A McCree Christmas (Chasing McCree)

by J. C. Isabella

  “I’ve been thinking.” Grandma turned around and looked at us. “I know I said you could stay with me and Grandpa, but it might be good for you to stay with your parents.”

  Briar gaped at her. “What?”

  Grandpa swerved around another car, and several drivers honked at us in irritation. I was tempted to ask him to pull over so I could drive. But I knew he would see my request as rude.

  “You never talk to them, and they don’t know your cowboy like we do.” Grandma nodded, as though she was pleased with her decision. “It’s for the best, baby. If you can’t handle it after twenty-four hours, feel free to come on over.”

  “Chase,” Briar sighed, staring at me in defeat, “I guess we’ll be seeing my parents sooner rather than later.”

  I smiled, hoping to hide my slight apprehension. “It’ll be great. I can spend some time with your dad, and you’ll have more time to sort through some of the things in your room.”

  Instead of driving home, Grandpa detoured for Briar’s parents’ house. The big, cold, museum like structure full of marble and glass and breakable things. It was damn cold, and I was hoping that Christmas decorations would add some warmth.

  I was wrong.

  A silver, very fancy wreath hung on the door. That was it, aside from some white poinsettias lining the path to the front door. I had our bags, and I watched Briar frown at her Grandparents as they drove away.

  “Do your parents even know we’re staying with them?” I asked as she rang the bell. It pained me that she couldn’t walk into her own house.

  “I’m willing to bet they don’t.” She put a smile on her face that I knew was reserved only for her mom and dad. It was a little fake, and strained. She was going to be civil for as long as she could stand it. I had to commend her. She wasn’t begging me to take her to my mom’s house, even though I knew we could stay there. It’d be a little crowded, but a lot more fun.

  The front door opened and Mrs. Thompson stood on the threshold. She looked as lint-and-wrinkle free as ever in a white dress and massive gold earrings. “Well, this is a surprise. Briar, what are you doing here so early?”

  “Uh…” Briar shifted uncomfortably, hiding the puppy carrier behind her. “Grandma thought we should stay with you. She thought you might want to get to know Chase better.”

  Her mother opened the door wider, and shrugged. “That’s fine. I don’t know how much time we’ll have to socialize. Your father and I have to make an appearance at the mayor’s Christmas party tonight.”

  “Oh, well, there’s time tomorrow,” Briar said.

  I hoped Penny wouldn’t start barking. Her parents hated animals.

  “No, tomorrow is the hospital’s Santa extravaganza. Your father’s hosting this year. You could come with us tonight—” Mrs. Thompson eyed me. “—that is, if you brought the appropriate clothing. It’s black tie. You’ll need a tux.”

  So she thought I ran around in jeans and cowboy boots and owned nothing else? “The dress code isn’t a problem.”

  Briar shot me a confused sideways glance. “Right, no problem, Mom. What time should we be ready?”

  “The driver will be here in two hours.”

  Briar sighed. “Perfect.”

  I said goodbye to her mother, and followed Briar upstairs. She was practically stomping. “She’s going to try to intimidate you, Chase.”

  “I would be shocked if she didn’t.” I glanced at my watch. “Where can I find a tux in two hours?”

  Briar pulled out her phone. “I’m calling for backup.”

  “Who?”

  “Raphael,” she said. “He can puppy-sit for us tonight, too.”

  “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

  Chase

  I should have trusted my gut.

  Twenty minutes later I was being assessed by a stylist wearing blue plaid pants and a tight white shirt with a deep V-neck that showcased his neatly trimmed chest hair.

  “Good God, when was the last time you had a trim?” He stared at the top of my head and shoved me into a chair. I felt like a monkey being picked at in the zoo.

  “I don’t know…a few months?” I stared at my reflection in the mirror, thinking my hair was a little scruffy, but nothing a trip to the barber wouldn’t fix. Or I could stick my hat on my head and call it a day.

  “Just a little snip.” Raphael shook out a bright pink smock and wrapped it around me. “So, tell me about you. You’re a cowboy?”

  “I have a ranch in Montana.” The clippers came out and I sank into the seat with resignation. I’d look better in the tux with a fancy new haircut.

  “Sounds dangerously exciting.”

  He was really going short with the haircut, but Briar had told me to trust him. I trusted Briar…so I clenched my hands into fists and took deep breaths. “We raise cattle.”

  “Oh, how interesting.” He spun me around to focus on the front of my head. “Now, as far as styling, do you use gel, mousse?”

  I frowned up into his face, realizing the man was wearing makeup. “Uh, I wash it.”

  His eyes went wide and he leaned back, propping his hands on his hips. “Please don’t tell me you use a bar of soap.”

  “No, I use shampoo.”

  “What kind?”

  What was the big deal? Shampoo was shampoo. I didn’t see how a bar of soap could do any worse either. “I have no idea.”

  “When Briar told me you were a real guy, I was thinking male gender. Not caveman.” He snorted. “What about those eyebrows?”

  I gaped at him. “No way. I’ll be laughed off the ranch.”

  “Can’t blame me. Let me guess—you use an old knife to shave and forgo razors.”

  I crossed my arms. “You can do whatever the hell you want to my hair, just please, leave my face alone. And for the record, you wouldn’t last five minutes in Montana.”

  “Honey, I’m house-trained and breathe central air. I break out in hives if someone even mentions a park.” He went back to my hair, muttering to himself about how metro was the new man, and that I was behind the times.

  We stayed silent until Briar breezed into the room with shopping bags. She’d left me to pick up what Raphael had put on hold for us at his friend’s shop. Apparently it was a ritzy vintage store, and we’d be rolling in style, or something. I was too overwhelmed to keep up with the lingo.

  “Wow.” Briar slid to a stop and grinned. “Chase, you look fantastic!”

  I felt heat creep up my cheeks and shrugged. “I guess Raphael isn’t so bad.”

  “We’re tolerating each other,” he said to Briar. “Put your dress on and I’ll put a robe over it while I do your hair.”

  She smiled, leaving one massive pink bag on the chair next to me, and disappeared into a small, curtained off room. I put up with Raphael picking at me, and gelling up my hair. I was about to swat the guy away, when Briar came back out.

  “Well, what do you think?” She was wearing a short black dress, and sky-high silver heels.

  My mouth went dry, my stomach did back flips, and if I hadn’t been sitting down, I would have fallen over. “Wow.”

  Briar smiled. “Really?”

  “You’d look hot in a paper bag.” Raphael smacked the back of my head. He was lucky I didn’t kick him in the shin. “I…you’re beautiful.”

  “Wait till you see the tux. Classic. You could be James Bond.”

  “You mean he can drink a martini and wrangle cattle?” Raphael asked. “This I’d have to see.”

  Briar took my seat, while I put on the tux she’d picked up for me. The measurements weren’t perfect on such short notice, but it fit pretty well. No one would know it hadn’t been made for me. I glanced at the tag as I slipped into the jacket, and wondered who Raphael’s friend was. To find me an Armani suit in two hours, the woman had a gift.

  I came out of the room and sat in the chair next to Briar. She had the pink smock on, and Raphael was pinning up her curls with glittery little things that looked too smal
l for any man to handle. But this guy was a pro. He and his friend, they had the styling thing down. It was actually kind of nice. I didn’t have to think about finding anything and running from store to store. Briar told Raphael what we needed, and a few hours later we were ready for a Christmas party.

  Briar didn’t wobble in her heels, and she took confident strides as we left the salon. It was like she was ready for battle, of the female kind.

  “This is going to be an interesting night,” Briar said as we pulled up to the Thompsons’ house in her mother’s car, which was, of course, a Mercedes. What I wouldn’t give to have my truck.

  “So do I look like I can mingle with your parents’ friends?” I felt slightly nervous as we got out of the car and approached the house.

  She twirled her hand for me to spin around. “I’m actually concerned.”

  I stopped. “Why?”

  “You’ll see.” She opened the front door, leaving me hanging, and a little bewildered. Did I not look like I’d fit in with the rest of the people at the party? Or was it clear I was better suited to ranch work and wrangling cattle?

  Her parents were in the foyer, chatting, and they looked up at us when we came in.

  At first they smiled approvingly at Briar, but when they looked at me, their jaws dropped.

  I grinned; I must look damn good, thanks to Briar’s stylist.

  “Forget fitting in,” Briar whispered in my ear. “You’re going to show them up.”

  “Even better— you and me, we’re the ultimate power couple,” I said, slinging my arm around her shoulders.

  Briar’s mother stepped forward and her shock slowly turned to appreciation. “Chase, you look wonderful.”

  Her father nodded, shaking my hand. “Son, Briar’s going to have to fight off the other girls at the party.”

  Whoa, I hadn’t thought about that. “I’m not worried.”

  Much.

  Briar smirked. “They won’t do anything.”

  When the limo pulled up, I helped Briar in and sat beside her father, who seemed to think we were going to be new best friends. I didn’t mind. I wanted the guy to like me. But I knew that his warming up so much had to do with the fact that I could look civilized in a tux and rub elbows. If only he really liked me for myself.

  But I knew from being around Briar that the relationship I had with her parents would always be surface and shallow. I’d take what I could get. Maybe one day, as they got older, they’d learn to calm down and be personable. Or maybe they’d just become even more set in their ways. Only time would tell, but considering Briar and I lived across the country, I wouldn’t have to worry about seeing them much.

  After all, they hated Montana.

  Briar

  I loved my cowboy. Not only because he could pull off a tux and put up with Raphael picking at him, but also because he did things for me that no one else ever had. He put up with my parents, and he made me feel loved.

  But that wasn’t all.

  I’d never be able to fully put into words what it was about Chase that made my heart skip, and my eyes heat with tears of joy. He was the thing in my life that made everything complete.

  And good God, could he wear a tux.

  Normally he looked good in jeans, but I was starting to feel like I was staring and had to keep my eyes trained on anything else. The floor of the limo, my mother’s red heels, the back of our drivers gray head. It didn’t work very well though. Every few seconds my gaze would stray back to my cowboy, and stick to him like glue.

  “So, is this just your normal Christmas party?” Chase asked.

  I frowned, wishing that were true. “No, it’s hosted by the mayor and his family. They do a fancy dinner, drink champagne, and talk about politics and money.”

  My mom cleared her throat, but I ignored her.

  “It’s the event of the season,” my father said proudly. “And I have it on good authority that Lexi will be there.”

  Well at least the party wouldn’t be a total bust. “Alexandra is the mayor’s daughter, and one of my old friends. We used to hang out, but then her parents sent her away to a French boarding school.”

  “Yes, the same one you should have gone to.” My mother bristled, and I knew we were in for an uncomfortable ride.

  Chase’s eyebrows went up. “What?”

  I nodded. “I kept losing my passport.”

  “Once it magically ended up in the shredder.” My father eyed me over his glasses. “I wonder how that happened?”

  I shrugged and looked out the window. “Beats me.”

  “Why would you want to send Briar away?” Chase was shocked, and I couldn’t blame him. Where he came from, you didn’t send away the people you loved. You kept them close.

  “It’s one of the best schools in the world.” My mom smiled, and then her expression turned sour. “Briar made her bed when she gave up caviar for cattle, and she’ll have to lie in it.”

  If someone asked me to explain the way I felt, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to. It was like a mixture of the way I’d felt as a kid when I found out Santa wasn’t real, that my friends lied to me, and that the people I thought were put on this earth to love and care for me, only cared about themselves.

  The last place I wanted to be was in the limo.

  I wanted to leap from the car and run headlong for Grandma’s house. I could trust her, rely on her. I knew, though, that I wouldn’t be able to run to her forever. I was learning to be the only person I needed, even though I had a whole new support group.

  I could rely on Chase, but learning to rely on myself first was even harder. It was something I had to do to grow. Be my own person. Be strong and able to handle myself, even around the people I loved.

  I’d always have Chase to back me up, so I wasn’t without a safety net, and that made learning to stick up for myself easier.

  I’d gotten pretty good at it, and had only found myself steamrolled a couple of times since moving to Montana. Those times had been when my parents came to take me back home.

  I stood up for myself and for what I wanted, and in the end, everything turned out exactly the way I needed it to.

  The driver stopped. I looked out the window and saw an opulent house set far back from the road. The windows were grand, and warm light poured out on the manicured lawns. The mayor kept the grounds perfect. Every hedge had been trimmed. The large fountain was lit from the inside with crisp white light.

  I looked past the house, around the side to a white fence, and smiled.

  Horses.

  Purebred, pedigree, whatever he called them. The mayor loved them and kept them like trophies. Chase’s gaze followed mine and he smiled, too.

  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

  We followed my parents into the massive foyer and were greeted by one of the staff. He checked our invitation, and let us pass down a long mirrored hallway to the room that was reserved for entertaining. They held all of their parties in a ballroom with shiny white floors and a thirty foot ceiling. There were two long dining tables on opposite sides of the room, and under a sparkling crystal chandelier, a small string ensemble, with a harpist, played Christmas music.

  I glanced around for someone I knew, but so far, no one. Not one soul. Chase and I stayed near the windows, watching the horses. He was a little stiff, nervous. I kept some sort of physical contact, holding his hand, touching his back or arm, and he relaxed.

  “I hope this night goes fast,” I said, eyeing my parents across the room as they talked to an older couple I’d never seen before. They were chatting them up, fake smiles in place. Mom and Dad wanted something from them, and it probably wasn’t to be friends. Usually it had to do with donations, or making a new connection to get them in the good graces of someone with even more influence in the community. This was more political than medical. Ever since Dad was snubbed by Dartmouth, he’d been thinking about politics, and how he could include it in his medical life.

  He’d figure it out, and he’d run with
it eventually.

  “So the stories are true,” a girl said behind us.

  I turned around and smiled. “Lexi!”

  She hugged me. “Oh, it’s so good to see you. I hated going to France alone.”

  I pulled back and introduced Chase. He shook her hand, and smiled, and Lexi nearly melted. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You really moved to Montana with a cowboy?” she asked me and glanced at Chase. “You are a cowboy, right?”

  “Born and raised.” Chase laughed, falling easily into the conversation.

  This was one of the things I loved about Lexi. She wasn’t like my old friends. She was easygoing. Just a happy, fun girl to be around. She didn’t judge others like Rachel and Nathan and the rest of them. She’d left shortly before my freshman year, and I’d been without a friend to keep me grounded. It was hard with all the peer pressure, but my newfound strength gave me more confidence than anything ever had. I had that confidence even when I wasn’t with Chase. I was growing up, and I felt like a whole person now.

  “I’m not going back,” Lexi announced. “To France, that is. I’ve had enough of it. I missed you, and my family.”

  “What did your father say?” I asked.

  “It was my idea in the first place, since I wanted to experience living overseas. He’s fine with it as long as I graduate on time.” Lexi smiled, and eyed Chase. At first I was a little worried, and, maybe, protective of my boyfriend. I had to remember, though, that she’d be crazy if she didn’t at least check him out. She was human. “You don’t have a brother, do you?”

  Chase burst out laughing. “Sorry, only child.”

  “Well, that’s too bad.” She sighed heavily. “Briar, I’m going to have to visit you in Montana. If there’s anyone remotely as cute as Chase, I’m going to relocate. The Florida boys could take a hint.”

  I smiled, and started laughing too. I felt the blood drain from my face when I looked across the room. Emma, Hadley, Nathan, Beth, Alex, Rachel…they were all here.

  “Great—this night is really going to test my patience.” Chase crossed his arms and eyed my ex-boyfriend like he wanted to castrate him.