Big Sky Eyes (15 page)

Brent stood slowly from the couch, his eyes narrowed and
wild with anger.

“Cut the cattiness,” he hissed. “It doesn’t become you. I
am
with you, and you are with me. That
means that we should be able to talk about something other than sex. Now, I
don’t have many friends, but Mackenna is one of them, regardless of her age. I
don’t expect you to understand it, to like it or to support it, but you damn
well better accept it. And if you’re throwing me out of here because you’re not
getting exactly what you wanted tonight, then don’t bother calling me.
Ever.”

He snatched up his jacket and truck keys and stomped from
the apartment, slamming the door as he went. As the engine roared to life, he
spared no thought for the stricken look on Leann’s face. His only thoughts were
of Mackenna. He imagined her red-faced fury when she had yelled at him on the
phone. He imagined her cold, quiet, square apartment space with only the
humming of her computer tower to accompany her on her birthday. Wasn’t it just
last year that he’d scraped every penny just to make sure she’d had a decent
birthday? How could he have forgotten?

With her new cell phone came a new number, one that Brent
didn’t have. She had thought long and hard for a week about whether to give it
to him. The swelling sense of betrayal was still too near for her to give in
and contact him. She almost had her mind convinced to cut off their friendship
completely. Then, a card arrived in the mail from him. In it, he begged her
forgiveness, denounced his right to her friendship and vowed to make it up to
her someday if she’d let him.

She had not responded and it wasn’t until the beginning of
May that she heard from him again. When she logged onto the Internet he was
there, waiting to make contact with her. She studied the chat box for a long
time before responding to his greeting.
 

Brent:
Did you get a
new phone number? I’ve tried calling you a million times over the past month
but it just goes to a busy signal.

Mackenna:
Yeah, I got
a new one
.

Brent:
Oh. Did you
change it to avoid me?

Mackenna:
No. My old
phone broke. What do you want, Brent?

Brent stared at her words as they sank deeply into him. What
did he want? He wanted her forgiveness, for sure. He definitely wanted her
friendship. Since his and Leann’s first fight, he had realized how much he
relied on Mackenna for support and advice. Of course, he and Leann had patched
things up since she had apologized, but life still didn’t feel right without
Mackenna in it. If Leann was his right hand, Mackenna was his left.

Brent:
I want you to
know how truly sorry I am for what I did.
 
I hate having to do this over the Internet, but I don’t have your new
number. I was a selfish ass hole, and I am so sorry. It’s been eating me up these
past months
.

Mackenna read the message over and over again. Her mind told
her to end the friendship, that her heart couldn’t bear any more of Leann. This
was her opportunity. She could simply tell him that she didn’t forgive
him, that
she didn’t want to speak to him anymore, and he
would go his way without her. The thought of severing that tie, though, hurt
her more than his behavior had, and she took that as a sign that she shouldn’t
end it just yet.

Mackenna:
I forgive
you, Brent
.

Brent sighed with relief as he read the sentence. He
promised to make it up to her and she replied that he needn’t bother. She
wanted only to move forward and leave the past in the past. He agreed, feeling
whole once again to have her back in his life.

Chapter 24

The wedding preparations on the Slanted S kept Mackenna
occupied her first day there. June had blossomed beautifully to accommodate the
occasion. Kelly arrived the next day and when the two women reunited it was as though
no time or tension had passed between them. Kelly commented on how much older
Mackenna looked, a sentiment echoed throughout the McCrae family. Kelly, too,
had a more mature face. Had it really been two years?

Mackenna and Kelly occupied the loft, just as they always
had, and though they had only been there two days, both were sorely
sleep-deprived. They stayed up late into the nights, laughing and exchanging
stories from their past two years. Kelly had been shocked to learn that
Mackenna and Brent had maintained such a deep friendship. Mackenna had been
happy to find that Kelly was in a serious relationship with a lawyer in San
Francisco for the past year. He would be joining them in Montana the next day.

“It’s a shame that your dad couldn’t make it out, Mackenna,”
Bev said as they sat at the table along with Kelly and Leslie wrapping
silverware in ivory linen napkins.

“Yeah, he was pretty bummed,” she offered. “At least my mom
will be here tomorrow. She’s anxious to see you again.”

“Me, too,” Bev agreed. “Gosh, what’s it been? Three years?”

“Actually, four I think,” Mackenna said. “Last time was when
you and Grant came through Carson, and I was a sophomore.”

Bev sat up straight and scanned her memory for confirmation.

“You’re right,” she finally said. “Man, it’s been too long!
That’s the good thing and the bad thing about emails. You stay connected enough
to feed your relationships, but then it allows you to let years pass before
seeing each other and that’s awful. It really is important to be in each
other’s lives physically.”

Mackenna couldn’t agree more. Already she’d been there for
two days and had not seen Brent yet. She expected to be kept busy, but she had
also expected him to be around. To be fair, she hadn’t seen Ty either. So,
whatever was occupying the groom was sure to be occupying his best man.

“Well, I’m just glad that everyone happens to be flying in
on the same day,” Leslie said. “It’ll make it easier for Ty to make one trip to
the airport than to have to go back and forth.”

“Do you expect to see Ty at all before then?” Kelly asked.

“Nope,” she replied. “He’s got a long list of to-dos that
should keep him away.”

Mackenna frowned. That meant she wouldn’t be seeing Brent
until the next day.

Once they had finished rolling two hundred sets of
silverware, the women decided to take a break and stretch their muscles.
Mackenna left the lodge for the warm sunshine. She watched the horses playing
in the pasture. Sass tossed her head and flicked her tail as she trotted passed
Jake, who nipped playfully at her hind quarters. Sass neighed affectionately
and Mackenna chuckled. Who would have thought that hers and Brent’s horses
would have struck up a courtship?

As her thoughts turned once again on Brent, she went into
the stables and made her way up into the loft that he had occupied. She opened
the wooden shutter to the one large window and stared out at the jutting peaks
and treetops in the distance. She heard the rumbling of engines approaching and
sighed. More deliveries meant more tasks. Who knew putting on a wedding would
be so much work?

Soon, footsteps echoed through the barn door and up the
stairs behind her. She expected Kelly had come to summon her back to the house.
When she turned, however, it was Brent who stood at the top of the steps. She
smiled wide at the unexpected surprise. He wore faded blue jeans and a white
V-neck t-shirt. His hair was loose about his shoulders and his stubbled jaw
quirked as he grinned back at her.

After a long pause, he closed the distance between them and
grabbed Mackenna in a warm hug. She threw her arms around him and shut her
eyes, savoring the feel of him.

“It’s so great to see you again,” he said.

“You, too,” she said and was surprised to find her voice
faltering with choked emotions. Brent noticed it, too, and pulled away to look
down into her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said with a smile, gathering control of
herself. “It’s just really good to see you.”

“You, too.”

“What are you doing here? Leslie said you guys wouldn’t be
coming until tomorrow.”

Brent rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I know I’m the
best man but I gotta draw the line somewhere, and helping Ty pick out what he
wants his bride to wear on their wedding night is it.”

Mackenna laughed. “Isn’t that the bride’s job?”

“Hell if I know. I guess she told him that she’d just as
soon wear nothing so that if he wanted to see her in anything else, he’d need
to pick it out.
Whatever.
All I know is that it’s not
my job. Besides, I told Ty that I needed some time with my best friend, too.”

She grinned softly at his proclamation and once again the
intensity of his good looks struck her speechless. Distance really did have a
way of making a person forget. Bev’s words echoed through her yet again. Brent
grabbed her by the hand and began dragging her down the steps.

“What are you doing?” she exclaimed.

“I’m taking you away,” he answered.

“I can’t. I have to help Bev and Leslie…”

“That’s all you’ve been doing is helping them. I’m stealing
you for myself for a while. They’ll be fine.”

In spite of her propensity to help, she liked the sound of
that.
I’m stealing you for myself
.
How could a girl say no to that? He led them away from the stables and briskly
over to where his motorcycle sat propped in front of the lodge. Mackenna ground
her feet to a halt.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she said. “I’m not getting on that
thing.”

“Sure you are,” he said, thrusting a helmet toward her.
“Just hold onto me.”

Mackenna swallowed her fear, not wanting to give up such an
invitation. At least she had on jeans and a t-shirt. Her hair was down but the
helmet should keep it from knotting too badly. She raised an eyebrow and shook
her head in defeat as she slipped the helmet on and climbed onto the back of
the bike. As the engine rumbled to life, she locked her arms around him and
hugged her body close to his.

Bev was just emerging through the screen door as Brent sped
them away. Mackenna braved a wave before latching back onto him. Bev watched
them spit rock and gravel toward her lodge as they rode away, and she did it
with a slow grin on her lips.

Once on the highway Brent abandoned his cautionary pace and
sped up until Mackenna was whooping behind him. He laughed against the wind as
she pressed her body closer to his, her thighs rubbing against his. He smiled
to himself. It was good to see her again.

They rode for half an hour farther up into the mountains
until Brent pulled in beside a trailhead. He pulled his helmet off and shook
his hair free of his collar. Mackenna pulled hers off as well and found that
her hair was hopelessly tangled in spite of it. She ran her fingers through it
as best she could while Brent chuckled.

“Leave it,” he said. “It looks sexy like that.”

Mackenna’s heart leapt into her throat. “What does it matter
if I look sexy?”

“Well, if I’m going to have to look at you, you might as
well look sexy, right?” he tossed teasingly and she smacked his upper arm.

“So, where are we anyway?”

“Let’s take a little walk,” he answered and she followed him
into the trees.

The trail was only half a mile long but it was all uphill.
Just as her lungs were ready to burst free of her chest, Brent looked back with
a grin and reached out a hand for her. She took it and allowed him to drag
her the
last few steps until they cleared the trees and
emerged onto a rocky outcrop with what seemed like the entire world unfolding
below them. Mackenna’s raspy pants silenced as she held her breath in awe.

Scores of snow-dusted mountain peaks stabbed the sky while
distant glaciers glistened like diamond pools. Thick forest carpets dipped and
swelled in every direction, dotted with crisp alpine lakes and the clear blue
sky stretched so wide overhead that Mackenna swore she could see the curve of
the Earth. If there was a heaven, she imagined it would look like this. The
clear mountain air, the beauty of the place, teased tears to her eyes and while
she breathed her compliments to the Creator, Brent studied her face.

“I knew you would appreciate this,” he said and she turned
to him with wide eyes.

“Thank you for showing me this. I’ve never seen anything
like it.”

“You never will either,” he said, sweeping the landscape
with his gaze. Mackenna studied him until a knowing smile claimed her lips.

“You love Montana,” she stated and he turned back with a
frown and a snort before shaking his head.

“Nah,” he shrugged. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”

“Keep talking
yourself
into that,
Brent,” she said. “I know better. You want to hate Montana, but you never
will.”

He folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes at
her. She just smiled in reply, completely confident in how well she knew him.
Soon, he was grinning, too, and admitting to himself that she was right.
Montana was home to him. Despite the many horrible memories it gave him, it
gave him so many more wonderful ones. Mackenna had been instrumental in helping
him break through the bitterness.

They sat on the rocky edge and let their feet dangle thousands
of feet above the forest below and Brent offered her a strip of jerky. They
chatted and teased until the sun fell to its knees below the highest of the
peaks. The temperature dipped with the day’s light and Mackenna shivered as her
seat fell in shade. Brent removed his leather jacket and put it around her.

“Well, we’d best get back,” he declared reluctantly. “I’ve
got to get back to town tonight and take care of some things before tomorrow. I
just wanted to have some time with you before things got crazy.”

“I’m glad you brought me here,” she said. “It was a
beautiful afternoon.”

It was one of the most pleasant few hours he’d spent in a
long time. He’d brought Leann to the spot and she’d done nothing but complain
at the steepness of the climb and when the view revealed itself, she found it
not worth the effort. After all, it was the best of Montana, and she hated
Montana. She hated his bike, too, claiming that it ruined her hair, makeup and
outfit. It was relaxing for him to be with someone so at ease.

He spent the entire ride back to the Slanted S with only his
t-shirt on as Mackenna wore his jacket, but with her body pressed against his
he felt only warmth. They said their parting greetings and she headed into the
bustling lodge only to turn and run his jacket back to him. She hated parting
with the garment as it smelled wonderfully of him, but she didn’t want him to
be cold on the ride back to town.

“Thanks again,” she said as he put the jacket on. He flashed
her smile that made her knees melt.

“See you tomorrow.”

He turned the bike around and disappeared into the darkness.