Page 132 of Boston
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 withme, 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 andskip 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 Iwant, 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 oftalkingto 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.
