Page 34 of Boston (Coral Canyon: Cowboys #12)

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

C ora watched as Boston threw a pack blanket over Dolphin’s back.

The horse looked at him like Boston had done something terrible, but he stayed still.

Boston then fitted a platform that had a saddle-like bottom on Dolphin’s back, and he loaded the lumber, shingles, nails, hammer, and other supplies he needed to fix the roof up at the cabin near the eagle habitat.

She sat quietly on the top of the picnic table, out of the way, wondering why it felt like her best friend was leaving and never coming back.

She was the one who’d left her friends in Miami, and she’d never imagined that she’d feel as at home or as comfortable as she did in Wyoming only a couple of weeks in. He finished loading up and came toward her to get Coach, where he’d tied him against the hitching post.

“You’re meeting with your sister this morning, right?” he asked.

Cora nodded. “Yep, that’s right.”

She knew he’d run out of service around eleven, and she planned to send him the next clue about Little Brown Bear Stream, where she’d looked up the salmon run just to be sure that they were still spawning. They were, and they would be for another month, so she had time for him to guess it.

“With Kat and Momma,” she said. “And Jeremy too.”

She hopped down off the picnic table and followed him and Coach back over to where Dolphin stood, all of the supplies securely strapped down.

“I can’t believe I have to tell my brother-in-law about us,” she said. “It’s embarrassing.”

Boston glanced over to her. “I could do it if you want.”

“No, we talked about me telling them,” she said with a sigh. “I should go before all the vanilla creamer is gone at the coffee cart.”

Boston chuckled. “Sweetheart, you can just go get whatever you want from anyone. You know that, right?” He tightened down the straps on his saddle and then turned to her. “Okay, kiss me and go. Nobody likes long goodbyes.”

She grinned at him. “I kind of do. Long and sappy and romantic.”

Boston chuckled. “Oh, boy, I’m in big trouble.”

Then he swept one arm around her and pulled her close in a single breath, the movement swift and almost unexpected.

Boston had always been gentle with her, but this more aggressive approach didn’t bother her at all.

He leaned down and kissed her, and yes, Cora would like a longer goodbye than what he gave her.

She also knew his focus had settled somewhere else, and she also had plenty to do that day.

As he settled his cowboy hat back on his head, she said, “Be safe, Boston, and text me when you get there.”

“I’m gonna make a guess tonight after I see your clue,” he said. “Right or wrong, I’ve got to start guessing.”

“Yes, you do,” Cora said.

They had picked up her car first yesterday, and then they’d gone to the steakhouse, because the Branding Iron wasn’t known for quick in-and-out dinners.

They’d been there long past eight, and Cora had taken the winding mountain road up the Apple Highway to Dog Valley and then back to the northern highway that ran straight across the top of Coral Canyon to the western side, where she jogged back up to Silver Sage.

Her new cherry red CUV drove like a dream, and Cora had seriously considered naming her as such.

The only thing she’d been able to come up with for Boston’s truck was Beast and Brownie, and both of those were totally lame. His truck wasn’t that big, and they had too many horses already named after foods here at the lodge.

Cora arrived at the coffee bar several minutes later, and she noticed how the conversations quieted as she approached and lifted a cup from the stack. Tension filled her shoulders, though she wished it wouldn’t.

“How is everyone this morning?” she asked as she poured the dark roast brew into her cup.

“Really good, Miss Silver.” A woman who worked in their compliance department smiled at her. “I heard you got a new car.”

“Yes.” Cora grinned back at Connie and then moved down to the sugar and creamers. “Now I don’t have to get a ride to town.”

She glanced over to Enoch. “How are things at the amphitheater?”

“Our summer programs are going really well, ma’am,” he said.

“Oh, you don’t have to call me ma’am ,” Cora said. Enoch was probably fifteen years older than her and had been an excellent outdoor summer coordinator for years, at least according to Momma and Kat.

He smiled kindly. “I liked your idea about pool parties.”

Cora brightened again. “Yeah. Do you think it’s something that people would reserve, or should we just put them on as a lodge?”

Cora stirred in the sugar and vanilla creamer that she liked, put a lid on her cup, and faced the group. “Maybe I should get numbers on how many people use the pool after eight PM.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Enoch said. “I’m not sure on those statistics.”

“Who would I ask?” Cora asked. “Morgan seemed to be over weddings, and of course, we have facilities directors over the pools and hot tubs.” She cocked her head, thinking. “Would they have that kind of data?”

“I don’t know, ma’am,” Enoch said.

“I’d probably try Brenda in the spa,” Connie said. “She’ll know when the more popular times are, as they have part of the spa that connects to the pool that you wanted to use for a party.”

“They do?” Cora asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“You have to book a specific treatment,” Bonnie said with a nod. “And then you get access to a semi-private hot tub. It’s that one down on the end. When they have bookings, they close it to regular guests.”

“Oh, interesting.” Cora did not know that, and this conversation reminded her of how much went on at Silver Sage that she knew nothing about.

This was the exact reason why she wanted to visit the coffee cart every day, but she didn’t feel like she could stay here and linger, especially when no one else left and they clearly wanted to finish their conversation without her.

“Okay, well, I have a meeting with my mom and sister,” she said. “If anyone needs anything, send me a text or come knock on my door.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the three of them said, and Cora had to pin her smile in place so she wouldn’t bark at them to not call her that. She understood why they did, but that didn’t make it any less irritating.

She retreated to her office, where she had asked Kat, Jeremy, and Momma to join her that morning.

She found her mother already sitting in the chair against the wall. “Morning,” she chirped, going around her desk and setting down her coffee before she took a seat. She’d already brought in the extra chairs she needed, and she had some email to check before Kat and Jeremy would be late.

“Morning, dear,” Momma said.

Cora shook her mouse to wake her computer, taking the moment to skirt her eyes over to Momma instead of the screen. She definitely looked tired today, and Cora’s concern for her doubled.

“Did you sleep okay last night, Momma?” she asked.

“It was a rough night,” Momma said. “You’d think I’d know by now that I can’t eat chips and salsa past six PM.

” She offered Cora a rueful smile. “My heartburn was terrible, and I swear I swallowed half a bottle of Tums before I finally got up and took one of the prescription pills the doctor gave me a few months ago.”

Cora’s first thought was to ask her if the pills were expired, but she held her tongue. Her mother was a grown woman, and she could take whatever she wanted.

“That worked, and I was able to settle back to sleep for a few hours.”

“I’m sorry,” Cora said.

“Are you sleeping okay in your new place?” Momma asked. “It’s got to be a lot different than your apartment in South Miami.”

“It’s very quiet,” Cora said with a smile. “It took a couple nights of getting used to that, and now I sleep like a baby.”

Momma nodded, and Cora didn’t really have any emails to check.

“Momma,” she said, not sure why she suddenly wanted to tell her mother about Boston before Kat and Jeremy arrived. “I’m seeing someone.”

Momma’s eyebrows went up, and Cora stopped pretending that she had something to do on her computer. “It’s Boston, Momma. I really like him, and we’ve been dating for a couple of weeks now.”

“A couple of weeks,” Momma said, blinking quickly. “You’ve only been back for a couple of weeks.”

Two and a half, to be exact, but Cora didn’t correct her. “I actually ran into him the first day I was here,” she said. “Saturday night before the horseback ride on Wicker Road Trail. He helped me with Goldie.”

“Boston is very helpful,” her mother said, and Cora wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she’d expected from her momma.

She was an Even Stevens and always had been.

She never flew off the handle. She hardly ever yelled.

She had strong convictions and was passionate about things, but she expressed herself in a calm way almost all the time.

Sometimes she would negotiate things, and other times it was her way or no way at all, but still, Cora had never felt bullied as a child, or that her mother didn’t listen to her.

“Do you think it will be a problem, Momma?” Cora asked. “Boston’s worried that the other employees here will think I’m favoring him.”

Her mother frowned. “How would you be favoring him?”

“I don’t know,” Cora said. “Giving him a better schedule, letting him take more time off, moving him up to management positions.”

Momma nodded along with each of the suggestions that Cora gave. “You haven’t done any of those, right?”

“No,” Cora said.

“We don’t have a policy here about employees dating,” Momma said thoughtfully.

“I think for something like this, anything that’s offered to Boston should go through a committee.

You, Kat, and Jeremy. There’s three of you.

You need at least two people to approve any promotion of his, any extra time off that he normally wouldn’t get, or anything else that the two of you might be worried about. ”

Cora nodded, pure relief filling her. It made her insides cool as she relaxed into her chair. “Do you think Kat and Jeremy will be okay with it?”

“I think Kat will be thrilled,” Momma said with a half laugh. “She was telling me just the other day that she hoped you would be happy here, and maybe if you could meet someone, it would help.”

Cora smiled because she knew her twin sister loved her and wanted the best for her.

“It’s funny how Kat always thinks that a man will make someone happy, and I think that I can make myself happy.

” She looked at her mother, because while she and Kat were twins, they were also very, very different in a lot of ways.

Momma leaned forward. “You know, Cora, sometimes both can be true.”

She nodded, though she wasn’t quite sure what her mother meant. She put it in her mind to think about later, something she’d often done with things her father told her. She drew in a breath as Kat and Jeremy entered the office.

“Oh, everyone’s here already,” Jeremy said. “I told you it would be fine if we showed up a little bit early.”

Kat came in after him, and while Cora saw her nearly every day, it sure looked like she had grown bigger around by at least a foot.

“Holy cow,” she said, getting to her feet and going to help Kat the last few feet to her chair. “These babies have gotten really big.”

“You’re telling me,” Kat said. “And I still have ten weeks to go.”

“They could be born at any time,” Jeremy said. “Tons of people have twins early.”

“You girls were five weeks early,” Momma said, as if Kat and Cora had never heard that before.

Kat groaned as she settled into her seat. “I’m not going to be able to stay here long, Cora. This chair is hard.”

Cora grinned down at her, her eyes dropping to the pair of leopard print, peep-toe heels she wore. She always pulled these out when she needed a boost of confidence, because they made her feel sexy and strong and capable.

Even if she attributed too much power to her footwear, she was still able to open her mouth and say, “Thanks for coming. I just wanted to let you guys know that I have a new boyfriend, and he’s an employee here at Silver Sage Mountain Lodge and Resort.”

Kat sucked in a breath, even as Cora heard the strength and confidence in her own voice.

“You’re kidding,” Kat said. Her smile grew and grew, and she looked over to Jeremy. “You told me you hadn’t noticed anything.”

“I haven’t,” Jeremy said, and he definitely looked like Cora had slapped him with an ice-cold salmon straight out of the Little Brown Bear River.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“Boston Simpson,” Cora said, a smile lifting the corners of her mouth in the most maniacal of ways.

“Boston,” Kat said with wonder.

“Yes,” Cora said. “And this is a business meeting, so I don’t need you to go all gushy on me.

I need you and Momma to help me make sure that the other employees here at Silver Sage don’t think that I’m going to give Boston preferential treatment because we’re seeing each other.

” She nodded to her mother. “Momma had some great ideas, so I’ll let her start. ”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Kat said. “Momma, you knew about this?”

Her mother could have said that she’d just found out herself.

Instead, she smiled at Kat and said, “Yes, dear. Now let’s help Cora with this problem, because I just got a text that Anne made far too many chicken pot pies for the anniversary luncheon for the Andersons, and I want to get a few to take home before they’re all gone. ”