Dustin laughed, “Out with the cows.”
“I stepped in shit.” Chase pulled off his boots and tossed them out into the grass. He tried to kiss me and I shook my head.
“Uh-huh, no!” I squealed, but he stole a kiss before I could move away. “I’m going to stink.”
“Well, you two have fun.” Dustin stood, calling Moose with him. “Time we get going. I got a hot date later. I don’t want to pick up Willa smelling like you, McCree.”
“Bye, thanks for the help,” Chase said. “If you need us to speed up haying, let me know. I can spare a few guys if your dad is pressed for time.”
“Thanks, I’ll tell him.” Dustin nodded, getting in his truck. Moose hopped in the bed, tail wagging.
I watched the truck drive away. “You still need a shower.”
Chase sniffed his shirt. “I know. I can’t smell it anymore, and that’s probably a bad thing.”
It was time to head in the house, and Chase went into the yard to pull Jerry away from the truck. Another storm was on its way. Millie would have dinner ready soon. I was going to help her set the table since we were the only clean ones.
But once Jerry had cleared the porch and went into the house, Chase had his back to me in the yard. He was trying to figure out what his aunt had done to the truck.
I eyed the garden hose, feeling a little, well…bad.
He closed the hood and whistled for the dogs, letting them know it was time to head in.
As soon as he turned I had the hose in my hands and let the water rip.
The stream hit him square in the chest, soaking his shirt.
For a second he simply stared at me, bracing his hands on his hips. He was standing in a mud puddle, soaked.
I started giggling. “Now you smell like Stinker.”
“Lets see if you like it.” He charged for me, grabbed the hose and turned it on me.
I jerked back on the hose, struggling for control. My bare feet slid out from under me. Chase grabbed for me, laughing, and we went down, sliding across the yard. There was mud and grass everywhere. I picked up a handful and smeared it across his face.
He aimed the hose just right so the mud splattered me head to foot.
“You win. I give up!” I squealed, crawling away. His hand closed around my ankle and he yanked me back, only to drop a handful of mud on my head.
We were laughing, laying on our backs in the puddle, when Millie appeared above us. She was shaking her head, grinning. “Couple a pigs rolling in it. Don’t think you’re coming in the house like that…go jump in the pond first. I’ll leave towels on the back porch”
I sat up and looked down at myself. I was covered. So was Chase.
“Okay,” Chase stood, pulling me up with him. We slipped and slid across the yard, around the back of the house. He glanced down at me, smearing some of the mud off my face. “You better watch your back, Briar baby.”
I smiled, glancing behind me jokingly. “Don’t see anyone there.”
“Smartass.” He grabbed me around the waist, tossing me over his shoulder. I screamed, watching his feet eat up the ground as he took off running. I kicked my legs, but he wasn’t putting me down for anything.
“Chase!” I found myself flying through the air and into the pond behind the house. “Not fair!”
He stood on the dock, head tipped back, laughing “I’m sorry.”
I swam for the dock, holding both arms out for him. “Help me out, please.”
He reached down, but I used gravity to my advantage and tugged him in headfirst. He surfaced, the mud swirling around us. “Fine, we’re done.”
I swam backwards, watching him. “Until next time.”
“Ha,” he slapped the water. “Whatever you say.”
With a smirk I dunked my head and rinsed my hair. The mud dissolved easily enough, but when we finally got out of the pond, it was no use trying to dry ourselves. It had started raining again. We ran up to the house and made it to the back porch just as the clouds let it rip with thunder and lightning.
I wrung the water out of my hair and moved onto my jeans. “We’re going to soak the floors.”
Chase pulled off his shirt, tossing it to the porch. “Nope,”
I shook my head, “Oh no, we’re outside, people will see!”
He glanced around, “Who, exactly? We don’t have neighbors”
I grimaced, “What about your aunt and uncle?”
“Blinds are closed.” And there went his jeans…
“Unlike you, I’m not an exhibitionist.” I turned my back until he had a towel on. “I’ll just sit out here till I’m dry.”
“Come on, it’s going to get cold later. You’ll ice over, and then you’ll get sick, and miss haying.”
When I was sure he wasn’t looking I added my clothes to his, piling them up by the backdoor. Towel wrapped tight, I slipped in the house. We were in the back room. There was a pool table and a flat screen mounted over an old bar. The McCree’s weren’t drinkers like my grandmother, mostly it was just for show and parties.
There were three staircases in the house. One into the living room, one next to the kitchen, and one in the back room. So no one noticed us slipping up to our rooms to get dressed. The upstairs hallways didn’t all connect because the house had many editions over the years. It was a little bit confusing, but after a while I got the hang of it.
At dinner, Grant and his family were absent. They didn’t eat at the big house every night, just Sunday’s and special occasions. It was quiet and comfortable.
Afterwards Chase and I cleaned the kitchen so Millie and Jerry could put their feet up. Once that was done we went up to the second floor to watch a movie in a second living room of sorts off the landing. Just a bit of space out of the way from the rest of the house. It was supposed to have been another bedroom, but they left off one wall, leaving a gaping entry.
Chase’s cell phone rang just as the movie started. He didn’t say anything but, “Yeah, okay. Thanks.”
“Who was that?” I asked when he hung up.
“Grant. Get your shoes,”’ he grabbed the remote and turned off the TV, yanking me off the couch. “Hurry.”
I grabbed my white boots from my room. “What’s happening?”
“It’s a surprise,” he started down the stairs. I followed once I had my boots on. He grabbed two raincoats from the rack and held one out for me to slip into.
We ran into the rain. Chase held my hand tight in his. My boots got muddy, but I didn’t care. We hurried though the downpour to the stables. The door was open, a few lights on. I kept close to him, wondering what all the excitement was about as he led me to the last stall on the left.
We took our raincoats off and tossed them on the ground.
Grant was waiting for us, leaning into the doorway of the stall.
“Chase, you got it from here?” Grant pulled off his work gloves and stuffed them in his pocket. He handed me a radio and smiled. “Have fun. I’m turning in. Let me know if she has trouble and I’ll be down to help.”
I peeked around Chase into the stall. There was a horse. A big white one. “What’s going on?”
“Grant thought you might want to see this.” Chase slung his arm around me and kissed my cheek. “Sissy is going to foal.”
“She’s what?”
“Have a baby.”
I gripped the radio and held back a squeal of excitement so I didn’t startle the horse. “Really?”
“Yeah, lets get settled.” He led me over to a ladder and grabbed a felt blanket that had been thrown over the side of an empty stall. I followed him up to a platform covered in hay overlooking Sissy. “We could be here for a while.”
“Did you know we’d be doing this?” I helped him lay out the blanket and we sat side by said, dangling our legs over the edge.
“Not tonight. Grant said she had a few days to go.” He smiled, nodding at the horse. “But nature is on its own schedule.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket
and texted Grandma, sending her a couple pictures. She was so excited that I got to see a horse being born. I asked her how my parents were. She replied, fine, and oblivious. My parents couldn’t stop for a few minutes to see them, or even ask about me.
Super.
A few hours passed. We curled up on the blanket, on our sides, so we could see down into the stall. The radio crackled a few times and I turned it off. Chase fell asleep first. I tried to keep my eyes open, but I eventually drifted off.
A funny sound woke me up after a while though. I had to pry Chase’s arms from around me to sit up. When I looked down into the stall I saw the most amazing sight in the world.
“Chase, get up.” I whispered. “Hurry!”
He sat up and glanced over the side. “Going to be gray like his or her daddy.”
“Who’s the father?” I asked.
“Ash,”
I tore my eyes away for a second to kiss him. “Thanks for letting me come home with you. This has changed everything. My whole life.”
He nodded, holding my gaze. “You changed my life too Briar.”
“It’s a horse,” I clapped a few minutes later, watching the little gray baby sitting in the hay. “She…he…it is so sweet! What is it, a boy or a girl?”
“Lets find out,” Chase grinned, dropping over the side of the platform. He landed in a pile of hay below. “Come on,”
I tossed him the radio and hesitated. “Are you sure?”
He nodded, “I’m right here. I’ll grab you if I have to.”
I slid to the very edge, closed my eyes, and let go. I hit the hay, and bounced, grinning. He gave me a hand up and we went to the stall, watching as the white horse patiently helped her baby try to stand.
Chase slipped into the stall for a second and came out grinning. “A colt.”
“A what?”
“It’s a boy. Filly is a girl, colt is a boy.”
“He’s going to walk.” The little gray baby’s legs wobbled. He fell over a few times, tumbled and rolled.
Then he was standing. His hooves planted to keep from toppling again.
I leaned into Chase’s side, watching the mommy and her baby, so incredibly happy. “Chase… I think I love you.”
He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. “I was thinking I love you too, Briar.”
I’d never been so happy.
Chapter 18
Briar
Life at the ranch was nothing like I’d imagined. It was even more amazing. I’d seen and done things that I never would have if I’d I kept on the path I’d been headed down. There was so much more to happiness than designer clothes and the fancy parties my parents hosted. I wish my mom and dad could see and feel what I felt. But I wanted to change. I was open to becoming a different person. I’d never felt comfortable in my old life.
It had been a few days since we saw the baby horse born. I loved him so much. He was so sweet and cute, and a ball of energy. I visited him everyday, thinking I’d have to come up with a good name for him, but so far, nothing seemed to fit.
Millie and I went shopping in Great Falls. The mall was almost an hour away from the house. We left Chase and Jerry. She wanted to leave the boys behind, and I was in the mood to do a little exploring. We had dinner, window shopped, and saw a movie. All in all, I had a fun time. We even bumped into a few of Millie’s friends, who had daughters my age.
I texted Chase to tell him we were heading home, and he told me to wake him up if he was asleep when we got in. I wasn’t sure why, but I agreed and sank into the cushy seat of Millie’s SUV for the trip back. She was the only one that didn’t drive a truck.
When we got back to the ranch, Chase had gone up to bed, and Jerry was asleep in his armchair with a fishing magazine. I got the shopping bags into the house, and she managed to get Jerry up to their room without him seeing how much damage she’d done.
The house was quickly shut down and the lights out. I went up to bed, plum tuckered out, as Millie liked to put it. But I made a slight detour and went to the room across from mine.
I tapped softly on the door, “Can I come in?”
“Yeah,” Chase flipped on the bedside lamp and sat up against the headboard. Stinker was curled up at his feet.
“Interesting company,” I said, patting the collie on his head. “He smells…good.”
“Gave him a bath while you were gone,” he chuckled, yawning. “We’ll see how long the new dog smell lasts… Did you and Millie have fun?”
“We did,” I held up my hands. “See, no shopping bags.”
His lips quirked. He pulled me closer, and looked behind my back like I’d hidden them somewhere. “Where’d you put them?”
I sat next to Stinker, scratching him behind the ears. “Nowhere…”
“Briar, are you telling me you went shopping and didn’t buy anything?” Chase waved his hand in front of my face. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Three,” I swatted his hand away.
“What’s your middle name?”
I rolled my eyes, “Elizabeth.”
It’s not that I was a serial shopper. I just hadn’t felt the need, or wanted to buy anything. It was a first.
“Must be all the fresh air,” Chase gave me a kiss goodnight. “It’s messing with your head.”
I stood, giving Stinker a pat. I liked the new dog smell. It smelled of cedar and fresh outdoors. “Whatever it is, I hope it lasts.”
“Yup,” Chase yawned again.
“Why did you want me to wake you up?” I smiled when his eyes slid shut, thinking he’d be asleep before I left the room.
Chase wasn’t one of those sheepish guys who became shy. I’d gotten pretty good at reading him, figuring out what his expressions meant. He wasn’t sly and didn’t try to hide anything from me. So I wanted to melt into a puddle when he nervously smiled. “Want to come to work with me tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s not easy, I don’t want to scare you or anything. It can be dangerous too.”
“If I haven’t run screaming from the ranch by now, I don’t think I ever will.” I laughed, verging on giddy. I really wanted to be right beside him, seeing what he did, how he did it.
“Grant and I’ll be moving the herd to another pasture. I’ll come to the house for you around noon. We’ll be passing by and you can join us.”
I’d never seen him move the cows before, so I was all for it. We’d fallen into a routine of sorts. Chase would be up and out of the house taking care of chores and seeing that the hands had their orders for the day. I’d be up a little later with Millie to make breakfast.
It was hard work keeping fifteen hands and cowboys fed during haying season. Millie prepared at lot of easy foods that wouldn’t spoil and could be eaten on the go. Like sandwiches. Though yesterday she’d made breakfast burritos because she was running low on bread.
Twice I’ve gone with her to collect eggs from the hen house, which had been the strangest experience of my life, maybe. The smell was something else too. “What should I wear?”
He rattled off jeans, and a cotton shirt, and hiking boots.
“Okay, I’ll be on the porch at noon.”
“No running back to the house, even if it rains. We’ll probably be gone till nightfall, promise you’ll bring a light jacket too.”
“I promise.” I shook my head, grinning as I shut the door behind me.
Chase was gone by the time I went down to help Millie with breakfast. No one came to the house to eat, so she loaded it in a tuck and drove it down to the fields. I stayed back to clean up and feed the dogs.
It was quiet in the house. Everyone was either cutting hay or moving the herd. So once I was finished in the kitchen, I went up to the office to see if Jerry needed any help. He put me to work looking over orders for supplies, and then he decided I could answer the phone too.
My first phone call wasn’t anything too hard. No biggie. Just someone who was interested in buying beef. I gave them the information
supplied by Jerry, and hung up. The next few calls were just as easy. I was really getting the hang of it.
“McCree Ranch, Briar speaking.” I answered.
“This is Don. I’m needing to speak to Chase McCree.”
“He’s out of the office.” I grabbed the memo book and a pen. “Can I take a message?”
“Wait, are you that little blonde that came in my bar?” he sounded very friendly, like he called the office a lot. “I remember you. Smart of you to take up with him. If I’d had a daughter, he’d be high on my list for a son-in-law.”
“Mr…Don, uh, what can we do for you?”
“I need some help. See, that loan is coming due soon. I don’t think I can pay Chase back, not fully. It’s going to take time.”
“Oh, really?” I put my hand over the phone and whispered to Jerry that it was Don.
Jerry snorted under his breath and told me to put him on speaker. “What do you want, Don?”
“I’ve decided to remodel, and I need all the extra money I can get. I was even wondering if I could borrow some more.”
“No.”
“Excuse me?” Don asked.
I huffed, “He said no. Do I need to spell it out for you? N. O.”
Don said a nasty curse word. “It’s not like you need the money.”
Of all the, I smacked my forehead with my hand.
Jerry merely rolled his eyes. “No, you’re right. It’s the principle of the matter. You borrow and you pay back. Simple. We will not be extending or adding to your loan.”
Jerry motioned for me to hang up. Before I slammed the phone down I added, “and your mother would be ashamed of you.”
When I finally got the nerve too look at Jerry, I was surprised to see him laughing so hard tears had filled his eyes. “What?”
He shook his head, gasping and beating his fist on the desktop. “It was perfect.”
I frowned. “Then why are you laughing?”
“I was just imagining the look on Don’s face. And I wish I’d been there to see it. His mother…” Jerry shook his head, wiping his eyes. “I do think you’re the best thing that’s happened to us in a long time.”
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