot of sugar.” He lifted it and took a sip. “Yeah, that’s good.”

“You’re a totally different person after a little caffeine, huh?” She grinned at him.

Boston blinked, and it took him a couple of seconds before he softened and chuckled. “I suppose so.”

They drove back to his place, where he passed over her pack and then shouldered his. When they were both ready, cups of coffee steaming into the morning air, he said, “You tell me if you need to go slower, or if there’s something you can’t do, okay?”

“All right,” she said.

“I’m not going to judge you, and it’s not going to be embarrassing,” he said. “This is rugged terrain. I want us to have a good time, and I don’t know how you hike, so this is a learning experience for both of us.”

“All right.” He seemed stern, and yet cordial at the same time. “Is this how you are with your excursion guests?” She put one hand on her hip and grinned at him.

“Yes,” he said simply. “I don’t know how they hike either, and I can tailor things to a party or a person so that they have a good time.”

“Well, I want you to have a good time too,” she said.

“Mm, my sweet feline,” he said, moving into her. “I’m with you. No matter what we do, I’m going to have a good time.”

He said the sweetest things on the planet, and Cora didn’t think he had an ingenuine bone in his body. She nodded and wrapped her arms all the way around him, holding him tight right there in the employee parking lot where anyone could see them.

No, she hadn’t spoken to her mother or sister about dating Boston yet.

She’d seen him every day this week, and not one person had brought up her lunch with him at Shanghai’s, or the late afternoon picnic they’d had on Monday, or the fact that his truck had been parked in her driveway again last night.

She’d gotten soup and sandwiches from their deli bar in the lodge, and they’d sat on her back porch, talking and watching the stars come out.

She had no idea if he told anyone she’d be going with him on this bird watching expedition, and when he stepped back, she asked, “Did you tell Ernie I was coming with you today?”

“Yes,” he said. “Didn’t you?”

She shook her head. “I don’t really have to account to anyone but Momma. And well, she knows that I’m shadowing you and learning from you, so she probably just thinks this trip has to do with that.”

“Well, she’s not wrong, right?” Boston asked.

“No,” Cora said. “She’s not wrong.” But there was definitely more to this trip than just learning from Boston.

“I take it you haven’t told anyone about us,” he said.

She shook her head. “I’m not exactly keeping it a secret.”

His jaw tightened and he nodded. “Well, let’s get going.”

Cora grinned as she fell into step beside him. “I really like that I know exactly what you’re feeling,” she teased.

He cut a look at her out of the corner of his eye. “What does that mean?”

“It means you react to everything, and it shows on your face and in your body. You’re mad I haven’t told anyone about us.”

“I’m not mad,” he said.

“Frustrated then.”

“I’m not frustrated,” he said.

“Then what are you?”

“I don’t know,” he said, clearly frustrated.

“Have you told anyone about us?”

“I mean, Harry and Belle and Joey and Adam and my stepsister, Beth.”

“So not your momma or daddy.”

“No,” he said.

“Why not?” she asked.

Boston took a couple of long strides in silence. “I guess it’s still a little too early,” he said.

“Maybe that’s how I feel too,” Cora said.

“I get that. But Cora, you’re the boss here, and I’m worried that people are going to think I’m taking advantage of you, or that you’re giving me unfair opportunities because we’re together. I don’t know.” He sighed, and it definitely sounded frustrated. “I just want people to know, that’s all.”

Something tightened inside Cora’s chest too, and she nodded in short little bursts. “I understand,” she said. “I’ll talk to them as soon as we get back, okay?”

“Okay.” The mood shifted then, and Boston pointed out the area where he usually rendezvoused with groups and parties.

“We meet at the stable if it’s a horseback riding expedition,” he said. “Hiking expeditions, we meet right here.” He thumped a single picnic table with his fist a couple of times. “I go through a checklist and make sure everyone has what they need. Do I need to do that?”

“Yeah,” she said, with a small laugh. “You better.”

“Clothes?”

“Yep.”

“Extra socks?”

“I packed double.” She grinned at him.

“Water?”

“A whole gallon.”

Sunscreen, bug spray, hat. Check, check and check.