Page 106 of Boston
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 thepeace 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.
Bostonfitin 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.
