Fear - 13

"Going on vacation, Doc?" Max asked, when Gene told him he wanted his tires checked and new ones put on if necessary.

"Yep. I finally decided it was time to when I wanted to tell Mrs. Smith she didn't have to come in every time she broke a fingernail." Gene laughed. "Okay, so she's not that bad, but she's a bit of a hypochondriac and I really did want to tell her to ease up on the office visits. When she left, and my nurse scolded me for being grumpy, I came to the decision a vacation was in order."

"I've got some customers like that. The slightest ping in the engine and you'd think their car was going to fall apart on the spot. If I wasn't such a good guy, I'd take their money and run. As it is…" Max shot Gene a knowing look.

Gene chuckled. "Okay, so sometimes I overdo it. Shoot me. I know the insides of people but not cars."

"When are you leaving and where are you going?"

"Tomorrow morning." Gene rested his hip on the corner of Max's desk, keeping a weather-eye on what the mechanic was doing with his car. "I thought I'd head over the Divide, maybe do a bit of fishing and hiking. Just get away and unwind."

"Sounds good to me. I'd do the same if Linda wasn't so adamantly against fishing. Give her a town with a thousand antique stores and she's in seventh heaven but take her off the beaten track and it's nag, nag, nag. Damned good thing I love the woman or she'd drive me crazy."

"Which is why I never got married. I don't need someone telling me what to do, or not do, no matter how good it might be for me."

"Doc, you never got married because women aren't your thing."

Gene looked at Max in total shock. "What makes you think that?"

"Because I know you, and I've spent more than a few nights out on the town with you. You hide it well, but you're the only man I know who doesn't spend half his time in a bar checking out the scenery, especially the pretty young tourist ladies who are flaunting their goods because they're off on their own for a while."

"So maybe I'm just not looking for a one-night stand."

"Nope, Doc, you're not looking, period. And just so you know, I don't give a rat's ass. Never have. Hell, I hired Shawn and trust me, no one would think he was straight, even if he hadn't been hanging around with that bastard Jared."

"Speaking of which, have you heard anything from him?"

"Not ace-deuce. But then, I didn't expect to. Jared's probably got him chained to the bed or whatever to make sure he doesn't do something he shouldn't, like get a job. The son-of-a-bitch never did like Shawn's being here, from what I could tell."

"Poor kid. It would be nice to find out he'd finally gotten up the nerve to leave Jared, but I doubt that'll happen unless Jared beats him half to death—or worse."

"Yeah, some people just never learn." Max looked as if he was going to say more but a customer came into the office so Gene stepped aside, saying he'd be back later for his car, and left.