Howard's Way (3)

By Wolfie Steel

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Mason and I get back into our clothes and head down to the hotel restaurant for our breakfast, a young female Dalmatian takes us to our allotted table and then waits while we decide what to have for breakfast. It seems that I am not the only one who has eyes for my Husky mate, the female Dalmatian is struggling to keep her eyes off him, now I'm not an asshole and I know that I could do one of three things; first I could do nothing and make the Dalmatian believe that she has a shot at scoring the Husky's attraction, second I could give her a little hint by holding Mason's paw, or third I could go really mean and report her to her superiors for making eyes at my mate.

It seems though that Mason has also noticed the attention that the Dalmatian is giving him and bows his head a little as he places his order.

"Okay, first I would like some cereals with full cream milk, then I will have some toast and butter, and to finish I will have a black coffee with two sugars please"

He then turns to me and asks.

"What are you having for breakfast love?"

I chuckle a little at the tactful way that Mason has just doused the Dalmatian's flames, and then I place my order.

"Just white buttered toast for me, heavy on the butter, oh and an orange juice too please"

The Dalmatian's head hangs a little but knowing that she has been caught she finishes writing the order out and then heads into the kitchen, I lean over gently and give my Husky a gentle lick on the cheek.

"Beautifully handled sweets, are you sure that you are a Racing Team owner because I could have sworn you worked at the fire department with the skill that you used to put her fire out"

Mason laughs a little.

"Man she had serious fuck me eyes, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't have covered those up, and yes I admit right now that if my pendulum was swinging the other way I would be so interested in her, but it doesn't and that is just fine by me, because I got me one of the sexiest Doberman guys you could ever wish to meet"

In my mind I can hear the song "Smooth Operator" by Sade because goddamn it Mason is as smooth as silk.

Five minutes later and a huge male Bull brings out our breakfast, you would almost think that it was the Dalmatian kind of flipping us the bird, a thought that it seems is not wasted on Mason as we both let out a hearty belly laugh.

Once breakfast is over Mason and I head back to our room so that I can collect my designing stuff and he can pick up the key for the function room, once we have everything that we need we head to the function room so that we can begin the task of designing Mason's new boat.

Mason opens the door to the function room and we walk in, it is not a huge room by any standards but is big enough for what we need. I set up my sketch pad on the glass topped oval table and set my pencil case and rulers down next to it, I pull the chair out from under the table and park my butt on it.

"Okay Mason, first things first, do you have a name for your new boat or do you want to design it first and then name it afterwards?"

Mason lowers his muzzle to my left ear.

"There is only one name that fits, Howard's Husky Pride"

I giggle and blush a little, but I write the name at the top of the blank page. By the time that lunchtime comes around I have the basic outline of the boat drawn, damn it looks so sleek and fast and it looks as though it will wear its name well. I sit there for a while and stare at the lines of the boat until I'm brought out of my trance by the sound of a rumbling stomach.

"Sounds like a certain Husky is hungry, now we could stay at the hotel to eat, or we could go out into Tarrant and get fish 'n' chips"

With Tarrant starting out life as a fishing village it boasts a plethora of places where you can get something fishy to eat.

"Well love, seeing as how I am going to be setting up base here I guess I need to start eating local produce, and if I'm being honest, in all the times that I have been to the UK I have never once sampled the great British tradition that is Fish 'n' Chips"

We both stand from our seats and head out of the function room, making sure to lock the door behind us, we then link paws as we walk out into the lobby of the hotel and out onto the main street of Tarrant.

Tarrant is a relatively small town so pretty much everyone knows everyone else and so I know that if I am seen walking down the main street paw in paw with another guy we won't get hassled for it, hell most of the folks saw the destruction of my marriage on the front page of the local newspaper, the Tarrant Tribune.

After a ten minute walk we arrive at a shop that I know all too well, it is the local Fish 'n' Chip shop, I look at Mason as the smells of the delicious food waft out from the open doorway, I can see his muzzle is watering with anticipation, and so I waste no further time and enter the shop with Mason hot on my heels.

Tiny Lacey is a big black Horse and he is standing at the fryer, his real name is Adam Lacey, but due to his size everyone calls him Tiny. He looks up from the fryer he is working at and spots me in the crowd of furs waiting for their orders.

"Yo Tom, I see you have a companion with you today, why don't you both go to one of the empty tables and Martha will come out and take your orders"

Hehe, yeah there is not much that gets past Tiny's eyes and ears, Mason and I find an empty table and we take a seat, a moment later a female version of Tiny walks out from behind the counter.

"Okay Tom budge up, let me take the weight off my hooves while I take your order"

Yeah that is Martha Lacey, she has no heirs and graces, once you get on her good side and you get to know her as well as I do then she will come and sit right next to you while she takes your order, for me though she already has my order written down, as it is the same thing each time, Scampi, Chips and good ole Mushy Peas.

"Now then Mr. Sexy Husky, what will you be ordering?"

Mason begins to protest a little until Martha holds up a hoofed hand.

"Relax hon, I know that you are off the market, it's just I don't know your name yet"

Mason's protest turns into a little chuckle.

"My name is Mason DeLuth, and yes as you so eloquently put it I am off the market, and as for what I will have, I guess since this is my first time eating Fish 'n' Chips I will go with whatever Tom is having"

Martha completes the order and then replies.

"Well Mason, any friend and lover of Tom's is a friend to the Lacey's too; I'll bring your meals out as soon as they are ready"

Martha disappears back behind the counter to prepare our meals, Mason looks at me still with a slightly astonished look on his face.

"Well hon, that was Martha Lacey, and as you may have guessed she doesn't do subtlety, but I will tell you this now babe, she has an eye for a good man, the last one that I hooked up with, she took an instant dislike to him, turns out she was right, we were together for three days and then he went and found himself a new conquest, you sweetheart she likes, so I know that you are the one, you have just been given the Martha Lacey seal of approval"

After a five minute wait Martha brings a tray loaded with both of our meals, plus a delicious looking ice cream desert, she places the meals down in front of us and then she places the desert in between us.

"Compliments of the management, enjoy your meals both of you"

With that Martha heads back behind the counter, Mason just lightly shakes his head and smiles.

"So Tom, how the hell did you manage to find this place?"

I gulp a little as I recall the memory of the night that Avril threw me out.

"It was the night that my ex threw me out onto the street after we had had a huge bust up over money, or lack thereof, well I ended up walking the streets of Tarrant until about midnight I guess, that was when I found this place, it looked as though they were just shutting up shop for the night, but I took a chance and walked in. Martha was cleaning down tables while Tiny was just serving the last of his customers. I knew that I was out of luck to get food so I started to walk out of the shop; that is when I felt a huge hoofed hand grab a hold of my shoulder"

I take a bite out of my meal as I continue.

"Well I was led to the table that Martha had been cleaning, she sat me down and then she sat directly opposite me and asked me what was wrong, of course I didn't really feel much like talking, but when Martha asks you what is wrong she will not quit until you tell her, and so she sat there while I bared my soul to her, she then told Tiny to make me a meal even though I put up no end of protests, I mean for the love of god they had been on their feet for most of the day so I knew that they would need to rest, but despite all of my protests five minutes later I had a plate of Scampi and Chips in front of me"

Mason listens intently and we both take another bite from our meals.

"Once I had finished my meal Martha asked me if I had anywhere to sleep for the night, well I could have gone to Jack's place but that would have been awkward with Avril being his daughter, and so I said no. I ended up staying with Martha and Tiny for three months while my divorce was sorted out, and then I bought my trailer home and moved into that, but one thing is for sure, I will always owe Tiny and Martha a huge debt"

We now sit in silence as we finish our food; Mason then holds my paw in his across the table.

"If you don't mind me asking Tom, what happened to the house that you had? I mean yes I know that Avril took it as part of the divorce settlement, but did she live in it or did she move on?"

I think back to a nasty letter that I had received from Avril just three weeks ago.

"My Dearest Tom, I have had enough of living in this dump that they call Tarrant, so with the money that I got from you I am taking the kids to live in Australia, you can do what the fuck you like with the house, fucking bulldoze it if you want I don't care, I know that you can't afford to live in it now so I have won again. Don't bother to try and find me or the kids. Have a shitty life, all my love Avril"

I take the letter out of my jackets inside pocket and hand it to Mason, he reads the letter and then gives out a real nasty growl, it is enough to make Martha re-appear behind the counter.

"Is everything okay guys?"

We both nod gently and Martha vanishes again, Mason now looks at me with a steely determination.

"Tom, what do you say to us going back to the hotel and packing the design stuff away for today, and then going to see if we can get that house of yours back into some kind of order?"

I shake my head in defeat.

"Mason, sweetheart, even if I wanted to I can't afford to pay for the utilities to be reconnected let alone pay the mortgage repayments"

Mason gently takes my paw in his and then slowly drags me from my seat; we head over to the counter where he gets out his wallet to pay for lunch, Tiny now stands before us with a most disproving look on his muzzle.

"Put your wallet away Mason, it is not accepted in this establishment, but hear me on this, if you hurt Tom, then I will do you some quite permanent damage is that clear?"

I glare at the Horse but all I get in return is the look that says that he meant every word of what he has just said. Mason puts his wallet away and then retakes my paw in his and just gives Tiny a knowing nod.

We both head back to the hotel and into the function room; I take my seat and pick up my pencil again ready to continue the design of the boat.

"Damn it Tom, the boat can wait, I meant what I said in the Fish 'n' Chip shop, now pack up your stuff and let's get going"

I let out a resigned sigh as I do as I am told, in truth I would have preferred not to be going back to the house where I spent all of my married life, that part of my life is now dead and buried, why drag up so many bad memories, but I very much doubt that Mason is going to let me off so lightly.

With my stuff packed we head back to our room so that we can store my things safely, we then head back out of the hotel and towards my car, once we are seated in my car we begin the journey that I had hoped that I would never make again.