Rescued

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Uncle Colt, that was awesome,” Coop hollered as he jumped out of the truck and ran up the front steps.

When he opened the door, a huge mutt came running out into the snow, slipping and sliding and wagging his tail. It was a wonder he could stay on his paws. Dean laughed at Coop and the dog running around the truck, playing a game that looked a lot like tag.

“Coop, not to long outside, okay? I don’t want you sick.” Colt lumbered up the front stairs and gestured for Dean to follow him.

Dean grabbed his boots, put them on his feet without lacing them, and gingerly walked up the front steps to catch up to Colt.

“You can throw your clothes in the dryer in the bathroom. I’ll grab you some sweats to put on while they dry.” Colt waved to the bathroom door as he went into another room at the end of the hall.

Dean took his cue and walked into the bathroom. He threw his clothes in the dryer and contemplated asking if he could grab a quick shower. Colt tapped on the door and stuck his arm inside, dangling clothes for Dean to wear.

“Here try these and jump in the shower to get warmed up.” Colt closed the door without looking at Dean.

Dean chuckled to himself. A caring guy and a grump all rolled into one.

The shower was just what he needed for his sore and frozen muscles. He didn’t want to get out of the thick stream of hot water, but he didn’t want to use all the hot water either. Just as he was about to get out, the door whipped opened.

“Sorry, I have to pee. It’s too cold to go outside.”

Dean stood in the shower, amazed at Coop’s carefree nature. A black nose sniffed through the curtain of the shower. Dean assumed it was the mutt he saw earlier and smiled.

“Sorry about that.” Coop laughed and ran back out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Dean smiled to himself. That was one cute kid. Dean finished his shower, got dressed, and stepped out of the bathroom.

“Coop, can you grab a few more logs and throw them in the fire while I crank up the generator to make sure it’s ready if we lose power?”

“Sure, Uncle Colt.”

Coop seemed thrilled to help his uncle out. Coop and the dog ran to the wood box on the front porch and grabbed a handful of wood to throw in the fire and one larger load in case they needed it.

A generator started, and Colt came back in, smiling at Coop. “It’s running now. I’ll let her run a few minutes then shut her down. We don’t want to run out of fuel.”

“Uncle Coop, I’m hungry. Can I fix us an early lunch?” Coop asked, bouncing on his toes while the dog jumped and barked at his antics.

“Yeah, but no SpaghettiOs.” Colt chuckled as he went back outside to shut the generator off. “Dean, you want coffee? Colt asked when he returned. He shook his head, getting the snowflakes off.

“That would be great, thanks.”

“Good. Make me a cup, too.”

Confused, Dean smiled when he heard the bathroom door shut. Colt was definitely a wonder with his changing moods.

“Coop, can you point me in the right direction for the coffee?”

Laughing, Coop pointed to the coffee machine and above his head to the cabinet with the coffee, sugar, and cups.

“Thanks. What are you making for lunch?” Dean asked as Coop looked through the fridge and started grabbing various items. Dean glanced over to see where the dog was and noticed he was sleeping right in front of the fire. Smart pooch.

“I should make SpaghettiOs to get a rise out of Uncle Colt, but I think I’ll make hamburgers and fries.”

Coop grabbed the frying pan and oil for the fryer and started heating up the items. Dean decided to take a look around. When he first saw the house, the word homey came to mind, but this was so much more. Although on the smaller side, this house was country to the core. Rustic with wood floors in every room, warm colors decorated with throw rugs scattered around. Some mute colors on the walls with decorative items. Mostly, the place was just warm and lived in. Perfect as far as Dean was concerned. Dean studied a photo of Colt and Coop when he felt a large presence behind him, one smelling of soap and the great outdoors. Warm and intoxicating. Dean inhaled deeply before turning around.

“I didn’t know how you took your coffee. Its ready when you are,” Dean whispered. Colt stood so close, Dean could feel the heat radiating off his body.

“Food’s almost ready,” Coop called out, breaking the spell.

“Let’s eat.” Colt all but stomped off in the direction of the kitchen.

Okay then.

“Uncle Colt, with the weather, it looks as though Dean will be staying the night. Dean can sleep in my room, and I can sleep on the couch.”

Colt and Dean said at the same time, “No!”

“Thanks, Coop. I should call my brother and let him know where I am and have him come pick me up.” Dean looked over at Colt. “Do you mind if I use your phone?”

“You can use it, yes, but your brother coming out here in this weather is stupid.”

Colt grabbed his phone out of his pocket and handed it over to Dean. Their fingers briefly made contact. It shouldn’t have affected Dean in any way, but the charge of energy went right to his balls. He almost dropped the phone in the process.

“Um, yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll just call and let him know I’m okay.”

Dialing the number should have been as easy as dialing his own, but Colt was staring at him with a look between wonder and irritability. Dean couldn’t quite get his fingers moving.

“Need help there?” Colt winked.

“Uh, no, I was just…never mind” Dean thought of what an i***t he was making himself look like in front of Colt. It didn’t matter much, given their separate lives, but he still didn’t want Colt to think he was a f*****g i***t.

The phone rang once, and Randy picked up, sounding out of breath.

“Hey, Randy, it’s me,” Dean stuttered into the phone, still out of sorts.

“Hey, bro, where the f**k are you? You never checked in.” Randy sounded worried.

“I broke down outside of Laramie, and the truck is dead as a door nail. I started walking and…”

“Thank God…I was…” Dean heard static on the line.

“Are you okay? You need me to send someone to come get you?”

“What? Yeah, yeah, I am fine, I’m hunkered down for the night, no need to send anyone in this weather. You what? You’re breaking up.”

“We had a baby boy!”

Dean jumped up from the chair with a huge smile on his face.

“Wow! Congrats, bro! Tell Rebecca I said congratulations. Wow, I’m an uncle.” Dean felt overjoyed for his brother and his family. He looked over at Colt and Coop and realized they had a makeshift family of their own. Although he was extremely happy for his brother, he also wanted a family someday, too.

“You be safe.” Dean laughed at his brother being a worrier.

“Yeah, yeah, I will call you tomorrow once the snow has stopped. Yeah, I am safe. I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye.”

Dean, grinning like a loon, handed the phone back to Colt.

“Did they have a boy or a girl?” Coop asked in delight.

“They had a boy. My brother said he would have been happy with either, but I can tell he really wanted a boy. His phone was going in and out, so I couldn’t find out what they named him. They wouldn’t tell anyone the names ahead of time.” Dean smiled at Colt as he dug into his food. “This burger is perfectly cooked, and these fries are great, Coop.”

“Buffalo burgers are the bomb.” Coop smiled, munching on his French fries.

“They’re what?” Dean looked to Colt

“Buffalo burgers. You never had one before?” Colt shoved a huge bite into his mouth, following it with a gulp of coffee.

“No, it’s my first time.” Dean felt his face warm when he realized what he said and how it came out.

Colt rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head.

“Uncle Colt, can I be excused? I want to play my Xbox.”

“Yeah, go ahead, but no games or TV until the homework is done. Might as well get it done now. School will be cancelled, so you can come with me for the day tomorrow.”

“Awesome.” Coop scrambled from his seat, giving the dog his last bite of his burger, and ran to what Dean assumed was the living room.

“That is one great kid, Colt.”

Dean looked at Colt. He was taken aback by the love shining in Colt’s eyes for his nephew. Colt probably didn’t realize how expressive his face was when he looked at his nephew, but Dean saw it. Coop was one lucky guy.

“Considering both his parents were complete f**k-ups, yeah, he turned out all right.”

“Let me clean up the dishes. It’s the least I can do for you rescuing me.”

Dean got up the same time Colt did. Colt reached for the coffee, but he touched Dean’s hip instead. Dean stood stock still, and Colt hurriedly snatched his hand away, grunting about small kitchens when he moved around Dean, grabbing for the coffee pot.

“I won’t stop ya.” Colt got his coffee, his hat, gloves, and jacket and went outside.

The dog came running, and Coop yelled out, “Where did my uncle go?”

“I’m not sure,” Dean croaked out, not knowing if Colt went outside for a reason or because he touched Dean.

All Dean could feel at the moment were the strong fingers that dug into his hip. If he thought hard about it, he could feel the slight tighten of them before Colt snatched his hand away. It left a lasting effect. Colt came back in with more firewood and a flashlight.

“The snow hasn’t f*****g stopped yet. Man, this is one b***h of a storm,” Colt mumbled as he took his hat and gloves off, putting them close to the fire to dry off. The man was wet from head to toe. “I went down to your truck and grabbed your belongings and put some orange flares on the road so the plows, if they ever get out this way, won’t take out your whole truck.”

“Wow! Um, thanks, man.” Dean gave Colt a small smile. “I think the truck is all but dead, but I will try my damnedest to get her going again. I love that truck.”

“Right, Uncle Colt?” Coop smiled while playing his game.

“What was that, Coop?”

Coop laughed. “I was just saying that if anyone can fix the old truck, you can. You can fix anything.” Coop made it to the next level of his game, but then everything went black.

The silence was deafening. The lights flickered, which made Colt grimace even more. Then they went out completely.

“f*****g A,” Colt bellowed, trying to make his way as he stubbed his toe on Coop’s chair.

Coop’s giggling didn’t seem to help Colt’s mood, as far as Dean could tell. Chuckling to himself, he wondered if he should help Colt, but not knowing where anything was and being in a strange house, his best bet would be to not get in the way.

The slamming of the door indicated Colt went outside again, hopefully to start the generator to get at least some lights working. The dog started barking as Coop lay down next to him by the fireplace. Coop placed a few extra logs on the fire, sparking the fire up so the light would shine through the room as they waited for the generator to start. There was a little light from outside, but the storm didn’t allow very much light to shine through.

“You know, ever since I lived here, we have never had company overnight,” Coop said matter-of-factly while petting the dog. “I mean, we have had company before, usually people from town needing Uncle Colt’s tracking skills, but never a guest.”

“Tracking skills?”

“Yeah, he can track and find anything or anyone. My Uncle Colt is the best tracker in the world.” Coop smiled a big toothy smile at Dean.

“Is that what he does for a…” Dean stopped mid question when one light came on and the humming of a refrigerator started up again.

“Woo hoo!” Coop shouted.

Stomping on the porch steps made Dean jump when Colt, in all his rugged glory, came barreling in the room. He grabbed his shotgun and went to the window. Clouds and snow made it hard to see clearly, but Dean could see the silhouette of a very large animal sniffing around the generator and the garage.

“I’m going out. Keep the dog inside, Coop.” Colt reached over and messed Coop’s hair a bit.

“What is it, Uncle Colt?”

“A bear. I won’t shoot it, if that’s what you’re worried about. I am just going to scare it.” Colt opened the front door. “Put a few more logs on, please.”

“You don’t like your uncle to shoot animals?” Dean inquired. Growing up in this area, he would have thought any male teen would know all about hunting and been born into it.

“I don’t mind if it’s something we will eat, but I don’t like an animal being killed because it’s a nuisance unless it’s attacking someone. They are doing what comes naturally.”

Dean was impressed by Coop’s understanding of nature. “I agree with you on that.” He winked at Coop. “I only shoot what I eat, or fish for what I eat. I’m not one to take from nature unless it’s necessary.”

Coop’s grin went from ear to ear. Then a big shot sounded, and he jumped up and ran to the window. “It’s leaving!”

The door opened again, and a very irritated Colt came back in. The weather turned to sleet and hail, and Dean couldn’t help but think how wet and freezing Colt must be at this point.

“Freaking bears. They shouldn’t be out in this mess.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Dean asked Colt.

“It’s all done. As long as the generator doesn’t crap out, we should be fine. The weather report said it would turn to this then lighten up. Let’s hope that’s the case.” Colt went to a back room in the house with a flashlight in his hand, shutting the door.