Chasing McCree (17 page)

“
No, it was cattle.
McCree’s and Smith’s fought over women.” Tuck corrected him. “Wait,
I could be wrong…”

Dustin crossed his arms and leaned back
against the wall behind the hay bale. “McCree has the same
instincts as the rest of his ancestors. He’s on his way
over.”

I looked across the dance floor to see
Chase on the other side glaring at the boys sitting next to me. I
smiled at him and waved. He scowled and picked up the
pace.

“
O’Brian and Callahan,”
Chase said once he was within hearing range. “Things never change.
Where’s Smith?”

Tuck stood and gave Chase a whack on
the back. “Good to see you too man. I don’t know where he
went.”

Dustin smiled evilly. “Josh is in the
loft with Ellie.”

Tuck rounded on Dustin. “Asshole, why
didn’t you tell me?”

“
Hey, they like each
other.”

“
Hell if I care, that’s my
baby sister.” Tuck smacked his cowboy hat on his jeans, stuck it on
his head, and ran the length of the barn to climb up a
ladder.

Dustin turned to me. “Want to
dance?”

I smiled, not looking at Chase, and
shook my head. “Thanks, but my feet hurt. I’m going to sit a couple
out.”

“
Kick off your boots. The
night is just getting started!” Dustin leapt up and offered me his
hand.

To be honest, I was a tiny bit tempted,
but not enough to feel like I’d be missing out on anything. Mostly
I just wanted to get the boots off. “Sorry, from here on out I only
dance with Chase.”

There was a shriek, and everyone’s
heads turned to where Tuck had gone. A blonde girl was leaning over
the side of the loft, watching the boys wrestling in the pile of
hay below.

“
Damn it,” Dustin shook his
head and smiled. “I’d better break them up before our parents
see.”

“
It was nice meeting you,”
I said as he ran to the boys and dove into the fray. Now there were
three of them, and I couldn’t tell who was who with all the hay
flying around.

“
Are you sure you don’t
want to join them?” I asked Chase, laughing when Dustin grabbed
Tuck by the back of his shirt and pulled him off Josh.

Chase chuckled, “No, I’m good. Dustin
and Josh, who is a Smith, have been fighting over Ellie Callahan
since they could walk. I’m surprised Dustin didn’t break Ellie and
Josh up, actually. He must be getting over her.”

“
What does Ellie have to
say?”

“
Honestly, I think she
likes it. But before I left I wondered if it really is going to be
with Josh. Now I’m sure.”

“
And why not
Dustin?”

Chase shrugged. “Ellie wouldn’t know
what to do with him. He’s got a strong personality, would walk all
over her. Josh, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. Ellie
can walk all over him.”

“
Hey,” the girl named
Ellie, who was up in the loft, spotted Chase and waved. “Meet us
out back!”

“
So…” Chase pulled me off
the bale of hay and his eyes glimmered with mischief. “How about we
have an adventure?”

Chapter 16

Chase

I got Briar out behind the barn in time
to catch up to everyone else. Tuck, Dustin, Josh, and Ellie were
waiting. We kept to the shadows and headed for the stables. The
Callahan’s had more horses than anyone around. So they never missed
a few when we borrowed them to go down to the lake. Though if
Tuck’s dad found us borrowing the horses, we’d have some explaining
to do…

Tuck went in first, followed by his
sister. Dustin and Josh followed.

I held Briar’s hand and glanced around
us. “Ready to run?”

She nodded. “Yeah,”

“
Go!” we raced for the
stables. I hoped no one saw us. The horses were quickly saddled. I
chose one I’d ridden before, Chester, a brown Arabian. I got an
easy tempered painted mare called Potts for Briar. Once she was
seated I mounted my horse.

“
Uh,” She held on to the
horn, a little worried. “Can’t I ride with you?”

“
Not this time. I’ll only
ride double on Ash.” I wouldn’t ride with someone on a horse I
didn’t know well. Ash and I understood each other. He trusted me
and I trusted him. “Don’t worry, I’m leading you. Just stay seated
like I showed you and follow my directions.”

“
Oh, I’m hanging on. Trust
me.” She gripped the horn tight as I walked us out of the
stables.

Ellie and Josh had taken off behind
Dustin. Tuck was in the middle and Briar and I brought up the rear.
We went at a slow pace, since she wasn’t used to being on a horse
alone.

“
Where are we going?” she
asked.

Tuck glanced over his shoulder. “McCree
Creek. Time for a swim.”

I watched Briar’s face, thinking she
thought Tuck had lost it. “There’s a creek named after your
family?”

“
Yeah,” I said.

“
And McCree Lake,” Tuck
snorted. “Don’t be modest man. The high school is named after you
too.”

Damn…I was hoping to ease Briar into
where I came from, not dump it on her in one night.

Her eyebrows went high. “Were you ever
going to tell me this?”

“
Yeah, I just wasn’t sure
how.” I glared at Tuck, but he kept on going. We were back on my
land, heading for the deepest part of the creek. It was just over
the next hill.

“
Hey, did Chase tell you
who he’s related to?”

“
Tuck,” I warned him. “Now
is not the right time.”

“
What, you didn’t tell her
about John McCree?”

“
Who?” Briar
asked.

“
John McCree.”

“
Callahan,” I wanted to
smack him. If only I had my whip.

“
He was Chase’s great
uncle. His grandfather’s brother.”

“
Damn it Tuck,” I spurred
Chester forward and tried to grab him.

He laughed and backed his horse up. Too
quick for Chester since we were leading Briar and Potts. “You
didn’t tell her! McCree, what’s wrong with you?”

“
Tell me what, exactly?”
Briar pulled my arm, “Chase, what is he talking about?”

“
Tuck I’m going to wrap my
hands around your neck and squeeze. We’ll see who’s laughing
then.”

“
Hey, someone’s got to tell
her,” he smirked. “It’s seems I’m the best man for the
job.”

We reached the top of the hill
overlooking the creek. Josh, Ellie, and Dustin were already
swimming.

Briar’s voice grew apprehensive, “I’m
not really into skinny dipping…”

I wasn’t going to bare my ass for the
world to see, that was for damn sure. “Don’t worry, we’ve never
done that.”

“
So, about John McCree,”
Tuck continued, dismounting and taking off his boots to swim. “He
ran off to Texas one day, on account he hated ranching and
preferred black gold to cow shit.”

“
Never trust a Callahan.” I
left Briar with the horses and lunged for Tuck. He kicked me, but I
managed to toss him into the creek, fully clothed. “Now keep your
trap shut.”

He surfaced and spit out a mouth full
of water. “Shit, it’s freezing! What’d you do that for?”

Dustin swam over and smacked the back
of his head. “Are your ears full, idiot? Chase doesn’t want you
telling Briar about his great uncle, the oil tycoon.”

Great, just great. “Thanks a lot,
Dustin.”

He floated on his back down the creek,
grinning. “Anytime, man.”

I turned back to find Briar still
sitting on Potts, both hands white-knuckled on the horn, even
though the horse was perfectly still. She frowned,
“Chase…”

I sighed, helping her down. “Yeah, I
know…I’ve got some explaining to do.”

We opted out of a swim and sat on the
top of the hill, star gazing. It was a beautiful night. Not to be a
sap, Briar was prettier than any starry sky.

“
So, you’re rich too?” she
asked, picking at blades of grass.

“
I guess…” I honestly
didn’t like talking about money. The truth was I had a lot of
it.

“
And you let all of my so
called friends call you a hick and trailer trash when you could
have proven them wrong?” she tied a piece of grass in a knot and
tossed into the wind.

“
I don’t have to justify or
prove myself to anyone. I wasn’t going to buy a Bentley to stop
them from making fun of me.” I could have. Actually, I could have
bought the country club. I’d heard it was up for sale… That would
have really shut them up.

“
So tell me about John
McCree.”

I let out a deep breath and lay back to
look up at the moon, folding my hands behind my head. “Well, he was
my grandfather’s older brother. A confirmed bachelor, who had a
string of girlfriends until the day he died.”

“
Sounds like he wasn’t the
marrying kind.”

“
No, he wasn’t. He left the
ranch when he was young, went to Texas. Bought some land, made a
few business deals and struck gold.” My grandfather had told me
this story four years ago, the day we received news his brother had
passed away from old age. “Black gold and lots of it. His will
stated everything would be split between his niece and nephew, my
dad and Millie. But dad was dead, so after some legal stuff I
didn’t understand yet, it went to me. I was my father’s heir, and
now the heir to a Texas oil man I’d never met.”

“
So, what did he leave
you?” she asked.

I shrugged, searching for shapes in the
stars. “It doesn’t matter.”

“
Do you think it will
change the way I think about you?”

“
No,” I heard Dustin
shouting and laughing in the distance, Ellie screeching. They were
up to something crazy probably.

Briar crawled up beside me and settled
into the grass, laying her head on my chest. “You know, a ton of
money doesn’t change anything. Just levels the playing field
between us.”

I shook my head, looking down at her.
“I make you look like a pauper.”

“
Whoa, sorry, I’m
interrupting something…” Dustin whistled a couple catcalls and I
ignored him. “But that’s okay, you two keep making eyes at each
other, don’t look at me.”

I didn’t look at him. If he wasn’t
getting attention he’d go away.

“
Oh my god!” Briar covered
her eyes. “What are you doing?”

Damn, what now… “Fuck man, put some
clothes on!”

Dustin was standing on a rock, buck ass
naked in front of us, holding his Stetson in front of his crotch.
“Hey, I can’t help it. Tuck took my clothes while I was
changing.”

Briar uncovered her eyes. “Just don’t
turn around, okay?”

Dustin grunted, glancing over his
shoulder. “I’m gonna hogtie you and leave you for the bears
Tuck!”

“
Blue moon, you saw me
standing alone!” one of the guys sang out of tune. It sounded like
Josh.

“
No,” Tuck shouted. “Let’s
call it a white moon, floating alone. Two fat globes separated by a
large crack…”

Dustin cursed and took off running,
going after whoever was closest.

“
Ah, hell.” I glanced at
Briar. She was covering her mouth, snorting with laughter. “I’m
sorry, they were raised by wolves.”

She wiped tears from her eyes she was
laughing so hard. “It’s okay, I really like them.”

“
Yeah, they’re not so bad.”
We settled back into the grass, Briar propped her elbow on my chest
and looked down at me.

“
So, lay it on me. What are
you, a millionaire?” she took Millie’s hat off and set it next to
us, putting mine on her head. It was too big, but she tipped the
brim back enough to see me.

“
I was when my dad died.” I
motioned around us. “This is fifty thousand acres. If I were to
stick a for sale sign on it, it’d be worth more than thirty
million.”

“
Holy crap,” she swatted my
chest. “Chase, what the hell?”

“
It’s not something I go
telling everyone I meet.”

She smiled, “Well, at least you can
hold your own against my father if you have to. He likes rich
people.”

“
What about you, do you
like rich people?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Well, no,
because the ones I know are jerks. But you’re not like them, and
that’s why I like you so much.”

“
Thanks,” I said, knowing
that I could trust Briar with this. She wasn’t looking for money.
In fact, I had the feeling she’d burn cash in a barrel if she had
the chance.

Briar started to fall asleep a little
while later. I pulled out my phone to check the time. It was
nearing two in the morning. Tuck came back up. His shirt was torn
and he was still soaked, but looked like he’d had a good
time.

“
Hey, so you’d like to get
her back to the ranch, I’m guessing?”

I nodded, and Briar yawned. “Yes, now
would be great.”