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  Coffee shop first, he thought as he showered. Grab some breakfast and a look at the locals. Not that he hadn’t seen any already. His first week on secondment to the Haven Hill Hospital had kept him on his toes. He’d arrived with barely a day or so to settle in before starting work and for a small town it seemed to have more than its fair share of emergencies. He and Mike - the guy he had been paired with for the duration - had been sent to attend a woman who was going into labor two weeks early, rescued a kid who had come off his bike and broken his wrist, had attended two RTIs, and a heart attack. And a partridge in a pair tree, he thought. That had all been on the first day. Thankfully, the rest of the week hadn’t been so busy but he still hadn’t been left with much time to think.

  He had gotten an idea of the set-up anyway. The Haven Hill Hospital could cope with babies, broken wrists and concussion, but the heart attack had been flown out to the hospital in the nearby city of Asher Bay and that was set up to cope with just about anything. Haven Hill was able to manage convalescents, illness, minor injuries and births, but anything more serious required referral to a trauma center. He was beginning to see the role of rapid response units like theirs in such an environment. The biggest surprise of all, though, was that he had actually been able to eat his lunch without interruption!

  Before he arrived he’d wondered what people did for entertainment in a small town like Haven Falls but, over the course of the week, several residents had told him about the new club that was opening its doors that evening. It was the talk of the town. He wondered what an American club would be like, if it was anything like an English one? The clubs he knew back home varied wildly in quality. Mike had been talking about Asher Rose, the club owner, and had pointed the man out as the ambulance cruised down Alberen Street. Gil saw a tall assured African-American man in shades and a sharply tailored suit just getting into his car outside the property his nightclub occupied. He had been accompanied by two men, both sharply dressed and carrying briefcases. They were all wealthy and self assured businessmen, he thought, watching them drive off.

  Gil had never been overawed in the presence of money. If he was lucky enough to ever win the lottery, he wasn’t the kind of guy to send it back, but the bottom line was that illness and injury did not respect rank or power. Neither did they recognize wealth. As such, Gil reserved his judgement. Some of the poorest people he had known were also the kindest and most generous. He didn’t judge a book by its cover any more and it wasn’t the size of a guy’s wallet that he was interested in.

  Deciding to head out and find a coffee shop, he ended up making for Glenda’s. It was the only one he knew anyway, Mike had told him it served the best breakfasts in town. Intending to see if this was the case, he found himself walking up the road towards the place and spotted a familiar figure taking a breather outside.

  “Hello Doc,” he said, “Nice to see a familiar face…” although his concern grew as he surveyed the condition of the man in front of him. “Not overdoing it, I hope…”

  Haven Falls #18: Out with the Dogs

  Aiden Parker and Evan Owens

  _______________________________

  Aiden sipped his coffee from the back porch, watching Dante run circles around the yard and nodded to himself. Yeah, it was definitely time to take that dog for a walk. The puppy had so much energy it was amazing he never seemed to wear himself out. And how Aiden didn’t already have a track run into the perimeter of the yard, he had no idea.

  “Dante!” He whistled and the puppy turned to look and came bounding up the steps, jumping onto his lap, nearly causing him to spill his coffee. “Want to go for a walk?”

  The dog yelped his excitement and jumped from his lap. Aiden set the coffee on the table and grabbed the leash hanging from a hook just inside the door and attached it to the collar. “Okay boy, let’s go,” Aiden said as he led him around the house rather than through it, out the gate, and toward the park. He wondered if he’d run into anyone else. He was sorely needing someone to talk to outside of work. That was his own fault, though. If he wasn’t so damn shy, he wouldn’t have any problems meeting people.

  Evan climbed the gate that separated the end of his road with the large green area that was Haven Falls Park, Deefur scrambling and jumping to follow and barking excitedly as his paws touched the grass. The border collie was a bundle of energy, forever in need of exercise, and it gave Evan a reason to leave his house. God knows he needed some kind of reason to force himself out when it was oh so easy to sit marking books, planning lessons, and wondering why life was passing him by so quickly.

  Deefur dissapeared into the bushes, his tail wagging, the red ball in his mouth dropped at the edge as he caught a scent of something.

  “Deefur!” Evan shouted for the dog to return, but he wasn’t really expecting Deefur to come back, once his less than well behaved pet found a scent to follow it really was game over. It was just a very good thing that the park was always empty at this time of the day. He stopped and waited for Deefur to return, lifting his gaze to look at the cloudless sky and stretching his arms high, it felt so good to be outside. Casually he moved away from the tangled wild area into which Deefur had disappeared and leaned back against a tree. It was then that he saw him.

  Aiden Parker, the new English teacher from the High School. He obviously had reason to be here, a dog leaping and barking at his side. Funny that, the guy was so quiet he never even knew that he had a dog. Straightening his spine and lifting away from the tree he took a few steps towards Aiden, the guy seemed nice, and it would be kind of nice to shoot the breeze for a while. Then he stopped. Aiden never looked him in the eyes, seemed so shy, maybe he wouldn’t want Evan, who he didn’t really know, interrupting his walk. Then Deefur decided for him, darting out of the bushes and leaping over to the dog at Aiden’s side.

  “Hey,” Evan started conversationally, trying to grab Deefur and then giving it up as a lost cause as the dogs played.

  Aiden looked up, startled as another dog came barreling out of nowhere straight for Dante. He reached to grab his dog, but the other just knocked into him. Dante didn’t seem to mind, though, and playfully tackled the larger dog. When he heard the other voice he looked up, straight into the eyes of Evan Owens, a teacher at his school. “Hi,” he replied, not sure of what else to say as he glanced back down to watch the two dogs playing. “I take it this is your dog?” Aiden asked, then mentally kicked himself. Obviously. Who else would the dog belong to? There’s no one else around.

  “Yeah, Deefur, border collie, he’s five, from a rescue home, I’ve had him three years.” Evan found himself replying in his usual concise and very much to the point manner, wishing the other man would look at him. He didn’t do so well when he couldn’t see people’s eyes, another one of his stupid obsessions. Rubbing his right hand on his jeans he held it out, “Evan Owens, Math.”

  “Aiden Parker, English,” Aiden said as he finally looked up from the ground and took the other man’s hand. “And the pup is Dante. Akita. He’s only ten months, though. So he’s a bit... crazy.” Aiden smiled faintly. “I’ve seen you around school,” he admitted. “I think we may have the same prep period free.”

  “We do.” Evan pulled his iPhone out of his pocket thumbed through options until he landed on the right app. “Tuesday, 9am is our next one, we need to go over some joint initiative work, shall we do it then?” Evan shuffled from one foot to the other, he hated this point in any conversation. The point when it was nearly over and he had to fill the awkward silence with utter drivel.

  Aiden sighed and nodded. He hated committee work, but what could you do? “That sounds fine.” Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Evan shifted back and forth; he couldn’t control the giggle that popped out of his mouth. As soon as it was released, he slapped a hand over his lips and coughed. “Sorry.”

  Evan frowned, that sounded like a definite giggle coming from the man who stood in front of him. He narrowed his eyes in concentration. A giggle. As unobtrusivel
y as possible he checked around himself for anything that might make his fellow teacher let out the strange noise, and sighed inwardly when he realised he could be the only cause. Hell, he was used to that; people very often found him a little...odd. Still there was something about this Aiden that made him want to smile in return; he seemed as uncomfortable with this whole situation as he was. Best to grab this by the scruff of the neck then.

  “We should meet up for a beer,” he blurted out in a sentence where the words seemed to run together, “probably,” he added.

  The suggestion was so sudden, Aiden stared back in shock, then relaxed and smiled. Making sure to look at him this time. “A beer would be great,” he said just as Dante launched himself at his legs and nearly knocked him over. He wished he could scold the dog for making him look like a complete klutz, but he refrained. “When, ah... when did you want to go? I’m free... most nights,” he admitted.

  “Dogs...” Evan waved expansively at Dante knocking into Aiden, seeing the other guy’s embarrassment. “They do that. Deefur does that all the time. Tomorrow, a beer at mine, I could erm...do food...snacks.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to go out of your way,” Aiden insisted. “Beer’s fine. I could bring some.” And once again he stepped out of his league. When was the last time he’d gone to anyone’s house? Before he moved to Haven Falls, that was for sure. And even before that. Before teaching at Windsor, and before Peter. God, had college been the last time? He inwardly cringed at his lack of social skills. That needed to be fixed quickly if he ever planned on having a love life.

  Evan quickly calculated the chips and dips he would need, deducting the exact amount of dip that was normally wasted, added in a minimum of six bottles of beer, analysed where in his fridge it would go, and then nodded thoughtfully.

  “You can bring beer if you like,” he said finally, allowing for any extra to go into the small cupboard under the stairs, next to Deefur’s biscuits, the emergency mini generator and the spare storm lamps. “So.” He shifted from foot to foot again, whistling high and loud, for once Deefur sitting at his side. “Tomorrow, number 27 Laurel Drive, eight o’clock?”

  Aiden nodded and watched as he shifted again. It was distractingly... cute. And that was when he realized how much taller Evan was compared to him. “Yeah, sure. Tomorrow sounds great.” He smiled and grabbed Dante’s leash before he could run off again. He leaned down and couldn’t resist patting Deefur’s head. “Nice meeting you, Deefur.”

  Evan didn’t move for a while, watching as Aiden walked away. There was an unfamiliar feeling in his chest, a warmth, a sudden expectation. It would be nice to have a friend, and this time he would try really hard.

  Finally he twisted on his heel and headed back to the gate, his head already focusing on the latest differentiation and integration debacle from his latest year, and mentally creating lessons in his head.

  Dante led the way home, back through the park as if he owned it, and Aiden couldn’t help but feel excited about tomorrow night. He had plans. Friendly plans, but still plans. It was just what he needed. He’d go out, have a beer, and talk. Simple as that. And simple was just what he needed. Evan seemed nice, and they had a few things in common in case the conversation dried up.

  Haven Falls: #24: Mr. Wrong

  Aiden Parker & Flynn Archer

  _____________________________________

  He had plans. For the first time since moving the Haven Falls, Aiden Parker had plans. And he could barely contain his excitement. Dante must have sensed that excitement, because he bounded along with him, tugging on his leash.

  “Slow down, boy,” Aiden said in an attempt to control the excitable puppy. He really needed to look into classes for the dog or something. Of course Dante ignored his commands and with one giant burst of energy, pulled the leash out of Aiden’s hand and went running.

  “Dante! Come back!” he called, swearing loudly as he took off after him.

  Flynn found himself wondering where he should start his search. Was there a library in this town? Maybe it was too small. Newspaper? Goddamn it, he wasn’t good at this sort of thing. Disappearing, sure, that was easy. But finding someone? Holy crap, where did you even start? Especially when they didn’t want to be found.

  He came around the corner, wondering if there was at least a Starbucks around here (he could use the free Wi-Fi), when a furry blur plowed into his legs and nearly sent him sprawling face first on the pavement.

  “Dante! Oh shit, I’m so sorry.” Aiden scrambled to grab Dante’s leash as he caught up to the dog and stared at the man he had run into. “Are you okay? He got loose and I couldn’t catch him, I am so sorry,” he continued. That was the last thing he needed. To nearly kill someone on a walk with his dog. Yeah, definitely, puppy training classes as soon as he could find them.

  Flynn looked down at the little white dog with a scowl. He didn’t like dogs. (Maybe because of the one time with that guard dog, but the less he thought about that the better.)”Yeah, well, watch it-” he began, and then stopped, because the guy was fucking gorgeous. Holy shit, Haven Falls was just full of hotties, wasn’t it? Looking at him, he noticed a smear of color. Ink? Yep. “Cool tattoo,” he said, changing tone. “What is it?”

  “Huh?” Aiden blinked at the sudden change in attitude and forced himself to meet the other man’s eyes, then turned to look over his shoulder. Sure enough, part of the tattoo was visible past the edge of his shirt. “Oh, thanks. It’s a dragon,” he said with a faint grin. Dante jumped up and tried to climb up the man’s legs, but Aiden pulled the leash back. “Stop that.”

  Flynn reached down and grudgingly patted the dog on the head. At least it wasn’t some two hundred pound Rottweiler with breath like death’s outhouse and a grudge. “You get it in town? I’m new here, and I was thinking of adding some. I have some ink too, on my leg.” Should he show it? Come to think of it, could he? Not easily.

  “No, it’s a leftover from college,” Aiden admitted with a small shrug. “There doesn’t seem to be much around. It’s kind of quiet here. But it’s nice. Are... are you new to town?”

  “Yep. Just moved here from Seattle.” Flynn held out a hand, tried on a smile he hoped wasn’t awkward. “I’m Flynn.”

  “Aiden,” he said as he took the hand carefully and returned the smile. “I’m pretty new, too.”

  “So, is there like a coffee place around here? I assumed there’d be a Starbucks, because they’re everywhere, but I haven’t seen one yet.” Back in Seattle, he used to joke that Starbucks were the herpes infections of cities, but that seemed tasteless.

  “I think there’s a coffee shop back that way. Umm... Glenda’s I think it is. I haven’t gone there yet, though.” Aiden gestured the way he came.

  “Would you like to come with me? I’ll buy you a coffee.” What the hell was he doing? Oh well, the guy was hot, and he hadn’t had any action in weeks.

  Aiden was sure his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Was he... being asked out? No. Impossible. He glanced down at Dante, who, for once, sat patiently at his feet. “Well, I don’t know if they allow dogs. I’m sure they don’t.”

  “I bet they got outside tables, right? C’mon, it’ll be my treat. I just got hired at Renegade Steel, and I feel like being generous. You may want to take advantage of this mood swing before it passes.” Flynn bent down and patted Dante on the head. He was being a surprisingly good dog. “I’ll buy you a cookie too, huh? But no chocolate.”

  At the word “cookie” Dante jumped up and barked. Well, that settled it. Aiden hesitated and glanced around. “All right, sure. That sounds good.” He had made plans with two different people in the same day. Who would have thought? Aiden couldn’t help but smile to himself. Haven Falls was pretty friendly, he had to give it that.

  Flynn gestured to Aiden to lead the way, and he did, giving Flynn a good view of his ass. Nice. The guy worked out.

  Glenda’s was small, and really had little in the way of indoor seating, although a small patio
table and chairs were set up on the sidewalk outside. He got them both a coffee, and a plain Danish for Dante. Dogs liked bread, right? Oh hell, if this dog was anything like Digger’s dog, it would eat anything, including batteries, table legs, and cocaine stashes. “So, tell me about yourself, Aiden. What do you do?” He held out the Danish, and Dante came and took it from him so fast, he almost got his fingers. Well, that answered that question.

  Aiden glared mildly at Dante who lay down under the table and gnawed at the pastry. This guy was really sweet, getting his dog something. Sweet and pretty damn hot, if he was being honest. “I teach English at the high school.” He sipped his coffee and refrained from sighing. It was good. “Thank you, for the coffee. And the treat for Dante.”

  “You’re a teacher?! Holy shit, if teachers looked like you when I was a kid, I’d have never cut school.” Flynn smiled, and this time it was genuine, as he was trying not to laugh. When he thought of his teachers, all he could remember was Mr. Potter, the math teacher with the egg shaped head and the nose hair, whose ears turned red when he got angry. Which was often.

  It was a good thing Aiden wasn’t drinking at the point, because he was pretty sure he would have sprayed the hot liquid across the table. As it was, he felt his face turn what was sure to be a lovely shade of red.

  “Oh my gosh. Did I make you blush?” Flynn held up his clasped hands and shook them, as if for an imaginary adoring crowd.

  Rubbing a hand across his face Aiden laughed and shook his head. This guy, Flynn, was something else.

  “So now that I’ve embarrassed the hell out of you, what say I make it up to you? I have no idea what passes for nightlife in this town, beyond Renegade Steel, but I could use a tour guide. What do you say? I’ll try not to make you blush anymore.” He put on a slightly cheesy, slightly seductive grin. “Unless you ask nicely.”