Page 19 of Mountain Man

I couldn’t take my eyes off her. “He used to have a cabin up here when my dad was a kid. It wasn’t much, but they loved it. One real bad winter, the roof caved in, and a lot of it was destroyed. Getting building material this far up was tough, so they decided to build the new hunting cabin lower down the mountain, somewhere less exposed.” I stared out across the mountain range. “I still come here, though. Beau, too.”

“I can see why,” she said.

I turned to her, swallowing the lump growing in my throat. “I feel closer to them when I’m up here.”

She tilted her head back and looked up at me. “Your dad and your grandfather?”

I rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “Yeah.”

She gave my hand a squeeze. “How did they die? You were still young when your father passed?”

I hadn’t talked about this for a long time, but I wanted to share something with Birdie, something that would let her know she meant something to me. “My grandfather got cancer. I took care of him until the end. He refused to leave the mountain.”

Her eyes softened. “That must have been extremely hard for you.”

“The least I could do after everything he did for us. Would’ve done anything for him.” I shrugged. There was never any other choice, not for me. “My father, an accident. Broke his leg while out hunting. He died from the cold before my grandfather could find him.”

I watched her pale, and I knew she was remembering how close she’d come to the same fate. I shoved the same thought from my mind. I couldn’t bear to think about it, what I would have found if I hadn’t got there when I did.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

God, she was beautiful. “Loss, it’s just…it’s part of life.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean it hurts any less, or that those losses don’t leave scars.” A gentle smile curved her lips. “Thank you for showing me this place, for sharing how important it is to you. It really is breathtaking up here.”

She was breathtaking. I wanted to kiss her.

“Birdie…”

A yowl echoed across the clearing and I spun around.

A short distance away, a mountain lion, still a cub, rolled in the snow in a panic, hissing and yowling.

“She’s caught on something.” There was no way I could leave it like that.

Birdie grabbed my arm.

“I’m going to try and free it. Stay back,” I said.

Where there was a cub, there was a mama, and there was no way I wanted Birdie anywhere near either of them. I got closer and could see the cub’s leg was caught in an old chain. It snarled and lashed out, but I managed to hold it down. It was scared and making a lot of noise. The more it thrashed, the more tangled it got.

I was trying to free the animal, and look out for Birdie at the same time. I knew its mother wouldn’t be far away, and when I heard the growl a short distance from us a few minutes later, it lifted the hair on the back of my neck. I saw movement at my side. Birdie had come closer.

“Don’t move,” I said to her. “Stay completely still.”

I kept eye contact with the mountain lion, staring her down as I blindly worked on the chain tangled around her cub’s leg. Crouching down was not a good position to be in, but I didn’t have much choice. “I know you’re angry, mama, but I’m not hurting your baby,” I said, voice low, not taking my eyes off her once.

The chain loosened. One last tug and the chain came free. The cub sprang up and ran straight to its mother. She didn’t move, but continued to hold my eyes, full of aggression. I needed to appear as large as possible, so I slowly rose to my full height.

“Go now,” I said, low and firm.

Finally, she spun around and they both ran off.

Birdie instantly collided with my back, her hands tangling in my jacket. “Oh my God. I’ve never been more terrified in my life.”

“They’re gone. She won’t come back,” I said. “I’m not going to let anything hurt you, Birdie.”

I felt her nod against my back. “I know that. I knew you’d keep me safe.”