Chapter 51
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
To Do:
- Thank you cards for vendors
- Check on Bri, Mom, and Charlie. Air tags?
- Buy new meat thermometer
“It’s so much better with the fairy lights,” Claire commented as she bounced on the horse’s back behind Mindy.
“It was a good call. The landscape is so dreary out here.” Mindy gestured at the dusty path. “Oh, I love that one.”
A picture of Brad and Karen waving from the bow of a ship was strung on a tree and surrounded by a halo of string lights.
“Isn’t it great? They’re such a photogenic couple,” Claire said. They were almost to the finish line. The happy ending was in sight. It would be perfect. It had to be.
The horse walked into the clearing, and Claire’s heart soared. White linen tablecloths were laid over the candlelit picnic tables. A pair of uniformed butlers stood at attention next to the serving tent. The tantalizing smell of roasted duck and sweet potatoes —Karen’s favorite—permeated the air. A dozen family members crowded around the tables, laughing and telling stories while clutching glasses of wine. Even Brad’s grandchildren, a three-year-old pair of twins in adorable matching dresses, were glued to their tablets and behaving.
The Hollywood sign was now covered by a row of identical letters that read “Marry Me?” They rose dramatically up the slope behind the picnic tables, thrown into sharp relief against the pink-streaked sky. The noise of the city was left behind. Assuming the couple arrived in the next five minutes as scheduled, the view would be nothing short of spectacular.
A ranch hand took their horses and helped them dismount. Claire ran over to inspect the proposal spot. An arbor covered in an explosion of blush and red peonies was propped against the hillside. A half-circle of string lights surrounded it, exactly as Brad had wanted. It was a miracle—the letters were in place, nothing was on fire, everything looked perfect. He may have been an unrelenting nuisance for the entire duration of their business relationship, but the man had taste.
Mindy and Heather went to speak to the caterers, checklists in hand. They chattered about serving times over the headset. Luke was in position to film the couple’s arrival. Nicole crouched in a patch of weeds, seemingly trying to get a perfect angle with the arbor and the sign in the background.
The clip-clop of horses announced the couple’s impending arrival. Claire’s heart fluttered. The HEA team scattered to their designated hiding spots. She slid partway down an embankment so she was mostly out of view. Leaning against a tree for support, she pulled her binoculars back out.
Brad and Karen rounded a corner and came to the clearing. Karen’s mouth dropped open, and she clutched a hand to her heart. “Oh, Brad. It’s so beautiful. Oh my gosh!”
Their family members waved merrily from the picnic tables. The ranch hand helped Karen down first and put her horse in the stable with the others. Brad dismounted next. He glanced at the sunset and then at the spot where he knew Claire was hiding. He flashed her a thumbs up. She breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently he had forgiven her for the detour earlier.
Karen started to head for her family, but Brad took her hand and guided her to the arbor.
Claire pursed her lips. She generally preferred to keep rings safe for her clients until the moment of the proposal. Brad, however, had insisted on carrying his ring. He had sworn up and down that he would remember it, but there was no guarantee.
Brad kneeled in a circle of lights, and tears formed in Karen’s eyes. Nicole got in position and clicked away. Another photographer circled, taking shots from different angles. Luke and the second cameraman filmed from separate vantage points.
The back of Claire’s neck prickled as Brad knelt. Something was wrong. She cast a glance over the scene, but everything was perfectly in place. So what was it? Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at it. A text from her mom.
Alice: Everything okay, Clairebear? Something feels off tonight. Love you xoxo
Shivers ran down Claire’s spine. The hair stood up on her arms. She surveyed the area while Brad launched into his proposal speech. The caterers poured glasses of champagne. With the exception of the twins, who were still clutching their tablets as if their lives depended on them, the family members were watching Brad with tears in their eyes. No one was choking or suffering a medical emergency. So what the hell was it? The danger was so clear to her that she could almost taste it.
“Mindy?” Claire hissed into the headset.
“What? You’re interrupting the speech,” Mindy hissed into the headset.
“Something’s wrong. Do you see anything off?”
Mindy rotated in a full circle next to the tent. “Everything’s fine, Claire. What are you talking about?”
The horses rustled in their stalls. One of them snorted and pawed at the ground. Something was going on. Were they on an active volcano? Was there an earthquake coming? She hadn’t prepared for being on a hillside in the earthquake. What if there was a landslide? Shit shit shit .
Something low to the ground slinked around the edge of the clearing. Her heart leapt into her throat. Her hands clenched into fists at her side. Was it a person? ESA? Or an animal of some sort? Hank had mentioned feral pigs. How dangerous were they?
“Mindy, I see something. I’m going to investigate.”
Mindy glanced in her direction. She shook her head fervently, but Claire had no choice. Brad was still speaking. As long as she moved quietly, she shouldn’t disturb anything. She picked her way across the inclined slope downhill from the clearing. She skirted the edge of the site and headed back toward the trailhead. Every cell in her body screamed at her as goosebumps trailed up and down her arms. She dug around in her purse and pulled out her pepper spray.
Brad’s voice was still audible, but quieter now. He was a boisterous talker, which at least helped cover the noise of her tramping through the dirt. Maybe she had imagined seeing something slinking along the clearing. It was sunset. The light could have played tricks on her eyes.
She tripped and caught herself on the rocky embankment. Her hand stung, but there was no time to check for blood. If there was something that could impact this perfect moment, it needed to be dealt with immediately. She crossed the trailhead and peeked around the cluster of trees. Her heart jolted.
There, a mere ten yards from the arbor where Brad was proposing, was a full-grown mountain lion.
Claire froze. The cat’s massive head shifted and locked eyes with her. Her mind spun. Primal fear gripped her entire body. What was that around its neck? Was that…a red bow? The edges of her vision went dark. Adrenaline punched through her veins.
Brad and Karen were in danger. If they were mauled to death by a mountain lion seconds after getting engaged, Claire would never forgive herself. That would be the exact opposite of a Happily Ever After. The lion needed to be dealt with. Her mind raced. She had done a whole segment on mountain lions during their safety meeting.
“There’s a mountain lion,” she whispered into the comms. “Brad’s four o’clock.”
“A what?” Mindy whisper-shouted. She beelined for a ranch hand.
Luke’s head popped up from behind the camera. He locked eyes with Claire. The mountain lion took a step toward her. A twig cracked under one of its massive feet. His shoulders rippled with pure predator strength.
Her heart was in her throat. “Make yourself big,” she muttered to herself. “Shout and make noise and wave your arms. If that doesn’t work, throw things at its feet.”
She pulled her metal water bottle out of her purse and located a nice-sized rock on the slope next to her.
Cheers and applause broke out. Brad must have finished his five-page proposal.
“Mindy, I need you to lead a very loud rendition of ‘Jolly Good Fellow.’ Right now,” Claire said firmly.
“What?”
“For he’s a jolly good fellow,” a strong female voice boomed out, but it wasn’t Mindy’s. Between the trees, Claire spotted Heather singing. She took directions immediately without asking questions. Another good sign.
The family members glanced around, confused, but joined in. Claire leapt on the opportunity. She put her arms out at her side and shouted.
“Get out of here, you big furry asshole!” she yelled at the mountain lion while banging her water bottle against a rock.
The lion flinched and hunched down. The sliver of pupil narrowed. Oh no. Shouting wasn’t working. She needed to escalate.
“Don’t approach it, don’t crouch, don’t turn your back,” she muttered to herself. Without taking her eyes off the animal, she clapped her hands and yelled at it again. It took one step back but didn’t retreat.
Why the hell was it wearing a bow? This wasn’t an accident. Was it ESA? How was that even possible? Did they have evil zookeepers on their staff?
She plunged her hand into her purse. The next step was to throw things in its direction in the hopes of scaring it away. She tucked her water bottle away in case she needed to use it as a club and pulled out the first thing she touched—a tin of breath mints.
Claire wasn’t gifted in the hand-eye coordination department. She flung the tin like a Frisbee. It landed a foot away from the cat. He slunk back another step but didn’t leave. She clapped her hands and yelled again. The group was still singing. Only seconds had passed, but it felt like a lifetime.
Next she threw a hairbrush. It landed just inches from its feet, and it jumped back. Her stomach twisted and heaved. Her vision was starting to go dark at the edges. This was no time to have a panic attack. It was fight or flight, and the only choice was to kick some furry ass.
A bottle of Tylenol joined the hairbrush. The cat barely flinched. She put one hand on the bejeweled binder cover. Brad’s proposal was over. It was okay to throw it. Just one of them. She hefted the binder out of her purse and threw it with all her might. It landed directly in front of the cat with a huge thump .
The animal hissed and turned. For one heart-stopping moment, it made direct eye contact with Claire over its broad shoulder. Then it ran away, down the trail toward the ranch.
Claire leaned against a tree to catch her breath. A hand fell on her shoulder, and she leapt what felt like thirty feet in the air.
Luke looked at her with concern in his eyes. “Easy. You okay?”
Claire frowned. “No.”
Luke scanned her from head to toe. A ranch hand went flying past them down the trail.
“Did it swipe at you?” He turned her around as if expecting to see a gaping wound somewhere.
“No. I don’t care about the cat.”
“Okay,” he said slowly. “Then what’s wrong?”
“I missed the ‘yes.’”