The McCree's Star Spangled 4th (3 page)

Chase

Firearms of any kind put my mom in a
sour mood. She went to bed early, complaining of a headache. It was
just as well, she probably felt overwhelmed by everything. The last
time she was here was for my dad’s funeral. It’d been twelve
years.

“
A little higher,” Briar
directed me. “No, more. High, please. That’s too high. Just a
little higher. Teeny bit more.”

“
Make up your mind,” Grant
laughed, the ladder he stood on wobbled.

“
Prefect!” Briar
clapped.

I tied off the rope to the trunk of a
nearby tree and grabbed the long extension cord at my feet. I
plugged in the cord trailing in the grass to my left, and smiled at
our handy work.

“
Wow,” Briar tipped her head
back and spun in a circle. “It’s perfect.”

Grant and I had constructed a dance
floor in the field behind the house. We laid down long boards and
nailed them together, then flipped the whole thing over for a solid
smooth floor. We took an old wagon wheel and threaded white lights
from it to eight poles circling the floor.

And now that they were lit, it was
looking more and more like a party.

“
Where’s the band going to
be?” I asked, since this was pretty much all Briar’s creation. She
was planning how she wanted it all set up. Millie was busy in the
kitchen with Jerry. Tomorrow Dustin and Tuck would help me run
three grills and a smoker. We’d be up early and cooking most of the
day.

Briar pointed to an area under the tree
next to the dance floor, “Right there.”

I glanced at Grant, “That
enough?”

He nodded, “The boys will have plenty
of room.”

We worked till around eleven, setting
everything up we needed. Chairs, tables, and hay bales. Briar hung
American flags from almost every available surface. When there was
nothing else we could do, we went to bed. By midmorning the next
day we had the entire field transformed into, what Millie called
upon seeing it, a Star Spangled 4th.

“
Grandma got run over by a
reindeer, walking home from our house Christmas Eve…”

“
Is she feeling alright?” I
asked Briar as we watched Grandma hop off the porch swing and head
into the house. She was in a colorful mood today. The singing
didn’t cover half of what she’d done in the last five hours she’d
been up.

Briar and I were on the porch playing
checkers. She left our game and stole up next to the swing. Grandma
had left her coffee cup on the bench seat. She took a sip to taste
the contents.

“
Oh, god.” She coughed,
running to the side of the porch and spitting over the side. “Her
coffee has something other than sugar in it, so I’d say she’s
feeling pretty fine.”

I made my way over to her and took the
mug, “This coffee is mostly bourbon.”

“
Gross,” she wiped her mouth
on the back of her hand.

We went back to our game before grandma
caught us. “Where did she get bourbon from?”

“
Jerry’s liquor cabinet
isn’t locked.” I winked at her. “Might have to change
that.”

She nodded, looking a little green
“Soon, too. She drinks like a fish.”

“
So how’s the game going
kids?” Grandma came back out with a cookie to dunk in her burton
and coffee. She was all gussied up for the fourth of July. Her lips
were bright red, and she was wearing bright blue pants and a
glittery American flag shirt. She’d also found a red, white, and
blue scarf and looped it around her neck.

“
Going great,” Briar
wrinkled her nose as she watched grandma take a long drink from the
mug. “Enjoying your coffee?”

“
It’s superb. Just
wonderful.” She guzzled a little more and I wondered if someone
should say something to her. She’d be passed out before the party
even started.

I tried not to laugh,
“Good.”

“
I was telling Norman…I
said, Norm! Since he can’t hear well… I have to yell a lot… So I
tell him, Briar is living in Montana.” She giggled, staring into
the cup. “Well, look at that…it’s all gone.”

Briar was out of her seat, and she
grabbed the mug from grandma. “Hey, I bet you’d be more comfortable
inside. You can put your feet up on Millie’s stool and read a
magazine. How does that sound?”

“
Sounds great if I can get
some more of that coffee to go with it.” Grandma took Briar’s hand
and let her granddaughter lead her into the house. I followed,
keeping some distance, because I didn’t want the old girl to think
she was being ganged up on.

“
Look, nice and cushy,”
Briar sat her in Millie’s chair and pushed a foot stool in front of
her. “Now, I’ll just get you a refill.”

I met Briar in the kitchen, thinking
I’d help her make some coffee, but she set the mug in the sink and
leaned against the counter with a sigh.

“
Did you forget something?”
I asked, opening the fridge to grab a pitcher of iced
tea.

“
Nope,” she smiled. “Give
her about five minutes, and she’ll be asleep.”

I poured a couple glasses and added
some honey, putting extra in Briar’s since she liked things on the
sweet side. “You’re kidding.”

She took the glass and eyed me over the
rim as she took a sip. “Three more minutes cowboy.”

I abandoned my glass on the counter and
grinned. “Three minutes? I bet I could distract you for that long,
probably longer.”

“
You bet right,” she stood
on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek.

I frowned, “What was that?”

“
A kiss.” She laughed,
lifting her glass for another drink.

I shook my head, took her glass and set
it on the counter, giving her a real kiss. The kind that made us
both weak in the knees. We ended up in the corner next to the
fridge, and would have stayed there, perfectly content, had the
sound of loud snores not met our ears.

Briar peeked around me, and tiptoed
into the living room. She smiled and pointed at grandma, who was
out like a light.

“
Damn.” I grinned. “You were
right.”

“
Of course I was,” she
scooted around me and ran out the door, grabbing her white boots on
the way.

I followed, wondering what she was up
to, and knew what she had in mind the second I saw her open the
gate to Firefly’s corral. With a shake of my head, I went after
her. I could not keep her away from that horse, not for the life of
me. Firefly wasn’t exactly dangerous, but neither was she the
gentlest creature.

“
I want to ride her,” Briar
said, feeding Firefly a sugar cube.

I nodded, “Not outside the
corral.”

“
I know,” she helped me get
the saddle and we got Firefly to stop long enough to get her ready
for Briar to ride.

“
Ready?” I asked.

She nodded and gripped the horn,
placing her foot in the stirrup. “Yup.”

I gave her a boost and she seated
herself, taking the reins. “Okay, go.”

She walked Firefly in a circle around
the pen. The horse was calm and steady. It was clear to me she and
Briar had formed a connection, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to let
them out of the gate yet. No telling how the mustang would react on
open land.

It would have to happen eventually, but
for now, this was good progress. Uncle Jerry and I worked with
Firefly every day, and she’d made significant improvement. This was
only Briar’s third time on her, but I knew that in no time, they’d
be just like me and Ash.

“
Easy,” I said, keeping my
eyes on her, turning as I watched Briar urge firefly into a trot.
“Nice and easy Briar baby.”

She laughed and blew me a kiss. “Hey,
Millie and Jerry are back.”

I stole a quick glance behind me and
saw Jerry driving his old Chevy up the drive. They’d taken the
morning to drive into town and visit Jerry’s brother, who was
recovering from a nasty car accident. He’d been well enough to
transfer to the local hospital close to home. The man was damn
lucky he’d been wearing his seatbelt.

I waved to Jerry and turned back to
watch Briar, “When you’re done, I’m going to grab a quick shower
and get ready for tonight.”

“
Okay,” she slowed Firefly
just a bit, patting her and giving her words of praise.

I heard the truck pull up close to the
house, and a strange coughing sound.

The sound of Jerry cussing brought a
smile to my face. It was obvious he was having engine trouble. No
clue why he just didn’t replace the truck with something that
Millie couldn’t tamper with. Maybe I’d buy him one and leave it in
the yard for him to find.

A sound, like a gunshot, blasted
through the yard. The truck backfired.

Firefly panicked, rearing up. She
slammed forward, reared up again, and Briar’s hold slipped. I
bolted for her, feeling as if I watched her fall in slow motion.
She hit the ground with a thud, her right shoulder slamming into
the fence behind her.

I threw myself down in the dirt,
“Briar, don’t move yet. Just let me check you out
first.”

She swept her curls off her face and
sat up slowly. “I’m okay.”

I wasn’t so sure. “You were thrown from
a horse.”

“
Chase,” she smiled, wiping
her hands on her jeans and streaking them with dirt. “I’m
fine.”

I took her hands to help her stand. She
seemed good, not too wobbly. A little hesitant to walk. But she
took a few steps past me, and gave a nod. “I’m okay.”

“
Uh, Briar…” I was standing
behind her now, and got a good look at her shoulder. “Maybe you
should hold up, baby.”

She frowned, “What?”

It was hot out, not like the heat in
Florida, but still hot. Briar had on a tank top. “You skinned your
shoulder.”

“
No way,” she turned her
head and looked down, her eyes going wide at the scrape the size of
my palm. It wasn’t gushing blood, but it was safe to say she should
be feeling it soon. “I didn’t even feel it.”

Yeah, I was pretty sure there was a big
reason she wasn’t feeling yet. “Adrenaline. Just let me get you
into the house.”

She nodded, and I took her arm, making
sure she was steady as she headed up into the yard with
me.

Millie came rushing toward us, “Oh,
what happened? Briar, sweetie, are you alright?”

“
I’m okay, really.” She
insisted. “I just need to get cleaned up.”

I gave Millie a kiss on the cheek. If I
acted cool, she’d give us some space. “I got her, she’ll be
okay.”

“
Chase, let me help.” My mom
came up to us. “Find the first aid kit and I’ll get her
upstairs.”

I grabbed the first aid kit from the
kitchen. Grandma was still zonked in Millie’s chair, and that was
probably for the best.

“
Why is it I’m always the
one getting hurt, and nothing happens to you?” Briar asked once I
was in the room. Grant was trained as an EMT, but my mom was a
nurse, so there was no need to call him. It took too long for the
paramedics to get to us. So it was up to someone on the ranch to
stabilize the individual until help could arrive.

Thankfully, Briar wasn’t in any
danger.

My mom began cleaning her up and taking
stock of the damage. It wasn’t bad. I’d had worse. But this wasn’t
me. This was my cheerleader. While she was tough, she wasn’t used
to this life yet.

“
You still good?” I asked
her.

“
Yeah.” She stretched out on
her stomach on the bed after my mom was done. “I think I’m just a
little dizzy.”

Yeah, I’d say her definition of a
little was my definition of a lot. “Uh-huh.”

She grimaced and closed her eyes.
“Okay, maybe my shoulder is starting to hurt.”

My mom hadn’t said much, and she
started for the door. “You’re going to be okay. Might want to take
something for the pain.”

I thanked her, and she headed back
downstairs, leaving us. It’d been strange and a little strained. I
wondered what she was thinking. It was hard. I couldn’t make her
understand, only hope that she began to love Briar as much as I
did.

I still had to shower, so I brought
Briar to my room and she settled onto the bed while I got ready.
When I was done, she was asleep. Stinker was curled up next to her.
I sat on the bed and kissed her cheek. How could my mom not love
her? She had me wrapped around her little finger.

Briar

“
You can’t kill a man with
your finger,” Dustin took a swig from his beer and flipped the
burgers on the grill.

Tuck shook his head, slapping slices of
cheese on the burgers. “You can.”

“
You can’t.”

“
I agree with Dustin. You
can’t.” I laughed, sitting at the picnic table to watch them argue
over the most ridiculous things.

“
Here, I’ll show you,” Tuck
turned as Chase walked up with a plate of hotdogs and stuck out his
hand. “Pull my finger.”