Chase the Wind (55 page)

“Jamie, would you sit down? You are driving me crazy,” Grace
finally said after he walked the length of the cabin for the hun
dredth time.

Jamie shoved his hair back and stopped in the middle of the
floor. “A month ago you were begging me to get up and walk.”

“A month ago you were lying in the bed complaining.”

Jamie walked over and leaned over her chair, bringing his mouth
next to her ear. “I never complained when I was in your bed,” he
whispered, and she blushed, shoving his head away. He grinned
at the boys, who hadn’t missed the comment. His gaze settled on Jenny and Chase, who had their heads together at the end of the table. He walked over and propped his leg in an empty chair, lean
ing over the table.

“Jen, make me some cookies,” he said.

“Cookies?” Zane’s head came up from the other end of the table.

“Remember those sugar cookies you used to make? I haven’t had one of those in years. Please make me some.”

“Yeah, Jen, make us some cookies,” came a chorus from the end of the table.

“Cookies sound all right to me,” Chase added.

Jamie looked at her like a whipped dog, then flashed his grin at her. Jenny got up and went to the cupboard and began to pull out the ingredients for the cookie recipe that her mother had taught her. Cat joined her, and soon they were mixing dough and laughing with their heads together. They had started to roll the dough out into little balls the size of walnuts when Jamie decided to come over and stick his finger into the bowl. Jenny smacked his hand, and he jerked back, bumping into Jake’s chair.

“Watch it,” Jake snarled as his poker hand was given away to Zane, who gleefully raked in the pile of money.

“I knew you were bluffing,” Zane said as he made a production out of arranging his winnings.

Jamie ignored the card game and circled again, trying to sneak some dough. Jenny knew her brother well, and threw her elbow into his stomach as he came in again. He rubbed his side and decided to work on Cat, who was a smaller target. He snatched the ball of dough out of her hand and popped it in his mouth with a satisfied sigh.

“Eat all the dough and we won’t have any cookies,” Jenny warned him.

“Blu is shoo goo,” he said around the blob in his mouth.

“Hey, let me have some of that,” Ty called from the table. Cat turned with a ball of dough in her hand and Ty opened his mouth, challenging her to hit the target. She tossed the ball just as Jake rose from his chair, and it landed on the back of his head, clinging to the blond strands of his hair. His chair hit the floor with a thud, and silence filled the cabin.

“Damn it!” Jake exclaimed as he reached around his head. Jenny and Cat exchanged glances and moved towards the door as one, slamming it behind them just as Jake lunged for them. He snatched the door open, bouncing it off the wall, and ran through the opening. He became airborne when his foot hit a leg that was stretched across the doorway, and he flew out into the yard and landed face first in a puddle. Jenny and Cat fell into each other’s arms, laughing hysterically as the rest of the group came to see what had happened.

The rain had just let up as Jake raised himself from the puddle, his light blue eyes resembling chipped ice as they landed on Jenny and Cat, who had to sit down they were laughing so hard. They
heard the slamming of the door behind them, and realized they
were in trouble when they saw Zane’s face pressed against the win
dow.

“Open the door,” Jenny yelled as Jake took a step. Cat was be
hind her, beating on the locked portal. Inside, they could hear voices being raised as Chase and Jamie started in on each other.

“Jamie, open the door now.”

“Sorry, I can’t do that.”

“Jamie, get away from that door,” Chase yelled from inside the cabin. Jenny picked up a stool and jabbed it at Jake as he came up
the steps, while Cat continued her pounding.

“Ty, let me in!” she screamed.

“I can’t move him,” Ty groaned from the other side.

Jake grabbed the stool from Jenny’s hand and flung it out into
the yard.

“Damn it, Jamie, will you move?” Chase hollered.

“Dang, look at that, he’s got both of them,” Zane said, and faces
crowded into the window around him.

Jake had Cat under one arm where she was trying to land blows but was mostly hitting air. He was dragging Jenny with his other arm, her legs too long for him to pick her up the same way he had Cat. Jenny had her heels dug in and was trying to break his hold, but he was determined and pulled her down the steps, where he flung her into the mud. Then he dropped Cat beside her, face first. Jenny came up swinging and managed to land a blow before he pushed her down again, all the while holding a snarling Cat down
with his boot.

“I think we’re even now,” he said after he had made sure they
were covered with mud. The group inside had spilled out onto the porch and were laughing hysterically at the three muddy people before them. Jenny flung the mud out of her eyes and scooped up a handful. Jake had turned towards the porch and was in the pro
cess of bowing when she let go of her bomb. It hit Jamie square in
the face. He jerked his head back, then blinked a few times, while Zane fell to the floor of the porch, holding his stomach in painful laughter. Jamie reached down and picked him up by his belt loops
and flung him out into the mud hole, where he landed beside
Jenny. Cat had scrambled out of the way and began scooping up
mud to throw at Jake. Jamie let out a whoop and pitched Jake back into the mud, followed by Caleb. Ty bailed out over one porch rail
and Chase wisely took the other. Jenny had decided that Chase looked entirely too clean and tackled him as he came around the
side of the porch. Soon everyone was rolling in the mud, except
for Grace, who had wisely gone back in and locked the door.

The rain started up again, a downpour so intense that it blinded them as it washed the mud away. Chase pulled Jenny over to the
side of the porch, where the water drained off like a heavy waterfall.
She stuck her head under the flow, running her hands through her hair to wash out the mud that clung to the heavy strands. Chase helped her by combing his fingers through the mass that reached
halfway down her back. She tilted her head back, letting the water wash over her face and down her neck. Mud began to accumulate
inside her shirt, so she pulled it out and unbuttoned it. Chase
ducked his head under, clearing his hair and face, and pulled his
shirt off.

Everyone else had taken shelter, Jake, Caleb and Zane dashing for the bunkhouse, Ty and Cat heading into the barn. Jamie had
begged at the door for Grace to let him in, and she finally did, after
throwing a towel at him to clean up with. The water washed over
Chase in sheets as he turned Jenny against the house, shielding her
from any prying eyes with his body. She pulled her shirt off and
plucked her camisole away from her skin so the water could wash
away the mud that had accumulated.

Chase leaned an arm against the wall and looked down at the
cleavage revealed beneath him, watching the water sluice down the
valley between her breasts. He slowly raised his eyes and saw
Jenny’s parted lips, her eyes the deep blue of sapphire as he bent
to kiss her. Her arms twined around his neck, and he pulled her close, the heat of their skin burning against the cool water. He felt
the softness of her breasts against the smooth hardness of his chest,
and it started a fire deep inside him that threatened to consume
them both in the midst of the shower. He couldn’t stop; she begged
him not to as his mouth claimed hers, pulling at the depths of her
soul.

“Ahem.”

Chase raised his head, blindly, looking towards the noise. Jason
was standing on the porch, covered with a rain slicker, water dripping off the brim of his hat. Chase turned towards him, and Jenny
peered over his shoulder at the interruption.

“Perhaps I should send for the minister.”

“Actually, I was hoping you would do the service for us,” Chase
replied.

Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I would be honored. So
you’ve set a date?”

Chase looked over his shoulder at Jenny, who was looking a bit surprised herself. “I was thinking maybe as soon as we get back
from the drive?”

Jenny wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Just give me
time to find a dress.”

“I think that can be arranged.” Jason smiled at them. “If you
don’t die of pneumonia first.” He shook his head at their foolish
ness and knocked at Grace’s door before going into the cabin.

Chase turned around into Jenny’s arms. “Will you marry me
when we get back?”

“I’d marry you now, soaking wet, covered with mud.”

“While the thought is enjoyable”—he moved his hands over her bare shoulders—”I don’t really want to share you with the brutes that hang around this place, so we’ll wait.” He pulled her dripping
shirt off the porch rail and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Go on into the cabin, I’ll get you some dry clothes from the bunk-
house.” Chase kissed the tip of her nose and took off through the
rain. Jenny watched him run from the porch and wrapped her arms
around herself.

“We’ll be married in just a few weeks,” she sang to herself. “I
can hardly wait.”

Chapter Twenty-seven

The long days of the drive were over, the herd had been sold, Jason had given everyone a well-deserved bonus, and they were heading home. Chase and Jenny were anxiously looking forward to their wedding day. Jason had presented them with the cabin that had been his first home when settling the ranch, and Chase had many busy nights ahead of him to restore it to livable condition.

There was only one thing left to do before they started on the wedding plans. Jenny and Jamie needed to go home one last time to see their parents’ graves and close that chapter of their lives. They turned north when they came out of Independence, promising to catch up with their friends in a few days. Chase did not go with them. He felt that it would be better for just the two of them to go so they would have the time to grieve and talk and put all the pain of the past behind them. They said their goodbyes and looked forward to being together again in a few short days.

The town had grown in the years they had left, so much that the cemetery that used to be on the outskirts of town was now almost in the middle. The place was still well tended, and they easily found the stones that marked the last resting places of Ian Duncan and his beloved wife, Faith, and the smallest ones that belonged to the two baby brothers. They stood in silence, gazing down at the chiseled stones and at the grass that had been clipped short within the confines of the white picket fence.

“Dad’s not here,” Jamie finally said. He shoved his hair back and plopped his hat on his head. “He’s out there somewhere, standing on a ridge watching the horses run.”

“And Momma is right beside him.”

“Yes, she is.”

“When he died, he saw her,” Jamie nodded his head, remembering the story. “He said she was an angel,” she said.

“I guess they both are.”

“Do you think they’re watching us?”

“Every day.”

“At least they can be with the babies now.”

“They have more family up there than they do down here.” Jamie looked around restlessly, the town now suffocating him, and his scar making him self-conscious. “Let’s go by the ranch. I never got a chance to say goodbye to it, either.”

“Maybe someone is living there,” Jenny warned him.

“It’s okay, we’ll just tell them who we are and we wanted one last look.”

“I would like to find out if anyone has Momma’s quilt.”

“If they do, I’m sure they’ll give it to us. Come on, let’s go.”

The Duncan ranch was still a good ways from town, and it surprised the two of them that there weren’t more homesteads out that way. Jenny wanted to go in by way of the ridge, to see the lay of the land first, but Jamie insisted that they had nothing to hide, so they rode down the drive, circling the rise and coming up into the yard in front of the house.

The place had run down in the years since they had been gone, the well-tended gardens nothing but a memory. The porch was missing some boards, and the window in the loft was broken. A bunkhouse had been added out beyond the barn, and the area around it looked like a pigsty, littered with broken bottles and busted pieces of furniture. The farm animals were missing; not even a dog barked to announce their presence.