Chapter Text
"Lucky, come on, it's time to go to the store," Shane stood with his hands on his hips, staring down at a collie very happily curled up in bed and wagging her tail, revelling in her disobedience. "Come on. You love going to the store."
Lucky gave an overly-dramatic yawn and stood up to stretch. Progress.
"You know I got you because collies are supposed to be full of energy and very intelligent and excellent companions?" Shane told her. That wasn't completely true. He had got Lucky because he saw an add on a noticeboard in town asking for a home for a puppy that had failed sheepdog school and felt a maternal awakening.
Lucky finished stretching and trotted into the hallway, woofed once.
"Oh, so when I want to go, it's fine for you to stay in bed, but when you want to go I have to be ready straight away?" Shane shook his head at Lucky fondly and took his boots of the shoe rack. "Can't believe I'm talking to a dog."
The Shane of five years ago would probably have been a little bit horrified by the life he was leading today- a cabin in the woods, chickens and horses hadn't been part of his dreams of where a career in accountancy could take him. The Shane of five years ago had also been obliviously miserable, exhausted by office work and city commutes and agonisingly lonely. Life now was far better. It wasn't quiet, but the noises came from nature most of the time and not building his daily routine around public transport and meetings gave him far more control and freedom in his life than ever before.
Lucky barked again.
Shane stopped tying his shoelaces and stared at her. "Have some patience and be good at the store and we'll stop by the butchers on the way home to get you a treat."
This did not stop Lucky barking but instead hearing two of her favourite words just seemed to encourage her. Shane chuckled at her excitement and tussled her head. "You're so spoiled. You with your three beds and boyfriend vetting privileges and rewards for going to the store."
It felt like a fair swap for getting a live-in best friend. He let her out of the house, waited for her to run to the truck and then picked up her travel harness from the hook by the door as soon as she wasn't looking. Lucky was not as big a fan of health and safety as Shane was.
-
An hour later, Shane and Lucky left the agricultural store after picking up a new chicken coop, horse feed and getting repeatedly distracted by the other customers and dogs in the store. "You ready to go the butcher's and go home now?" Shane asked Lucky, who was dancing around the flat-bed trolley he was pushing and doing his level-best not to hit her with.
Lucky barked her agreement and they drove to the car park for the market with a butcher's. "Wait in the truck for a few minutes and I will be back straight away," Shane told Lucky after he parked.
She paid no attention. The second Shane opened his door, she wriggled spectacularly and freed herself from her harness, then jumped over the gearbox and over Shane's lap to burst out of the truck. Panic shot through Shane's body. The last thing he had expected to happen today was his dog getting out of her safety harness and into a busy car park. "Lucky! Get back in!"
Lucky trotted away from the truck and had vanished around the back of the neighbouring pick-up by the time Shane had his feet on the floor. "LUCKY!"
"Is this your dog?" a Russian accent called from the direction Lucky had gone. "I have her collar. It is okay."
Shane ran towards the voice, entirely ignorant of his own safety with his heartbeat pounding in his ears and his focus entirely on getting his dog back and safely in his arms. She was standing around the other side of the truck, wagging her tail and sniffing a smooth collie. A blond man was crouched between the two dogs, holding Lucky's collar in one hand and the lead of the smooth collie in the other. He looked up at Shane with perfect curls, piercing blue eyes and the most beautiful bone structure it appeared possible for a human being to have. "This your dog?"
"Yeah, that's my Lucky, I'm so so sorry, she just leaped out of my door of the car, she knows she's supposed to stay in the truck when we come here or she makes eyes at the butcher and I buy too much, I don't know what's got into her today," Shane knew he was speaking nine-to-the-dozen but the adrenaline still burning through him wasn't helping him talk slowly. "Thank you so much for grabbing her."
"Lucky, look, this is your dad," the man nudged Lucky towards Shane, who quickly realised the adrenaline couldn't be blamed for how attractive the man's accent was.
Shane reached out to take her collar and they brushed fingers for the briefest of moments, but something in the touch was enough to make them both turn and stare into each other's eyes.
"I think Lucky must have smelled Anya," the man said. "So I should be apologising too, for letting Anya out."
"Oh I'm the only one who needs to do any apologising," Shane said quickly. "Again, thank you so much," he held a hand out. "Shane Hollander."
"Ilya Rozanov."
Offering to shake hands might have been a mistake, Shane realised, when the same electricity as the brief brush of fingers was now wrapped around his whole hand, warm and strong and coming from an unbelievably handsome man whose gaze was looking straight into his soul. He had a chance to see Ilya's outfit properly now- brown leather jacket, grey hoodie, dark blue jeans, boots.
"I just moved here," Ilya said. "Do you know if I can I take Anya into the market?"
Shane nodded. "Dogs can go in but they have to stay on leads. I take Lucky in sometimes."
"Is there anywhere Anya could jump up and steal food?"
"Everything's behind counters."
"Thank you."
Shane didn't want the conservation to end. He'd had his fill of socialising for the day but something about Ilya made him want to look at him for as long as possible. "What brings you all the way out from the cities?"
"I am a firefighter," Ilya said. "I just transferred here."
Shane had not thought it was possible for this man- this absolute stranger- to become more attractive, but it was clearly a day for him to be proven wrong. "That's so cool! I don't do anything that interesting."
"You must do something interesting if you have a beautiful dog like Lucky," Ilya petted the top of her head and she nuzzled into his leg.
Lucky liked him. This was either brilliant or a disaster.
"I'm a part-time accountant and a part-time chicken farmer."
Ilya's face took on a bemused look. "Boring and interesting."
"Which bit's boring?" Shane smiled, taken aback by Ilya's confidence.
"Accountant, obviously. Chicken farmer is much better. I enjoy chicken." Ilya gave a nod of approval. "I moved to a cabin here, I want animals one day."
"I live in a cabin too, it's on the road that goes past Lac Hirondelle. Whereabouts are you?"
Ilya smiled and Shane knew he was done for. "I think I'm your new neighbour."