Page 130 of Boston
“Of course I liked her,” Boston said. “And I know I’ve never really had a serious relationship, and I know I’m really young, but Ireallyliked her, Daddy, and sometimes I felt like I was falling in love with her.” He sat up then, suddenly keen to know what his father knew. “What does that feel like? How would I know?”
“It’s hard to say,” Daddy said. “Love is such a beautiful, wonderful thing, but I think everyone experiences it differently.”
“She was easy to talk to,” Boston said, his memories moving fast now. “And I felt like I could really be myself around her. I wanted to take care of her, and I wanted her to know that no matter what happened, she could rely on me.”
“That’s real nice, son,” Daddy said, matching his lower voice and energy to Boston’s. “Is that why you took all the shifts in July?”
Boston ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe. The money’s real good too.”
“Yeah, I bet it was.” Daddy chuckled. “So what are you going to do? Why’d you break up?”
“I think I got my feelings hurt,” Boston said slowly. “And she did too. We’d chosen things over the other, because we didn’t communicate, and because we thought the other person didn’t have time. It really was about time.”
Right then, Boston found himself wanting to find a way to carve more hours into the day, simply so he could see Cora.
“Well, it sounds like if you could talk to her and make a different choice, then things might not be so bad.”
“Yeah,” Boston said.
“Maybe this is just God teaching you two how to communicate with one another. He has something great and amazing waiting for you, if you’ll be brave enough to open your mouth.”
Boston heard the parallels between what his father was saying and what Cora had told him.You should have said something.
Maybe he should say something to her now.
“Anyway, you’re a smart man, Boston, and you’ll know what you need to do, when you need to do it.”
“Thanks, Daddy,” Boston said.
“Love you, bud.”
“Love you too.”
He ended the call, sighed, and got back to his feet, which protested that he wanted them to walk some more. He glanced at the timer on the stove and saw that he had twenty more minutes. He put the same number on his phone and headed outside. After all, if he had to spend time thinking about Cora and what he should do in this major pivot point in his life, he wanted to do it while eagle-watching, where he felt closer to God and closer to himself than anywhere else.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-EIGHT
Cora’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 chocolatechip 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 wouldnotfit 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.
