Page 16 of Protecting Vidalia
“I-I think you’d better go,” she whispered, trembling slightly. “And don’t do that again or I won’t be going anywhere with you. I’m not in the market for a relationship right now.”
Jake stood up. “Okay, Vidalia, I’ll go. If this is what you want, I won’t kiss you again until you kiss me first. Deal?” He grinned lazily at her.
“That won’t happen,” she replied firmly. In a few seconds, she was at the front door and holding it open for him.
“If you say so, but I hope you change your mind,” he replied honestly. “Good night, Vidalia.”
They were both startled when a loud snuffling sound came from around the corner of the cabin.
Vidalia instantly froze in place, her heart rate skyrocketing. “What was that?” she squeaked.
Jake immediately turned around and closed the door firmly, locking it behind him. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s a bear,” he whispered, flipping off the lights. “But they don’t usually come near people, so it doesn’t make sense. I’m going to turn off the deck light too,” he said, starting towards the patio doors.
“No, wait.” Vidalia grabbed his arm and pulled him further into the shadows of the room. “Look.”
Stalking stealthily across the deck was a baby bear. “That’s not good,” Jake whispered. “Don’t make a sound, don’t move.”
As they watched, the little bear stopped to stare curiously at the panes of the French doors.
“Can he see us?” she muttered.
“I don’t think so, it’s too dark in here and light out there. He can’t see in that well, but he might be able to catch our scent and the smell of the food we cooked. They have a keen sense of smell.”
The cub stood up on his hind legs and moved in closer to snuffle the glass. They could see his long claws as he scratched experimentally at the door handle.
“Tell me that’s locked,” Jake whispered, his hair standing on end. Hopefully the curious cub wouldn’t be able to turn the knob, but you never knew. Bears were smart—and persistent. “Do you have the keys handy to the pickup?” he asked.
“On the hook by the front door,” she whispered back. “Why?”
“Just thinking ahead,” he replied, not wanting to scare the crap out of her. But if the mama bear decided they were a threat, she’d be through that mostly glass door like a runaway semi. No way it would stand up under her pummeling. Getting to the truck, which was a lot sturdier than his jeep, would be of paramount importance. And the mother would be here soon—he’d never been surer of anything in his life. He felt Vidalia move and looked down in the dimness. She was making a video again. “Turn that off,” he growled, taking the phone from her hands. The light from your phone can point out where we are.”
“Oh, damn—sorry.”
The bear finally stopped sniffing the door and dropped and rolled around on the deck until finally he went perfectly still and sniffed the air. He’d just turned to head towards the front of the cabin when a black bulk rushed in and slapped him to the ground with a roar.
The cub squalled as the mother bear smacked him again with her huge paw on the back of his haunches, then boxed across one of his ears. Finally, she picked up her bawling victim in her mouth by the scruff of the neck and hauled him around back towards steps that led to the ground.
Jake and Vidalia stayed frozen until it was obvious the bears were gone. Jake heaved a huge sigh of relief. “And there you have mother nature in action. A mother spanking and scolding her baby, and then hauling his little butt back to safety.”
Vidalia turned around to face him. “Do you think he ran away from her or something?”
“Fresh out of hibernation, new to the world, you bet. I’m guessing they went to the meadows to look for food and maybe he picked up your recent scent on the path leading around the Victory Falls trail. It’s not far up the hill to this cabin. Perhaps he smelled the food scent from our grill and wanted to see what it was.”
Vidalia went to the door and flipped the lights back on. “And then mama realized he’d sneaked off,” she added with a grin.
Jake smiled down at her. “Oh yeah. Mama bear had to teach baby bear a lesson about running off.”
“Do you think they might come back?”
Jake shook his head. “I doubt it, but I’ll stay over again just in case.”
“There you go again,” she mocked, “inviting yourself overnight.”
“Do you really want me to leave?”
Vidalia hesitated and he could tell she was pretty uneasy. “No. you can stay. I’m not afraid to say that their visit has made me uneasy. I need to make a trip into town to get some bear spray and some bells. Especially if I’m going to be doing much hiking,” she said. “Or just in case junior decides to go exploring in forbidden places—like my living room.”
“It would be better if you didn’t hike alone right now,” he replied with a chuckle. “And be extra careful about your trash.”
