Fine by me.
“Oh, it’s Rachel!” Lexi bounced. “Let’s go say hi!”
I shook my head. “Go have fun.”
She swished her pink party dress and frowned. “Why? You and Rachel are so close.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You didn’t hear about what happened?”
“You mean…those weren’t rumors? Rachel cheated with Alex, and you guys really got into a fight?” She looked between me and Chase, and we nodded.
“It wasn’t pretty.”
She glanced back at the group of people I used to think hung the moon and stars. “How could she do that?”
“Lex, it’s not important, so say hi and have fun.”
“No.” She planted her feet. “I always thought Nathan was a weasel. Look at his beady eyes and pointy chin. We should form a new group and exclude everyone mean from it.”
Chase studied Lexi as though she confused him. She was another one of those personalities that he hadn’t run into on his ranch. They didn’t make them like this in Montana.
“And who would be in this new group?” I asked. “The old one is pretty big, and it’s full of the popular people. Where are we going to find someone that Nathan and Rachel would be jealous of?”
Lexi rolled her eyes. “We could make the unpopulars popular.”
“Not going to work.”
Chase shook his head, rocking back on his heels. “I’m thinking I’ll side with Briar.”
“Maybe we should all just move to Montana,” Lexi said, leading the way when dinner was served.
“Hey, I don’t have any complaints.” I smiled at Chase.
He laughed. “You complain about the cold.”
“I’ll get used to it.”
Lexi sat across from us, smiling. “So you don’t have a brother, Chase. What about any single friends?”
“There’s Tucker,” I offered.
“I don’t think she’s his type—no offense, Lexi.” Chase shook his head. “I was thinking Dustin.”
I thought about it, but I wasn’t a matchmaker. I wasn’t even sure what kind of boy my friend would like. She tended to end up with the wild ones who got into trouble.
City girl Lexi—and Dustin, the cowboy bad boy? If a guy ever needed house-training, it was he.
Lexi pulled a glittery phone out of a pocket in her dress and tapped the screen. “Let’s see, I am free after Christmas Eve until school starts up. I can use Daddy’s plane... Do you have an airport nearby?”
She was going to use her father’s plane? It was a little much, even for Lexi. Being in France must have gone to her head. Without me to hang with, she’d have moved with a different crowd. The super-rich. The very cushy kind of people that I’d spent the last six months happily avoiding.
Chase eyed the fancy silver plates set before us by the staff, and the even fancier food on them. Escargot, foie gras, caviar…I wasn’t a fan, and his face was close to sour. Hopefully once the appetizers were taken away, the food would be a little more palatable.
“Uh, there’s an airstrip behind my house you’re more than welcome to use.” Chase shook his head when the waiter brought around the champagne. With his work-roughened appearance and tanned face, he didn’t look eighteen, and easily passed for twenty-one.
“Oh, that’s perfect! I’ll arrange everything, and I will see you two in Montana in a few days!” She was bouncing for joy in her seat.
“I really am looking forward to having you come up.” I really was, though I wondered how many more girls were going to flee the hot Florida weather and end up on the ranch. Before too long, I could see Millie opening up a boarding school for rich girls needing to get in touch with reality.
Oh, Lord.
Chase cleared his throat when the waiter passed by. “Hey, right now I would do just about anything for a shot of bourbon.”
The server nodded, and minutes later produced a crystal glass a third full of the amber liquid.
I patted his back, thinking I’d partake in that bourbon if it didn’t go right to my head.
It was going to be an interesting night.
Briar
Chase disappeared shortly after the fancy fish dinner was finished.
I should have known that would happen—I only wish I’d been smart enough to go with him. I loved Lexi, but I was starting to get irritated by my old friends. They were back to the same old comparisons of trust funds and discussions about which Ivy League school they’d get into without trying.
I wasn’t going to rely on connections to get me into college; my grades would get me in. I had high test scores and several universities were interested in me already. One of them was Ivy League, but I’d turned them down.
Chase and I were going to find a college with a business program for him, so he could apply it to running the ranch, and a veterinary program for me.
“Hey, so you and the hick still knocking boots?” Nathan asked as he passed where I was sitting at the table with Lexi.
“Ignorant,” Lexi muttered.
“Let it go,” I told her, knowing that he’d start something the first chance he got.
“How can I? The jerk needs to be put in his place.”
Nathan walked past us again, grinning. “Your cowboy’s out with the horses. Does he speak human?”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up. That didn’t even make sense.”
“At least I bathe regularly, and my suit fits.” He snorted with laughter. “Why are you here, Briar? You made your choice, so go back to your little ranch and play with your cows. Nobody wants you, not even your mommy and daddy.”
I picked up a glass of wine, didn’t stop to see who it belonged to, and splashed red liquid in Nathan’s face.
Lexi clapped, and the rest of the room stared as I walked around the table, right past him, for the door.
He was smart enough not to follow me. If he had, I probably would have broken his nose, or maybe his arm.
There was a beautiful veranda covered in ivy, but I headed through the kitchen, out the backdoor the wait staff used. No need to draw any more attention to myself. I left my heels on the stoop to walk barefoot in the grass. I hadn’t been able to do that in months since it was so cold back home. It felt nice, but would be even nicer to take Chase back to the house and go to bed early. I wanted to forget the last ten minutes and have some peace before my parents angrily pounced on me. Chances I’d be spared their wrath were slim, but I could always go to Grandma’s house.
“Hey, cowboy,” I shouted to get Chase’s attention. He seemed to be in a pretty deep conversation with a horse. Sometimes he talked to the animals, and the funny thing was that the animals seemed to listen. He had a gift.
“Princess.” He smiled with relief.
“You know, sometimes I’m naïve, thinking things have changed.” I hiked up my dress and climbed the fence. Chase laughed his eyebrows high with surprise.
I wasn’t the lady I used to be. I was rough-and-tumble now—at least, in my mind. Chase thought it was funny when I tried to do some of the things he did. It probably looked funny, but I was finished with keeping up appearances and worrying about what other people thought of me. If I wanted to flash my panties as I scaled a fence, I’d damn well do it. If I wanted to swim in a lake and shoot cans, watch out, because nothing was going to stop me.
“Then I come back and realize I’m the one who has changed, and they are just as closed-minded and mean as ever.”
“What happened?” he asked, giving me a hand down.
I scrunched my nose and glanced back at the house. People socializing on the veranda were staring. “I may have upset the party.”
The tone of my voice was telling enough, so I told him about Nathan. He frowned. “Time to leave?”
“How are we going to get home?” I asked. “We can’t steal my parent’s driver. That’s going to piss them off even more.”
“I’ll drive.”
We turned around to find Lexi, smiling behind us.
; “That would be great.” I said. “Thanks.”
“No, problem,” Lexi led the way to her father’s garage and we piled in her little sports car.
It was a short ride home, and I said goodbye to Lexi, knowing that I’d see her in a few days in Montana.
“It’s still early,” Chase said as we headed up to my room to change.
“Yeah, but if we try and fall asleep before my mom and dad get back, maybe they won’t wake us up.” That was very unlikely. Might as well just wait up for them. “Why don’t you go to bed and I’ll handle my parents?”
“That sounds like a bad idea, Briar.”
That was the problem with my boyfriend. He liked to protect me. I didn’t usually complain about it, unless I was trying to protect him. My parents already disliked him. He wasn’t the kind of guy to sit by while I battled my demons. He’d be right beside me. I’d do the same for him, but I didn’t want an even bigger wedge driven between him and my parents. At least they were on speaking terms.
“It’s already strained, and I don’t want my parents to hate you.” I went into my closet and hung up my dress. I pulled on a pair of old yoga pants and a sweatshirt. Chase was in a pair of flannel pants and a t-shirt. It was what we usually knocked around the house in.
“Briar, they might not say anything. We’ll feel them out when they get home.”
I smiled, patting his chest. “Okay, we’ll do it your way.”
“Why do I have a feeling you’re laughing inside?”
Because I was. “Just don’t be surprised when my parents pull in the welcome mat.”
Maybe he was right. Things were different. I was eighteen. I lived across the country. Maybe they wouldn’t come on as strong as they usually did.
We’d soon find out.
“Let’s watch a movie. Maybe they won’t think to look for us when they get back.”
I led Chase down the hall and up a short staircase, where my father had transformed a loft into a movie theater. There were ten leather chairs. No windows. And a movie screen that went from floor to ceiling. Chase was impressed. Most people went gaga over it. It was almost like being in a theater. If only we were able to get new releases.
“Popcorn?” I asked, gesturing to a machine on the far side.
“Uh, I’m good.” Chase made himself comfortable front and center. I got the remotes and we decided on a Sci-Fi flick, not for the acting, but for the special effects. They always looked impressive on this screen. “You know, we may have to put in a movie theater at the ranch.”
That was a great idea. “Really?”
“Yeah, our friends would love it…on second thought, we might rethink that. We’d never get rid of them.” He laughed.
I’d started off in my own seat, but I ended up sharing Chase’s, snuggled under his arm. I’m pretty sure I would have stayed that way, even fallen asleep.
A sudden burst of light blinded me when the door opened.
Chase and I leapt apart, even though we hadn’t been doing anything but cuddling.
“Briar, what has gotten into you?” It was my father. “You made fools of us. We may never receive another invitation to the mayor’s Christmas party again.”
I didn’t have much to say, and I wasn’t going to apologize. “I was standing up for myself, for Chase. I’m not going to pretend to get along with that jerk, Nathan.”
“Then you shouldn’t have come home.” My dad had never been so calm and so angry at the same time. It was almost scary. “In fact, I think its best you leave. When you learn how to behave, you can come back.”
I stared, shocked. Chase was at a loss for words too.
My father stepped aside, and I walked past him to my room to gather my things.
Chase was beside me, holding my hand. I took comfort in his presence, but it still hurt. He told me it was going to be okay, and I knew he was right.
We stole out of the house, almost in the middle of the night, calling a taxi to take us to Grandma’s. My parents had just pushed away their only child, and I hoped someday they would look back with regret.
Because I wasn’t going to look back. Ever.
Chase
“Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah, come light the Menorah. Let's have a party, we'll all dance the hora…la la la la table, and something about treats…spinning topsey turvy with yummy things to eat!”
I was woken out of a dead sleep by Grandma’s singing. She was bouncing around the hallway outside the guestroom. Briar’s family wasn’t Jewish. Grandma’s sanity was taking a vacation more than it had in the past.
My stomach was not looking forward to a sangria-marinated turkey.
“Hey, Chase, are you awake?” Briar opened the door to the guestroom and came in with a steaming cup of coffee.
“Morning. How are you?”
She sat on the edge of the bed, toying with a few wild, honey-colored furls that wouldn’t stay out of her face. “I’m looking forward to a drama-free day.”
I took the mug from her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. “I am too.”
“Grandma sounds cheery this morning.” I took a sip of the coffee and grimaced. “Did you make this?”
Briar eyed the mug. “Grandpa did…is it bad?”
“Best watered-down coffee I ever had.” I set the mug down and gathered Briar close for a hug and a kiss. “Think he’ll mind if I make a fresh pot when I go down?”
“I don’t think he remembers making it.” She laughed.
I got dressed and followed Briar down to the kitchen. Grandma was wearing a green dress and elf slippers, and Christmas music blared over a set of speakers from the living room. We had waffles for breakfast, and I was able to make some decent coffee without hurting Grandpa’s feelings. He was out by the pool reading the paper, dressed in a blue tracksuit and wearing a Santa hat.
There wasn’t much to do. Grandma started preparing dinner early, and I tried to help as best I could, but the old girl was adamant I stay out of the kitchen. Only Briar was allowed to know the secret sangria marinade for the turkey. So that left me with Grandpa, who wasn’t feeling especially social.
“So you ever been to war, Chase?” Grandpa was in his recliner now. He had World War Two documentaries on DVD, in color. The color was the really exciting part for him.
“No, can’t say I have.” I was in the recliner beside him, texting Dustin covertly. He was having Christmas Eve with his family, but was looking forward to seeing Briar and me at the New Year’s Eve party in a few days. Apparently he was bringing his little sister Maria with him. She was sixteen now, and infatuated with our friend Josh, and probably Tuck. But Josh was with Ellie. Tuck was oblivious. He still hadn’t found a girl to put up with his unique style of humor. Dustin was focusing on being wild and free.
“Takes a good man to go to war,” Grandpa muttered, sipping his Diet Coke. “My brother died in Vietnam. Good man. Better soldier.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, so I just nodded, watching the TV.
“Better to be sure of what you want from life. Sometimes it means leaving a pretty young wife at home, and never coming back.” The old guy bristled with anger. I wondered if I should change the channel or call for backup. He turned away from the TV and looked me dead in the eyes. There was nothing crazy about his behavior, just a fierce love for his granddaughter. “That girl means the world to me, and I don’t remember a lot of things, but I remember her.”
“I’d never leave Briar. The ranch is my life.”
“Good man.” He turned back to the TV, and didn’t say another word.
Briar came into the room, all smiles. “Are you guys bonding over war stories?”
I nodded, sliding out of the chair and following her quietly out of the room. “How’s dinner coming?”
“Great. Grandma doesn’t need my help anymore, so we can go to your mom’s house anytime.”
We said a quick goodbye to the grandparents and I located the k
eys to the Mercedes. I swear, would it kill anyone to have a truck, or at least a car that looked normal?
First we swung by the salon to pick up Penny from Raphael. He met us in the lobby, and I noticed two things were different about the dog.
One, she smelled like bubble gum. Raphael had given her a bath with some fancy scented shampoo. Two, she’d had her nails painted red for the holidays.
“Oh, I’m going to miss her,” Raphael said as he handed Penny to Briar.
“You know,” I said, finding it in me to pat the guy on the back to console him, “Penny has brothers and sisters that still need homes.”
Raphael stopped dabbing his eyes with a tissue and smiled. “Really?”
“Sure.”
“I think you’d love her sister. I named her Lola,” Briar added. “Lexi is coming to Montana in a few days. I could send her back with one of the puppies.”
“Oh, thank you.” He threw his arms around me in a hug. “I’m so excited!”
I hugged him back. “You’re welcome.”
Briar hugged him too, and we wished him a merry Christmas.
I made for the car, thinking the guy wasn’t so bad, but still a little different from most people. I was sure he’d love Lola. She was a bright, blond spaniel with big brown eyes. Uncle Jerry called her a heartbreaker.
I parked on the street at my parent’s house, afraid to leave the car under the tree where I used to park my truck. The afternoon was slightly cool, in the high fifties, but I didn’t need a coat. It was just nice and calm, and I was glad to see my mom and her husband, Todd.
I was even more excited to give my little sister her Christmas present.
Penny was the squirmiest, happiest spaniel I’d met yet, and I had no doubt Amy would love her.
Briar handed me the puppy so I could present her to my sister, and rang the doorbell. The wreath swayed as the door swung inward, and Todd pulled me into a hug. He was wearing a gray vest and jeans, which was a little more dressed up than I thought he’d be. But Todd was an ex model, and even though I didn’t understand his kind, I didn’t mind it.
A McCree Christmas (Chasing McCree) Page 4