Page 25 of Boston
The sun had started to sink behind the Tetons in the west, and she smiled at the way they glowed and offered her the most beautiful view in the world.
Her cabin sat several hundred yards from the lodge, and when she reached the edge of the parking lot, she ducked onto a path that wound through the woods. This was a well-used footpath with guests and employees alike, as the employee parking lot sat just on the other side of it. She skirted around that and then down the dirt lane to the family plots where her cabin waited.
Maybe I’ll just heat up my lunch leftovers and crawl into bed with my tablet.She could put on one of her favorite reality TV show reruns and ignore the physical mess around her for another day.
After all, there was no rule that said she had to have everything unpacked and put away within the first week that she moved across the country. She’d done enough to wear clean clothes and cute shoes, shower, and feed herself. Did she really need to do more?
She hadn’t made it to the car dealership when she’d gone to town with Boston. Thankfully, she didn’t mind walking around the grounds. The problem was she couldn’t getoffthe property, and Cora knew herself well enough to know she’d feel trapped soon enough.
She looked at a few cars online, and perhaps she could set up an appointment to do some test drives this weekend. “Just one more thing to deal with,” she told herself.
Thankfully, Cora had checked off enough things in her life to know that eventually she’d get everything done and dealt with.
Her cabin sat in the family row—not the biggest or the best or the furthest away—and it took her a few steps to realize that someone had pulled into her driveway. With one more step, she recognized the big, beautiful,browntruck as Boston’s.
Her heartbeat immediately thrashed like a fish being plucked from water, and she felt the tail of it whipping against her ribs.
“What is he doing here?” she said right out loud, and then she picked up the pace to get to her cabin and find out.
He must have spotted her approaching, because his door opened and he got out only a moment before the other three doors also opened, and more people spilled out of the vehicle.
Cora’s visions of running to him, laughing, and throwing herself into his arms just before he kissed her vanished. Not thatthey were anywhere near a kissing level yet. Still, she had a very active imagination, and Boston had taken up full root inside it.
He’d also brought four people with him, and as she continued toward her house, a woman with white-blonde hair opened the tailgate and lifted out what looked like a blue mop bucket. A tall, broad-shouldered man with sandy hair joined her, and he pulled out another bucket.
“Howdy,” Boston said, raising one hand.
“Hey,” she said, still trying to catch up with the situation unfolding before her. “What are you doing here?”
He didn’t answer right away, but strode toward her, putting distance between him and the people he’d brought with him, effectively blocking them from Cora’s view.
“I brought some help,” he said.
“Help for what?” she asked.
He ducked his head and pressed his cowboy hat to the top of it with one palm. “You mentioned the other day that your cabin needed to be cleaned from top to bottom, and you had no idea when you’d find time to unpack. A couple of my cousins were totally bored today, and I told them to come on out and I’d put them to work.”
“Yeah, I wastotally bored,” one of the men said, plenty of sarcasm in his tone.
Cora liked him already. She smiled and focused on Boston’s handsome face.
“If you’d rather we didn’t,” he said. “It’s fine. They’re showingJurassic Parkin the theater tonight, and I figured they could go over there if you didn’t want them poking through your stuff.”
He took a couple of steps closer, one hand reaching out to slide along her forearm. “I’m half inclined to have them do that anyway,” he murmured. “Then me and you can be alone together.”
Coradidlike the sound of that, and her grin widened as an idea filled her head. “Why can’t we have both?”
Boston laughed and said, “Why not, indeed.” He turned then, and he didn’t take her hand as he started back toward the truck.
“All right,” he said. “This is my cousin Joey and her fiancé, Adam. They’re getting married here in September.”
“Oh, of course,” Cora said, feeling herself slip into hostess mode. “It’s great to meet you.”
Adam shook hands like a professional, but Joey pulled her into a hug. “You too,” she said kindly. “This is Harry,” she said, indicating the last cowboy, who wore a black shirt and jeans to go with his black cowboy hat. “Our other cousin, and his wife, Belle.”
The dark-haired cowboy and the blonde woman went together perfectly, though Harry didn’t smile at all, and Belle seemed to be made of them.
Pieces slipped around in Cora’s head, landing in place only a moment later. “You’re Harry Young,” she said, noting that Adam took one step in front of him.
