Page 15 of Boston
He deleted what he’d started to type, and then wrote:I’m in the office in the morning. I work with our special events, and I usually get some sort of outdoor assignment in the afternoons I don’t have assigned excursions. Which tomorrow, I don’t. So I can do a meeting, if I can clear it with Ernie.
I’ll text Ernie right now.
“Wha—?” Boston didn’t know what to think. He’d been very careful to call their lunch a meeting, and she hadn’t corrected him. Perhaps she really did just want to use him for what he knew.
How had he gotten a different vibe from her? He pressed his eyes closed to go through all of the encounters he’d had with her.
Catching her on Goldie, lassoing the horse, and watching her go through a fairly fast panic attack before riding off.
Meeting her the next morning as his boss, having her threaten to give him the worst job ever if he spoke about the incident with Goldie, riding with her along the Wicker Road Trail.
Everything that had happened during the campfire….
Giving her his number.
Having her use it.
He says he can spare you tomorrow afternoon, Cora said.I’ll stop by the administrative offices when I’m ready to go, okay?
Am I driving?he asked.
If you could, she said.I don’t have a car yet.
Boston couldn’t even fathom that, but he’d never lived in a big city with robust public transportation either.
I can drive.
He shot to his feet when he realized he’d be stuck in the cab of his truck with the lovely Cora Silver for almost an hour as they drove to Coral Canyon together.
Boston’s stomach roared at him, and he should put something in the microwave, eat, shower, and get to bed.
Instead, he grabbed his cowboy hat from the hook beside the door and headed outside. It only took a few minutes for him to arrive at the stables, and Boston didn’t care who saw him out here. He opened the doors to the barn and stepped into the dimmer depths, glad for the air conditioning and the scent of horses, hay, and happiness.
He took a deep breath of it and went straight to Coach. “Hey, buddy.” Coach never said too much, but he sure was an excellent listener. Boston couldn’t help looking down the row to where Goldie lifted her head over the half-doorway too.
He stayed with Coach and stroked his hand down the horse’s neck. He’d left his phone back in his apartment, and he didn’t miss it while he told Coach, “What am I doing? She’s my boss.”
Coach simply looked at him with his big ole eyes, and Boston imagined him to say,It’s fine. Maybe she doesn’t feel the same things as you. Maybe she really just wants to meet to go over things here at the lodge.
“Yeah, maybe.” Boston moved over to the shelf and reached up high to get down the pineapple candy he kept there. “Don’t tell Cotton, okay?” He gave Coach a candy first, much to the displeasure of Dolphin who whinnied and then buzzed his lips at Boston.
“Just for that, you might not get one,” Boston told the horse. He gave candy to Baywatch, Bacon Bits, and Goldie, then Cascade, Canyoneer, and finally stood in front of Dolphin. “You did great today, buddy.”
He did give him a pineapple candy before migrating back to Coach. “Okay, I’m going to be okay. We’ll just play this by ear, right?”
Coach stood still while Dolphin nickered from down the aisle.
“Are you going to come hunting with me?” he asked the horse. “And what about all the way out to the eagles? It’s a long way.” He glanced down the row again. “I can take Goldie, I guess, if you’re not up to it.”
Coach gave him a side-eye then, and Boston chuckled. “Fine, you can come.” Feeling calmer than before, Boston returned to his apartment and picked up his phone, only to find he’d missed a call from his cousin Joey.
He tapped to call her back as he moved into his kitchen. She picked up on the third ring and said, “Hey, do you have a sec?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I was just taking a break with the horses.”
“Oh.” Joey paused. “What for?”
Boston suddenly understood Cash on a whole new level. “It’s nothing. I just left my phone inside is all. What’s up?”
