Page 58 of Boston (Coral Canyon: Cowboys #12)

CHAPTER

THIRTY-EIGHT

C ora’s hands shook as she put the flashlight in her backpack. “You’ve done this before,” she coached herself. “Of course, Boston has all the food, and he might not have enough for you, but it’s okay. You’re going to take a few things.”

She’d gotten out a package of tuna and crackers, a lightweight container of chicken flavored Rice-A-Roni, and a box of granola bars.

She’d rolled up her clothes again, added extra socks, the lightweight jacket, and the inflatable pillow.

Her water bladder had been in the fridge since ten-thirty last night, when she’d had the harebrained idea to hike up to Ramsfire Ridge alone and talk to Boston.

She couldn’t wait until Saturday, because the next two days without him might kill her. Her courage would fail, as it had yesterday morning, and she wouldn’t say anything when he got back.

Nope. She needed to go now.

She turned back to her pantry and grabbed the box of scalloped potatoes.

It was lightweight, too, and it fit in the pack.

She had bags of beef jerky, and as she put those beside the potatoes, she remembered that her mother had made chocolate chip cookies last week, and she had a bag of those in her freezer.

They definitely weighed more than any other food item, but Cora put them in her backpack all the same.

She’d called the deli this morning to order three boxed lunches, because that would be lunch for today, Friday, and Saturday. And though she might be hungry, if that was all she got to eat, it would be better than nothing.

Someone knocked on her cabin door, and she spun toward it, her heart racing.

“Deli delivery, Miss Silver,” a man called, and Cora ran for the door.

She pulled it open to find a man standing there holding a big brown bag that would not fit in her backpack.

She pasted a smile on her face anyway. “Thank you so much. If you’ll tell me your name, I’ll make sure you get a good tip. ”

He grinned as he passed the bag over. “There’s a receipt right there, ma’am.”

Cora looked blankly at it, because she had no idea where she could find a pen in her own house. He whipped one out of his breast pocket, and Cora gave him a twenty-dollar tip and handed the receipt back.

“Miss Silver, this is?—”

“Thank you so much,” she said, and her smile sat better on her face as she closed the door to his surprise.

She quickly unboxed the lunches and put all three bags of fruit and veggies in the bottom of one box, then layered the sandwiches over the top. She didn’t need the pouched drinks or the boxed orange juice, and she threw those in her fridge unceremoniously.

If she didn’t leave in the next five minutes, Cora felt sure she would chicken out, change her clothes, and head over to the office.

As it was, she hadn’t even texted anyone yet that she wouldn’t be around for the next three days.

Visions of fires in the kitchen, an overflowing pool, and angry guests filled her mind, and Cora told herself that even if those things happened, someone else could take care of them.

She had dozens of capable people here at Silver Sage, and her mother and Jeremy could step in at any time. She needed this break, and she was going to take it.

She threw in the pudding cups and remembered chatting with Boston about being somewhere without silverware, and quickly grabbed the prepackaged utensils that had come with the lunches.

She put all three of those in her bag as well and turned in a circle as she tried to think of what else she needed.

Sunscreen, bug spray, hat, first aid kit, extra socks, lightweight jacket.

She was definitely hiking later in the year, and she had no idea what condition that trail would be in. Heck, she hoped she could follow it and not get lost.

“Satellite radio,” she said out loud, and she hurried down the hall to her office.

She praised the babies for the fact that they’d been up in the middle of the night, and Jeremy had answered her text about where she could get this technology.

She had keys to every office and room at the lodge, and she’d shown up in the adventure supply room at four-forty-five this morning to get a charged radio.

That way, if she did get lost or she fell and hurt herself, she would be able to communicate with someone.

She tossed her phone charger in with the satellite radio, and she zipped up her pack. “You’re not leaving forever,” she told herself. “You have food and water and everything you need. It’s time to go.”

She shouldered her backpack and left her house, and while Cora had once thought that leaving Coral Canyon was the bravest thing she’d ever done, that had been replaced by returning to Coral Canyon after a decade away.

But now, with every step she took, Cora was definitely on the biggest adventure of her life—and the most terrifying.

What if she showed up and Boston refused to talk to her? Or she arrived at the cabin and he would talk to her, but wasn’t interested in getting back together?

She’d have to stay the night no matter what, because she wasn’t a fast hiker, and though she was leaving at six-twenty in the morning, she did not think she would make it to the cabin until at least three, maybe four.

There was no way she would be able to turn around and come back, and the thought of sleeping outside left a chill in Cora’s stomach that stayed with her as she stepped through the gate marking the edge of the Silver Sage groomed property and onto the trail.

Thankfully there weren’t a lot of detours, and as long as she just kept going along the established route, she felt confident that she was moving in the right direction.

She remembered to drink enough water, and she put sunscreen on, and then her hat, once the sun got warm.

Before she knew it, she’d reached the meadow, and pride moved through her in a way that Cora had not experienced in a long time.

She’d done a lot of amazing things in her life, from attending college, to graduating, to becoming a manager, to handling all kinds of guest problems, difficult employees, and heartbreaking relationships.

But she had never been prouder of herself than she was as she stood panting at the top of the rise with that glorious meadow in front of her.

The trees seemed greener now, though it was later in the year and would be fall soon. Puffy clouds filled the sky, the kind that didn’t threaten and only made her feel like a little child out on a hike with her father.

Cora had been so busy lately that she had not thought of her daddy in a few weeks.

Now, as she moved over to the left side of the meadow so that she could gaze down at the lake, she allowed more of her memories with her father to seep into her mind.

He’d often taken her and Kat horseback riding and hiking.

When they escaped to the pool here at the lodge, it was always Daddy who got in with her and threw her and Kat from his shoulders, while Momma watched from the lounge chair.

Her daddy had taught her to mow lawns and tie knots, read the stars and start a fire.

Cora hadn’t had to do any of those things in a long time, and certainly not in the city.

But as she settled on the hard rock and unzipped her backpack to pull out lunch, she knew that the life she wanted to build was right here in Coral Canyon.

She wanted to have tow-headed kids with her dark eyes that she could teach how to fly a kite, and how to saddle a horse, and how to bait a hook.

She wanted Boston at her side as she did it.

The strength of her feelings surprised her, as Kat had been right when she’d said that they wouldn’t be getting engaged right away.

Cora still had plenty to learn about Boston, and he about her.

But she hadn’t been in a relationship with anyone like him in so long that his differences and goodness stood out and played powerfully through her.

She devoured her sandwich, finished a fun-sized bag of Cheetos, and ate an apple before tucking all of her garbage into the chip bag and putting it back in the box. She dusted her hands along her thighs and took a long drink of water, reluctant to get up and get moving again.

She needed to before her muscles got too cold and her mind played tricks on her and told her that it would be better if she went back the way she’d come, rather than continuing up into the harder, more rugged terrain that led to the cabin.

She stayed seated, though, listening to the trees talk to one another and the distant calling of birds. This was what peace looked like: blue, green, and white, with a smudge of gray for rocks and the bright pink tank top that Cora wore.

This was what serenity felt like: being capable of doing things on her own, but choosing to be with a partner, being strong, making decisions, and trying to shape her own future instead of just letting life happen to her.

This is what contentment sounded like: wind and the faint trickle of water, the cry of a raptor, and…footsteps.

Cora spun around, her heartbeat flailing through her body and pounding in her ears. She saw a man twenty or thirty yards away, and she jumped to her feet, ready to fight or run.

Through the heightened adrenaline, it took her several moments to drink in the broadness of his shoulders, the black cowboy hat, and the gym shorts.

Cora still didn’t believe her eyes until Boston asked, “Cora? What in the world are you doing here?”

Relief punched through her then, and she started toward him. “I’m hiking up to the cabin,” she said. “Because I knew you’d be there, you know, because I can see your calendar, and I just had to see you, and I have to talk to you.”

“Why? What happened? What’s wrong at the lodge?”

Cora stopped a few paces from him. “Nothing’s wrong with the lodge.” Her heartbeat picked up the pace again, and she lifted her arms and then let them fall to her sides in frustration.

“But there’s everything wrong with me , because I miss you so much.

And look, I’m really sorry that I went to Little Brown Bear Stream without you.

It was dumb, but it was my escape, and I truly didn’t think that you were available.

And I know I didn’t ask. I should have asked, but I didn’t, and I can’t change that. I can’t rewind time.”

“No one can rewind time,” Boston said quietly.

“But if I could, I would go back and redo that day,” she said.

“I would text you and call you and ask you to come with me and skip cousin night, because I just want you to be with me. And maybe you’ve moved on, and this is just stupid, and I’ve hiked three and a half miles for no reason, but I guess I just need to hear you say it right to my face: ‘I don’t want to be with you, Cora.

I don’t miss you, and you should go on home. ’”

She’d started babbling, but she managed to stop herself.

She swallowed, her throat so dry. She’d left her backpack over on the rocks, and she couldn’t look away from Boston even if she’d wanted to. He gazed at her with those vibrant blue eyes that had always captivated her and reminded her of the sparkling blue ocean that lapped at the shores of Miami.

“I can’t say that.” He started to move toward her. “I came up to the cabin yesterday,” he said. “I’m supposed to be there through Saturday.”

“Yeah,” Cora said in a small voice. “I know.”

“So why do you think I’m standing in this meadow right now, two and a half miles away from where I should be?”

“I don’t know,” Cora said slowly, her eyes widening as a small smile started to tip up the corners of his mouth.

“I’m here, because I miss you desperately,” he said. “I talked to my daddy last night and told him why we broke up.”

Cora had only met Maverick Young the one time at the Fourth of July family shindig, and she had no idea what he may have said to his son.

“He said it sounded like we just needed to talk to each other and make different choices.” He reached her and trailed his fingers along hers. Cora pulled in a breath as pure fire raced up her arm.

“And that’s what I want to do,” Boston said.

“When we broke up, you told me I should have said something, and you were right. I should have, and I’ve been trying to do that more in the weeks that we’ve been apart—say what’s on my mind, say what I want, ask better questions.

” He edged closer, sliding his foot in between hers.

“And what I want, Cora Silver, is you in my life.”

“I want you, too,” she said, looking up at him. She leaned into his chest, the most natural position in the world for her. “Communication and choices.”

“We’ve just got to talk to each other,” Boston said.

“And choose each other.”

“Right. I mean, I get that you have to go over to Kat’s and help with the babies, and I get that you’re running the whole lodge.

But if I’d have done a better job of talking to you in July, maybe we could have gone to Little Brown Bear Stream together, or you could have been at cousin night with me. ”

“Maybe,” Cora said. “But we can’t change the past.”

“No,” Boston said. “But we can work on building a better future.”

She grinned up at him. “How much food do you have in the cabin, cowboy?”

Boston blinked at her. “None. I’m packing it all on my back, sweetheart.”

“I’ve got a bunch,” she said. “And you’re not supposed to be back until Saturday….”

“When are you supposed to be back?”

“Saturday.”

He grinned at her, and Cora reached up and gently took his cowboy hat off. “I’m going to communicate clearly what I would like,” she said. “And that’s for you to kiss me and tell me you forgive me about Little Brown Bear Stream and that we can try again.”

Boston took her fully into his arms and fulfilled her first request with a fiery, passionate kiss that left Cora wondering how she’d even been breathing for the past three and a half weeks without him.

“I forgive you about Little Brown Bear Stream,” he whispered as he moved his lips to her ear and kissed down the column of her neck.

“And we are going to try again and again and again, because we belong together.” He lifted his head and looked at her, and that jeweled passion in his eyes that she loved so much spoke volumes and gave weight to what he’d vocalized.

She nodded, and then tipped up and whispered, “I think so too,” just before she kissed him again.