by Sawyer Belle
Mackenna gasped, the inhalation filled at once with jealous rage and heartache. He drank their wine with that whore?!
“Well, you know what I was doing Brent?! I was sitting in my apartment alone, listening to my real friends begging me to come out with them and celebrate, listening to them sing Happy Birthday to me, refusing to join them so that I could sit at home, pathetically listening to the dead air around me while I spent the whole night waiting for your INCONSIDERATE ASS to call!”
She hung up the phone and threw it onto the bed. Fury welled up inside of her until she picked up a coffee mug and hurled it across the room into the wall, where it shattered. She hated this. She hated this person she had become, the way her one-sided love for Brent had twisted her personality. She was not a spiteful, judgmental, negative person. But that’s who she had become and she felt it eating away at her like rot in her belly.
Her phone rang. She glanced down and saw Brent’s name on the screen. Without a thought, she grabbed it and sent it flying the way of the coffee mug. It was silenced forever. Tears of rage flowed over her flushed cheeks. What was she holding onto him for? What was she getting out of his friendship? Misery and heartache. She could not even comfort herself with hope of their future. She felt that slipping away from them with each phone call.
“Just let it go,” Leann soothed. “I mean, she can’t expect you to be available to her whenever she wants. You’re with someone now. She’s going to have to learn to take a backseat.”
Brent sighed, his own thoughts at war.
“She has taken a backseat,” he defended. “We used to talk every night. Now, we barely talk once a week. I broke my word to her. I mean, seriously, I forgot her birthday. What kind of friend does that?”
“The kind who is completely obsessed with his girlfriend,” she answered as she sucked gently on one of his fingers. He scowled and pulled his hand from her, not at all liking her use of the word “obsessed.”
“Stop,” he said. “This is not a joke. Mackenna has been a true friend. She deserves better than the way I’ve treated her.”
Leann huffed and stood with a roll of her eyes. She moved around the room, blowing out candles she had lit strategically.
“What are you doing?” Brent asked.
“Forgive me if talking about your teenage girlfriend doesn’t exactly turn me on.” She spat the words impatiently. “It’s obvious we’re not going to be having sex tonight with the mood you’re in, so you might as well leave.”
Brent flinched. “Are you kidding?” he asked, somewhat in disbelief.
“Look,” Leann began, “I’ve heard enough about Mackenna to last a lifetime. Are you with me or not? If you’re with me, I don’t want to spend our time together talking about her. You really don’t even need her now that you’re with me. I mean, what can you possibly get out of befriending a teenager except for maybe the fulfillment of some perverted fantasy?”
Brent stood slowly from the couch, his eyes narrowed and wild with anger.
“Cut the cattiness,” he hissed. “It doesn’t become you. I am with you, and you are with me. That means that we should be able to talk about something other than sex. Now, I don’t have many friends, but Mackenna is one of them, regardless of her age. I don’t expect you to understand it, to like it or to support it, but you damn well better accept it. And if you’re throwing me out of here because you’re not getting exactly what you wanted tonight, then don’t bother calling me. Ever.”
He snatched up his jacket and truck keys and stomped from the apartment, slamming the door as he went. As the engine roared to life, he spared no thought for the stricken look on Leann’s face. His only thoughts were of Mackenna. He imagined her red-faced fury when she had yelled at him on the phone. He imagined her cold, quiet, square apartment space with only the humming of her computer tower to accompany her on her birthday. Wasn’t it just last year that he’d scraped every penny just to make sure she’d had a decent birthday? How could he have forgotten?
With her new cell phone came a new number, one that Brent didn’t have. She had thought long and hard for a week about whether to give it to him. The swelling sense of betrayal was still too near for her to give in and contact him. She almost had her mind convinced to cut off their friendship completely. Then, a card arrived in the mail from him. In it, he begged her forgiveness, denounced his right to her friendship and vowed to make it up to her someday if she’d let him.
She had not responded and it wasn’t until the beginning of May that she heard from him again. When she logged onto the Internet he was there, waiting to make contact with her. She studied the chat box for a long time before responding to his greeting.
Brent: Did you get a new phone number? I’ve tried calling you a million times over the past month but it just goes to a busy signal.
Mackenna: Yeah, I got a new one.
Brent: Oh. Did you change it to avoid me?
Mackenna: No. My old phone broke. What do you want, Brent?
Brent stared at her words as they sank deeply into him. What did he want? He wanted her forgiveness, for sure. He definitely wanted her friendship. Since his and Leann’s first fight, he had realized how much he relied on Mackenna for support and advice. Of course, he and Leann had patched things up since she had apologized, but life still didn’t feel right without Mackenna in it. If Leann was his right hand, Mackenna was his left.
Brent: I want you to know how truly sorry I am for what I did. I hate having to do this over the Internet, but I don’t have your new number. I was a selfish ass hole, and I am so sorry. It’s been eating me up these past months.
Mackenna read the message over and over again. Her mind told her to end the friendship, that her heart couldn’t bear any more of Leann. This was her opportunity. She could simply tell him that she didn’t forgive him, that she didn’t want to speak to him anymore, and he would go his way without her. The thought of severing that tie, though, hurt her more than his behavior had, and she took that as a sign that she shouldn’t end it just yet.
Mackenna: I forgive you, Brent.
Brent sighed with relief as he read the sentence. He promised to make it up to her and she replied that he needn’t bother. She wanted only to move forward and leave the past in the past. He agreed, feeling whole once again to have her back in his life.
Chapter 24
The wedding preparations on the Slanted S kept Mackenna occupied her first day there. June had blossomed beautifully to accommodate the occasion. Kelly arrived the next day and when the two women reunited it was as though no time or tension had passed between them. Kelly commented on how much older Mackenna looked, a sentiment echoed throughout the McCrae family. Kelly, too, had a more mature face. Had it really been two years?
Mackenna and Kelly occupied the loft, just as they always had, and though they had only been there two days, both were sorely sleep-deprived. They stayed up late into the nights, laughing and exchanging stories from their past two years. Kelly had been shocked to learn that Mackenna and Brent had maintained such a deep friendship. Mackenna had been happy to find that Kelly was in a serious relationship with a lawyer in San Francisco for the past year. He would be joining them in Montana the next day.
“It’s a shame that your dad couldn’t make it out, Mackenna,” Bev said as they sat at the table along with Kelly and Leslie wrapping silverware in ivory linen napkins.
“Yeah, he was pretty bummed,” she offered. “At least my mom will be here tomorrow. She’s anxious to see you again.”
“Me, too,” Bev agreed. “Gosh, what’s it been? Three years?”
“Actually, four I think,” Mackenna said. “Last time was when you and Grant came through Carson, and I was a sophomore.”
Bev sat up straight and scanned her memory for confirmation.
“You’re right,” she finally said. “Man, it’s been too long! That’s the good thing and the bad thing about emails. You stay connected enough to feed your relationships, but then it allows you
to let years pass before seeing each other and that’s awful. It really is important to be in each other’s lives physically.”
Mackenna couldn’t agree more. Already she’d been there for two days and had not seen Brent yet. She expected to be kept busy, but she had also expected him to be around. To be fair, she hadn’t seen Ty either. So, whatever was occupying the groom was sure to be occupying his best man.
“Well, I’m just glad that everyone happens to be flying in on the same day,” Leslie said. “It’ll make it easier for Ty to make one trip to the airport than to have to go back and forth.”
“Do you expect to see Ty at all before then?” Kelly asked.
“Nope,” she replied. “He’s got a long list of to-dos that should keep him away.”
Mackenna frowned. That meant she wouldn’t be seeing Brent until the next day.
Once they had finished rolling two hundred sets of silverware, the women decided to take a break and stretch their muscles. Mackenna left the lodge for the warm sunshine. She watched the horses playing in the pasture. Sass tossed her head and flicked her tail as she trotted passed Jake, who nipped playfully at her hind quarters. Sass neighed affectionately and Mackenna chuckled. Who would have thought that hers and Brent’s horses would have struck up a courtship?
As her thoughts turned once again on Brent, she went into the stables and made her way up into the loft that he had occupied. She opened the wooden shutter to the one large window and stared out at the jutting peaks and treetops in the distance. She heard the rumbling of engines approaching and sighed. More deliveries meant more tasks. Who knew putting on a wedding would be so much work?
Soon, footsteps echoed through the barn door and up the stairs behind her. She expected Kelly had come to summon her back to the house. When she turned, however, it was Brent who stood at the top of the steps. She smiled wide at the unexpected surprise. He wore faded blue jeans and a white V-neck t-shirt. His hair was loose about his shoulders and his stubbled jaw quirked as he grinned back at her.
After a long pause, he closed the distance between them and grabbed Mackenna in a warm hug. She threw her arms around him and shut her eyes, savoring the feel of him.
“It’s so great to see you again,” he said.
“You, too,” she said and was surprised to find her voice faltering with choked emotions. Brent noticed it, too, and pulled away to look down into her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said with a smile, gathering control of herself. “It’s just really good to see you.”
“You, too.”
“What are you doing here? Leslie said you guys wouldn’t be coming until tomorrow.”
Brent rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I know I’m the best man but I gotta draw the line somewhere, and helping Ty pick out what he wants his bride to wear on their wedding night is it.”
Mackenna laughed. “Isn’t that the bride’s job?”
“Hell if I know. I guess she told him that she’d just as soon wear nothing so that if he wanted to see her in anything else, he’d need to pick it out. Whatever. All I know is that it’s not my job. Besides, I told Ty that I needed some time with my best friend, too.”
She grinned softly at his proclamation and once again the intensity of his good looks struck her speechless. Distance really did have a way of making a person forget. Bev’s words echoed through her yet again. Brent grabbed her by the hand and began dragging her down the steps.
“What are you doing?” she exclaimed.
“I’m taking you away,” he answered.
“I can’t. I have to help Bev and Leslie…”
“That’s all you’ve been doing is helping them. I’m stealing you for myself for a while. They’ll be fine.”
In spite of her propensity to help, she liked the sound of that. I’m stealing you for myself. How could a girl say no to that? He led them away from the stables and briskly over to where his motorcycle sat propped in front of the lodge. Mackenna ground her feet to a halt.
“Oh, no you don’t,” she said. “I’m not getting on that thing.”
“Sure you are,” he said, thrusting a helmet toward her. “Just hold onto me.”
Mackenna swallowed her fear, not wanting to give up such an invitation. At least she had on jeans and a t-shirt. Her hair was down but the helmet should keep it from knotting too badly. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head in defeat as she slipped the helmet on and climbed onto the back of the bike. As the engine rumbled to life, she locked her arms around him and hugged her body close to his.
Bev was just emerging through the screen door as Brent sped them away. Mackenna braved a wave before latching back onto him. Bev watched them spit rock and gravel toward her lodge as they rode away, and she did it with a slow grin on her lips.
Once on the highway Brent abandoned his cautionary pace and sped up until Mackenna was whooping behind him. He laughed against the wind as she pressed her body closer to his, her thighs rubbing against his. He smiled to himself. It was good to see her again.
They rode for half an hour farther up into the mountains until Brent pulled in beside a trailhead. He pulled his helmet off and shook his hair free of his collar. Mackenna pulled hers off as well and found that her hair was hopelessly tangled in spite of it. She ran her fingers through it as best she could while Brent chuckled.
“Leave it,” he said. “It looks sexy like that.”
Mackenna’s heart leapt into her throat. “What does it matter if I look sexy?”
“Well, if I’m going to have to look at you, you might as well look sexy, right?” he tossed teasingly and she smacked his upper arm.
“So, where are we anyway?”
“Let’s take a little walk,” he answered and she followed him into the trees.
The trail was only half a mile long but it was all uphill. Just as her lungs were ready to burst free of her chest, Brent looked back with a grin and reached out a hand for her. She took it and allowed him to drag her the last few steps until they cleared the trees and emerged onto a rocky outcrop with what seemed like the entire world unfolding below them. Mackenna’s raspy pants silenced as she held her breath in awe.
Scores of snow-dusted mountain peaks stabbed the sky while distant glaciers glistened like diamond pools. Thick forest carpets dipped and swelled in every direction, dotted with crisp alpine lakes and the clear blue sky stretched so wide overhead that Mackenna swore she could see the curve of the Earth. If there was a heaven, she imagined it would look like this. The clear mountain air, the beauty of the place, teased tears to her eyes and while she breathed her compliments to the Creator, Brent studied her face.
“I knew you would appreciate this,” he said and she turned to him with wide eyes.
“Thank you for showing me this. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You never will either,” he said, sweeping the landscape with his gaze. Mackenna studied him until a knowing smile claimed her lips.
“You love Montana,” she stated and he turned back with a frown and a snort before shaking his head.
“Nah,” he shrugged. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“Keep talking yourself into that, Brent,” she said. “I know better. You want to hate Montana, but you never will.”
He folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes at her. She just smiled in reply, completely confident in how well she knew him. Soon, he was grinning, too, and admitting to himself that she was right. Montana was home to him. Despite the many horrible memories it gave him, it gave him so many more wonderful ones. Mackenna had been instrumental in helping him break through the bitterness.
They sat on the rocky edge and let their feet dangle thousands of feet above the forest below and Brent offered her a strip of jerky. They chatted and teased until the sun fell to its knees below the highest of the peaks. The temperature dipped with the day’s light and Mackenna shivered as her seat fell in shade. Brent removed his leather jack
et and put it around her.
“Well, we’d best get back,” he declared reluctantly. “I’ve got to get back to town tonight and take care of some things before tomorrow. I just wanted to have some time with you before things got crazy.”
“I’m glad you brought me here,” she said. “It was a beautiful afternoon.”
It was one of the most pleasant few hours he’d spent in a long time. He’d brought Leann to the spot and she’d done nothing but complain at the steepness of the climb and when the view revealed itself, she found it not worth the effort. After all, it was the best of Montana, and she hated Montana. She hated his bike, too, claiming that it ruined her hair, makeup and outfit. It was relaxing for him to be with someone so at ease.
He spent the entire ride back to the Slanted S with only his t-shirt on as Mackenna wore his jacket, but with her body pressed against his he felt only warmth. They said their parting greetings and she headed into the bustling lodge only to turn and run his jacket back to him. She hated parting with the garment as it smelled wonderfully of him, but she didn’t want him to be cold on the ride back to town.
“Thanks again,” she said as he put the jacket on. He flashed her smile that made her knees melt.
“See you tomorrow.”
He turned the bike around and disappeared into the darkness.
Chapter 25
The ranch was busy the day before the wedding. Mackenna, Kelly and Leslie worked together making garlands of wildflowers and weaving them through the white arch that the bride and groom would exchange vows beneath. Men erected a white canopy to house the reception. A steady stream of delivery trucks came and went, leaving tables, chairs, linens, floral arrangements, lights, food, drinks and ice. The sound system bleated off and on as levels were adjusted.
Kelly’s boyfriend, Nick, had arrived and was delivered to the ranch by Ty, along with a few other guests. As the SUV rolled to a stop, Leslie ran to the driver’s side and threw herself into Ty’s arms with a smile a mile-wide. Mackenna grinned as she watched the couple’s sweet embrace. They looked blissfully happy. She turned and found Kelly and Nick in a similar embrace.