Big Sky Eyes (9 page)

Chapter 14

“Psst!” she called up the wooden steps to the loft. When no
sound came back down to her, she made the noise again. Soon, Brent was leaning
over the edge of the platform and looking sleepily down at her. He rubbed his
eyes with the backs of his knuckles as he waited for her to say why she was
interrupting his sleep.

“What’s wrong?” he finally asked.

“Get dressed and get down here,” she said.

“Why?”

“We’re going on a midnight ride!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Come on! It’s the last full moon of our summer here. It’s
tradition.”

“I’m sleeping, Mackenna!”

“Not anymore,” she called. “Now get your butt down here.
Everyone else is outside waiting.”

“Okay, okay.
Fine.”

He dressed himself and stomped down the stairs, still half
asleep. Mackenna had their horses saddled and bridled and she handed his reins
to him as he climbed up. They left the stables and met Ty, Kelly and Leslie
outside.

“So, what’s this all about?” Brent asked Ty.

“Well, just think of it as sort of hide-and-seek on
horseback.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“Yep!
It adds to the fun. It’s an
old Slanted S tradition. The last full moon of the summer, all of the wranglers
do it.”

Brent looked skeptically at the riders around him.

“Don’t worry, Brent,” Leslie said. “It’s my first time,
too.”

Ty explained the perimeter and the rest of the rules to
Leslie and Brent. When he gave the word, the five riders broke off in separate
directions, running away from the light of the lodge. There was to be no stream
crossing. That was the major rule and served to keep them all safely corralled
within hailing distance of the lodge.

Mackenna smiled into the night as she and Sass ran to the
trees for cover. Even with the full moon overhead it was difficult to see her
hand before her face. She could hear the clomping hooves throughout the meadows
and wondered who would be the last one found. She led Sass on a slow walk,
trying to avoid any noisemaking obstacles.

Brent meandered along the stream, allowing its constant
babble to cloak the sounds of Jake’s footfalls. As he wove around, allowing the
cool night breeze to tease him fully awake, the sounds of female laughter made
him tug on the reins and stand fast. Soon, he heard Ty’s voice.

“You suck at this game,” Ty chuckled. “You’re supposed to
avoid being found.”

“Hmm…” Leslie countered. “A full moon on a cloudless night,
everyone doing their best to leave us alone, no cabin walls to hear through…I
think I’m
very
good at this game.”

“Well, now that you mention it,” Ty said suggestively, “get
over here.”

She chuckled again and Brent slowly turned Jake around and
crept away from the lovers. Once he felt a safe distance away, he held Jake
still beneath the branches of an old pine and listened to the sounds around
him. Soon, the steady snaps of grass and twigs crunching beneath the hooves of
a horse approached. He stayed where he was until the black moving shadow came
into view. He was about to pounce and claim victory when another shadow moved
from the side and took advantage.

“Ha!” Mackenna called out to Kelly.
“Gotcha!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kelly said dryly. “I’m done anyway.”

“Hey,” she called after her friend as Kelly turned her horse
toward the lodge. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Mackenna,” she said tightly.
“Absolutely
nothing.”

“That doesn’t sound like nothing.” Kelly ignored her as she
continued to walk away. “Kelly!” Mackenna called after her. “If you’ve got
something to say to me, say it.”

Kelly whirled her horse around.
“Fine!
I never figured you for such a backstabber.”

“What are you talking about?!”

“I’m talking about Brent, Mackenna! From the day we got here,
you knew that I liked
him, that
I wanted him, and ever
since then you’ve done nothing but stand in the way. He hasn’t even spoken to
me in the last two weeks and we’re leaving next week. He’s sure found time to
hang out with you, though, hasn’t he? I never thought you’d be the kind of
friend to let a guy come between us.”

“I’m not, Kelly, but you obviously are,” Mackenna returned
bitterly. “Brent is my friend. So, he hasn’t succumbed to your charms. How is
that my fault? Have you ever stopped to think that maybe he has too much
respect for the McCraes to embark on a summer fling with you? What would Ty and
Leslie think? What would Bev think? You think he hasn’t been tempted? You think
he hasn’t been interested? Are you blind to the way he looks at you? He thinks
you’re beautiful, Kelly!

“God, don’t you know anything about this man other than that
he is gorgeous? You think if Brent wanted to get with you that I could stand in
his way? Not a chance. I don’t lead him around like a pony. He’s got more
important things to worry about than lifting up your skirts! Don’t act like you
have genuine feelings for him either when you and I both know that you want
nothing more than a roll in the hay. The only part of Brent Thompson that you
care about is what’s in his pants. You’re just pissed because he is the first
guy to turn you down!”

“So, what?”
Kelly returned angrily.
“You think you’re better than me now that you’ve finally been able to turn a
guy’s head your way?”

Her words stung.

“I don’t think I’m better than anyone,” Mackenna said
painfully. “And I certainly don’t think I’ve turned anyone’s head my way. I
just can’t believe that you and I are fighting like this. This was supposed to
be our last hurrah! Our last great Montana
memory,
and
you’re ruining it because you’re sulking. It’s not enough that every man you
ever pass comes barking up your tree? It’s not enough that you’re always the
one?
The beautiful one?
The one everyone wants?”

Kelly said nothing and Mackenna felt her heart hardening
toward her friend.

“Fine,” she said. “Go back to the lodge and pout. I’m sure
you’ll find other things to blame me for.”

Kelly’s eyes glistened with tears as she spun her horse
around and ran back toward the stables. Mackenna watched her go and gritted her
teeth against invading emotions. Kelly was right that she had stood in Brent’s
way on the very first day. At first, she really had believed that it was for
Kelly’s protection from Brent, but somewhere along the way it had turned into
protecting Brent from Kelly. The buxom redhead was as notorious for loving and
leaving as she was for being loved and left and as Mackenna’s friendship had
grown with Brent, she didn’t want to see that happen to him.

“So, is this part of the tradition, too?” he called out from
behind her and she spun around with a startled gasp.

“You scared me,” she said with her hand over her heart.

“Sorry.”

“Did you…hear all of that?”

“Afraid I did,” he answered sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to
eavesdrop but you guys kind of fell in my lap.”

 
“I apologize for
Kelly,” Mackenna said. “She’s not normally like this. She’s just…”

“Don’t apologize for her,” he said sternly. “Apologize for
yourself.”

“What do I have to apologize for?” she asked, stunned.

“For thinking yourself inferior to her.”

“What?” she asked, just above a whisper.

“You heard me.”

“I don’t think I’m inferior.”

“You think she is more beautiful than you, that she is more
deserving of male attention.”

“She is,” she said with a shrug.

“No, she’s not, Mackenna.”

“Oh, please,” she laughed. “Everywhere we go men stop and
stare, including you Brent. That’s not me making things up in my mind. Why do
men flock to her if not because she’s beautiful?”

“Because she’s confident,” he said solidly. “Men look at her
and see a woman who knows her own worth, who values herself.”

“And they look at me and see what?” she jeered.
“An honest face?”

“They see an honest face, and a warm heart. They see
goodness through and through.”

“So, what you’re telling me is that men value confidence
over honesty and goodness?”

“Men understand confidence,” he answered. “Truth be told,
goodness scares the hell out of a lot of men. They don’t want to see their own
flaws and that’s what happens when they’re standing next to someone like you.”

“Don’t put me up on that pedestal, Brent,” she said sadly.
“It’ll hurt when I fall.”

“There’s that insecurity talking again.”

“I’m not insecure,” she responded defensively. “I have
confidence in myself.”

“You have confidence in your skills and opinions,” he
corrected. “Not in your beauty. Sometimes, I wonder how you ended up friends
with Kelly because you two are the exact opposite that way. She is all
confidence and no humility and you are all humility and no confidence.”

“Well, when I see a man look at me the way he looks at
Kelly, instead of looking at me like a little sister, maybe I’ll get that
confidence.”

She spoke objectively but
she
and
Brent both knew she was talking about him, and what she said was true. He
imagined that most men looked at Mackenna with the affection and protectiveness
of an older brother. She was too pure to be tainted by sexuality, but it was
obvious that it’s what she wanted. He said the first thing that came into his
mind.

“One of these days, Mackenna, some man is going to fall
completely head over heels in love with you. Believe me.”

She blinked, not knowing what to say in response.
Some man
.
She
didn’t want some man. She wanted this man, but he was telling her, in his way,
that it would never be. The thought broke her heart. Before they could continue
their conversation, Ty and Leslie broke through the trees.

“You guys really don’t get the concept of this game, do
you?” Ty said. “We could hear you across the meadow.”

“I think it’s the trees,” Brent said, covering up the
seriousness of their exchange. “Our voices bounce off of the trunks. Anyway,
Mackenna won. She caught me.”

No
, Mackenna
thought.
I’m the one who’s caught.

She could not contain her smile as she entered the stables
with the wrapped box in her hand. It was her last day on the Slanted S. In less
than an hour, Ty would be taking her and Kelly to the airport. The season’s
final guests had departed and she had her bag all packed. She’d gone into town
to buy Brent a parting gift, knowing what she was going for long before she’d
ever set foot there.

As she stood at the bottom of the steps leading up into the
loft, she ran a nervous hand through her hair, which was cleaned and unbound.
Her outfit a simple blue jeans, white tee-shirt and boots, was freed of Montana
dust for the last time. But for the lingering tension between her and Kelly, the
last week had been heavenly. She and Kelly had apologized to one another the
day after their fight, but they had known in their hearts that the friendship
had suffered a tear that would prove fatal. Brent’s charm had increased and
Mackenna found the impossible happening. She had fallen even more in love.

“Hey, you up there!” she called up the steps. “Are you
decent?”

Suddenly, his face peered out to look down at her.

“Never,” he answered and she laughed.

“I’m coming up then.”

She climbed the stairs and saw that his space was all
cleaned and packed into two duffel bags, one stacked atop the other. His faded
jeans were clean. His white tank top clung to his muscles like a second skin.
His stubborn jaw refused to stay smooth and already darkened his skin with
fresh stubble. His hair was brushed and tied back in a ponytail and his cowboy
boots had been replaced with black leather biker’s boots.

“Looks like you’re all ready to go,” she said.

“Yep.
What about you?”

“Yeah.
You forgot something
though.”

He frowned. “I hope this doesn’t have anything to do with
that box in your hand. I don’t want you giving me any gifts.”

She looked down at the package and grinned.

“Well, too bad,” she said. “Because you’re gonna get one.”
She reached out her hands and held the box for him to take.

He shook his head at her and then took the box,
unwrapping
it as Mackenna clasped her hands excitedly
beneath her chin. When he opened the final flap a gleaming black and silver
Canon AE-1 manual camera stared back at him. His eyes widened and his mouth
went slack as he lifted the camera out of the box. He inspected it before
turning a shocked expression on Mackenna.

“It’s used,” she said, as if in warning. “But the man at the
shop said he had cleaned and repaired it himself. He said the lens is good. He
seemed trustworthy to me, but I don’t know anything about cameras so you’ll
have to check it out. Sorry if I got you a dud.”

Brent dropped the box and wrapped his arms around her. She
returned the hug and savored his scent and warmth one last time, reviving the
ache in her chest that she’d been combating all day. Before she could stop herself,
the words bubbled up from her heart and out of her mouth.

“God, I’m going to miss you.”

He shut his eyes and breathed deeply of her hair. It carried
the mingled scents of shampoo and Sass and he buried his face in it. He felt
it, too. He would miss her terribly. While he held onto the camera in one hand,
the other smoothed a line up her back and he was overcome with a deep sense of
contentment. He did not want to let her go and she didn’t seem to want to go.

He wanted to kiss her, to taste the lips that could scold
him, tease him and force his and every other mouth into a smile in the worst of
circumstances. He knew she wanted it, too. More than any other moment this
summer, he could feel her love reaching out to him, wanting to be acknowledged,
begging to be returned, and he nearly let his desire loose.