Chapter Fourteen #2
Lady let out a small yip from where she’d been napping in front of the new woodstove Linc had bought for the shop, so Bella wasn’t chilly while she worked. He’d made sure it was big enough and had a little fan that would blow warm air into the backroom where Bella now slept.
The front door opened. Baker strode in, paused, and removed his hat as if he were entering Buckingham Palace.
“Granny said you were here,” he said to me. “Just heard from Penton. They got the cat in their trap over by the willow patch. Thought you two might like to ride over and take a gander before they haul it away.” He glanced about. “Looks like Clark Griswold did your decorating.”
“Very funny. They’re not going to kill the mountain lion, are they?” Bella enquired. Baker shook his head. “Okay, then I’ll ride along.”
“Get your boots and coats on. Don’t want to stress the animal more than we have to.
” With that, he exited into the cold December afternoon.
Bella and I left the decorations for later.
Within minutes, we were bouncing over Bastian lands, four of us wedged into the front seat like sardines.
Baker driving, me and Bella in the middle, and Linc squashed into the passenger door with his arms crossed in front of him.
“Going home someone sit on his lap,” Baker growled while trying to shift with my legs in the way. My knee was going to be black and blue.
“I’m not sitting on his lap,” I made sure to say. Bella could have that honor. Linc would love it, I was sure.
Ten minutes and a jostled liver later, we arrived at a clump of willows surrounding a spot where water seeped out of the ground.
The area was a mess as the cattle drank here when they were out on pasture.
I was surprised to see not only the black truck of the game warden but Aiden’s white pickup as well.
The cat had been taken out of the large trap.
We approached with caution. It was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.
Long, sleek, powerful. Paws as big as a dinner plate.
The sun peeked out of thick gray clouds just once to shine down on its gold fur.
“Can we touch him?” Bella asked in a whisper.
“He’s out,” Penton told us. We moved closer. Aiden looked over his shoulder at us, giving me a smile before going back to drawing blood from the cat. “Doc here had asked me days ago if he could be present to help with the medical side of things. I was happy to have him.”
I reached out to touch its fur just to say I’d petted a mountain lion. I took pics to send to Mom. Bella stroked it the longest, whispering softly as her tiny hand traveled down its huffing side.
“Where will you take him?” Bella asked, the brutally cold wind snapping her ponytail into Linc’s face. He didn’t seem to mind.
“We’re driving him out to Black Mesa State Park.
He’s a solid young male, probably roaming to find and establish his own territory, so he should be happy in the panhandle.
Lots of space to roam,” Penton explained.
We watched as the cat was tagged, collared, weighed, and then given a once-over by Aiden who pronounced the tom a beautiful and healthy specimen.
Once the information was gathered, the puma was gently placed in a transport crate.
Penton and Aiden had a short talk, then the game warden left us standing beside an empty live trap he’d come back to pick up in a day or so.
“I’m frozen,” Bella squeaked as Aiden looped an arm around my shoulder to pull me in for a sloppy kiss.
“I’m not,” I said with the heat of a kiss from the man I adored still on my lips.
“Ugh, romance,” Baker grumbled, obviously missing Hanley more than he wanted to confess.
He was so grumpy when his man was gone. I would be too.
“Let’s get home. Ford, you ride with Mr. Romance there.
Lunch should be ready when we get back to the ranch.
Granny said something about sloppy joes and parsley butter potatoes. ”
“I’m happy to give this sexy cowboy a ride,” Aiden said, tugging me to his truck. Once the others pulled away, we took a moment to make out. “Have I told you lately that you’re the hottest thing on this whole damn ranch? Maybe the entire state?”
“Not today.” He kissed me once more with such passion that we might have gotten carried away if not for the insistent growling of our stomachs. “Can we pick this up tonight?”
“Hell yes, we can. You leave Lady at home?”
“Yeah, didn’t want to upset the cat, but he was already asleep.”
“Good call. Let’s go get some food. I could eat something myself.”
The ride back home was far more pleasant. We passed the mailman leaving the ranch. I prayed Granny would have hidden the box. I’d asked her to when I’d left Lady in her care. She said she would, but she might have gotten busy chopping parsley and taters.
“Dodge is going to be so mad he missed this,” I said while sending my brother several pictures.
“Life with kids.” Aiden swung a sharp left to pick up one of our paths to the ranch. True. Dodge was on a bus filled with kids going to see A Christmas Carol at a dinner theater in Broken Arrow. “I’m glad I never got that urge. You?”
“Not really. I mean, I like kids, but I never really wanted any. I’ll stick with dogs and goats.”
Aiden chuckled. We pulled up behind Baker’s truck.
Lady raced out to greet us, leaping into the air with joy.
Two weeks from now, she’d not be leaping.
She was getting spayed two days after Christmas.
New Year’s would be a quiet affair with me, Aiden, and Lady at his house, which suited me fine.
I disliked loud clubs. How Bella had put up with the noise for as long as she had, I’d never understand.
We entered the house, the smell of browned meat reaching my nose as soon as I stepped into the mudroom.
“Peel off them dirty shoes and wash up. Things’ll be ready in about ten minutes,” Granny called while we squeezed into a space far too small for so many people.
Linc exited first, followed by Baker and finally Bella.
Aiden and I glanced up from unzipping our coats.
His gaze met mine. I stepped into his arms. He cupped my face with rough, cold fingers.
“I wish I knew how to say what’s in my heart,” he confessed, his voice thick with emotion. I drew in a breath rich with his aftershave and Granny’s favorite laundry soap. “I love this house, this family, this life here in Bastian Grange, but most of all I love you.”
“You said that really well. I love you too,” I whispered, my eyes touching his handsome face as I leaned in to kiss him. An arm snaked around the doorway. A big arm, with a big hand holding a handful of parsley. Aiden and I both stared at the greenery over our heads.
“Why the hell is someone holding parsley over our heads?” Aiden asked. Linc stepped into view as the titters of the rest of the clan—minus Dodge who was stuck in a yellow bus with forty-three preteens—could be heard.
“Granny never did find her plastic mistletoe ball, so she told me to use this instead,” Linc said with a sly wink.
“I never told you to. I just merely suggested it,” Granny called out.
“Asses,” I grumbled. Lady wiggled in to sit on my foot.
“Hey, I’m happy to kiss this man no matter what’s being dangled over my head.” Aiden pulled me in for a long, wet kiss that set everyone in the kitchen to hoot with laughter. “You want to go eat now or kiss some more?”
I kicked the old door shut and kissed the man I loved a few dozen more times.
THE END