Page 32 of Kent's Watch
“He doesn’t have a lot left to learn, does he?” Cruz asked as he came up beside Spencer. He turned and explained what had happened a few days prior. As he told the tale, others joined them and gave their rendition of what had happened.
Kent waited until they were done, before he spoke, “Speaking of,” he said as he looked at all the men present. “I have a favor to ask.”
“What’s that?” Mason asked from his position of leaning on the counter.
“If it hadn’t been for Logan and his chopper, along with you guys, Mikey wouldn’t have made it.” He held up his hand to explain. “We later learned that the local Medivac was at an accident scene and had to take the victims to Denver. If we had waited for them, it would have been an additional three or four hours before someone could have come for Mikey.”
“Damn,” they all said, and looked at him with raised brows.
“I’m not saying it’s official, or that it will be all the time, but I would like to ask if you guys would be willing to help out again if the situation warranted it. Rita’s father needs to look into the matter, but if you agree, I’d like to give you Rita’s number. With her permission. This way, if her number comes up, then you know you’ll be needed. She only asked one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t use it to call her to ask her on a date.” He grinned when the others shook their heads. “That’s for me to do.” He dropped his bombshell, and the others quickly came around and slapped him on the back. After all the congratulations had been said, and he gave them Rita’s phone number, again stressing that they shouldn’t call her, that they should wait until she called them. It shocked Kent that Spencer asked for her number also. It ended up that he gave the number out to nine people, and Spencer said he would mention it to the Falco brothers the next time he saw them.
“Who are they?” Kent asked in confusion. He thought he knew, but wanted clarification.
“They’re firemen with the local fire department, but they are all former military like us. I’m sure if they’re not out fighting a fire somewhere and you call us in, they’d be more than happy to help.”
“Thanks, man.” Kent shook Spencer’s hand and told his friend to give his number to them. They stood around and talked for several minutes before the people who actually ran The Centre went about their business. Instead of training with Tate, Kent opted to go home. On his way, he stopped and bought more groceries. He found picking up something here and there wasn’t doing it for him, so he had made a list of everything he would need and decided to do all his shopping at once. After serving twenty years in the military, he found civilian life a littlechallenging at times, especially when he had to make his own meals and didn’t have a mess tent to walk into in order to eat. He took his time, and it was several hours later before he walked back into his apartment. Thank goodness it was on the first floor, and he didn’t have to lug all the bags up a flight of stairs. It took three trips to get everything inside, and another hour to take care of it all. When all was said and done, he was happy with the results of full cupboards, and he had even stocked up on Tator’s food and treats. He was also proud of his stash of protein bars in the cabinets.
With nothing to do the rest of the day, Kent grabbed the book he had purchased and settled into his favorite chair to start reading, making sure he had a large travel mug of coffee at his elbow. While he read, Tator snoozed all day. It felt great to have a day off and some downtime for once.
CHAPTER 14
Several days later,Kent stood in his living room with his hands on his hips and looking down at Tator in confusion. On a whim, he grabbed his phone and quickly dialed.
“Hello?” Rita answered on the second ring.
“Hey, it’s Kent. I’m not calling to cancel our date. I’m about ready to leave, but I have a quick question.”
“What’s that?” Kent heard a laugh in her voice and shook his head.
“I don’t mean to sound stupid, but what do I do with Tator?”
“What do you mean, what do you do with him?”
“I’ve never left him since I got him weeks ago. Do I put him in his crate? Do I let him run loose in the house? What do I do with him?”
“Do you trust him alone in the house?”
Kent looked over on Tator’s bed in the corner and shook his head at the mangled sneaker lying there. While Kent had been in the shower getting ready for his date, Tator had come into his bedroom and grabbed one of his old shoes and began munching on it.
“No, he grabbed one of my shoes when I was in the shower earlier and is now using it as a chew toy.”
“Then I would put him in his crate. But that’s just me. You can use it as a learning tool. Does he sleep in his crate at night?”
“No, he sleeps either on his bed I got him for the living room, or the one I put in my bedroom.”
“Okay, to save your other footwear, I’d put him in his crate.”
Kent scowled when he heard a giggle after her last statement. “Okay, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Kent hung up, not giving her a chance to respond. It didn’t take long to get the pup into his crate, talking to him the entire time, actually explaining why he was putting him in there. Once the door was locked behind Tator, Kent stood and shook his head.
“God, I’ve gone crazy talking to a dog about my business.” He continued to shake his head as he grabbed his keys and made sure he had his wallet with him. Five minutes later, he was out the door. At five minutes to six, Kent pulled into a driveway and studied the house before him intently. He liked what he saw. As he exited his truck, he thought about maybe looking into purchasing a house with a large lawn for Tator to roam. He jerked from his musings when the door opened, and Rita stood there.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yes, what had you a million miles away when I opened the door?”
