by Deb Kastner
Avery watched Lottie and her new dog for a moment and smiled softly. Maybe Jake would see it now. This was what they were all about.
This kind of connection.
This kind of love.
It might be the only kind of love Avery would be able to experience—now, and maybe for a long time to come. She suspected her heart wasn’t going to automatically right itself once Jake went away.
But knowing at the end of the process she was sending Lottie away with Sissy, and that Sissy would take care of the little girl—it was all worth it.
Because Avery knew right now it wasn’t about her.
She had no idea if what he’d seen today would have any impact upon Jake. She wasn’t even sure Jake could back down from Marston Enterprises’ position even if he wanted to, what with the large corporation behind him, pushing him on to succeed as he always did.
But it couldn’t hurt to pray that today had made a difference in his thinking and his heart.
* * *
Jake couldn’t even come up with words to express his appreciation for what Avery had done for Lottie with Sissy’s assistance. It was truly amazing.
Avery showed the Cutters how to practice with Sissy to prepare her for her new job, and Lottie and Elaine made several practice runs with the dog, who behaved beautifully and consistently. Jake was still bewildered by the fact that a dog could sense an epileptic seizure at all, much less respond to it in a positive way that was truly helpful. Sissy would quite literally change Lottie’s whole life, giving her a new sense of freedom as she grew up and eventually went to school.
Jake gently took Avery’s elbow and motioned her aside so he could speak to her in private.
“What do I owe you for Sissy?” he whispered for her ears only. “I can pay you right now, tonight, so you don’t have to go through all the trouble of sending an invoice. Please include both the training and the dog herself. And just for the record—I’m a big tipper.”
He flashed her one of his signature grins, but naturally she didn’t respond to it. If anything, her brow lowered, and her lips curved into a frown.
Typical Avery. Was there nothing that made her happy other than the cabin that would soon be completely unavailable for purchase?
“What?” he asked guardedly, wondering what the problem was now.
“We don’t sell our service dogs,” she told him in a no-nonsense tone with a narrow-eyed glare for punctuation.
“What?” he asked, confused. “I don’t—How does A New Leash on Love run if not by selling the dogs you train?”
“It’s a ministry,” she informed him tightly. “There are so many people who need what we provide that we determined early on when we first started rescuing and training dogs that it would never be about money.”
“I see,” he said, although he didn’t really get it at all. “So it’s—what? A nonprofit organization?”
“Yes.”
“But even nonprofits that adopt out dogs and cats charge for what they do.”
She nodded. “Most of them do. But they aren’t us.” She lifted her chin and narrowed her gaze. “This is how we serve God.”
He wasn’t about to argue with God.
“Well, then, may I donate to your nonprofit?” he asked in the lightest possible tone. He didn’t want to offend her further or send her into a snit, but he did want to contribute to her program. It was wonderful that they donated service dogs to whoever needed them, but he could afford to pay, and he wanted to. “I see what a difference you make, and I’d really like to help.”
He was afraid to move even so much as a muscle as her gaze ran over him, testing his mettle.
“Please, Avery,” he said. “I can afford it. And what you do here—I get that it’s a ministry, and your dogs are beyond amazing. I’d like to help you all keep it going.”
“So, you’re not the widow offering her last mite, then.”
One thing he had to say for Avery—she was snark personified. But for some reason that was one of the things he liked about her. She called it as she saw it with a little sarcasm to spice it up.
He chuckled. “Hardly. Nor will it be left and right hands doing things in secret the other one doesn’t know about. I’ve always been too straightforward in my philanthropy. Trust me, it won’t dent my pocketbook at all. And since you’re a nonprofit, I can write it off on my taxes. Win-win as far as I’m concerned.”
“Yes, okay, you can make a donation. I’ll tell you what. I’ll send you an email with the relevant details for you to make a credit card donation online.”
“That’s perfect,” he said. Better than perfect, actually, because he’d be able to make ongoing donations that way, which he thoroughly intended to do.
“Avery! Jake!” his mother called, waving them over. “Hurry! Come see!”
Jake’s heart leapt into his throat, afraid Lottie was having another seizure, and as he and Avery approached, that was exactly what it looked like was happening. Jake was about to rush into action to take care of his little girl, but Avery stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“Look,” she whispered. “Watch what’s happening.”
Jake observed the scene unfolding in front of him with a sense of wonder. As he watched, he realized there was something different about what was happening right before his eyes.
Lottie wasn’t having a seizure, or at least, not a real one. She was mimicking what she’d seen Avery do earlier, and Sissy was responding perfectly, whining an alert and then lying down lengthwise at Lottie’s side with one paw over her, licking her chin to let her know the dog was with her.
“This will never get old,” Jake murmured. “Sissy is going to make so much difference in all of our lives.”
“Yes, she will,” Avery agreed. “I’ll be drawing up the adoption papers to make it official, but in the meantime, Lottie, do you want to take Sissy home with you to be your new best friend?”
“What do you think, sweetie? Should we take Sissy home with us?” Jake asked, his heart racing so fast he knew it must show in his expression.
There were no words.
Lottie was now wiggling and squealing in a whole different way, joyfully throwing her arms around Sissy’s neck and hugging her tightly.
“Let me get Sissy’s service-dog vest, which you’ll want her to wear whenever you go out. It helps put Sissy in the right frame of mind to know she’s supposed to be working. Also, let me put together a welcome kit with some kibble and other things you’ll need as new dog owners. Once you get back to Dallas, you’ll want to see a vet and establish a relationship with them.”
Jake followed Avery around as she moved from place to place putting the care package together.
A dog owner. He’d never had a pet before, not even when he was a child. Becoming a young widow after his father had died in his early thirties and having to work two jobs to support herself and Jake, his mother had always believed it wouldn’t be fair to add a cat or a dog to the family. But now, with Sissy, the dog wasn’t just going to be a part of the family. She was going to be Lottie’s friend and protector.
“You’ll need to bring Sissy with you back here to the training center every night for the next two weeks so we can work on alert and response specifically geared toward Lottie,” Avery informed him, tossing a genuine smile over her shoulder. “It’s convenient for you that you’re temporarily living nearby, don’t you think?”
He hadn’t expected that barb aimed at him to hit him right in the heart, but perhaps he should have. Despite how generous she was with Sissy and Lottie, there was this one big thing between them.
After what he’d seen tonight, there was no question that he agreed with Avery. A nearby bed-and-breakfast would be beyond helpful in more ways than even Avery probably dreamed about. He was seeing the other side now, receiving A New Leash on Love’s services. Not everyone would ha
ve the resources he had available to him, and Avery wanted the cabin as a way to help them.
Jake would personally have done anything to help.
But Marston wasn’t going to listen to anything Jake had to say. And they weren’t going to give the least bit of consideration to Avery’s personal feelings or whatever scraps of data and research she came up with to fight them when it came to going head-to-head at the town council.
She was going to lose.
Could he really let that happen?
Chapter Twelve
Avery adjusted the maroon silk scarf knotted around her neck for the tenth time in as many minutes. Her sisters had insisted her wearing a business suit—a navy blue skirt and jacket with a pristine white blouse—would be the best choice for going up against Marston. Whispering Pines might be a small mountain town, but Avery would look professional. And maybe the outfit would lend her the courage she was so desperately seeking and couldn’t seem to find.
She was going to have to fake it.
Ruby and Felicity had secretly bought the outfit as a gift to her and had presented it to her the previous evening. At the time, she’d graciously accepted it, appreciating the thought behind it, but now she thought it felt like overkill. She looked more like a flight attendant than someone prepared to take on the big-league lawyers sitting to her right, fiddling with their expensive briefcases and color-coded file folders.
Avery had exactly one plain manila file folder in her possession, and she’d hand-carried that in. Even if it had occurred to her to use one, she didn’t even own a briefcase, and the backpack she generally used to tote items definitely wouldn’t have matched her outfit.
Her brothers and sisters were in the row directly behind her, but she felt as if she were physically shrinking just standing there all by herself at the table. Maybe she should have brought in the local lawyer, even if his specialty was family practice and he wouldn’t have had the first clue what to do in this situation.
Someone had set up a single row of rectangular tables and chairs across the front of the room and the town council was gathering behind it. On the left side facing the council, Avery stood behind a single, bare table with only her one file folder on it. A half-dozen lawyers were standing around their table, buzzing quietly to each other.
Everyone looked prepared and ready to go. The only person missing was Jake. Avery glanced back at the crowded room but didn’t see him anywhere. She’d assumed he’d be front and center in all this. It was all his doing, after all.
The town mayor, Paul Dillinger, came out from around the front tables and approached Avery, leaning his hip against the front of her table and flashing her an encouraging smile.
“What do you think, Avery? Are you ready to sling your stone and topple Goliath over there?”
Avery chuckled. The mayor had flat out said he was rooting for her, as had the majority of the council in whose hands was the final decision regarding whether or not Marston could build the resort in their town.
She’d heard from so many townsfolk who didn’t want to see the changes Marston Enterprises would bring in. It encouraged her to know how they felt, but at the end of the day it didn’t change anything. If she couldn’t make an airtight case against Marston building over her future bed-and-breakfast, it was going to happen. Because no matter how the members of the council personally felt, they had to follow the town ordinances and act in what the law considered the best interests of the town.
She had a few stones in her pouch to be used in her proverbial sling, but they were small at best. She wasn’t sure she could even bruise the brute that was Marston, much less knock them out.
But she had to try.
She’d been praying all day, putting all her trust in God that tonight would turn out as He willed, even if it wasn’t what she desired. But it was so hard, especially now that the moment had come.
“I’m going to do my best, Paul, but you’re right,” she told the mayor. “It’s David against Goliath. Look at me with my one flimsy file folder compared to—” she pointed at the table overrun with briefcases, folders and chatty lawyers “—that.”
“Don’t let them intimidate you with their fancy suits,” Paul advised. “Just keep your eyes on us. Talk to us and not to them. Remember, you’ve known me and the council members your whole life. I know it doesn’t look great right now, but you know we’re going to take your arguments into serious consideration. I promise.”
Avery’s throat choked with emotion. “Thanks, Paul. I really appreciate it.”
He shook her hand and returned to his place in the middle of the long table facing the community.
She squared her shoulders and sat down at her table, reminding herself that she could have dropped the issue before it had ever come into being here at all. If it was just her own battle, she would have given up long ago and dealt with her personal disappointment herself. One cabin, even one as perfect as the Meyers’ place was to her, wasn’t worth the kind of fight that was about to go down tonight.
But this was about the people behind her, those in her town who would stand to lose virtually everything if Marston won. Friends who had approached her and begged for her to make a stand for them because they would lose their businesses and their livelihoods to the kinds of shops and stores that would move in along with a high-end resort.
Avery had done her research, spoken to other people in small towns where Marston Enterprises had swept in and changed everything. This wasn’t a vain threat.
She’d been warned.
Apart from the grave possibility of losing their means of support, the folks in Whispering Pines didn’t want to become the next Aspen. They liked the small-town vibe, and they didn’t want to change it.
Paul pounded a gavel to quiet the chattering crowd. “Pipe down, people, and let’s get started here.”
Where was Jake?
It made no sense that he would have gone to all the trouble to have been the face of Marston Enterprises up to this point and then not even show up at the council meeting. Or maybe his job was over now?
Maybe he’d rather just not be here at all, knowing what was about to go down.
Why did that leave her with such an empty feeling in her chest?
As the crowd quieted, Avery glanced back one last time.
Jake confidently strode up the aisle, Elaine, Lottie and Sissy just behind him. He was dressed in the same suit she’d first seen him in, right down to the obsidian cuff links, but unlike the other Marston employees, he didn’t carry a briefcase. One thin file folder similar to Avery’s was tucked under one arm.
It probably contained the information that would guarantee a win, just in case the rest of the lawyers couldn’t offer a knockdown presentation that would take her out. Jake nodded at her as he passed, but his usual toothy grin was conspicuously missing, his eyebrows were knotted and she could see his clenched jaw.
Elaine smiled and waved as she took a seat just behind the Marston table. Before she could stop the little girl, Lottie pulled away from her grip and dashed across the aisle to throw herself at Avery, wrapping her little arms tightly around her neck and giving her an enthusiastic squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. Sissy sensed the excitement and likewise leaped, her front paws on Avery’s shoulder as she kissed away the tears that had sprung to Avery’s eyes the moment Lottie had hugged her.
No tears.
Not now.
“Miss Avery! Miss Avery! Did you see Daddy?” Lottie asked, her enthusiasm leaking through every syllable. “Isn’t he handsome?”
Avery nodded and swallowed hard. How could she not, with his grand entrance—one she now wondered if he’d planned. As it was, she could barely take her eyes off him.
“He is very handsome, sweetheart,” she agreed, and, unfortunately for her, she meant it with every beat of her heart.
Elaine apologized profusely as she
plucked Lottie away and brought her back to the other side of the aisle. Avery commanded Sissy into a down-stay by Elaine’s side.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t expect Lottie to react like that, although I suppose I should have. You are her favorite person right now, since you gave her Sissy.”
“It’s no problem,” Avery insisted, although it very much was. She’d been prepared to see Jake tonight—or at least, she thought she’d equipped her heart well enough to maintain radio silence as she climbed over the present hurdle with Marston.
She could cry her heart out when she was back home in her own bed where no one would see or hear her.
But Lottie throwing herself into Avery’s arms had come as such a surprise, it threw her for a mental and emotional loop she never could have imagined. It went beyond sweet as Avery’s heart reached out to Lottie.
Her lungs burned with emotion as she struggled to keep it all in. The very thing she was most afraid of happening had happened.
She loved this little girl.
The mayor pounded his gavel once again and announced the official start of the council meeting. Usually there were one or two minor issues and very few townspeople in attendance. Tonight it was standing room only, as Marston’s resort would affect nearly every person in town in one way or another.
Avery returned her thoughts to the fight before her, opening her file folder and glancing through her notes, few as they were. There wasn’t much to go on. She had spent days researching what she could in terms of zoning, trying to find reasons Marston couldn’t build specifically on the Meyers’ property Avery so wanted to claim as her future bed-and-breakfast, and in more general terms, in Whispering Pines at all. She had spoken to people from other towns, gathered witness statements about the many peripheral changes that could and would happen with the coming of Marston’s resort and how they wouldn’t suit Whispering Pines at all.