Page 68 of Boston
Lynnie nodded. “Matthew and I live in Phoenix.”
“Wow,” Cora said. “That’s about as hot as where I came from—Miami.”
Lynnie grinned. “It’s definitely cooler here in the summer. I’m going to stay with my mom for a month or two, but Matthew has to get back to work.”
“What does he do down there?” Cora asked.
“He’s an accountant at a hospital.” Her gaze moved over to her husband. He did not wear a cowboy hat, and he was the only man there who didn’t. His khaki pants and blue button-up suddenly made a lot more sense, and he actually gave the two tin foil packets to Harry to put in the fire.
Cora could barely believe that she was at a party with Harry Young—and not to mention Bryce, who’d definitely been on stages with his daddy’s band, Country Quad.
“When are you due?” Cora asked.
“The first part of November,” Lynnie said.
“November babies are the best,” Codi said as she joined their little group. “Matty was born in November.”
Cora smiled at her and then the little boy, and Codi returned it.
“Austin says you’re at Silver Sage,” Codi said, leaving all of the questions completely open-ended.
“Yes,” Cora said. “It’s my family property, and my mother is getting ready to retire.”
“Oh,” Codi said, a measure of shock in the word.
“That’s why I came home,” Cora said, figuring it easier just to get the story out instead of forcing anyone to probe for it. “I have a twin sister who’s going to have twins in September.”
“Wow,” Codi said. “Two babies at once—that takes a special person.” She looked at her son as he tried to get down, though he definitely couldn’t walk on his own.
“Are you more likely to have twins if you’re a twin?” Lynnie asked.
Cora glanced between the two women, and then watched Boston bend down to put their dinner in the fire. “I think so,” she said. “But I don’t know the statistics offhand.”
Kassie joined their group, and she took Matt from Codi.
“Anyway, I’m going to be taking over the management of the property,” Cora said. “It’s what I did in Miami. I was the senior manager of a boutique hotel there, and what we do at Silver Sage is a little bit different, but it utilizes a lot of the same skills.”
Kassie had started nodding along about halfway through. “So you’ll be like me and Bryce.”
Cora frowned because she did not know what that meant. She looked at Codi and raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know what you and Bryce do.”
“Boston hasn’t told you all about us?” Codi grinned at her and then giggled.
“I’m sure they talk about other things,” Kassie said, also grinning. “I run the administrative side of Sunrise Ranch. Bryce and Codi do all the manual labor.”
“Hey, I do some stuff.” Bryce moved into the group and stuck out his hand. “I don’t think I’ve met you.”
“This is Cora, baby,” Codi said. “Boston’s girlfriend.”
“Oh yeah, I saw him holding your hand, but he didn’t tell any of us that he had a girlfriend.”
“He put it on the cousin text,” Kassie said, and Cora marveled that she was there and yet did not share any Young DNA.
In that moment, Cora realized that Boston didn’t either. This group was not about genes and blood, but a found family of people who had similar struggles and wanted to provide a support network for each other.
“We’re really, really new,” Cora said. “And I kind of had to bully him into calling me his girlfriend, so.”
Bryce chuckled. “That sounds a lot like Boston, actually. He’s the hardest worker out of us all.” He leaned closer into thehuddle, and Cora found herself doing the same thing. “But he struggles a little bit with making decisions.”
