Rescuing Finley (A Forever Home Novel Book 1)

by Dan Walsh

  “You do?”

  “Yes. And not just every now and then, but as often as possible.”

  “You do?” Tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

  “Yes, I do. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but I started to realize whenever I thought about coming out here, Finley wasn’t the only reason why. I also wanted to see you. When I’d leave this place, I wouldn’t just miss seeing him, I missed seeing you. And when I heard you were getting out in a couple of months, I got real excited. And it wasn’t because you’d get to see Finley more often. It was because, well, I might get to see you more often.”

  She stood there, just staring at him with a big smile on her face. She blinked away her tears.

  “So what do you say?”

  She nodded her head.

  “Yes, you’re okay with all this?”

  She nodded again. Now she looked behind them, to see if anyone was watching.

  Chris didn’t see anyone looking their way.

  She hugged him around the neck. Quickly, then pulled away. “I can’t believe you’re saying this.”

  Still looking in her eyes, he said, “Can I kiss you?”

  “I think it might be against the rules.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her lips. “I don’t care,” he said, as their lips parted. Then he kissed her again. He could tell she was nervous, so he didn’t make it a long one. “I’ve been wanting to do that for weeks,” he said, now looking at her face.

  “So have I,” she said.

  He looked at his watch. “My time is almost up. But I looked into it and talked with Miss Bridget about it already.”

  “Looked into what?”

  “Visiting hours. She said because they’ve already cleared me to be out here, and I’ve been out here so much, I don’t have to wait the customary thirty days to get on the visitors’ list. I can’t be out here every day like I’ve been, but I’ll be out here every weekend during regular visitor hours. And because Finley’s my service dog, he’ll be coming with me.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. So see, that’s why I said to cheer up in there. Today’s not the end for you and Finley. Or for you and me. It’s just the beginning. And once you get out in two months, the three of us can see each other every day if we want.”

  Amy didn’t care about the rules. She was happier than she’d ever been in her life. She wrapped her arms around Chris and gave him a passionate kiss. And he kissed her back just as eagerly. The kiss ended because Finley began to bark. They both pulled away before anyone looked.

  Amy looked at Finley. His face looked confused, but his tail was wagging away.

  “I better go, Amy. It’s a few minutes past the time.”

  “I know.” She bent down to Finley’s level. “Okay boy, you’re going to go with Chris now.” She held his face in the palm of her hand. “I know you won’t understand a thing I’m about to say, but I know you can read my heart, even better than I can. I love you, Finley. You’ve been like a gift from God to me, and the best friend I’ve ever had. So this isn’t really goodbye. I’m going to see you real soon. Okay?” The tears came back. “Before you know it, Chris’ll bring you right back for a visit. Okay?” She hugged him as tight as she dared. He didn’t pull away. Instead, he leaned into her hug and rested his head on her shoulder.

  Chris reached down and touched her hand. She let go of Finley and stood but still kept hold of his hand.

  He stood there a moment. “I’ve got something I need to say to you. You and Finley have given me two things I thought were gone from my life for good.”

  “What are they?”

  “Hope,” he said. “And love. I know I’ve still got a ways to go, but you’ve both made my load so much lighter. I’m not all that afraid of what’s up ahead. Not anymore. And I’ve got the two of you to thank for that.”

  She didn’t know what to say. She felt like she was the one who should be thanking him.

  “I really better go,” Chris said. “Don’t want to get you in any trouble.”

  “I know.” She patted Finley on the head, and stepped back. “Now you go with Chris, Finley. You’re going to be with him now.”

  Chris stepped back and let go of her hand. He held Finley’s leash in the other. “But we are going to see you very soon, Amy Wallace. This weekend, in fact. And every other weekend till you get out of this place.”

  He walked a few more steps, turned and said, “Me and Finley both. We’re going to come back just to see you, every chance we get.”

  55

  2 Months Later

  The day had finally come.

  Amy couldn’t believe it. Thanks to the regular visits each weekend by Chris and Finley, the last two months had flown by. She was so excited. Yesterday evening, she had said her final goodbyes to Miss Bridget, Rita and some of the other girls she counted as friends. And now, she was going through the final release procedures. She was already wearing her street clothes, the first time she had worn blue jeans in three years. The doorway to the outside world and total freedom was just down the hall.

  If things had gone according to plan, Chris and Finley should be waiting there for her in the parking lot. It was clear from their weekend visits that she and Chris were officially a couple now. They still had never been on a first date. Chris said he had plans to change that this evening.

  She couldn’t wait.

  “Just one more paper to sign,” the female guard said, “and I can give you the rest of your things.”

  Amy signed it and watched as the guard brought out a box. From it, she pulled Amy’s old black purse and a big envelope that contained everything left in the purse from three years ago. Amy quickly opened the envelope and set everything back in her purse, exactly where they belonged. Then she slung the purse around her shoulder. “Is there anything else?”

  “Nope, that’s it,” the guard said.

  “I’m free?”

  “Free as a bird. Have a good life. And stay out of trouble.”

  “I will. Thanks.” Amy turned and headed down the hallway.

  She opened the metal door into the bright sunlight. The first thing she noticed as her eyes adjusted to the light was the absence of a barbed wire fence around the parking lot. One second later, she heard the most wonderful sound.

  Finley barking.

  She quickly found him by a dark blue sedan, standing next to Chris who waved his arm to get her attention. Finley’s tail was wagging, and he was prancing his front feet. She waved to Chris and headed that way. “Hey Finley. I see you. I’ll be right there.”

  “I don’t think he can wait,” Chris yelled, then let go of Finley’s leash.

  Finley ran toward her, his blue leash flapping behind him. She bent down and braced herself for an over-the-top greeting. Which is exactly what she got. You’d think Finley hadn’t seen her for ages. He was jumping all over, licking her face and hands, totally out of control.

  And she was perfectly fine with that.

  Chris walked up and joined them a few moments later. By then, Finley had begun to settle down. He picked up Finley’s leash, then he gave her a big hug and kiss.

  Their longest kiss to date.

  “Not breaking any rules now,” Chris said as they parted lips.

  “I can’t believe it. I’m free.”

  He took her hand, and the three of them walked toward his car. “You definitely are. Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

  “No, I was too excited.”

  “Hungry now? I didn’t eat thinking maybe we could get some breakfast together.”

  They reached the car. “I’d like that.”

  He opened the back door and Finley hopped in. Then he opened her door, “Hope you’re okay with this. I’m kind of old-fashioned.”

  “I like old-fashioned,” she said as she got in.

  He walked around the front of the car then sat behind the wheel. He put the keys in the ignition and sat back in his seat.

  “Aren’t you going t
o turn the car on?”

  “I am, but I need to talk with you about something first. It’ll just take a minute.”

  Amy could tell, it was something serious. She hoped it wasn’t something that would spoil this wonderful moment. “Okay...”

  “It’s kind of a surprise. A pretty big surprise actually. I hope it’s something you’ll like. But before I tell you what it is, if you’re not okay with it, it doesn’t have to happen. Not today anyway.”

  What in the world? She had no idea what it could be. “Okay, I guess I’m ready.”

  “Do you remember about three visits ago, I asked you about your family. I know it was a difficult subject for you and, at the time, I asked if you’d be open to talk about it, just so that I could get to know you better. That’s really all I had in mind at the time. But then as I got home, I started to think about it. It just seemed wrong to me that the reason they haven’t stayed in touch with you all this time is because of the things you did to them back when you were on drugs.”

  “They were some pretty bad things, Chris. I lied to them constantly and stole money from them more times than I can count. I even stole some of my mother’s jewelry and sold it at a pawn shop.”

  “I know that and I get why they had to cut you off. But Amy, that was, what, almost four years ago? You’re a totally different person now. In every way. You said you were raised in the church, that your folks are church people. Well, Christians —church people—are supposed to forgive, especially when the other person’s totally sorry for what they did.”

  “They don’t know I’m sorry. I’ve never been able to tell them. I sent a letter to Cassie over a year ago but it came back as the wrong address.”

  “Well, that’s kind of my surprise. They do now.”

  “Do now…what?”

  “They know you’re sorry. I did some snooping on the internet, and I found out where your brother, Peter, lives now. He and Cassie. I found out the place he works, and I was able to email him. Told him all about you, what you’re like now, about us, about Finley about you getting out today…so much earlier for good behavior. And remember that TV interview we did with Channel 7 after the graduation? That reporter did a whole feature story on it. I found the link on YouTube and included it in the email to your brother.”

  Amy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t believe Chris would do all this, all on his own. “Did you hear anything back?”

  “I did. Later that night. We exchanged cell phone numbers, and then we talked on the phone a good while.”

  “You talked with…Peter? My brother Peter?”

  “I did, Amy. And with Cassie. They only live three hours away from here, near Clearwater. A few days later I got a call from your mom. She lives there, too. Just about a half-mile away from them.”

  “You spoke with my mom?” She couldn’t help it. Tears began to fill her eyes.

  “She read my email to Peter and watched the video. Amy, they want to connect with you. They want you guys to be a family again.”

  Amy couldn’t even speak. She started to cry. Chris leaned over and hugged her. And of course, Finley got in on it, too.

  As he held her, he said, “There’s more. I told them maybe they should wait a day or two, but they didn’t want to do that.”

  “Do what?” she said, pulling back.

  “Your brother Peter, and Cassie. They wanted to be here when you got out.”

  “They’re here?”

  “Yes, but not here…in the parking lot. I thought that might be too much for you. They’re at a Starbucks in downtown Summerville. I called them on the way here. They really want to see you, but I said you might need a little bit of time. They’re okay with that. They got a motel room for the night. They said they can wait until tomorrow morning, if you’d—”

  “—No, I don’t want to.”

  “You don’t want to see them?”

  “No, I don’t want to wait. Can we go see them now?”

  Chris turned the car on. “Sure, we can.”

  “You don’t mind? Isn’t this going to spoil your plans? For our date night tonight?”

  He put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. “Not at all. We can go on our first date tomorrow night, or the night after that, or the night after that. I’m not going anywhere, Amy. You, me and Finley? We’ve got all the time in the world.”

  Want to Read More?

  Rescuing Finley is Book 1 in the Forever Home series. Book 2 is called Finding Riley. It includes some of the same characters and introduces some new ones. Here’s a pic of the cover, as well as a brief description.

  Right after that, we’ve included a sneak peek (the first 2 chapters of Finding Riley). If you like it, after Chapter 2 there’s a link to click on to order the book.

  A Thumbnail Sketch of Book 2:

  An unexpected surprise brings the Mitchell family of Savannah a chance to experience the Christmas trip of their dreams. An unexpected disappointment threatens to turn it into the worst Christmas of their lives. John Finch and his friend Alfred live in the woods. Been doing it for decades. He likes wintering in Florida, but this year’s been particularly harsh. Between the cold, freezing rain and terrifying lightning storms, John’s starting to wonder how much more of this lifestyle he can take. A new friend enters the picture and changes everything. Kim Harper, the dog trainer introduced in Rescuing Finley, is contacted by a billionaire philanthropist seeking her help with a new dog training project that will help the homeless. Is he for real? And is her co-worker right, does this rich handsome man's interest in Kim go far deeper than her dog-training skills?

  Sneak Peek of Finding Riley

  1

  Okay, he got it. It was December. But it was also Florida. So why was John Finch still shivering inside his sleeping bag, his body all curled up in a ball?

  He’d packed up his things three weeks ago and hitched a freight train down from Memphis to avoid freezing weather like this. Riding a freight train was a scary thing, but John couldn’t get the money together for a Greyhound ticket. At the time, it seemed worth the risk. But now?

  He heard the tent zipper go down.

  “You ever coming outta there, John? Fire’s burning nice and hot now. Coffee’s all brewed.” It was his friend, Alfred. Alfred’s the one who’d invited him to this camp. Some of Alfred’s friends had nicknamed him Two-Sheets because, most of the time, Alfred stayed slightly inebriated. Not fall down drunk, mind you. Otherwise, they’d have called him Three-Sheets (“three sheets to the wind”).

  John peeked his head out of the sleeping bag. “What time is it?”

  “Almost nine. Starting to see the sun through the trees. Supposed to be the last day of this cold snap. Said so on the radio not twenty minutes ago. So, c’mon. We need to get to work sprucing up the camp for that cameraman who’s coming. Don’t want him to think the homeless are nothing but lazy bums.”

  That’s right. John couldn’t believe it. Some idiot had gone and said yes to a guy making a documentary about the homeless. He’d found out about it last night. “When’s this guy supposed to show up?”

  “I don’t know. What’s a-matter? Didn’t you sleep okay last night? I certainly did. I always sleep better when it’s cold.”

  John sighed. He might as well just get up. Alfred wasn’t gonna stop nagging until he did. And he definitely didn’t want to still be in bed when that camera guy started filming their campsite. “All right,” he said. “Gimmie a minute. I’ll be right out.”

  “Want me to pour your coffee?”

  “That would be nice.”

  Alfred zipped the tent flap back up “Save you a spot by the fire.”

  John sat up on his cot, started getting out of his sleeping bag. That was something to be grateful for anyway, not having to sleep on the ground. He’d slept on one of those aluminum camping cots you pick up at Walmart for thirty-five bucks. John didn’t pay that, of course. Alfred had snatched it for him the day before John arrived. Some guy w
as breaking camp and heading south, said he needed to travel light and couldn’t take it with him.

  Reaching over, John lifted his leather jacket from a crate beside the cot and put it on. He looked down at his boots. They were a little small. He couldn’t lace them up wearing anything more than one pair of socks. Right now he had on three. But at least he could feel his toes. How long would that last after shedding two pairs and cramming his feet into those old boots?

  He sighed again. Didn’t matter. Had to be done.

  He did it quickly and stood up just as fast. It was a dome-style tent with decent head room. Alfred bought it used a few months ago. Told John how much he’d paid for it. John figured that was a hint, so he’d given him some money when he got here. Almost half, which is why he didn’t have any money for the bus ticket. But now John was having doubts about his investment.

  Last night made it three nights in a row where the outside temperature had dipped below freezing. Maybe he could talk Alfred into the two of them taking off in a few days, make their way south.

  John knew you got down around Tampa and, while it could still get chilly at night, it was nowhere near this cold. He wasn’t exactly sure where they were now. In the woods somewhere a few miles north of a little town called Summerville (at the moment, the name hardly fit). The nearest named-town he recognized was Ocala, maybe a half-hour away.

  As he unzipped the tent and stepped outside, he heard Christmas music on a radio somewhere in the distance. Johnny Mathis singing, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. No mistaking that distinctive vibrato. Looking around at the sight before him, John couldn’t quite agree with Mr. Mathis. It was cold enough to feel like Christmas, but it looked just like what it was—a dirty old camp in the woods filled with homeless people.

  He’d seen plenty of similar camps in several different states over the last two decades, since he’d joined their ranks. This was better than some. Definitely more organized. Alfred had said the two guys who’d been here the longest set things up almost four years ago. Most of the camps John lived in had either fallen apart, or everyone got chased out within a few months.