Page 88 of Boston
His nerves vibrated at him, because he’d have to introduce her to everyone then, and Boston could admit he’d enjoyed being a little bit further away from his family and keeping Cora all to himself.
She’d talked to her mom and sister about their relationship, and no one seemed too worried about it.
Kat, Jeremy, and Cora had all approved his time off for the past couple of days, something he was really grateful for now that he’d learned he’d be working six days a week throughout July.
Ernie had texted him the schedule and told him to come by to go over it, though it was a holiday. Boston planned to go tomorrow before he headed across town for his haircut.
“You could just move in here, Boston,” Cash said. “I got the whole place to myself, and it’s not that far from Silver Sage.”
No, it wasn’t. And Cash had booked this vacation rental right on the corner where the Northern highway met the Eastern one, about ten minutes past Uncle Tex’s house, and only another twenty to Silver Sage.
Boston thought through all he needed to do tomorrow morning and everything he had going on now. Not only that, but he really enjoyed being close to Cora.
“You know what?” he said. “I think I might.”
“Yeah?” Cash asked, and he definitely looked interested.
Something whispered through Boston’s soul, telling him to choose Cash over Cora in this one thing. Boston grinned at him. “Yeah, why not? It’s twenty minutes away, and it will give me good practice for looking for my own place and keeping my job at Silver Sage until it’s profitable.”
“Oh, are you still looking for somewhere?” Cash asked.
“I mean a little bit,” Boston said. “I make good money at Silver Sage, especially when they overbook me.”
Cash nodded. “If I’m going to come back to Coral Canyon, I probably should buy something too.” He heaved a great sigh as he got to his feet. “I wish I knew what I was doing.”
Boston wanted to tell him to take it one step at a time or that he would figure it out, but he could hear both of those things in his father’s voice, and they would have annoyed him. So he kept his mouth shut.
“I’ll come over on Saturday,” he said. “Bring some clothes and stuff.”
“Sounds good,” Cash said. “You can stay all month. I have the place until the thirty-first.”
Boston stood too. “All right, but tonight I have to get back. I got too much going on in the morning. All day tomorrow, really.”
A dark look crossed Cash’s face. “Yep, tomorrow’s gonna be a busy one.” He walked Boston all the way out to the driveway, and closed his door behind him when he got in the truck.
Boston backed out and waved to his best friend, and on the way back to the lodge, he prayed that Cash would have a clear mind and clarity of thought, so that he would know what to do with his life once the calendar turned to July thirty-first.
The following morning,Boston found himself running late, something he hated more than anything. He’d spent too long in Ernie’s office going over the schedule, and he needed to get going to have time for his mother to cut his hair.
When he exited the office, he found Cora leaning against the wall across from the door.
“What are you doing?” he asked, automatically switching from devoted employee to flirty boyfriend.
“Waiting for you,” she said. “I wondered if you had a minute.” She waved to Ernie, who said, “I got him up to speed on everything for the month. He’ll be all right.”
A bit of irritation ran through Boston, because Ernie had spoken for him as if he didn’t get to have an opinion on his insane work schedule. He wanted to get back up to Ramsfire Ridge and the cabin, though he’d fixed the roof to the best of his ability. He wanted to check on it, and he wanted to watch the eagles, and he simply liked getting away.
That wouldn’t be possible this month, and Boston understood Cora’s disappointment at not being able to take him to Little Brown Bear Stream as well.
“I had no idea it was so busy in the summer,” he said. “I mean, I was told, but…I didn’t realize.”
“I was told too,” Cora said. “Looks different when it’s staring you in the face, doesn’t it?”
“Definitely,” he said.
“I just want to talk to you about something real quick.” She pushed away from the wall and moved down the hall toward her office, which sat deeper in the administration building, further away from the other employees and any errant guests who might make their way into this part of the lodge.
“All right,” Boston said. Cora knew he was getting his hair cut that morning and wouldn’t be back until later this afternoon to pick her up for the fireworks.
