Chasing McCree (5 page)

I kicked a rock, sending it flying down
the drive. “I’ll level with you. I don’t like it here, but I am
trying for my mom. Problem is, I’m pretending. And I can only keep
it up for so long.”

“
It can’t be that different
from Montana.”

“
Depends on what angle you
look at it from. In Montana I was up at five every morning, pulling
weight with the rest of the hands. Feeding and vaccinating cattle,
shoveling snow, and or, manure. I was home schooled during the
afternoon once chores were done, and headed back out. Checking
fences, ordering supplies. And we have more than thirty five
hundred head of cattle.

“
There are crops to
harvest, other various animals to care for, including thirty
horses, ten dogs, and approximately 78 miles of land to keep
secure. None of which would be possible without the ten men we
employ. I went to bed early, got up the next day and started all
over. I don’t have a weekend or a day off. Animals can’t take care
of themselves.

“
They can’t protect
themselves a lot of the time either. And I’m not just talking about
grizzlies and coyotes. I’m talking about men. Businessmen have been
trying to buy me outta my ranch since the day my father died. I’m
getting ready to inherit in a month. They are itching to take me
over. So I’m fighting them, I’m fighting guilt, trying to make my
mother happy. I can only do so much.

“
No offence, you want to
talk about different, Todd? I get home from school here at three,
and am pretty much stir-crazy by sundown. I can’t sit and play
video games, or get a part time job folding overly priced clothes
at the mall. That’s crazy. I’m bored out of my mind. Do you know
that I can’t have a shotgun? Apparently it’s too dangerous. I shoot
predators threatening my cattle. I shot my first coyote when I was
ten. I’m the last person you need to worry about having a
rifle.”

“
Did it feel good to get
that out?” Todd asked, shading his eyes against the sun.

“
Yeah.” Boy did it. I took
a deep breath and laughed. “I’ve been holding that in for a
month.”

He looked me up and down, and then he
smiled. I wasn’t expecting that. Normally he got on me for not
trying harder to like it here. “You know, when I was your age, my
idea of getting dirty was giving the family dog a bath.”

“
You’re joking.”

“
Nope. It was a
Dachshund.”

“
That’s not a dog. That’s a
rat.” I laughed with him. “Look, I’m trying my best. I’ve lived the
past seventeen years one way, and then a mother I saw a few times
rips me out of the only world I know because she feels guilty. It’s
not easy. I’m not into pity parties. But damn if I don’t wanna go
home.”

“
You’re going back to the
ranch for summer vacation?”

I nodded. “Yeah, and I’m counting down
the days. Why?”

Todd braced his hands on his hips and
hung his head before looking back at me. “If you get there, and
decide you don’t want to come back, then don’t.”

“
You mean it?” that was two
weeks from now. I could last that long.

“
Sure, I’m not going to
force you to live here just to please your mother. When you moved
in, I thought we’d have an angry, moody, male teenager on our
hands. We thought you’d be happy to live in the city and leave
ranch life behind. But you’re not a kid. You’re a man, as much as
it surprises the hell out of me, and you’ve got to follow your own
path.”

“
Thanks, Todd.” I said,
shaking his hand, knowing that I’d be home in Montana in a matter
of weeks.

Nothing would keep me in
Florida.

Nothing.

Chapter 5

Briar

“
Do you want to tell me
where you’ve been?” my father shouted the second I opened the front
door.

“
I spent the night at
Grandma’s house.” I took my shoes off in the foyer so I didn’t
track dirt on the marble floors.

My father came down the hall out of his
office, dressed, as usual, in a suit and tie. He glared at me over
the rims of his Armani glasses. “What have you done to
yourself?”

“
Uh,” I glanced down at my
wrinkled uniform and bandaged knees. I kept my hands behind my back
so he couldn’t see my palms “Cheerleading accident. I’m fine, just
a little scraped up.”

“
You didn’t call your
mother,” he said, not looking at me now, but at his
Blackberry.

“
I left my phone in the
locker room.”

“
You could have used your
grandmother’s.”

“
I’m sorry. I was tired and
I forgot.” This was pretty much how it went every time I spoke to
my father. He asked a loaded question, and I gave an answer that
would hopefully satisfy him until he got busy again and left me
alone.

He let out a breath. “I don’t like this
display of irresponsibility. I’m taking away your credit card until
Monday. If you see your mother, tell her I’m going to the hospital
early to finish up some paperwork.”

When he had immersed himself in a phone
call, I rolled my eyes and headed for the stairs. He said he was
going to take away my credit card, but didn’t ask for it. For such
a smart guy he had a hell of a time paying attention. If I was
feeling really spiteful, I could go buy something expensive, like
jewelry. But that would be childish.

Walking up the stairs killed my knees.
It was like I could feel the scabs ripping open. Halfway to my room
I spotted my mother. I tried to hide my shock. Her lips were three
times their usual size. She looked like a duck.

“
Briar, I’ve been looking
all over for you.” She air kissed me and dug her flawlessly
manicured nails into my arm, pulling me back down the stairs.
“We’re going to be late for our appointment at the spa. I’ve had it
booked for two months, and here you are waltzing in like you have
all the time in the world. But don’t worry, I had your dress
delivered, and ordered the proper lingerie to accompany it. You had
nothing suitable in your closet. Raphael signed for them this
afternoon.”

I stared at the back of her head her
dumbly until I remembered it was Saturday.

Prom.

How could I have forgotten
prom?

“
Did you tell Alex to get a
corsage to match your dress? It’s such a pretty shade of blue.
Anything other than white will clash with it.”

She was waiting for me to say something
and I was still playing the mute.

“
I think I might skip prom
this year, mom.”

Her head whipped around, followed by
her body. I got a whiff of heavy perfume, then a close look at her
lips. They were massive from injections. She’d probably gone to
another one of her friend’s Botox parties.

“
How can you say that?
You’ve been looking forward to it ever since you and Alex started
going out.” I’d have my senior prom. It’s not like junior prom was
that important.

“
I dumped Alex. It’s over,
and I’m not going.” I tried to go back up the stairs but she kept
those claws in me.

“
Oh, no. I did not spend
six hundred dollars on a dress and book you a limo to have you back
out.” She shook her finger at me. The finger on her favorite hand.
It was her favorite because of the two-carat diamond weighing down
her ring finger. An early birthday present to herself, from
herself.

Her birthday was in
November.

“
Do you know what everyone
will say Monday when I go to the children’s charity luncheon,
Briar?” she asked. It was no use digging in my heels. I’d get
yelled at for ruining a rug or something. “They will say I raised
an ungrateful child. And poor Alex. How will I face his mother? The
Walkers are one of the most influential families in the city, and
you dump their son? No. No, you are going to go to prom and fix
this.”

“
I don’t see how my dating
Alex affects you!”

“
It affects your father,
and I’m married to your father. That’s how it affects me. Alex’s
uncle is on Dartmouth’s Medical Board of Overseers. A most
prestigious position. Your father’s connections to Alex’s family
could give him the boost he needs to be considered for a position
at the school.”

“
I don’t think my dating
him is going to have any influence on whether Dartmouth likes dad.”
I should feel used. Really, I should. But this kind of stuff was
classic for my mother. I could only inwardly laugh at her antics as
she shoved me out the front door, barefoot.

“
Aren’t you going to feel
guilty if it could have made a difference?”

“
No.” I found myself
strapped in the front seat of her Mercedes, and stared glumly out
the window. I missed the sounds of the truck engine, squeaky seats
and Chase humming with the radio. “Dad’s not going to get noticed
by Dartmouth just because he knows someone. It’s based on whether
he’s the right person for the program. I have no control over
anything by dating Alex.”

She let out a little harrumph and sped
for the spa. I was whisked away by Raphael, the cliché gay stylist
every rich woman needs, to be polished and primped to within an
inch of my life.

My mother left me alone, thank god, to
get her mud wrap. I could color her gone for the rest of the day,
just like my father. It’s a wonder they never forgot about me, left
me somewhere when I was little. Then again, it might have happened
if it weren’t for the nanny. She watched out for me until I was old
enough to watch myself. Then mom fired her when she and my dad had
an affair.

So I’d basically been on my own for the
last five years of my life. Living in a perfect pink bubble and
managed by my dictating, self-absorbed parents.

There were times I wondered if they
remembered they had a daughter. I could have acted out. Drugs,
drinking, sneaking around…they’d never have noticed. I’m not sure
I’d want them to notice me anyway. Every once and a while my
parents would get into a big fight that would last for a couple
days, then they’d stop speaking to each other. Then they’d tolerate
each other, using me as the person to relay messages between them,
and finally they’d make up to keep up appearances. A divorce would
be too scandalous. People might find out about their
affairs.

Mostly I steered clear of
them.

The only place I could be myself was at
Grandmas. I couldn’t be myself around my friends. They were like
younger versions of their parents, who were just like my
parents.

If it hadn’t been for Grandma and
Grandpa, I would have turned out just like them.

Sometimes I wondered if I’d been
adopted. It would explain a hell of a lot.

One thing was for sure though, once I
turned eighteen, I’d be moving out. I’m biding my time until then,
but after last night, I don’t think I’d be pretending anymore. Not
going to be the dutiful daughter with the perfect smile, or the
cheerleader who hung out with the popular crowd.

Nope, things were going to change,
whether I was ready for it or not.

And all because of a cowboy.

“
So, what do we want to do
with the hair?” Raphael examined my wet curls after he washed
them.

“
I was thinking it could be
natural.”

“
Natural. Like, nothing at
all? Don’t you want me to straighten your frizz?”

“
No, and it’s only frizzy
because we haven’t formed the curls yet.” I smiled, remembering how
Chase seemed to like my hair curly. “Maybe pin a few pieces up, and
leave the rest.”

“
Ah, soft and romantic.” He
sighed, glancing at a picture hanging on the wall of his boyfriend
Will.

“
Er, sure.”

When it came time for makeup, I talked
him into another natural, soft and romantic type look. No heavy
crap caked on. I skipped lipstick and went for pink
gloss.

When Raphael finished, I stood in front
of the mirror, shocked.

This was the best I’d ever looked. I
wasn’t hiding behind shadows and liners and fake lashes. Didn’t
look like I was thirty years old. For once I felt like myself. Or
at least, the person I should be.

That is, until Raphael helped me into
the dress Rachel had been adamant I buy.

It was strapless, backless, peacock
blue. The top held up by double-sided body tape. The hem of the
skintight dress grazed the tops of my thighs. If I bent over, even
a little, my butt would be on display.

I wasn’t even sure how I’d get in a
car. If I pulled the dress down to cover the bottom, my boobs
spilled out of the top. And since I couldn’t wear a bra because it
was backless, I risked flashing people.

I glanced at Raphael who stood behind
me, eyes wide in the full-length mirror.

“
Oh, honey.” He tapped his
nails on the counter. “You look…nice.”

“
I look like a slut.” I
wanted to cry. What a time to start examining your life.

He patted my shoulder. “What’s up with
you? All of a sudden, you’re bucking the system.”

“
I got drunk and had an
epiphany.”