Chasing McCree Read Online Free PDF Page B

inside.
Todd wanted to have a man to man. It was obvious.
    We waited until the door was closed,
and he turned to me. He was a nice guy. My mom landed a great
husband. But we didn’t have much in common. He described himself as
a metro sexual, ex-model, lawyer. I’d never seen a pretty guy
before, until I met Todd. He had grooming habits that rivaled my
mothers. I’m thinking he wasn’t sure what to do with me. Hell, I
wasn’t sure what to do with me. I was a fish out of water in this
town.
    “ So, you really have a
friend?” he asked, disbelief in his voice.
    “ Yeah, her name is Briar.
She goes to my school.”
    “ Huh,” he scratched his
chin. “As long as you’re trying.”
    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