That made sense and also explained why it was so remote yet had beautiful views.
I gasped as I looked around the side of the house. “You have a view of the lake!”
It was dark out now, but I could see the lights from the boats on the lake. I could only imagine how stunning the views were during the day, even though the lake appeared quite a ways away from the property.
I turned back to Hector and noticed he had my overnight bag in his hand—which I had forgotten to take out of the car in my excitement to explore his property.
“I can get that,” I told him, reaching out for the bag.
He pulled it away and walked toward the door. “I got it. Just brace yourself for my dog.”
Hector had a dog?
Before I could really even ponder that thought, the door swung open, and out burst a very energetic chocolate lab.
He sniffed Hector very quickly before realizing there was someone else—me. He took off at a sprint, even though I was only about thirty feet behind Hector, and crashed into my legs with his likely seventy-to-eighty-pound body.
Since I wasn’t fully prepared, I fell back onto my butt—thank God it was fully padded—and was immediately gifted copious amounts of dog licks and slobber kisses.
“Sarge,aus! Heir! Sitz!”Hector shouted in what sounded like a different language, or maybe I just had too much dog slobber in my ears and the words were muddled.
“Sarge, you’re a pain in my ass,” Hector grumbled at the same time he pulled the dog off me by his collar. “Sorry. He sucks at commands.”
Dog now restrained with his right hand—though barely since he was pulling to get back to me—Hector dropped my bag and stuck out his left hand to me to help me up.
“It’s okay. He’s very friendly,” I told him as I grabbed his hand.
His rough, calloused hand engulfed mine and sent shivers up through my entire arm. Though it was temporary, since, once I was up on my feet, he let me go in order to more fully restrain his dog.
“His name is Sarge?” I asked as I followed him to the front door.
“Yes, he’s a retired police K-9, which is where he got his name,” Hector answered as he parked Sarge by the front door and gave another command. “Sitz. Bleib.”
“What are you saying?”
“His training was in Germany, so that’s what most of his commands are in. I told him to sit and stay.”
Ahh, got it.Sarge whined as he stared at me, voicinghow upset he was that he was not allowed to continue his kissing attack on me.
“Can I pet him?”
“Yes, but let me get your bag and we can head inside first.”
We all walked into Hector’s cabin, which was basic but beautiful from the outside but even more impressive when you walked inside.
It was a single-story ranch with high ceilings and large wooden beams. The cozy cabin featured a rustic but clean interior. It wasn’t huge, but it had an open-concept kitchen, dining, and living room.
The first thing I noticed about the living room was the amazing stone fireplace and large leather couches and recliner that looked like you could just sink right into them.
“Sarge,bleib,” Hector commanded, causing the dog to whine some more, but he stayed put. “Follow me, and I’ll give you the ten-second tour.”
We walked down the hallway, where we passed a small laundry room, a guest bath, and two smaller bedrooms, one of which was being used as a workout room.
“This is my guest room,” he said, indicating the other small bedroom as he set my bag down just inside the doorway.
I guess this was where I was going for the night.
“Thank you,” I told him.
