Love & Serenity

Chapter 3

"Where have you been buddy?" The vet said as he scratched Otto's head.

Lillian noticed the vet's name tag.
"Dr Lyman."

"Davis. Davis Lyman." He said, "And welcome to town."

"Thank you," Lillian said nervously as Davis checked Otto for injuries. "Didn't expect a welcoming member." She studied the dog.

"Otto." Davis smiled.

"Yea. You know him."

"He belongs to a friend," Davis said just as he lifted one of Otto's legs and the dog whimpered. "Ah, his two right legs."

"Oh, that's bad. Sorry, buddy." Lillian frowned. "I really didn't mean to hit him."

Davis glanced at her.
"That's why they're called accidents."

"Right." She said nervously with her separately fisted hands together, her thumb and forefinger scratching at her other thumb, a habit she hadn't been able to break.

"You can have a seat."

Lillian glanced at the seat behind her but ignored it.
"I'm ok."

"Otto's going to be alright. I'll fix him up but he'll need a few weeks to heal."

She nodded still scratching at her thumb that was turning red.

"I'm going to make a quick call."

She nodded again looking down at the dog that was looking back at her. She stopped at the scratching and reached out slowly to touch it, running her hand through his soft hair. When Otto visibly relaxed, she sighed releasing all the tension in her bones.
"I'm sorry, Otto."

Davis who was at the door watched her with the dog as he took out his phone and made the call.

Jax was seated in front of the counter of Mindy's, the diner at the end of Park Street along Manhattan drive. The diner was usually full every night with familiar faces, but now in September when tourists were preparing to leave, there were a few unfamiliar faces as well as familiar ones.

Jax took a swig of his beer, head down as he stared at nothing in particular on the counter. The noises behind him had faded a while back as he tried to get rid of memories that he didn't want in his head on a night like this. This entire day should be wiped from existence, he should be in his bed trying to get through till the next day, but like every year, on this day, Otto decided he didn't want to stay inside. And like every other year, he'd been forced to leave the seclusion of his house and head out in search of Otto. For five years, he found him at the same place, Lakeview Cemetery which was not so far from his isolated place in Arms Forest. But today, Otto hadn't been at the cemetery and he had searched for hours until he had ended up at Mindy's.

This day couldn't get any worse.
He thought.

"Get that look off your face, you're going to scare away the girls."

Jax looked up at Mindy who stood behind the counter wiping a glass.

"You're going to find him, he's a loyal one, they always come back."

Jax nodded because he knew she was right. His phone rang that second and he reached into his front jean pocket and pulled it out.
"Dave." He answered.

"Hmm, I have Otto."

Jax's eyes went wide.
"You found him."

Mindy smiled at him.
"Go."

"I'll be back to pay for this."

The middle-aged woman shooed him away from her diner.

"Well, he found me," Dave said as he made his way to his car.

"What?" Jax frowned as he shut his door.

"Just get here, I'll explain everything to you."

"Ok." Jax threw his phone to the seat next to him as he pulled out of his spot and drove straight for Dave's place.

"Here you go," Dave said to Lillian as he handed her a cup of water he had gotten from the front office.

"Thank you." She took the cup with her other hand that wasn't caressing Otto and drank it in one go.

"I called Otto's owner; he's on his way."

"That's good," Lillian said still caressing Otto.

"I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Lillian."

"Nice to meet you, Lillian."

She looked at him then gave him a small smile before giving Otto her undivided attention.

Jax parked his car right outside Dave's home clinic and was getting out of the car before he turned the key in the ignition off. He slammed the door and was walking on the other lane towards Dave's front door.

"Jax." Dave had stepped outside when he heard Jax pull up. His friend was heading next door to his house.

Jax turned and frowned when he saw Dave standing outside his clinic. He changed direction and headed towards him.
"What's going on?"

Dave held the door open to let his friend in before he shut it behind him.
"Don't freak out, alright?"

Jax was already freaking out with that statement but he remained calm.
"What happened?"

"He's alright, he just sprained his right legs."

"How?"

"He was hit, accidentally," Dave said. "By a car."

Jax straightened, a 'v' forming between his brows.
"Where is he?"

Dave sighed and led him to the room where Otto and Lillian were. Jax followed behind and before they made it to the room, a familiar scent lingered in the air and he hated it because it reminded him of his Gran.

Lilies.

Jax entered the room right after Dave and she was the first thing he saw. Her short light brown hair falling and covering her face but she was the one. She was the one whose scent reminded him of home, of his Gran, of the reason he had moved to Vermont in the first place. He watched as she caressed his dog which was laid out on the examining table.

His dog. Otto.

Jax walked to the table, opposite Lillian.
"Hey, buddy."

Otto whimpered and struggled to get up from the table to move closer to him but his injured legs didn't let him.

"It's alright." He said as he scratched its head. "You're alright buddy."

Lillian pulled her hand away from Otto's body and looked up at the man that stood across from her. The first thing she noticed, he was tall, six-two, six-three maybe. The next thing she noticed was his scruffy beard and his black medium-length hair that fell perfectly imperfectly in place. She wondered what the colour of his eyes was and just as she did, his eyes lifted from his dog between them and to her. Her breath caught in her chest and just as the blue almost green eyes met hers and shocked her senses, she dropped her gaze back at Otto.

Jax studied her as she looked back down at Otto. Her face was clean, no trace of makeup, her eyebrows full, and her lashes long. Her shoulder-length hair was wavy and fell to cover one side of her face which made him want to reach out and tuck it away so he could get a better look at her face. Her stature was petite, but the short moment he had looked into her eyes, he was sure she could fight off a pack of rottweilers.

Good thing Otto was a German shepherd.
He thought.

She looked to be in her early twenties, and he hadn't seen her in town before. He'd seen all the new faces and now that they'd reduced in number, he knew those faces and hers wasn't one of them. Something about her ticked him off, or it was probably everything about her. First, she ran into his dog. Second, the faint scent of lily coming off of her. Third, she looked so damn fragile she made him want to run to her aid.

Who the hell is she?
He wondered.

"So," He began. "Want to tell me how the hell you ran into my dog?"