Page 46 of Boston (Coral Canyon: Cowboys #12)

CHAPTER

THIRTY

C ora ate her baked egg pancake with a healthy sprinkling of sugar and a huge splash of maple syrup, along with a whole pile of strawberries and blueberries.

In front of her, a game show played without sound on the TV.

Boston had fallen asleep before she’d even returned to the kitchen to slice the fruit, and she didn’t have the heart to wake him.

He’d been working day and night, burning the candle at both ends for two solid weeks, and while a river of frustration ran through Cora, she also couldn’t blame him for being exhausted.

She felt it tugging at her too, but she didn’t have to lead physical activity in the heat with people who disrespected her.

She’d been worried about Boston all day out with those women after Momma had told her about them.

“We gave them to Boston for a reason,” Momma said. “He’ll be fine.”

But Boston hadn’t been here last summer, and surely there would be something that would ruffle him eventually. Cora was almost desperate to know what that was, if only so she wouldn’t feel so inadequate every time she listened to someone talk about Boston.

She finished dinner and leaned forward to put her plate on the coffee table.

Boston had only groaned and shifted when she’d taken off his cowboy boots, and now she stood and moved down to the end of the couch, where he rested his head on one of her fluffy, teal pillows.

She lifted it slightly and slid herself underneath it, then carefully tugged it free so that Boston’s head would be resting in her lap.

She gazed down at him, such fondness moving through her.

He did seem perfect in every way, from his rugged good looks, to his exceptional customer service, to his attention to detail.

She and Ernie had not been able to find someone suitable for a guide position, as she didn’t want to hire—and spend time and effort to train—a high school student who would quit in six weeks.

The same went for college kids, and it sure seemed like no one else in Coral Canyon needed a job right now.

She and Ernie had been shuffling around employees for the past week, trying to decide if they could hire someone to do a lesser job and move a current employee into a guide position to alleviate some of the strain on the current people they had.

“And now Ernie’s sick,” Cora muttered to herself.

A keen sense of loneliness moved through her, and in all honesty, Cora had expected to feel like this from the moment she’d stepped on Wyoming soil.

The fact that she’d met Boston the very night she’d arrived had held it at bay all this time, but with their busy schedules, she felt more distant from him than ever, though he literally laid in her lap right now.

Her phone rang, and she cursed herself for leaving it on the other end of the couch where she’d been eating. She couldn’t reach it from here, and she marveled that Boston slept through the four long, shrill rings until it went to voicemail.

She sighed against the back of the couch, trying to figure out why this moment wasn’t happy and serene. She tried to find the peace inside herself, in the silence in the cabin with a good man who just needed a nap.

Her phone rang again, and Cora muttered under her breath as she eased away from Boston to get her device. Kat’s name sat there, and Cora’s heartbeat went into overdrive. She quickly swiped on the call and said, “Hey, what’s going on?”

“I’m going into labor,” Kat said, her voice strained and several pants coming through the line after that. “I don’t know where Momma is, and Jeremy is already in town.”

Her voice broke. “He’s going to be so mad that he left me here, but his truck’s been having problems, and I didn’t want to sit at the mechanic shop for hours.”

“No,” Cora said quickly. “Of course not.” She turned in a full circle trying to get her mind to work. “I’m on my way. I’ll call him, and he’ll meet us at the hospital. Okay?”

“Okay,” Kat said. “I’m going to try Momma again and see if she can come stay with Kelsey.”

Cora’s eyes landed on Boston. She’d seen him with all of his cousins at the Fourth of July party in the park. They ranged in age from ten months to thirty-three, and at one point, he’d held a pair of twins on his lap, feeding Ridge a chunk of watermelon first and then Remy a ball of cantaloupe.

Boston fit in his family, whether he knew it or not, and his quiet steadiness stood out among the larger and louder personalities in the family.

There had definitely been a lot of tension at the beginning when Cora and Boston had first arrived, but the mood had evened out, and the adults had sat in camp chairs behind several blankets where the kids lounged.

Boston had taken her around to introduce her to his grandparents, his parents, and all of his aunts and uncles. Then, they’d gone with the kids over to the candy market, where he’d bought her the red licorice she’d told him she couldn’t live without.

“Boston’s here,” she said to Kat. “I’ll bring him with me, and he can stay with Kelsey.”

“Are you sure?” Kat paused, no sound coming through the line. “We can probably take her.”

“I don’t have a car seat in my car,” Cora said, grabbing her purse and then leaning over the couch and saying, “Boston, baby, I need you to wake up.”

His eyes opened and he blinked rapidly. “I fell asleep.”

“Yep,” she said. “I’ve got your dinner, but you’re going to eat it at Kat’s. Okay? She’s going into labor.”

That got him to shoot to his feet. “Let’s go.”

She grinned at him and pointed to the plate. “Bring your food with you.” She led the way out of the cabin and down the steps and then hurried to where Kat and Jeremy lived a couple doors down.

“Stay on the phone with me, Kat,” she said. “Tell me where you are right now.”

Her sister groaned, and Cora looked over to Boston. Without saying a word, they both picked up the pace.

Inside Kat’s cabin, she found her sitting at the dining room table, both hands pressed against her belly. “I don’t think we’re going to make it,” Kat said as tears streamed down her face.

Cora had no idea what to do, but Boston said, “I’ll call medical.”

Cora hung up and took his Dutch baby pancake from him and set it on Kat’s counter. She moved to kneel in front of her sister, ignoring the wails of two-year-old Kelsey, who’d been put in a playpen and was not happy about it.

“Look at me, Kat,” she said. Kat was hyperventilating and could barely breathe. “You need to slow down. Look at me.”

“Yeah, hi,” Boston said, his back turned to them. “Kat’s gone into labor and she’s not sure she’s gonna make it to the hospital.” He spun back toward Cora, his eyes wide. “I’m not sure.”

She looked over to him and then back to her sister. She planted both hands on her sister’s knees. “Breathe, slow down.”

Kat did, nodding. “I never called Jeremy.”

“Okay,” Cora said calmly, though her pulse stampeded through her whole body. “Boston will do it as soon as he’s done with medical.”

“They want to know how far dilated she is.” He cleared his throat and stared at Kat.

Cora drew in a deep breath. “Okay, Kat, we’re going to go in the bedroom.”

Kat started to sob, but together, Boston and Cora got her up, and they slowly made their way down the hall.

Boston said, “You guys just need to come. Right now. She can barely move.”

“And there’s blood on the chair.” Cora tried to say it quietly, but with Kat between her and Boston, of course, her sister heard it.

“I can’t have the babies here,” she said.

“Honey, you’re going to have the babies here,” Cora said in a placating voice.

“It’s going to be fine. We have medical staff on-site, and they’re almost here anyway.

” She helped Kat into bed while Boston hovered in the doorway.

She glanced over to him. “Will you tell them to get here quickly and then hang up and call Jeremy? He doesn’t know yet. ”

“Yes, ma’am,” Boston said, and he turned to go.

“Boston,” she called after him, rushing over to the doorway. “Get Kelsey out of the playpen and get her a bag of chocolate chip cookies from the top shelf in the cabinet next to the microwave.”

“Okay,” he said, his eyes as round as the moon. He hurried away, honestly, she didn’t blame him. This was not how she thought she’d spend the one night she had plans with Boston.

“Okay,” she said, turning back to her sister. “I’m no nurse, but I know how to check if you’re dilated, okay?”

Kat nodded, and Cora grabbed more pillows and piled them under her knees. “Okay, honey, I’m just gonna look.”

Kat’s face turned red as a contraction hit, and she groaned in a horrible, high-pitched sound that turned into half-sob, half-scream.

“I knew we should have gotten a condo next to the hospital,” she said, panting as the contraction subsided.

“Honey, you’re at least a six.” Cora moved to kneel beside the bed. She took her sister’s hand in hers. “They’re coming, and it’s going to be fine. Remember when Daddy told us about the lady who had her baby in the hot tub here? And that was what, twenty years ago?”

Kat didn’t smile, and tears continued to stream down her face. Cora suddenly remembered a movie she’d seen once, and she got back to her feet. “I’m going to put some towels in the dryer so they’re nice and warm for when your babies come.”

“Don’t go,” Kat said, more fear in her eyes and voice than Cora had ever seen.

“I’ll tell Boston.”

Kat nodded, and Cora moved to the doorway. “Boston?”

“Jeremy’s on the way,” he said, and he appeared at the end of the hall with a sniffling, hiccupping Kelsey in his arms. She babbled something and held up a cookie.

Cora smiled and said, “Can you throw some clean towels in Kat’s dryer?

We want to have something warm to wrap the babies in when they come. ”

“How far along is she?” Boston asked as he moved down the hall.

“They have a stackable washer and dryer right there,” she said. “There will be towels in the linen closet right across the hall.”