“Thanks, son, I’ll see you in a few. Apparently, the driver has relations in town so that’ll perhaps save you the drive. Hank Dietrich has a nephew. Straight out of the military. Good looking fella, not that I’d know anyway but still... tall, burly guy. Strange since Hank himself always was kind of scrawny but perhaps he takes after his mother’s side of the family. The nephew, that is. Not Hank...”
“Just bring them in, Mike.”
“Sure thing, doc.”
CHAPTER THREE
Colton
THE DOG HADbasically come out of nowhere. When Colton had been close to the turnoff towards Hayley’s Peak, the dark shadow had appeared like straight out of a ghost movie, and there was no way he could have avoided the collision. It was difficult to say how badly the dog was injured as it appeared to be one big ball of bloody fur. However, after Colton had called 911 and Deputy Hawkins turned up, it became clear that the dog was not doing too well.
Colton felt the weight of guilt settling in his abdomen. Even though there was no way in hell he could’ve avoided hitting the dog, he still felt bad. He’d always loved animals, especially man’s best friend. He’d wanted a dog growing up, however, his dad didn’t wantan extra mouth to feed,as he so bluntly put it. It hadn’t surprised him as a kid because it mostly felt like all joy and light had been sucked out of the Dietrich household after his mother died.
Deputy Hawkins ? Mike, as he’d been told to call the sturdy middle-aged officer with the friendly eyes ? got off the phone.
“So, we need to get Virgil into the trunk of my car and then you can just go ahead and follow me into town. Lucky son of a... that your uncle owns the auto shop since that bumper of yours ain’t looking too good. But Hank’ll fix it right up for ya in no time... always had a good pair of hands on that fella... so Walter’s son, huh? Yeah, come to think of it, I do see the resemblance... it’s the built, isn’t it? Didn’t know Old Walter for long though seeing as he died shortly after I came to town.”
Colton felt a headache building, shooting into his temples at the continuous spew of words coming out of the deputy’s mouth. He just nodded at various places during the endless stream of syllables.
After Virgil had been loaded into the trunk of Mike’s car, Colton followed him on the five-minute drive into Hayley’s Peak. The veterinary clinic lay just across from the police station on the main street, and lights were already on inside the clinic when they arrived. As Mike opened the door and held it open while Colton carried Virgil inside, a small bell above the door chimed making Colton unexpectedly recall afternoon visits to the grocery store with his mom. The smell of fresh ground coffee beans, shoe polish and peppermint sweets. He was pulled from his wayward thoughts when the dog in his arms gave a short whine.
The interior of the clinic itself looked like it had been frozen in time somewhere in the late seventies or early eighties. The walls were painted in a pastel yellow with subtle white flowers which reminded Colton of the thin curtains in the kitchen windows growing up. And the white plastic furniture made the waiting room look like straight out of a camping brochure. The reception in the far-off corner of the room held a vase with fresh flowers and the wall behind the desk was decorated with photos of different animals. Colton assumed the pictures were given to the clinic by grateful pet owners as they didn’t have the polished look of commercial photos. Right above a poster listing the symptoms of lungworm in dogs, hung a framed slogan of some sort. As Colton came closer, he could make out the words and the beginning of a faint smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.I Can’t Fix Crazy, But I Can Sedate It!Okay, Colton thought to himself. A vet with a sense of humor.
Since Colton had never owned a pet himself, he’d never been inside the clinic, however, he remembered the old vet, Dr. Sanders, and wondered if he was still running the clinic. If he was the one putting fun slogans on the wall.
As soon as Mike closed the door behind them, a younger man in a white lab coat appeared in the doorway of the adjoining room. He shook Mike’s hand and offered Colton a brief but welcoming nod, unable to shake Colton’s hand since he was still carrying the dog. He glanced briefly at Colton, a frown between his light brown eyebrows, as he took in his injuries. It was mostly cuts and bruises, nothing compared to what Colton had experienced during his four years in Kabul and later in Yemen.
They were shown into an examination room and the vet pointed to a table in the center of the room where Colton carefully placed the dog. In the bright lights of the examination room, Colton was able to take in the appearance of the vet more closely. If he had to guess, he’d say the younger man was mid-twenties. He had a slightly boyish look to him but since he had a degree, he probably had to be at least twenty-five. Piercing sky-blue eyes were surrounded by long, light brown eye lashes and the curly blond hair just briefly touched the equally light brown eyebrows. In the middle of the friendly face was a square nose adorned with a generous handful of freckles. It gave the young man an even more boyish look, however, the mouth with the full pink lips made his face appear almost sensual.
Colton shook his head.Sensual? What the actual fuck. He’d never referred to another man’s lips as sensual, but it seemed to have been the first word to come to mind when taking in the stranger. He was shorter than Colton’s 6’2” which forced him to tilt his head slightly as he appeared to take in Colton as well. It wasn’t that the look felt uncomfortable to Colton, it was more that he felt almost sucked in by the blue of the vet’s striking eyes. Breaking eye contact, the town vet shook his head and cleared his throat. He glanced at Colton as he introduced himself, revealing a soft and disarming voice.
“I’m Dr Jenkins, the local vet, but you can just call me Henry.”
“Colton Dietrich,” Colton forced out as he wiped off the blood on his hands on his already bloodstained and ruined jeans. He reluctantly shook the hand that Henry offered him. The other man’s grip was strong, but the skin felt soft and smooth against Colton’s own more rough and callused hand.
Swallowing deeply, Colton gazed into the vet’s eyes while still holding his hand. He felt the presence of Mike vaguely beside him, however, it was almost as if the halogen lights of the examination room narrowed in on Henry and left everything else in the shadows. As if the young man drew all light towards himself, leaving all other details in darkness. Taking in a breath, Colton let go of Henry’s hand and looked at the injured dog.
“He came out of nowhere,” he mumbled, brushing at the back of his neck.
“Of course. I’ll take a look at the dog first, Mike, so if you could just both wait in the room next door, I’ll be with you shortly,” Henry replied, and Colton wondered if it was only in his imagination that he noticed a slight tremor in the younger man’s voice. Busying himself with the dog, Henry spoke across his left shoulder.
“Mr. Dietrich, if you want to wash-up, there’s a bathroom just outside across from the reception.”
Mr. Dietrich…He guessed it would take some time getting used to his civilian name. Well, not only his name. A whole other life. But then again, time was all he had, and he had plenty of it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Henry
IT SOON BECAMEclear to Henry following a thorough examination of Virgil that there wasn’t really anything anyone could do other than put the poor old creature to sleep. After he’d cleaned the dog up a bit and put his body away for the night, he sent Deputy Hawkins on his way to inform Old Myrah of the accident. Then he joined the driver in the adjacent consultation room.
Henry closed the door quietly behind him and took a hesitant look at the stranger, who was apparently Hank Dietrich’s long-lost nephew. Deputy Hawkins’ initial comment over the phone that the man was good looking turned out to be the understatement of the year, perhaps even the decade. Colton Dietrich was tall, perhaps around 6’1”-6’2” if Henry had to guess. He wouldn’t exactly call him bulky. If he had to choose a fitting adjective, Henry would most likely usebufforbuilt.
It was clear to anyone that Colton Dietrich was fit. A substantial amount of work had gone into sculpting his muscular body, which could be explained by his military background. Layers upon layers of muscle dominated Colton’s upper body, biceps bulging through the thin fabric of his grey Henley.
Since Colton was sitting in the chair next to the examination table, Henry could easily see that the muscles and toned physique continued downwards towards two massive thighs and solid legs confined in a pair of worn and bloodstained jeans. Being a guy who appreciated other guys, Henry subtly noticed that just like everything else on Colton’s body, the generous bulge behind Colton’s zipper also appeared to be of a rather substantial size. In plain English, Colton Dietrich was hot as fuck and Henry noticed a stir in his dick, something he hadn’t experienced in a while.
When he’d first been introduced to the stranger by Deputy Hawkins, he was still quite groggy from the 3 a.m. wake up call. He had, however, instantly noticed the worried and hesitant hazel eyes. He had a feeling that wary look in Colton’s eyes wasn’t only due to the accident. Henry had absolutely nothing to base it on, but the stranger gave off a vibe of guardedness.
