Saving the White Cougar by Terry Spear

Chapter 7

Stella hadn't expected to see the beautiful, western-themed bedroom with a heavy, rustic pine bed frame, the legs and headboard trimmed in leather and brass studs. The bedspread was a southwestern design of rusts, light gray, and navy blue, and a large window was featured behind the headboard. Matching pine bedside tables had large brass knobs, and horse paintings graced the walls.

The bedroom was large and had a winged leather chair and a rustic pine desk complete with a computer and a chest at the foot of the bed that might hold blankets for winter. It was really like a presidential suite for a foreman, she thought. "Did Tracey decorate in here too?"

"Yeah. We had the large room, but it was really bland. Now it's country elegant. I feel like a rancher baron."

She chuckled. "You look like one."

"The bathroom's in here," he said, giving her a tour.

A large glassed-in shower, whirlpool tub, double sink, toilet in its own private closet. Just spectacular. "I have about half the size of your bathroom in my apartment. No whirlpool tub. Just the standard tub and shower all in one. No toilet in a private closet. This is the life."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. Tracey redid all the fixtures in there."

"She appreciates you."

"She appreciates everyone who works for the family. I couldn't have been gladder when she mated the boss man. It showed a side of him we'd never thought we would see. And then he became a family man before we knew it, and I didn't expect to be included in that much of the family happenings once the kids came. The next thing I know, I'm an uncle to the quadruplets."

“That’s great, and this is so nice. When you were sleeping, Bill said you have a nephew, Scott, who’s in the army. What does he think about the kids?”

"Bill and I are only ten years older than him. His dad was our father's brother and he had him late in life. He has come down here once to see the family and of course they called him Uncle Scott and Aunt Nicole. They adore the kids."

Then Ted helped Stella into the soft flannel pajama top, trying not to hurt her arm, and she was glad Tracey had gotten her a shirt that buttoned instead of pulled over her head. Then Ted helped Stella into a matching pair of pajama bottoms.

Ted put on a pair of hot chili pajama pants, no top, which made him sexy as all get out.

When she climbed into bed, she thought she'd found a bit of heaven. "Hmm, this bed is like sleeping on a cloud."

"Yeah, it is, just the way I like it. Now you tell me if I bother you at all. I don't want to hurt you in the middle of the night."

She moved next to him and snuggled her face against his chest. "I'll try not to growl or bite you, if I hurt in the middle of the night."

He smiled and turned off the lights and kissed the top of her head. "If you need anything at any time, you let me know."

* * *

Ted couldn't believehis fortune in meeting the she-cat. He wasn't going to offer that she join him in his room because of her injuries, so he was thrilled when she asked if she could.

He texted Kolby: You can come home now. Stella's staying with me so try not to disturb her.

Yeah, well, try not to disturb my sleep.

Ted had no intention of making love to Stella, even though he wanted to. He hoped he wouldn’t bump her and hurt her injuries in the middle of the night. But if she wanted to be with him, he wanted to be there for her.

* * *

When Stellafinally woke to hearing Ted and Kolby in the kitchen making breakfast the next morning, she grabbed her phone off the bedside table and groaned, her arm and leg still sore. But she had to call in to work before they worried something bad had happened to her. Like it had, actually.

“Hey, Tori, I’m recuperating after being shot at a ranch near Yuma Town while visiting friends. I’ll be coming in on Tuesday,” Stella said.

"No, way, Stella," Tori said when she told her the news. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?

"Yeah, I had to have an antivenom for a rattlesnake bite too."

"You're pulling my leg."

It did sound pretty unreal. "No, I wish I was. I had to receive blood for the gunshot wounds. The only thing that saved my life was I was in a barn at the time and the walls slowed down the bullets. Anyway, I'm really sore and tired, but I'll be back at work tomorrow. I'll be home tonight." Though she was thinking she should just come in on Wednesday instead. Yet, she wanted to show them her wounds before they were completely healed, or they might think she had made the whole thing up. But why not just say she had a bad cold or the flu, or something?

“Where can we send flowers to?”

This got tricky. Normally, she probably would have still been in a hospital. But she didn’t want to lie about that and get caught up in the lie. “I’m at the Haverton’s ranch. There’s no need to send flowers or anything. I’ll be back at work tomorrow.”

“Really, are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Which Stella realized it sounded like maybe she really had been making the whole thing up.

“Okay, well, you let us know if you need anything, or want us to drive you home, or, well, take care of you at your apartment or anything.”

Stella smiled. “Thanks, I appreciate it.” Then they ended the call and she laid back in the bed for a few minutes, not wanting to get out of bed.

Finally, Ted peeked in on her and smiled.

She smiled back. “Okay, I told work I wasn’t coming in. What’s on the agenda?”

“Rest for you, Halloween decorating and ranching duties for me, but first, a nice big breakfast.” He pulled a big robe out of the closet and said, “Why don’t you wear this and you can shower or whatever you want after breakfast, just chill out on the couch and rest. We don’t want you to do too much.”

“Thanks, Ted.” She got up then and put on the robe, slipped on the slippers Tracey had gotten her, and thought how much nicer this was than the clinic garb.

Then she had breakfast with Ted and Kolby and after they cleaned up and took off to do ranch work, she took her shower, finally dressed, and headed outdoors to watch Ted taking care of things on the ranch. They were decorating more for Halloween, but as soon as he saw her, he wouldn't let her do anything but sit on the porch of the main house and watch him and the others do all the work. With comfy pillows propping her up on the rocking chair and even a thermos of hot spiced tea that Tracey had brought Stella, she thought this was the best way to recuperate.

Stella was fascinated as he went about his chores and she thought he might even be showing off a little. Which she thought was cute.

They had lunch with the Havertons later, and then she went to sit out on the porch again to watch all the activities. The kids were playing on bales of hay, but then Tracey told Ted to go inside with Stella to make some scarecrows and he saluted Tracey, then escorted Stella inside the house. Both Koda and Zula came in to lie by their feet at the couch. If Ted was through working, they were ready to join him and take a snooze. She had to lean down and pet them.

Then Stella sat back up, ready to get to work.

“Tracey wants you to rest more and get warmed up.” Ted started a fire in the fireplace.

Stella had been feeling a bit chilled so she was glad they had gone inside.

"I've got to get started on making some of these scarecrows." Ted brought out a bunch of worn jeans and western shirts, some old pillowcases, a box of safety pins, and some bandanas and carried them into the living room where they were going to watch a movie. "You can sit there and see me create them. Just rest."

"No way. I've never made one before, and I'm helping too." She was eager to assist him with creating scarecrows. This would be fun, and she'd finally get to do something to help with decorating for Halloween like she'd wanted to from the beginning.

"Okay, ready for your first lesson?" He brought out a stack of old newspapers and a sack full of plastic sacks and set them on the coffee table.

"I sure am."

"Great. First, button, zip or close the shirts and pants." He brought out a spool of string and a couple of pairs of scissors.

She could certainly do that. She began buttoning all the shirts. He was cutting off lengths of string. Then she began fastening all the fasteners on the pants. "How did you learn to do this?"

"Tracey had me help her last year, then she gave me the project this year since I was so good at it. A bunch of us are going to get together to make a lot more of them, but I wanted to get started on some."

"And the two on the front porch? Did you make them?"

"Yeah, Kolby and I made them last year, and we liked them so much, we just stored them for this year." He started crumpling up the newspaper.

"They're really cute. I would have saved them too." She finished fastening all the clothes.

This was fun. But especially because she was doing it with Ted while they were half-watching a thriller on TV, the fire crackling in the fireplace and he paused to wash the ink off his hands, then made them steaming cups of spiced apple cider. Then he was back to crumpling paper. After that, he began to stuff the pillowcases with the paper.

"Tie strings around the shirt arms and pants legs to close them," he said. "Then we stuff them with the plastic bags or crumpled up newspaper. And then just use the safety pins to attach the shirt to the pants at the waist."

She began stuffing the jeans with plastic bags. “Are all these clothes yours?"

"Nah. Everyone donated them last year for the project. That's the great thing about the cougar community. Everyone helps out. I've got markers for drawing the faces, but we also have scraps of felt to use to create the faces—glue on or sew on."

"You have a sewing kit?"

"You bet. I know how to sew buttons or tears in clothing." He smiled at her.

She smiled. "Good. I'll sew on some faces."

Once all the pants and shirts were stuffed, they began to safety pin them together and tucked the "tail" of the pillowcase stuffed heads into the neck of the shirt. Then secured the heads to the necks of the shirts with safety pins.

She cut up some triangles to make eyes for some of the faces while Ted was creating other faces with marker.

Then he left the house and returned with a small bale of straw in a bucket. "We tuck these around the neck, leg, and shirt openings and glue them where necessary."

She helped him with that but paused to see the heroine in the movie thriller in a tight spot and had to see her get out of it. She'd been shot in the leg and had to take cover. Then someone was shooting from a different angle and everything went silent, until the heroine heard running footfalls headed in her direction. She raised her gun to shoot at the gunman when the hero called out to her, "Where are you, Sheri?"

"Russell!"

And then there was more gunfire.

Silence.

Stella was glued to the show now, unable to work on the scarecrow she'd been adding straw to until she learned how this turned out.

Then the heroine heard footfalls again, only this time, they sounded different. She didn't dare call out where she was again.

"It's me, Russell," the hero said, limping into view and she struggled to get up from where she was sitting.

"No, don't get up. We've got help coming."

Stella smiled. Then began working on the scarecrow again. "I love happy endings."

"Like yours."

She smiled at Ted. "Yeah, really nice to a rough beginning."

Once they had finished all ten scarecrows, Ted stacked them near the bookcases. "We'll put them up tomorrow, while you're back at your job, unless you change your mind and want to stay here another day."

"I'd love to, really. It's a catch-22. If I didn't heal so fast, I'd go in on Wednesday, and rest another day. But then my wounds wouldn't be as visible to my co-workers. If I go in tomorrow, they'll be more visible, but I'll be tired too. I might leave work a little early, if I get too worn out."

"That sounds like a good idea. Don't overdo it or you'll end up back in the clinic here. Though if you do, I'll bring you more flowers and bring you home-cooked meals, part of the Yuma Town clinic experience."

She laughed. "What if someone else is hospitalized and wants the same treatment?"

"I suspect I might be banned from the clinic."

She smiled. She really was enjoying being here with him and even doing the arts and crafts was a joy. She hadn't done anything like that in forever. She was glad she could make these with Ted.

They finished the movie then. He was going to grill steaks, a special send off before she returned home to Grand Junction. She had such mixed emotions about it. She truly wanted to just stay here and be with him at least for another day. But she knew, as addictive as he was, she'd want to stay another day, and another, until Friday came, and it was time for the Halloween party. And then what? Stay the weekend and then be feeling the same way about the next week? She had it in mind that maybe she'd get it out of her system. This need to be with other cougars. To be with Ted. That she was just tired from being injured. That once she was her normal self, she would be ready to return to doing her normal activities.

But she suspected spending a whole week with Ted wouldn't be enough, or that it would change her mind about being with him further. She couldn't stay here though. What about Kolby and the other ranch hands? They had to return to the bunkhouse. And then it wouldn't be the same—just her and Ted enjoying the house like it was their own. Besides, Ted had to get back to work and she knew she would be bored if she was just watching him work or sitting in the house curled up on the sofa, watching TV.

"Hey, after I start the steaks, do you want to make some pumpkin pie together? Do you even like pumpkin pie?"

"I do. I love pecan pie too."

"Okay, next time, we'll have a pecan pie." Once he started the steaks, he and Stella started working on the pumpkin pie.

She had already started on the pie crust and he smiled at it.

"Now that looks good," he said.

"It was one of the things my adoptive mother taught me how to do. Make pie crusts. And pies. It was the only kind of dessert she liked."

Then instead of him teaching her how to make a pie, he became her assistant, helping her with the pie filling and then he had to check on the steaks again. They soon sat down to eat and then he asked her, "Can you come early to the party on Friday?"

"I was thinking of that. So I could help out if anyone needed me to."

"Good. I will be anticipating your return all week."

She smiled. "At least it's a short week now. Just three days and a wake up. So what other crafty things do you make?" She was fascinated that he even made scarecrows and painted pumpkins. She would love to get into more craft work to give herself a hobby instead of just watching TV or reading books after work or on the weekends.

"Hmm, well, I've whittled a bit. And I help build the stone wall for Tracey's garden, because she wanted to keep the cows and horses out of her vegetables. The calves had sneaked under the fence to the pastureland and ended up in her garden one time, and she had a fit. I don't blame her. They pulled up all her vegetables and ate half of them."

"Oh, that would be frustrating."

"It was. So I was designated as the castle wall builder. Chase, whose ancestors built and maintained a castle in Scotland, helped me design it and build it. Though a lot of the guys ended up helping with the project, and we made a real celebration out of it. That's how we do things around here. The ladies brought us drinks and visited with each other. All the CSF agents, deputy sheriffs, sheriff, Kolby, they were involved in a lot of it. It took a lot of teamwork."

"That's what I would love to have around a garden. It makes it look like a country estate garden with the moss growing on the rocks in the shade, and the little rock sedums. So cute. I never would have imagined you and the others built it. I just figured some landscape company did it. That is so neat."

"Thanks. It turned out really well. The wrought iron gates leading into the garden were Chase's idea too, since they had those at the old Scottish estate."

"I love that."

After Ted and Stella finished dinner, it was time for her to drive home.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay at the ranch one more night?” he asked.

“No, I really feel fine and I don’t have that much sick leave to use up.”

“All right. Well, I can drive you home, while someone else drives your vehicle to your apartment.”

"No, I can do it," Stella said to Ted, and she helped him clean up after the meal. She gave him a hug and a kiss after they were done. She knew he didn't want to see her go. She hadn't figured she would feel this way about a man so completely after knowing him for such a short time, but she really would miss his company and everyone else's once she returned home.

After one final kiss, she finally climbed into her Jeep and left to return to Grand Junction. When she reached home, she should have felt glad to be in her own little home. But it was dark and quiet and not half as nice as the bunkhouse. Her apartment looked over a parking lot and other parts of the complex. A pool and clubhouse were situated in the middle, but the pool was closed for the fall and it didn't appeal as much as the pond and the waterfall that she and Ted had ridden to by horseback.

Despite having been shot and bitten beforehand, the last couple of days had been magical. Still, she was looking forward to Halloween and couldn't wait to return to see the cougars—especially Ted, who made her melt in his arms.