Reunited with the Cowboy

by Claire McEwen

  Then there was nothing more to do but wait. Dawn was turning shadows to gray. The chill fog had left a layer of moisture on everything, so they loaded Caleb’s and Emily’s trucks with damp sleeping bags and all the equipment. Then they dismantled the trap and put that into the truck too, stepping carefully around the sleeping puma.

  “Can we leave the lamb for it?” Caleb figured the poor lion deserved it after being shot with a dart, measured, tagged and collared. But Maya told him no. That the lion would wake up woozy and wander away to sleep the drug off in a den or tree. The last thing they wanted was to invite it back and get it used to snacking on lamb at Caleb’s ranch.

  It made sense. But seeing the lion lying on the tarp, with the big collar around its neck, Caleb felt like they owed it something. Because with that collar, they’d taken some of its freedom. Its ability to go undetected, to truly be the wild animal, free of human interaction and contact, that it was born to be.

  Maybe the collar would be the lion’s salvation. People like Maya could intervene to try to save it if it got too close to a ranch or town. But that salvation came with a sacrifice.

  Emily plunked down in the grass where she could see the lion and put her hands to her mouth to stifle an enormous yawn. “What I wouldn’t give for some coffee,” she murmured.

  They hadn’t slept much. They were seeing the dawn in. But Caleb felt the opposite of tired. His mind buzzed with awe and wonder, and the kind of gratitude he felt when he’d been part of something important. Like he’d felt once, in Afghanistan, when they’d made a connection with locals and helped them build a much-needed medical clinic.

  He glanced at Maya, sitting to the other side of him. She must have felt him looking, because their gazes met, lingered for a moment, hers sparkling with satisfaction and excitement that matched his own. And no wonder. She’d spent the night doing what she was meant to do.

  “Look,” she whispered, and he pulled his eyes away from hers to see the mountain lion rising from the tarp.

  The big cat shook himself, staggered sideways and stood, swaying. Then it looked their way, and for a moment Caleb’s blood chilled in a primal reaction. Prey in the sights of a predator.

  But this predator was sleepy and confused. It regarded them with mild interest, then turned and started up the hill, a little wobbly but moving slowly away, its fur blending into the tall dry grass, until Caleb had to squint to see it. Until it reached the top of the hill and disappeared from view.

  He felt the loss of it. The return to the ordinary after something so unique.

  “Okay, then.” Emily rose to her feet. “Caleb, do me a favor. Take that crazy horse of yours for a ride up this hill later today, just to make sure our lion doesn’t get into any trouble. If all is well, it should be nowhere in sight.”

  “Will do.”

  “I’m heading home for a shower and a pot of coffee before I have to go back into work. Thanks, Maya, for inviting me to help. That was pretty incredible.”

  “I’m so grateful for your help. This would have been a lot more difficult with just me and Caleb.”

  “You two would have been fine. You’re a good team.” She waved and jogged down the hill, to her truck.

  Maya turned to Caleb. “So, what did you think?”

  All his awe and amazement spilled out in a flood. “What an incredible animal. I had no idea they were so...so...” He didn’t have the words. But he knew that he’d witnessed something special, that most people would never get to see. “I can’t believe how small it was... I mean, it wasn’t small, really, but I guess I was expecting this huge animal, since they can do so much damage.”

  “Small but mighty,” she said.

  “Like someone else I know.” It came out automatically, and for a moment he worried that she might be offended by it.

  But instead she smiled up at him, and it was like the sun had come out, even though the dim morning was still thick with fog.

  “Thank you,” he said. “For showing me the lion. For letting me help. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

  “Just doing my job.” She shrugged shyly. “Sometimes it works out. I’m just glad we didn’t spend the night out here only to end up with a skunk or a raccoon in the trap.”

  “Me too. Though it still would have been a good adventure.” And I still would have been with you. He couldn’t say it. He might think it, but there was no point going down that road.

  Even if she did enjoy his company, she was leaving. She’d made it very clear she had work that mattered that she was eager to go back to. He’d heard her tell Emily last night that she’d be studying mountain goats and mountain lions next. So he assumed she’d be living up in the Rocky Mountains for quite some time.

  At least he’d have these next few weeks with her. Because he’d made a decision while he was watching that mountain lion wake up and wander off.

  “I’d like to take that grant you mentioned,” he told Maya. “If the offer still stands.”

  He was gratified when she turned toward him with a megawatt smile. “Really? You want to be a demonstration ranch? Caleb, that’s fantastic!” She threw her arms around his neck in a hug that jolted them both.

  “Oh I’m so sorry.” She scrambled back, beet red. “I guess that was an old reaction, from another decade.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” He’d loved it. Wished he could figure out how to make that a regular thing between them.

  Maya stood up and started pacing back and forth, clasping her hands in front of her with a huge smile on her face. “Okay, so I’ll give the organization a call today, and we have to write up a proposal with the type of equipment you want to install, the changes to fencing...” She paused for a quick breath. “Remember that ranch I mentioned? The man who used this same grant? Let’s go see him this week.”

  It was impossible to say no to such sheer joy. It was as if he’d given her some kind of gift and she was so excited, she could barely keep still. As they walked back to the truck, and then drove back to the barn, she was pointing out things they could change, questioning him about his water supply, in case they wanted to install sprinklers, and asking so many other questions that, by the time she left, Caleb watched her drive away from his ranch with relief.

  He needed to be alone with his thoughts, to process what he’d realized during his night trapping a mountain lion.

  That he wanted to protect mountain lions.

  That he was willing to try to teach other ranchers how to protect them too.

  That he was ready to put pride aside and accept help with his ranch.

  And that he was pretty sure he was falling in love with Maya Burton, all over again.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  MAYA TRIED NOT to be nervous as Caleb pulled his truck in front of Aidan’s house at Bellweather Ranch. She’d dragged him all this way, a two-hour drive north of Shelter Creek, and she just hoped that Aidan was as successful a rancher as she’d heard he was.

  It had been an awkward drive. Now that she and Caleb were getting along so much better, she was nervous around him. The things he’d said earlier this week, when they’d caught the lion, still spun around her head like some kind of science experiment in a centrifuge. Her emotions whirled and whirled, and she couldn’t find a way to switch the machine off and let the contents settle.

  He regretted blaming her. Regretted driving her away. He’d missed her over all these years.

  In a way it was good news. She’d lived with his blame for so long, and now it was gone. But it was also infuriating. He’d never reached out to tell her that he’d been wrong. He’d let her suffer, let her struggle under the burden of his blame, when just her own guilt threatened to drag her under.

  But he’d thought he was doing the right thing, letting her go. And maybe he had been right. His blame had set her on a difficult but amazing journey. Had led her to seek out
the wilderness and its wildest creatures. Had given her work that mattered and a career she was proud of.

  And then she’d hugged him. And that had been a mistake. Just that brief contact, the hint of his solid, muscled shoulders, threatened to destroy her common sense. He was beautiful, of course. He always had been. But now, hardened and honed by the tough path he’d walked, he was more than that. Compelling. Intimidating. Magnetic. As soon as she’d pulled away, she’d missed the instant connection she’d felt.

  It was too much to think about, and much too tangled to make sense of. But thankfully they’d had Einstein the dog sitting like a big furry, panting buffer between them the whole drive, so it hadn’t been just the two of them in the cab.

  And Maya had pulled up a country-music playlist on her smartphone, so they’d listened to that and hadn’t had to talk much at all, except when she let Caleb know that she’d been tracking their mountain lion via data from the GPS tracker on his radio collar and it had headed northwest, toward the section of his ranch closest to the coast. It seemed like a promising choice. Caleb had no livestock out there. At least not yet.

  “So, here we are,” Maya said brightly. “Bellweather Ranch. What do you think?” There were chickens strutting all over the lawn in front of the big white farmhouse. Farther off Maya could see two big weathered gray barns.

  “I think this guy lives out in the middle of nowhere.”

  Caleb was right about that. The barely paved road to the ranch had wound up and down hill after hill, west of the town of Willits, taking them way out into the coast ranges.

  The ranch sat on the top of a ridge, with even higher hills behind it. Maya gestured to the pastures sloping up behind the house, tinged gold from the summer sun. “But isn’t it gorgeous?”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty nice.”

  It didn’t sound like high praise but Maya could see it in Caleb’s eyes and the appreciative curve of his mouth. He was a rancher, and Aidan’s ranch was truly beautiful.

  Aidan appeared, striding around the side of the house. Maya’s first thought was that he was very tall and very blond. He looked like a Viking whose ship had somehow run aground in this remote corner of California.

  Aidan’s shaggy hair curled from under his baseball cap, but it was his piercing eyes that startled Maya. They were an odd greenish-brown color and he seemed to look right into her as he reached out his hand.

  “You must be Maya. Thanks for making the trip out here.”

  His grip was firm and strong as they shook. “Great to meet you, Aidan. Thanks for making time for us today.”

  “My pleasure. And you must be Caleb. It’s great to meet you.”

  When they shook hands, Caleb, who always seemed so big to Maya, looked small in comparison. He also seemed a little stunned as he retrieved his hand from Aidan’s, flexing his fingers a time or two. Good. Caleb was such a tough guy, he might be more likely to take advice from someone even stronger than him.

  “I appreciate you taking the time to show me around.” Caleb gestured to the hills around them. “You’ve got a great piece of property out here.”

  “Thanks.” Aidan waved an arm toward the nearest barn, a few hundred yards away. “You ready to check it out?”

  “Sure.” Caleb gestured for Aidan to go first. “Lead the way.”

  Einstein meandered up from where he’d been sniffing at a gopher hole.

  “Hang on.” Aidan crouched down. “Who is this?”

  “This is Einstein.” Maya watched with pride as Einstein offered a paw for Aidan to shake. The dog had put on some weight and his coat was getting shiny. “I found him a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Nice to meet you, Einstein.” Aidan straightened and turned his attention back to Caleb. “Let’s start over near the first barn.” They walked down the lane, and Aidan led them to a high wooden fence that ran right up to the barn wall. Aidan pointed over the fence, a slightly self-conscious smile tugging at his mouth. “Caleb, meet my flerd.”

  Maya bit back a snort of laughter when she saw the surprise on Caleb’s face. Yes, it was good they’d come here today. He’d never be willing to learn about flerds from her.

  Caleb shot her a questioning look.

  “Yes, you heard him right,” she said. “Flerd.”

  Aidan waved Caleb closer. Maya joined them and even Einstein put his front paws on one of the lower boards and peeked through at the big pasture beyond. In the distance they could see white specks of sheep mixed in with larger, darker blotches of cattle.

  Aidan pointed to the animals. “It might sound a little crazy, Caleb, but a flerd is the way to go. It’s a combination of a flock and a herd. You put your cattle and sheep in the same pasture. It works great. Look how happy these guys are.”

  “Why?” Caleb sounded a little stuffy. As if Aidan had just suggested he start a petting zoo.

  Maya put a hand briefly on his arm to get his attention. “Keep an open mind,” she murmured.

  “Sheep and cattle forage differently, so you’ll get better use from the land,” Aidan explained. “And cattle are tough. Once they bond with the sheep, they’ll circle up around them if a predator shows. They’ll try to protect them.”

  “I’m not sure how this would work on my ranch. Will all kinds of cattle protect the, um...flerd?”

  He glanced at Maya as he struggled to say the word and she couldn’t help it. A laugh escaped. “Try it three times fast,” she advised. “Flerd, flerd, flerd.”

  Aidan smiled at her joke, but answered Caleb’s question. “Yep. I’ve been doing it for three years now, and never had a problem. I’ve also started leaving the horns on my cattle. Pumas and coyotes don’t want to mess with that.”

  “But don’t the horns create a lot of trouble?” Caleb frowned. “We’ve always dehorned cattle on my family’s ranch.”

  “Well, horned cattle surely need more space and better supervision. It can be trickier when you bring them in for vetting too. But it’s also easier to guide them along.” Aidan grinned. “Natural handles. Steering.”

  Maya smiled at the image of Caleb, guiding a cow along by its horns.

  “I guess so.” It came out as more of a grunt, but at least Caleb was still listening. She’d been right to bring him out here. It was hard to argue with Aidan. The guy looked like he could fell a tree with his bare hands.

  “There’s a lot you can do to discourage predators,” Aidan said to Caleb. “I switched to fall lambing, for example.”

  Caleb looked astounded. “What? That makes no sense.”

  “I know in this area we usually lamb in the spring to get all that good green grass. But mountain lions also give birth in early spring, so they’re hunting a lot of food for their young at that time.”

  “But in the fall you have to buy feed. The grass is all dried out.” Caleb’s brows were drawn together, and Maya could practically see the numbers crunching in his brain.

  “Yup.” Aidan shrugged. “It’s a trade-off. You’ve got to calculate it all against the price of lamb. If you’re worried, you could also lamb in spring but keep the ewes and lambs in your barn for a while.”

  Caleb looked at Maya and she mouthed the words barn raising at him. He was still protesting about charity, but it hadn’t stopped The Biddies from going ahead with the planning. They’d already picked a date, two weeks from this Saturday.

  Aidan was describing his lighting system and sprinklers, which were both on solar-powered motion sensors that activated at night when predators came near. “And besides all that, I’ve also got my dogs.”

  “Dogs?” Caleb asked.

  “Thor and Odin. My guard dogs.”

  “You named them after Norse gods?” It was so perfect that Maya had to suppress a giggle. Maybe he really was a Viking.

  “Well, I figured they’re out there, dealing with life and death. I’d better give them names to
match.”

  “What kind of dogs can take on a mountain lion?” Caleb asked.

  “You can use a few different kinds,” Aidan said. “Some ranchers like Great Pyrenees, but they have really thick coats and it can get pretty hot out in these hills. So I’ve got short-coated Anatolian shepherds.”

  “And tell him how many animals you’ve lost since you made all of these changes,” Maya prompted, remembering the conversation she’d had with him on the phone earlier in the week.

  “None.”

  Caleb gaped at Aidan. Then at Maya. Then back at Aidan. “You’ve lost no livestock? Living out here in the middle of nowhere? This ranch looks like mountain lion paradise.”

  “Pretty awesome, right?” Aidan’s smile was part triumph, part relief. “No losses for the last two years. Not just because of the dogs though. The flerd, the lambing, good fencing, technology—it all helps.”

  Maya elbowed Caleb, because she knew him. Knew how he loved animals and how much he’d love Aidan’s dogs. “Did you hear that part? You have to combine a lot of different preventative measures. Not just dogs.”

  His wide smile took her back in time to the boy she’d loved. “Yes, ma’am. But can I meet the dogs?”

  She laughed, trying to ignore the way her heart seemed to flip over when he looked at her this way. “I knew you’d like that part best.” He’d already fallen for Einstein, chatting with the big mutt as they drove up and scratching his floppy ears any chance he got. He may have been adopted by Hobo the cat, but Caleb was a dog person at heart.

  “The dogs are pretty far out on the edge of my property right now. Want to take a ride?” Aidan nodded toward the battered pickup parked next to the barn. “You guys can ride in the back. Take in the view.”

  “That would be great.” Maya felt like a kid again at the prospect of a ride in a pickup across this amazing property. It was refreshing to be out of Shelter Creek. So good to be somewhere else, with Caleb and Einstein, hearing all of Aidan’s exciting ideas. She lifted Einstein up onto the tailgate and climbed up after him.