Page 24 of Boston
She’d included several smiley faces, a toasted marshmallow, and a tent.
Boston looked up and over to Cora. “Is our meeting done?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “Who is that?”
“My cousin.” His grin widened. “And I know we haven’t been out yet, but if this mac-and-cheese date goes well, do you think you might want to go to a bonfire with me?”
Cora’s eyes lit up, and she nodded. “Yeah, I love a good bonfire.”
“It’s not for another week and a half,” he said. “I’ve got the hunting party this weekend, and we’ll do the eagles next weekend, and it’s after that. So if you hate me by then, you can cancel.”
She giggled and shook her head and then unbuckled her seatbelt. “I’m not gonna hate you by then, Boston.”
“You might.” He switched off the truck and added, “Stay right there. I’ll come get your door.” He practically leapt from the truck, and as he rounded the hood, he thanked the Good Lord above for filling his mouth with the right things to say.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Cora had filled pages and pages with her own handwriting this week, and it was only Wednesday.
She’d seen Boston again a couple of times, but since she’d packed her schedule with meetings and demonstrations that always ran long, she’d only been able to continue their relationship through texts.
He’d be leaving tomorrow with the family hunting party, and Cora only had one meeting with the resort manager. She had a massage after that and planned to spend her evening by the pool—her reward for the last several days where she’d worked herself to the bone.
She reminded herself shewantedto know all of the behind-the-scenes things that it took to put on an amazing wedding, and she listened to the wedding coordinator as she flipped another page in the binder and started talking about cake. They had chefs here who could do everything for weddings, and they also had a vetted, verified list of suppliers they worked with.
Cora nodded and noted in all the right places, almost desperate to get back to her house, though she wasn’t sure why. She tried to unpack a couple of boxes every day and clean something before she put the contents away, but her cabin stilldidn’t feel like home. It was hers, though, and Cora’s brain simply felt stuffed too full to listen for much longer.
Morgan, the woman in charge of coordinating weddings, went over photographers, photography spots, linens, and the setup of tables and chairs. She went over the sound system and the different rooms available for rent.
When she finally reached the end of the binder and the meeting concluded, Cora sighed, wishing it didn’t sound quite so frustrated.
“That’s a lot,” she said.
Morgan smiled and gave a half-laugh. “Yeah, it sure is. I deal with all couples when they come to look at the facilities. And of course, we have kitchen staff and administrative staff over other things.”
Cora nodded because she knew Boston was helping to coordinate and plan his cousin’s wedding, which would be at Silver Sage in September.
She tucked everything in her bag and got to her feet. “Yes, I’d love to come to one of your next full staff meetings.”
“We do them twice a month,” Morgan said, lifting the hefty binder into her arms. “First and second Thursday. So we’ll have one next week.”
“Shoot,” Cora said. “I’m going to be off the property next Thursday.”
“Well, then you’ll come in July,” Morgan said, and she probably didn’t want Cora there at all.
She told herself not to think like that. She had not come to the lodge to gut it and revamp it, fire everyone, and hire new people to do things her way. She simply wanted to learn how they did things now, to see where they could improve, cut costs, and offer even more amenities.
She thought she’d been well-received at the lodge, but she also knew that small towns had their own brand of gossip, andshe’d be stupid if she thought no one here had been talking about her.
She left through the back door of the resort, which housed their spa, fitness center, two restaurants, and a small boutique, as well as conference space and ballrooms. They had two pools and a bank of hot tubs outside, and all of this sat separate from the lodge, which towered into four stories of custom log work and boasted seventy-two guest rooms, an additional restaurant and bar, a theater, a library, and a game room with a pool table, foosball, puzzles, board games, and even a two-lane bowling alley.
They had to have parking for all their guests, and the Silver Sage Mountain Lodge and Resort had individual cabins as guest housing and an additional outdoor area with a gazebo, an open-air amphitheater, and a wide expanse of lawn for other group gatherings, games, sports, and events.
It took a lot of people just to keep the grounds in pristine condition, and even more to change over the guest rooms and two dozen cabins, sometimes on a daily basis.
Cora rolled her neck and stretched her arms above her head. Once she reached the outdoors, she took a deep breath of the Wyoming air and let it take away some of her tension.
