by Alie Nolan
Search and Find
LITTLE HOLLOW, BOOK 1.5
ALIE NOLAN
Blurb
Wyatt has spent a long time being convinced he will never meet the man of his dreams living in a tiny village, but when someone new arrives in Wiltonham in need of his help, he starts to think maybe he was wrong. Wyatt hopes that his new friendship with Adam has the potential to evolve into something more, but what will happen when Adam no longer needs his help?
Adam moved to Wiltonham in search of a fresh start, a new place where he could finally be himself. He didn’t expect his new life to start with his dog going missing. Being separated from his beloved pet has left him completely heartbroken, but searching for her might help him find everything he’s always wanted.
Search and Find is a 10K word MM romance.
This short is part of the Little Hollow series, but can be read as a standalone.
Copyright
Search and Find is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Alie Nolan
Published in the United Kingdom by Alie Nolan.
All rights reversed. This book or any portions therefor may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever with the express written permission of the publishers except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover image: © Dmyrto_Z
Cover design: Alie Nolan
Editing: Susie Selva
One
Wyatt
I was sitting at my desk in the reception area of the veterinary practice, organising the rotas for the coming week, when Matty popped his head out of the exam room door.
“Want to go out sometime soon?” he asked.
“Yeah, where to?”
“I don’t know. Drinks somewhere? I feel like I haven’t hung out with you outside of work in years.”
“Okay, that would be awesome.” I smiled, and he went back into his office.
It was kind of true. Matty was my best friend, and since he’d moved in with his boyfriends, we hadn’t been making as much time for each other as we normally would.
I didn’t blame him in the slightest though. If I had two drop-dead gorgeous men waiting at home for me every night, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere but at home either. I didn’t have anyone waiting at home for me though. Just me and my lonely existence in a silent house where I would likely die alone. I was probably going to end up one of those sad people who dies in their house and it takes weeks, if not months, for anyone to even notice.
Dramatic? Yes.
An actual possibility? Also, yes.
I was beyond happy for Matty. He’d found the two loves of his life, and he deserved to be as happy as he was. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a teensy bit jealous every time I saw him with Caleb and Elliott. I couldn’t help wishing I had someone to love me like they loved him.
Matty reminded me all the time that my perfect man was out there just waiting to bump into me somewhere, but I wasn’t so sure. I lived in a tiny village in the middle of fucking nowhere, and every queer man in town was practically family to me.
Who the fuck was I just going to spontaneously bump into here in Wiltonham?
The answer to that was no one.
I was just getting my focus back on the work I needed to get done when the front door of the practice swung open, and Ethan—Matty’s cousin—rushed inside and made a beeline straight to the big glass window that looked out onto the high street.
“No joke,” he said, glancing over his shoulder in my direction. “There is a guy out there shouting ‘come in me’ over and over at the top of his lungs.” A playful smirk spread across his face. “I may just take him up on his offer. He’s fucking gorgeous.”
My interest was piqued. I shot out of my chair and scurried over to the window to join him.
As I followed Ethan’s line of sight, my eyes landed on the most beautiful man I’d ever seen in my life.
It wasn’t the first time I’d seen the man. I had no idea who he was, which was odd because I knew literally everyone in Wiltonham, but I’d seen him walk by the window a couple of times that week. One time I’d been about to head home when we’d locked eyes from across the road. He’d smiled at me, I’d smiled back, and then I’d trapped my finger in the door as it was closing. I’d screamed like a banshee as I turned to make sure my finger was still intact—it was fine, just a bit bruised—and by the time I turned back to him, all I saw was his back as he was walking away.
Every time I saw him, I was tempted to run outside and introduce myself, but he always seemed to walk by just as I needed to do something… or when I was almost cutting off my finger in a door.
I watched him run his hand through his golden hair as he leaned into the bushes lining the pavement. He looked to be in his early thirties—a few years older than me—wearing blue jeans and a thin black jumper. He had several days’ worth of stubble covering his perfectly square jaw, the same golden shade as his hair. He was gorgeous.
“Dibs,” I joked, and Ethan chuckled.
“No fair,” he pouted. “I saw him first.”
Before he could say anything else, I dashed to the door and stuck my tongue out at him as I sauntered out onto the pavement.
It was only once I was standing outside, staring at Ethan through the window where he was now watching me expectantly, that I realised I hadn’t actually thought through a plan.
I couldn’t exactly walk up to a complete stranger and say, ‘Hi, I’ve been creepily staring at you though that window over there. I think you’re hot. Want to go on a date?’
Chances were, he wasn’t even gay.
What were the odds that a gorgeous stranger would turn up in town and be both gay and single?
Probably a million to one. Not likely.
“Come in me,” he said again, still facing the bushes.
“You know,” I began. “You’ll get yourself into trouble shouting that. Say it a few more times while clicking your heels together and a swarm of my friends will appear.” He turned to face me as I spoke. “Although, if that’s your goal, Grindr’s probably your best bet.”
His expression contorted into one of confusion. “I’m sorry. What?” He paused for a moment before his entire face and neck turned the shade of a tomato. “I… um…”
I felt bad for the guy. He was clearly caught off guard and hadn’t realised whatever he was shouting had sounded the way it had. The embarrassment on his face was mixed with fear, and I felt instantly concerned for him.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He shook his head as soon as my words were out. “No. I…” He looked around anxiously. “I can’t find my dog, Imogen… Immy.”
Wow. I felt like an arsehole. Here he was, searching for his missing pet—who, from how heartbroken he sounded, he cared about dearly—and I was over here making sex jokes.
Idiot.
I mentally rolled my eyes at myself.
I was obviously fucking fantastic at first impressions. Not.
“Shit,” I muttered awkwardly, no longer able to make eye contact with the man. “I’m so fucking sorry. I’m a dick. Ignore me. When did you last see her?”
He ran his hand through his hair again, tugging on the strands. “Um,” he murmured, and looked down at his watch. “A couple of hours ago, maybe three. I don’t know. I let her out into the garden and when I went out to check on her, I saw a hole in the fence panels at the back of garden that I hadn’t noticed before. That was a couple of hours ago, but I don’t know exa
ctly how long she was in the garden for before I noticed she was missing.” He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “Shit. I shouldn’t have let her out. It was stupid. Now she’s God knows where, and she’ll have no idea how to get home. We haven’t had time to walk around and get her used to the area yet. Shit, shit, shit.”
“It’s okay,” I soothed, tentatively reaching out to place a comforting hand on his arm. “I’ll help you look for her. Let me just run back inside and let my friend know I won’t be back for a bit, okay?”
He nodded meekly. “Okay.”
I rushed back inside as fast as I could, feeling bad for leaving… whatever his name was outside by himself.
“Matty?” I called out as I walked inside.
Matty’s exam room door opened, and he leaned out. “Yeah?”
“There’s this guy outside,” I said quickly.
“A really hot guy,” Ethan teased and shot me a wink before turning back to my computer. Since I’d gone outside, he’d made himself comfortable at my desk.
“What are you doing?” I asked Ethan.
He shrugged. “Just checking my email.”
Whatever. I didn’t have time to remind him not to fuck up anything on my computer.
“Anyway, there’s this guy outside,” I said again. “He’s lost his dog, and I told him I’d help him look for her. I don’t know how long I’ll be, but you’re okay to cover the desk, right?”
“Of course,” Matty nodded and made a shooing motion at me. “Go, go. We’ll be fine here.”
“Okay, thank you.”
The mystery man was still standing exactly where I’d left him when I walked back outside.
“You work there?” he asked.
I nodded. We were a tiny practice and weren’t strict on uniform. I wore whatever I wanted to work, so I probably didn’t look like I was at work in my grey jeans and white t-shirt. “Yeah, I’m the receptionist.”
He smiled, but there was so much sadness in his eyes it nearly broke my heart.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Adam. You?”
“Wyatt.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Wyatt. Are your fingers okay?”
I was confused for a moment before I remembered he’d witnessed me getting them stuck in the door. I looked down at my bruised fingers and chuckled. “Yeah, they’re fine. Just a little bruised.”
I had been hoping he would’ve forgotten about that embarrassing display, but no such luck.
“Good.” He grinned.
“Okay, let’s get looking.”
He nodded and followed me as I made my way down the high street.
“What breed is she?” I hadn’t seen him with a dog before, so I wasn’t sure what kind of dog we were searching for.
“Golden Retriever, although she’s more cream than she is golden.”
“Have you searched the fields yet? Or the forest areas?”
He shook his head and ran his hand over the back of his neck. “Not yet. I was going to, but as soon as I walked out into the fields behind my house, I felt like I was going to get lost too. The trees are like a maze.”
“Right, we’ll start there, in the trees behind your house. If she turns up on the high street, the person who finds her is likely to take her straight to Matty, anyway.”
“Matty?”
“Oh, Matty’s the vet where I work.”
Adam led me to his house, which was an adorable old property on the outskirts of the village. Secluded from the main roads and surrounded by trees.
“So, I take it you’re new to the village?” I asked as we walked through the fields behind his house. “I haven’t seen you around until recently, and I know everyone here.”
“Yeah, I moved here last week. I haven’t had a chance to do much yet or meet anyone, but I like it here so far.”
“What made you move here?” New people rarely moved to Wiltonham, and I was always intrigued to know why people decided to move here. It wasn’t like there was much to see or do, and the closest town was miles away.
“It wasn’t so much the place as it was the house.” He smiled. “I wanted a change of pace. To live somewhere quiet where Imogen would have lots of outside space. I saw the house online and knew I needed to see it in person. Once I did, there was no going back. I work from home doing software coding, so it doesn’t really matter where I’m located.”
“Cool. Well, welcome to the village.”
“Thanks.”
We walked together through the fields for a while, chatting a little between shouting for Imogen, until I suggested we split up to cover more ground.
I told him to continue through the open fields where he couldn’t get lost, and I’d take the forest because I knew my way around. I’d known enough people, who were far more familiar with the place than Adam, to get lost while walking around in the maze of trees.
I walked around for hours, and every time I called for Imogen, I was met with nothing but the echoes of my own voice followed by deafening silence.
As the sun started to set and the paths through the trees were swallowed by shadows, I decided it was time to call it a day. It fucking sucked because when I met back up with Adam neither of us had found her, and I knew Adam must have hated the idea of Imogen spending the night outside all alone.
I walked back towards his house with him as the sky darkened even further.
“Thank you for your help today,” he said as we reached his doorstep.
“No need to thank me. I’m happy to help. I’m sorry we didn’t find her, but I’m sure we’ll have better luck tomorrow when it’s light again.”
“Tomorrow?” he asked.
“Of course. I’m not giving up until we find her. I’ll meet you here at seven o’clock tomorrow morning, and I’ll ring around tonight and gather a search party to help us.”
“That would be amazing. Thank you so much.” He smiled, and it was the brightest smile I’d seen cross his face all day.
“It’s no problem. I hate the idea of you out looking alone, and everyone will be more than happy to help. I’m sure of it. I’ll see you in the morning.” I waved to him as I walked backwards down his driveway.
“See you in the morning.”
Two
Adam
I barely slept a wink, tossing and turning all night, imagining my poor baby somewhere out there all alone. She must have been so scared, and hungry, and lonely. It made me feel physically sick when I pictured all the terrible things that could have happened to her.
Thank God it was summer because it would have been awful for her if it had been a freezing, winter night.
I finally got out of bed at six o’clock, got dressed, and had a cup of coffee while I waited for Wyatt to arrive at seven. I couldn’t stomach eating anything, so the coffee would have to do for breakfast.
When a knock sounded on my front door, I rushed to open it and was shocked to see a group of almost twenty people standing huddled together on my driveway.
“I brought some friends,” Wyatt said with a smile. His grin was beautiful, and it was impossible not to smile back at him. “There are more of us, but I’ve already sent a few groups of people out in different directions throughout the village.”
Wow. I didn’t know what to say. When he’d said he was going to organise a search party, I hadn’t imagined nearly this many people.
Why would a bunch of strangers take time out of their days to help me? They didn’t know me or Imogen.
“You ready to head out?” Wyatt asked.
“Yeah.” I stepped out of my house and locked up before joining the group of strangers.
“Okay,” Wyatt said loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention. “We need to split into smaller groups. You lot go that way.” He pointed to a group and then to the left of my house. “And the rest of us will go this way. If you find her, send a text in the group chat.”
Everyone followed hi
s instructions and went where he’d told them to.
I was in the group with Wyatt, but I was pulled into a conversation with a woman named Ness, who I learned was one of Matty’s aunts—even though I still didn’t know which one, if any, of these people were Wyatt’s friend, Matty.
As we walked into the trees a little farther down from where Wyatt had gone the day before, I heard a small voice shout, “Wait for me,” and turned to see a teenage girl jogging towards our group.
Wyatt was standing with a few guys whose names I didn’t know, but they weren’t too far behind me, and I was able to eavesdrop on their conversation as the girl caught up to them.
“Where have you been?” one of the men with Wyatt asked the girl.
“I slept in,” she panted. “I didn’t even read all the messages in the group chat, just saw an address and a time. Whose dog are we looking for?”
“Wyatt’s new boyfriend.”
“He is not my boyfriend. I only met him yesterday,” Wyatt told the man.
“I give it two weeks before Wyatt’s fucked him.”
“Have you seen him?” another man asked. “I give it two days.”
I peeked over my shoulder and saw Wyatt flash the men a middle finger. “Would you lot behave? We have a dog to find.”
“Seems pretty defensive to me,” the girl said with a laugh.
“Fuck you all.” Wyatt chuckled and separated from the group.
My stomach fluttered a little at hearing someone refer to Wyatt as my boyfriend. He was fun, and adorable, and kind, and absolutely gorgeous, and if I had the first clue how to go about asking him out on a date, I would.
I’d never asked a guy out before. I knew I was gay—had known for a long time—but I hadn’t ever acted on it. It was one of the reasons I’d moved to a new place for a fresh start. I wanted a new life for myself where I could be me without any of the toxic people I’d had in my old life.
