Chasing McCree (27 page)

“
Who was his
nephew?”

“
Will McCree, my
father.”

Rick doubled over, “Fuck
you.”

I glanced up at Chase. It was starting
to sink in that I’d fought a man twice my size. But I never
actually asked him… “How much money do you have,
exactly?”

He smiled. “Enough.”

I pressed my hand to my forehead, flat
staring at him. “Is this a joke?”

“
Nope.” He laughed. “If you
want I could buy you something to prove it.”

“
Like what?”

“
An island, or maybe a
small country?”

I shook my head, thinking I was going
to pass out, and headed for the corral Firefly was in. The bridle
had come off and was stuck in the mud. I left it there and trudged
over to the skittish horse.

Chase hovered at my side. “She chose
you.”

I smiled, “I love her. She’s
beautiful.”

“
Great, she’s
yours.”

I balked at him. “You can’t give me a
horse.”

He shrugged. “She’s not mine to
give.”

“
Then…” I petted her
snout.

“
Like I said, she chose
you. It’s her decision.”

I beamed up at him. “Can’t argue with
that.”

“
Briar, I’m sorry,” he
touched his nose to mine. “I never should have left
you.”

“
Shh,” I smoothed my
fingers through his hair, slicking the strands off his forehead.
“It’s alright. I’m okay.”

“
I love you. I’ll never
leave you like that again. I swear.”

I brushed my lips over his softly. “I
love you too.”

“
I’d follow you to the ends
of the earth just to kiss you.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and
kissed him with everything in me. “Good thing for you I’m not going
anywhere.”

Chapter 28

Rain washed away all the bad. Rick and
Tom went to jail. The McCree cemetery was back to its peaceful
glory, and Millie and Jerry were happy to be home two days later.
Jerry’s brother was going to live, but it would be a while before
he was back to his old self.

I was in a grassy field with the
horses. Sprite pranced with Ash, playing in the sunshine. Chase was
dozing next to me, his hat covering his eyes. I was content and
happy with our decision. Now all that was left was to face my
parents. Mostly my father. My mother wouldn’t be hard to deal with.
She was nothing but saline and lipstick. I felt bad for
her.

I didn’t want to go back to Florida. I
wanted to stay with Chase. It had been the best summer of my life.
But my parents would be flying in, just in time for
dinner.

I sat up to watch Ash gallop down to
the creek, shaking his head. Sprite chased him. his little legs
moving furiously to keep up.

There was a soft ringing, and Chase
stirred to answer his phone. He didn’t say much and hung up. “Your
parents will be here soon. Jerry’s gone to pick them up at the
airport.”

“
I don’t want to go back.”
I picked a dandelion and threaded the stem into my hair behind my
ear. “I’ll miss you too much.”

He pushed his hat off his face and
smiled up at me, “I’ll go with you. Just say the word. It’s only
till we graduate. Less than a year.”

“
But I’ve been attacked,
taunted and humiliated. I’m done putting myself through that.” I
sighed. “I’m done not being happy.”

He reached his calloused hand out and
brushed my tears away. “It’s like I was supposed to meet you and
bring you here, you know?”

“
Yeah, I know. Your mother
was crazy to leave this place.” I took a deep breath and pressed my
hand over his.

I didn’t think it was possible to feel
so much for someone. Not outside of the movies and TV. It was all
fairytale. But then I met Chase, and at least for me, it wasn’t a
fairytale anymore. I knew in my heart that there wasn’t any reason
why we both couldn’t have what we wanted. “Don’t let them take
me.”

“
I won’t,” he said. “As
long as you’re not staying because you don’t want to face what
happened back home…”

“
I’m not running away.” I
wouldn’t care where I was, as long as I had him. Florida, Montana,
hell, even Canada. I could go to school anywhere and become a vet.
The decision was simple.

“
But Montana? Middle of
nowhere. No malls. No theme parks. Or designer stores.” Was he
changing his mind? Did he not want me to stay?

“
Family takes care of each
other. You take care of me. I take care of you.”

He chuckled, “I take care of you
because I love you.”

“
So why can’t you be my
family? Why don’t you want me to stay?” I was so
confused.

“
Your parents are going to
be pissed.” He said. “But I don’t care. Damn them all, remember? I
just want to make sure you feel sure about this.”

“
You said you’d follow me
to the ends of the earth.” I squared my shoulders and looked him
right in the eye as he sat up. “Well, now I’m saying the same to
you. I want you to finish teaching me how to ride a horse, whip
cans off a fence, sleep under the stars. If you stay here, I’ll
stay. Hell, if you go to China, I’m going too! I’m chasing you
McCree, just like you chased me.”

“
When have I ever chased
you?” he asked.

I frowned. “It’s kind of fuzzy, but I
remember you being on a horse in the park near the
school.”

He laughed, “Yeah, I was following
you.”

I stood, pulling him to his feet. We
walked through the tall grass. Sprite and Ash followed, trying to
get us to play with them.

We reached the small clearing circled
by a small fence. Chase wrapped his arm around me and we moved to
stand at his father’s grave. I didn’t say anything. It was so quiet
and still. Even the horses stayed at a distance. The ground was
warm beneath my bare feet. Faint rays of sun filtered through the
trees.

“
He would have liked you,”
Chase said, voice quite. “He liked everyone. But you, you’d have
been one of his favorites.”

I pulled the flower out of my hair and
set it next to the other flowers on the ground. “And he would be
proud of you. I’m sure of it.”

Ash met us by the gate, and we rode him
back to the big house, Sprite followed in a flurry of excitement.
It seemed like everything was an adventure to the little horse. I
stopped to say hello to Firefly and gave her a sugar
cube.

“
Briar?”

Chase and I turned at the sound of my
father’s voice. He was standing on the porch, face awash in
shock.

“
Dad,” I knew what I looked
like. He must not recognize me. Wild, curly, sun streaked hair. A
real tan and pink cheeks. Not an ounce of makeup. I wasn’t wearing
shoes, and I was holding hands with a cowboy.

Yeah, this was going to go
smoothly…

“
What happened to you?” he
looked at me like I was a stranger, and I began to realize I was.
We didn’t really know each other. He’d never taken the time, and I
couldn’t force him to pay attention to me.

“
We were out riding,” I
said. “Did you just get here?”

He nodded, “I was going in with your
mother when I saw you.”

Chase and I followed him
inside.

My father stopped in the middle of the
living room, not saying a word to me. He took in the space. His
eyes traveled over the rustic décor. Yeah, it was impressive. I
could see the wheels turning in his head.

“
You thought I was staying
in a shack on mountain side.” I hated how he judged people. Chase
was a cowboy. He owned a ranch. Therefore he was an uneducated
hick.

He gritted his teeth. “Something like
that.”

Yep, he was taking it all in. And all
of it was the fact that Chase had money. Not that I cared about
that. “Where’s mom?”

“
Millie was showing her to
the bathroom with your grandmother.”

Grandma came! I smiled.
“Great.”

He crossed his arms and eyed Chase. It
seemed the strained pleasantries were over. “You had no
right.”

“
Briar does what she
wants,” Chase smiled too kindly for my liking. I was ready to toss
my dad out in the yard. “I merely support her
decisions.”

“
Oh please,” my father ran
a hand through his hair. “Look, I understand you have a little
money, but in our family we have a lot to live up to. Certain
things are expected of Briar, and no offense, you can’t possibly
understand them.”

Chase draped his arm around me. His
smile turned into a sneer. “I understand you place a high value on
this society shit.”

“
Appearances must be kept
up,” he said. “Now take your hands off my daughter.”

I rolled my eyes. “Just stop and look
around you. Chase isn’t after your money, trying to hurt your
reputation, or chances at a big promotion.”

The there was a commotion in the
kitchen, and my grandmother hurried into the room, arms flung wide
and smiling. She hugged Chase and me and settled into Jerry’s
favorite chair by the fireplace.

Chase’s aunt and uncle decided to sit
the beginning of the conversation out, mostly because I asked them
to. I didn’t want them to see how ugly my parents could be. Once we
reached an agreement, they’d join us.

My mom was in next, picking her way
across the room to stand beside my father. Seems they made up. The
bear skin rug got a little raise of her eyebrows, but not enough
that anyone noticed, since they’d been frozen in place by her
injections.

I was thinking we’d start the big talk
when one last person strode in the room.

“
Alex?” my jaw
dropped.

Chase stepped in front of me. “Get the
hell out of my house.”

I pushed around him and watched Alex
back away, holding his hands up. “Whoa, sorry. Didn’t know I wasn’t
invited.”

I glared at my mother. “You brought
him, didn’t you?”

“
Oh, Briar, he misses you.”
She pouted her inflated lips. “Can’t you see?”

“
Yeah, he’s a real prince
charming. Did Alex ever tell you that he let his friend spike
Briar’s drink at a party, and that I found her in a park late at
night?” Chase vibrated with fury beside me. “Or that his friend
attacked her, and he stood by and laughed?”

For the first time, in a long time, my
father looked concerned for me. “What? Why didn’t you tell
me?”

I lifted a shoulder, “I didn’t think
you’d care.”

“
You’re my child.” He
shouted. “Of course I care!”

My mother gripped the front of Alex’s
shirt with her fang nails and sat him on the couch. “Just wait till
we get home. Your parents will be hearing about this.

Go mom.

I smiled.

“
Briar, pack your things.
If we leave now we can make the evening flight.” My father waited,
staring Alex down before looking back at me.

I didn’t budge. I raised my chin and
planted my feet. “Chase and I’ve been talking, and I’m staying here
with him.”

He didn’t look all that surprised, gave
a smooth smile, and a regal wave of his hand. “I understand this
has been an adventure, but you’ve inconvenienced this kind family
long enough.”

I shot a sideways glance at Chase. “See
what I mean?”

“
Dr. Thompson, I want Briar
to stay. Not just for a little while, forever.” Chase said. “She
really does belong here with me.”

“
I knew it!” Grandma
giggled. She jingled as she bounced in her seat. There were bells
on her bracelet and on her socks. “I told Norm before I left. I
said, Norm, I bet my britches Briar ain’t coming home. I was
right!”

“
Mom, you’re not helping.”
My dad said.

“
Everyone should marry a
Scottish cowboy.” Grandma clapped her hands. “Can’t you see how
happy she is? She looks good, and she may have even gained a little
weight.”

“
Grandma…” I
blushed.

My dad still wasn’t having any of it.
“Chase’s parents, I’m sure, don’t want their son moving a strange
girl in with him.”

My mom nodded, finally in the present.
“It’s scandalous.”

“
This is my house,” Chase
was really getting irritated, and so was I. “If I want Briar to
live with me, it’s my choice.”

This really made my parents take a step
back. They glanced around them, as if it was some sort of a
joke.

“
I want to speak to your
father,” my dad said.

“
He’s dead.” Chase crossed
his arms. “Died when I was six.”

“
And your mother lives in
Florida?”

He nodded. “With her new family. My
aunt and uncle stay on the property with me to help me learn and
run things.”

My dad seemed to need a seat and
dropped on the couch next to Alex, who was keeping his mouth shut,
and eyeing the bearskin rug. What was it about that thing that
creeped people out? “And what about money, finances?”