Lumberjacked (A Holiday Lumberjack Mountain Man Romance) - K.C. Crowne Page 0,19

the time or place.

As we walked through town, I spotted a payphone and hurried to it, leaving him behind. I could call my mom and boss. I picked up the receiver and pressed it against my ear, glancing stiffly over my shoulder to ask Viktor for small change to make a call, but the disconnected tone sounded in my ear.

“The line is down,” I said with a frown.

“Phone lines washed away or something,” Viktor said with a shrug.

“Maybe…” I felt stranded, and panic filled me for a moment.

The doctor’s offices were a couple streets over, and I insisted we go there next. I noticed how people looked at Viktor when he passed. Everyone stared, caught themselves, tried not to keep staring. Viktor continued stoically, looking like he didn’t give a damn about what they thought of him.

What would I have thought of him if I’d seen him in the street? He sure was scary as hell. Especially with that scar and the scowl he wore to complement it. And he stood out among the crowd no matter what he did. A man that big just couldn’t blend in.

We entered the doctor’s office, and I was glad for Viktor’s sake that we were out of public sight. We headed to the reception desk, and Viktor announced that he needed stitches. The receptionist glanced up and did a double take when she saw him, her eyes trailing up, up, up.

“How serious is it?” the receptionist asked after remembering herself.

“It’s serious,” I answered for him. Viktor grunted in response.

“The doctor will be with you in a moment. Name?”

Viktor glanced at me. “Sean.”

“Surname?”

“Ilyich.”

I pursed my lips together but didn’t speak. When we were told to wait in the waiting area for a moment, I asked him. “Sean?”

“I don’t want people to know my name,” he stated simply, as if that were normal.

“Okay, but why?”

“I don’t want to discuss it,” he replied, looking away.

Frowning, I decided to let it drop, even though I was outrageously curious. I glanced at him, then at the receptionist and rose to walk to her desk, ignoring the grunt from Viktor. “Would it be possible to make a call? I really need to contact someone.”

The receptionist shook her head. “Sorry honey, the lines are down. It’s all scrambled because of the storms. None of us are happy.”

I deflated. When I glanced at Viktor, he looked victorious. I narrowed my eyes and he looked away. “Thanks anyway,” I said to the receptionist and returned to my seat. I pressed him about the name; it really bothered me. “Sean?”

Viktor nodded. “It’s my first name.”

Sean Viktor Ilyich? The first name seemed out of place. He hadn’t chosen his names, I guess. And who was I to call him out on it? I changed the topic.

“How often do you come to town?”

Viktor shrugged. He had to have a very high threshold with so much pain in his shoulder and shrugging like it was nothing.

“When I need supplies,” he said. “Six months, maybe.”

I gasped. Six months without seeing anyone at all? “When’s the last time you came into town?”

“Two months,” Viktor said, and he looked unhappy about being back so soon.

I shook my head, incredulous. “How do you deal with being so alone for so long? I don’t think I could do it.”

Viktor thought about it for a moment. It looked like a lot went through his mind. I wanted to know what he was thinking, but I wasn’t going to ask. He was so closed off, a man of mystery. He barely spoke. If he wasn’t a big talker with the small things, I knew I wasn’t going to get anything serious out of him.

“I’m not completely alone. There are others up there.”

“Really?” This was an entire world I knew nothing about.

Before he could answer, the doctor himself stepped out.

“Sean,” he said, and Viktor stood. I followed him into the doctor’s office. “It’s good to see you again.”

The doctor clearly knew Viktor. Dr. Bernard Hanson was an older man, I would guess late fifties, with salt and pepper gray hair and a friendly smile. I planned to wait in the waiting room, but Viktor grabbed my hand and dragged me along. We walked to an exam room, and Dr. Hanson asked a handful of questions.

I pinned Viktor with a glare every now and then, insisting he be truthful about his wound. He had some macho thing going that was unnecessary. If Dr. Hanson knew what he had to deal with, we could get out