Page 156 of Mountain Grump
I freeze.
I know that sound.
My breath catches in my lungs.
I take a step back.
And the mountain lion steps out from behind a tree.
Naked, terrified, shaking all over, I take another tiny step back.
I try to remember Ethan’s survival lessons.
“Stay back.” My command is a croak. But I keep facing forward. Keep eye contact with the animal. And I slowly lift my arms out to my sides.
Make yourself bigger.
Shout.
I swallow. “E-Ethan!”
“Right here.” Ethan’s shoulder brushes mine. There’s a metallic click. “Cover your ears.” Ethan holds the gun out in front of him.
“Don’t kill it.”
“Not unless I have to.”
I lift my hands and press them to my ears.
“Go on!” Ethan shouts it so loud I feel the vibration in my bones. “This ismyland. You willnotcome closer.”
The cat doesn’t move.
Ethan shifts his stance and braces his left hand under the grip of the gun. “Leave.”
The cat lifts a paw.
Ethan fires.
Bark explodes out from a tree a few feet in front of the lion.
I shriek at the sheer volume of the gunshot.
“One more.” Ethan warns me, then he pulls the trigger again.
A different tree trunk, three feet on the other side of the mountain lion, blasts the cat with a rain of wood chips.
And this time, the mountain lion spins and disappears into the forest.
My hands are still pressed to my ears when Ethan turns toward me, dips down, presses his shoulder into my stomach, wraps his arm around my thighs, and stands.
The motion has me letting out a different noise of surprise as the warm palm on my bare thigh reminds me I’m completely naked.
I brace my hands against Ethan’s back as he does a quick turn, so he’s facing the spot where the cat disappeared.
“I got you.” He presses a kiss to my hip, his beard scratching in the most perfect way. “You’re good.”
Ethan backs toward the cabin.
