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

“
That’s disgusting.” He put
the hotdogs on the grill, and sat beside me, giving me a quick kiss
before the guys took notice. “How you doing?”

“
Good,” I linked my arm
through his and rested my head on his shoulder. Further down the
yard, I could see people starting to arrive with covered dishes.
One man had backed his truck up to reveal watermelons stacked high.
“My shoulder has mostly stopped hurting.”

“
So I can ask you to
dance?”

I smiled, thinking about how he’d woken
me up from my nap with the sweetest kiss on my cheek. “Did I tell
you how much I love you today?”

“
Oh, God.” Dustin gagged.
“Get a room.”

“
Hey, we got company,” Tuck
stowed his beer with Dustin’s in a cooler by the grill.

“
Do I look that dumb?” Grant
shook his head and opened the lid to the cooler, grabbing a bottle
for himself.

“
I told them they’d get
caught,” Chase smirked.

Grant glanced around, then shrugged.
“Long as you’re not driving anywhere…I don’t see how a beer or two
will hurt you. But I’ll hurt you if you overdo it or get behind the
wheel of a car.”

“
Do tractors count?” Tuck
asked.

“
Friggin’ genius,” Grant
headed off into the yard to set up skeet. “If it’s got wheels and
an engine, it counts.”

“
What about
horses?”

Dustin smacked the back of Tuck’s head,
“Will you shut up?”

Tuck grinned, “What? It’s a legit
question.”

Chase stood, leading me to the dance
floor. The friends Grant had called were playing a mix of country
and bluegrass. The songs were fast and loud. I ignored little
twinges of pain in my shoulder and danced until I was dizzy. It was
a two-step, then we line danced, and even Todd was trying to join
in. But he had two left feet and kept bumping into Chase’s mom. She
was smiling and laughing and dancing. It was good. We were all
having fun, and just the sight of her loosening up put me at
ease.

I danced with Tuck and Dustin, then
Jerry. Todd got my second to last dance. Chase and I ended the
night with a slow one before settling onto a bale of hay to watch
Grant try to make a man out of Todd. They were shooting skeet. Todd
clipped one clay pigeon. After that, forget it. He might as well
have been shooting with a blindfold on.

My shoulder was bothering me, so I sat
out of shooting. I had time to learn, after all, I wasn’t going
home tomorrow with them.

I glanced over at the dance floor to
see grandma had reeled in Dustin. She was trying to dip and spin
him.

I laughed, “Should we save
him?”

“
Nah,” Chase said. “I think
he’s enjoying it.”

Everyone else was winding down, and I
was thinking the night was over, when Chase pointed over the house.
“Look there.”

I waited, watching, and a streak of red
light shot into the air. It exploded. Gold and red fanned over us.
“Fireworks!”

He held me close and we watched them
light up the sky like magic. “We haven’t set them off since my dad
died.”

I felt something inside me turn over,
and hurt for him. “Why start again?”

He shrugged. His brown eyes misted
over, and he rested his forehead against mine. “You.”

Okay, I was going to cry.
“Chase…”

He kissed me. “I love you, Briar
baby.”

“
I love you too,
cowboy.”

We turned back to watch the fireworks.
I knew that I was right where I was supposed to be. This was my
home, and nothing was going to change that. Ever.

Briar

After such an exciting day and night I
slept like the dead. Chase wasn’t up as early as usual, it was
around seven when he slipped out of the room, but this time I fell
back asleep. It was hard not to spend the night with him again,
especially after what he’d given me. I’d always remember the
fireworks show and how I felt about him.

Chase left Stinker with me, and around
nine we went down to the kitchen and grabbed some breakfast. It was
time to start cleaning up after the party.

Millie had stepped out for a few
minutes to help Jerry with something in the yard, when I heard
someone come in the kitchen.

“
Need help?”

“
No thanks, Mrs. Carter.
I’ve got it.” I turned on the water and opened the dishwasher.
“Enjoy the rest of your morning before you leave for the
airport.”

“
Thanks, but I don’t mind.”
She scraped dishes over the trash that had crusted over from being
left out. “I had fun last night.”

“
I did too,” I smiled, and
for the first time, I felt like we were going to have a nice
conversation. “I’m glad you came.”

“
Me too. At first I wasn’t
sure about being here, but it’s a nice break from reality,” she
said, stacking more dishes in the sink. “A big ranch in the middle
of nowhere… I can’t blame you.”

I stared at the soap swirling the
drain, blindsided. “I’m not taking a break from
anything.”

“
Oh, it’s just us girls.”
She laughed, eyeing the apron I was wearing with an odd expression.
Why dirty my clothes? “You can be honest with me. We’ve all had
trouble with parents and friends and school at some
point.”

“
That’s not why I’m
here.”

She blinked, her smile disappearing.
“Briar, this is serious. You just left your home and life. You’re a
child.”

“
No,” I pulled off the apron
and tossed it on the counter. “I came home. I’ve found my life. I
raised myself, much like Chase, and we stopped being kids a long
time ago.”

“
Chase did not raise
himself.” She snapped. I’d hit a big nerve.

“
I’m sorry, but when his
father died it changed him. My parents never paid attention to me.
I’ve been on my own, except for grandma. We know we’re not the
norm, and that’s okay with us.” I said, trying to show her I wasn’t
what she thought I was. I wasn’t a neglected, spoiled rich girl.
“We want you to be okay with us living here, together.”

“
I’m sure you’ll feel
differently when you’re married to this place. It runs your life. I
got out while I could. I wasn’t ready to be someone’s wife, and I
was too naive and young to be someone’s mother.” She said. “You
should leave. Go home. Grow up and find out what you want before
you end up like I did. A rancher’s wife, with a baby that you
weren’t prepared to have.”

“
Mrs. Carter,” I lowered my
voice. “I would feel so lucky, and blessed to be Chase’s wife, baby
included. I’d never leave them.”

I didn’t wait to see or hear her
reaction and ran out into the yard for the barn. I didn’t want to
talk to her or anyone else. Up the ladder, in the loft, I settled
into a corner with one of Ash’s felt blankets and had a good cry.
Crying always made me feel better. It took nothing. Happy tears,
sad tears, excited tears. I was capable of them all.

But these tears were ones of
frustration and hurt.

“
What’s going on?” I heard
someone shout from below.

I peeked over the side and spotted Mac,
one of the hands that worked for the ranch. He was a big guy.
Really stocky and ruddy faced. His mustache curled at the edges,
and he seemed to be perpetually sunburned. “Oh, sorry. I thought I
was alone.”

“
No, it’s fine.” He climbed
up the ladder to the loft and sat on the edge, dangling his legs
over the side. “Something’s troubling you.”

I nodded, bringing my knees up to rest
my chin on them. “I can’t seem to change someone’s opinion of me or
why I’m here.”

“
I see,” he nodded, sticking
a piece of hay in his mouth. “So, do you know why you’re
here?”

“
Yeah,” it was
obvious.

“
Then that’s all that
matters.” He glanced back at me with a reassuring smile. “Anything
worth having never is easy, and if it was, it wouldn’t be worth
much now would it?”

I smiled, “Since when are you full of
all the good advice?”

“
Oh, since my boss died and
his kid was in need of a little guidance.”

“
Briar?” I heard Chase
calling for me in the yard.

“
I’ll send him in,” Mac
climbed back down the ladder.

“
Thanks, for
everything.”

“
Anytime, honey.”

Soon after he was gone, Chase’s head
appeared over the side, “My mom said you ran out on
her.”

I shrugged, wiping my eyes on the edge
of the blanket.

He didn’t move from the ladder and
rested his arms on the edge of the loft. “Care to talk about
it?”

It was his mom. I didn’t want to ruin
what we had by forcing him to pick sides, even unintentionally. I
just wanted to live here with him and continue to be happy. “I’m
fine now.”

He drummed his fingers on the top rung
of the ladder. “See, normally you don’t hide when you’re upset. You
come right out and tell me.”

“
This is a different kind of
upset.”

“
Yeah, I can see that, and
it’s got me worried.” He climbed the rest of the way into the loft
and sat across from me. “My mom thinks she may have said something
to upset you.”

I snorted, “Thinks?”

He didn’t say anything and
waited.

So I told him what she said.

And he was still silent.

He stood and went back to the ladder,
climbing down, not a word.

I had a feeling, and it wasn’t
good.

Chase

“
Thanks for coming.” I
glanced up from the safe in my father’s room. My mom was standing
in the doorway, looking around with a half broken expression. “Mind
if we talk?”

“
No, I don’t mind,” She came
into the room, very hesitant, but still, she came. “Same
furniture.”

I nodded, “Yeah, I’m not sure what to
do with it. Pack it up and put it in storage, or sell
it.”

“
This should be your room.”
She went to the closet and gently pushed open the door.
“Chase…”

My dad’s boots were where they’d always
sat on a low shelf towards the back. We’d cleaned out most of his
things over the years, but I could never get rid of his
boots.

“
I miss him,” my mom turned
around and hugged her waist. “Sometimes it’s like I can feel he’s
around.”

I felt the same, especially in this
part of the house. “He’s still here, I think.”

She smiled. “This is the grandest room
in the house. He would have wanted you to have it.”

“
Not yet.”

She frowned. “Why not?”

I kept my steady gaze locked with hers.
“Millie and Jerry will move back into their house, and Briar and I
will move in here together when the time is right.”

She sank down on the edge of the bed,
“This is a little too soon to be talking about you and
Briar.”

“
Briar is the most important
person in my life.” I braced my hands on my hips and stared her
down. This was going to be an adult conversation, whether she was
ready for it or not. “I can’t believe you said those things to her.
She didn’t deserve that.”

“
That wasn’t nice of me,
I’ll agree.” She smoothed her fingers over the blanket on the foot
of the bed. “But someone has to give you two a reality
check.

I shook my head. “Trust me.”

“
Chase, you’re so young.”
She sighed. “Send her home, spend some time apart. You’ll see then
that you aren’t ready for such an adult relationship.”

“
Mom, I stopped being a boy
a long time ago. Briar’s parents are too self-absorbed to give her
a second thought. She’d been here a month before they came looking
for her.” I’d been living the life of a man for a long time, since
the day my father died. I’d stepped up to take on a responsibility
that was so much bigger than me, that I hadn’t even understood yet.
“Yeah, we’re young, and we’ve still got learning and growing to do.
We made a decision to do it together.”

“
Sweetie, be sure. Briar
isn’t like you.”

“
I know, and I don’t expect
her to be like me.” I said going back to the safe and eyeing the
little jewelry box that had belonged to my grandmother. “I want you
to know, she’s not going anywhere, ever. When we’re ready, we’ll
take over the house. We’ll move in here. It could be weeks, or it
could be years. But it’s going to happen.”

“
Has she been in
here?”

I shook my head, closing the safe. “Not
yet.”

“
You’re a good man Chase.”
My mom stood and headed for the door. “And I do trust you. I just
want to make sure you can trust her.”

“
No offense, she’s not like
you.” I smiled. “She embraced everything I am. The life I live
excites her, and she loves this place more and more every
day.”

“
But what if it’s just a
novelty?”