Chasing McCree (20 page)

He knelt down and examined the chaos. I
had piles circled around me. Normal contracts that had been
followed to the letter were back in the cabinet.

But the agreements scrawled in blue ink
on napkins…

I had a tally going on a scrap piece of
paper, and the money that was owed to Chase was nearing the half
million mark.

“
So you’ve found Grandpa’s
cabinet.” He shook his head, taking off his hat and resting it on
his knee. “What do you think?”

I sat up, picking a wadded napkin with
lipstick smeared on the back out of the pile closest. “Well,
someone at Tom’s Steakhouse is…three grand richer. Did you know
about this?”

He nodded, rubbing his jaw. “Yeah, pops
got soft in his old age. Couldn’t say no to anyone.”

“
Have you even added these
up?” I asked. “Do you know who much money he gave away…” I snagged
a coaster from a bar in Helena. “Ten thousand to Lou. Who’s
Lou?”

“
Good question,” he took it
from me and flipped it over. “I haven’t seen this one
before.”

“
Chase, there’s another
drawer I haven’t even been through yet.” I hoped the ranch wasn’t
in trouble because of what his grandfather did. What if Chase lost
it? If they didn’t have enough money? The land might be worth
millions, but he’d have to sell it to have access to it. “You have
lawyers, are they doing anything to fix this?”

He shook his head, sifting through the
napkins with a detached, almost resigned expression. “No, we have
no way of knowing who these people are, except for Don. No numbers,
no last names. We didn’t know about his loans until he died. That’s
when we discovered what was in his cabinet. He kept the sucker
locked and the key on his belt.”

“
Why did you keep all of
these, why not throw them out?”

He smiled, settling his hat back on his
head and taking my hands and helping me to my feet as he stood.
“Because every once and while, we get a phone call from someone
whose conscience has gotten to them, saying they’d like to pay us
back.”

“
I don’t understand,” I
gazed at all the napkins around us on the floor, my mind whirling.
“Why would Jerry…”

Chase pulled me out of the office and
shut the door. “Jerry has a funny way of doing things. Just think
of it as his way of welcoming you into the family.”

“
So sharing finances means
I’m accepted?”

“
No, passion means you’re
accepted.” He said. “Jerry’s done this before. Did it to Grant’s
wife. Holly got so mad, thinking we’d hit hard times. She called
around, trying to see if there was a way to get the money back. She
didn’t know that we don’t actually need the money.”

I faltered, almost missing a step on
the stairs. “Hang on, you mean that missing half a million doesn’t
hurt you financially?”

“
Nope.” I was following
him, not really paying attention to where we were going. When he
stopped, we were outside my room. “Get your jacket, we gotta
go.”

Go…where?

“
Oh my god,” I’d lost track
of time. “Is it noon?”

He nodded, leaning in the doorway,
watching me as I pulled on my hiking boots and rummaged through the
closet for my jacket. I pulled my hair back into a pony, didn’t
bother looking in the mirror, which was another first for me, and
ran back into the hallway.

Chase stayed leaning in the doorway,
just smiling, not saying anything.

“
What?”

He lifted a shoulder, “I like you
Briar.”

I tied my jacket around my waist,
starting for the stairs. “I thought you loved me.”

“
That too,” he said from
behind me.

I turned around on the landing and bit
my lip, thinking I might as well tell him now, rather than later.
“I did something.”

“
What?” he studied me
curiously from under his hat, and kept smiling.

Jerry hobbled past us on the stairs,
grinning. “She told Don his mother would be ashamed of
him.”

I nodded, “Right, I might have
overstepped my bounds.”

Chase didn’t mind, in fact. He was just
as happy as Jerry. I thought he would have been mad, just a little.
I mean, I stuck my nose in someone else’s business. But it was
obvious Chase didn’t like him. So when he told me that I could call
him anything I wanted and add interest to the amount Don owed him,
just to stick it to him even more, I was shocked. Pleasantly
shocked.

So I did what any pleasantly shocked
girl in love would do.

I tugged my cowboy in the nearest
darkened corner for a kiss.

Chapter 19

Uncle Jerry almost caught us when he
came back out of the office. I shoved Chase into the bathroom and
we waited, holding our breath, trying not to laugh. His footsteps
slowed, cane making soft thuds as it hit the carpet.

“
What should we do?” I
whispered.

“
Shit, uh, I could lock the
door, and if he knocks just tell him I’m using the
bathroom.”

But what if he started wondering where
I was, considering Chase and I didn’t stray too far from each
other. I was sure he’d figure out, eventually, I’d been in the
bathroom with him.

And wouldn’t that be an interesting
conversation to have with his uncle.

Chase threw open the window and slipped
outside. He held out his hand. Directly below us was the flat roof
over the porch. I backed up, thinking this was a bad
idea.

“
Chase, are you sure about
this?” it seemed like a long way down.

“
Do you want to explain to
Jerry why we were in the bathroom?”

Uncle Jerry’s footsteps stopped outside
the door and I dove out the window. Chase closed it and we ducked
just as the bathroom door opened.

We were going to have to figure out a
way around his aunt and uncle, or a find a place to sneak off
to.

“
Do they ever leave the
house?” I asked, creeping alongside him on the roof.

“
Yeah,”

“
Together?”

He stopped and studied the drop down to
the porch. “Well, not often.”

“
Chase, how the hell did
you get up there?” one of the hands, a burly guy in overalls, came
out of the barn, shading his eyes against the sun as he looked up
at us.

“
He was showing me the fire
escape route.” I sounded convincing…and I’m thinking he bought
it.

“
Hang on, I’ll get you a
ladder.”

With Chase and I back on the ground,
and his aunt and uncle totally clueless about what we’d been doing,
I followed him around the front of the house where he had horses
waiting for us. “You’ll be riding Ruby,” Ash shook his head and
pranced as we passed him. “Hang on buddy. We’re not ready to leave
yet.”

“
Are you going to lead me
again?” I got my foot in the stirrup, and with a little help was in
the saddle holding on tight.

“
You want me to?” He swung
up on to Ash, and I let out a sigh. I’d never thought I’d fall for
a boy like Chase. To be honest, I didn’t know guys like him
existed. There was something about his steadiness and confidence
that made me think, if he could do it, then I could too.

“
I think I’ll be okay,” I
had the reins in my left hand, and got Ruby walking beside him. I
was more confident, but added, “don’t go too far.”

“
I won’t.”

I was doing well with his directions.
Every once and a while he’d correct me, show me a better way, and
I’d commit it to memory. I loved horseback riding. I felt
free.

We reached the herd about half an hour
later. Grant was happy to have Chase back. He took his place
flanking, whatever that meant. I rode a little ways behind him,
watching the cattle. It was a huge herd. Chase said there were six
hundred in this group.

Grant and the cowboys, with Chase’s
help, and even my help, got the herd though the gates and into the
pasture a couple hours later. I mimicked what Chase was doing,
waving my hands to make them move, using Ruby to block them from
trying to get past us.

By late afternoon it was time to head
back in the direction of the big house, after a short break to
stretch our legs a little bit.

I rode beside Chase. We followed Grant
and the cowboys, picking up the pace a little since there weren’t
any cows to worry about.

By the time we got home, I was thinking
I’d had enough for one day. I was sore and tired, and I needed a
shower. Also, I was starving. We stopped the horses in the yard.
Chase left Ash to help me off Ruby.

Oh. Dear. God.

The second my feet hit the ground I
wanted to double over. How could he do this? Parts of me hurt that
I didn’t know could hurt. I felt like a freaking pretzel. I was
afraid to walk too, because I knew it would look funny.

I managed two steps. Didn’t get far at
all when my left leg seized up. “Cramp!”

He turned back and sighed, “Damn, I’m
sorry.”

I sat on the porch steps and began
rubbing it out of my leg, watching Chase take the saddles off the
horses. He set them on the railing and shut the gate to the yard so
they wouldn’t get out.

“
I was just excited to have
you with me. I didn’t think about how you’d feel after a day like
this.” He knelt in front of me, shaking his head. “How’s it
feel?”

“
Fine,” I said. “I’ll get
used to it. Don’t tell me you never had a cramp from riding a horse
all day. Now help me up.”

He gave me a hand up and we went into
the house.

“
Clean up,” Millie shouted
once we’d shut the door. “No telling what you’re covered in. I
won’t have eau de manure wafting around the dinner
table.”

I sniffed my shirt, following Chase
upstairs. “I can’t smell anything…”

We passed Whiskers in the hallway he
hissed, running sideways, his back arching and hair standing on
end.

It had to be the smell of the cows,
because normally he liked me.

I showered, pulled on a pair of yoga
pants and one of Chase’s shirts since I hadn’t done laundry and
fell into bed after dinner. Forget it. It was nine o’clock. I was
gone. So far gone, it would have taken an act of God to get me out
of bed…or a really determined cowboy.

“
Briar,”

“
What?” I pushed up and
looked around. It was bright and sunny. Someone had opened the
curtains. “What’s going on?”

“
It’s Sunday.” Chase was
hovering over me. He smelled like leather and mint. Normally the
leather smell hung around him. He must have just brushed his
teeth.

“
Okay, thanks for telling
me.” I snuggled into the pillows and pulled the covers over my
head. They didn’t stay there for long. He pulled them right back
down. “Please, I’ll do anything, Chase, just let me lay here and be
the pretzel.”

“
Sunday, as in, church day.
We’re going to be late.”

I shot up and smacked my head against
his. “Oh, God.”

“
Damn,” he groaned,
slumping beside me on the bed.

“
Sorry,”

“
It’s okay, I’m good. How
about you?”

“
Well, I’m awake,” I rubbed
my forehead, sliding out of the bed. “I’ll hurry.”

“
Great, I’ll tell Millie
and Jerry to go on ahead.” He pulled out his phone, dialing. “Hey,
Briar slept late. We’ll be right behind you.”

I picked out a jeans skirt and a lace
blouse, hoping they would be good enough. Then I looked at Chase.
Jeans, western style button up shirt, and boots.

Yep, I was good.

I ran to the bathroom and threw on my
clothes, brushed my teeth, and clipped my hair back to tame it.
“Ready.”

Chase stood as I came out of the
bathroom, “Great, we’ll sneak in the back and hopefully no one will
notice.”

I grabbed my purse and boots. We headed
down through the kitchen to the back door. Chase forgot his keys,
since he hadn’t planned on driving, and went back inside to get
them.

It was such a beautiful morning. I
walked down the porch and sat on the steps, pulling on my boots.
They were starting to feel more like mine, a little broken in, and
comfortable. The sky was a pretty, clear blue. White clouds swirled
in the distance at the peak of the mountains. The birds chirped. I
took a deep breath, glad I hadn’t slept in longer. The sweet smell
of Millie’s flowers floated on the breeze.

It was so perfect. Nothing in Florida
could compare to a quiet Montana morning.

I breathed deep again, taking in the
sweet smell, letting it sink into my lungs, and coughed. Rasping
and wanting to retch from the thick smoke filling my mouth, I bent
forward to drag in a breath, and pulled myself up, following my
nose.

The smell of smoke grew stronger. I
coughed even more. Around the side of the house I laid eyes on the
big red barn.

Flames.