Page 13 of Second Chances
Chapter 8
Josh woke in a coldsweat, his hair wet and matted against the back of his neck. He sat up, his flannel sheets damp, and reached for the glass of water on his nightstand. It was the same dream he'd been having for the past five years. He rubbed his aching shins, he swore that his body remembered the trauma, and when he dreamt about the accident, his brain didn’t tell his body that it was only a dream.
It had been a few months since the last nightmare, but even as they'd been decreasing in frequency, they hadn't lost their vibrancy or power. The lights of the ambulances and the chopping whir of the helicopter blades echoing off the canyon, all sounded and looked as real as the day that she died.
He groaned as he stood up and stretched, Timber looked up from the foot of his bed and yawned, then rested his head back down.
"Oh no, you don't. You've got a date today, big guy," he sat down and nuzzled into his dog's scruff. Timber had been the one constant in his life, and he often wondered if he would've been able to get over the tragedy without him by his side.
He hopped in the shower, rinsing the nightmare from his body. He got dressed in his early winter uniform that consisted of wool socks, one-piece long underwear (he swore by the one piece, no draft was going to sneak up his back), work pants, wool sweater, and canvas work jacket. Then he proceeded with his morning routine, grind coffee, lament that there was no good coffee in town, brew coffee and boil water for instant oatmeal - today's special, peaches and cream.
He wolfed down his breakfast, poured his coffee into a to-go mug and pulled his red wool hat on over his hair.
"Timber," he whistled and heard his dog hop off the bed.
He poured a cup of kibble into Timber's bowl and went out to start up his old Toyota pickup truck. It needed a few minutes to warm up and get the kinks out, just like him. He looked at his altimeter, that also doubled as a watch, and jogged back into the house. Dropping Timber off at his babysitter's house was going to add at least twenty minutes to his morning commute – usually a five-minute drive from his house to the main street.
The snow was falling in big wet flakes, typical of early November, and he was glad that he and Mark had worked late closing in the job site. It wasn't any fun doing exterior work in the heart of winter. He wound his way through town and across the bridge up to the big house on the hill. He noticed that the ski hill had posted their opening day as December 15th. He thought that seemed optimistic as tall grass was still poking through the snow at the base of the mountain.
He clicked Timber's collar onto his leash, a climbing rope and a carabiner from his collection, and walked up to the big house. Timber whined and scratched at the door. "Easy boy, we've gotta ring the bell."
The door opened and the first thing he saw was Megan's smile.
"Hi," she gushed and bent down to scratch Timber's neck. He looked over at his owner and Josh could've sworn that he was gloating.
"Hi." She stood up and reached out to shake his hand. As he took her hand in his and shook it, it seemed like an oddly formal exchange, but then again, she came from another world.
"He's just eaten, and, oh shit, I forgot to bring, um, you know, poop bags."
Megan laughed, "I'm sure I'll be able to find something."
"Now, don't let him off his leash. He seems to have taken a shine to you, but believe me, he'll drop you like a hot potato if a squirrel or a cat crosses his path."
"Cross my heart, I'll keep him on the leash."
"When do you want me to come and get him?" Josh noticed Megan start to shiver in the open door, goose bumps prickling her bare arms. He wondered if she was an athlete, her arms looked strong and he caught himself scanning down her body, her strong thighs filling out her yoga pants.
"I can drop him off," she offered.
"No, no. It's okay," he interrupted. "I'll come back and get him whenever you're tired of him."
"Are you sure? I don't mind," she replied and rubbed her arms. Her hair was in a ponytail and he noticed that her eyes seemed puffy.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
She seemed taken aback, "Of course. Everything is great," she smiled, but unlike the smile that met him at the door, this one looked forced.
"I should go and get to work. And it looks like you need to get warm, and maybe put on some socks," he smiled as she looked down at her bare feet.
She took Timber's rope leash in her hand. "Thank you for letting me look after him."
"No, thank you." Josh smiled. "Talk to you soon Megan."
He walked away and wondered what such a beautiful and successful woman, one who could lounge around in her yoga clothes all day and walk dogs, could possibly be sad about.
