Page 36 of Operation: Integrity

She slowly shook her head. “Between what I perceived as your abandonment at church and his glares, I was super uncomfortable. I’ve already talked to you about that and know that you didn’t really abandon me. But Edwyn . . . I simply can’t get along with him. We’re too different. He’s a rule follower, gruff, loud . . .”

“And you used to be the girl who loved a party, bent the rules—but not because you thought you were outside of them—and generally lived to see others and yourself happy.”

Kelly tucked her chin to hide her face. That had been what she was like then. Not so much now. Though he was right, she had been a rule bender. Maybe that’s part of the reason her grandmother had thought she was such a bad girl. Grandma would’ve gotten along wonderfully with Edwyn. “That was a long time ago. Now that you say all that though, I can see why Edwyn doesn’t like me. I’m forcing Connor to rethink his rules.”

Sam made a dismissive gesture. “Don’t put that on your shoulders. That was a long time coming. Brendon has been pushing for years for Connor to change those.It’s not that he disagrees with the ideas. No one welcomes lying or spouting profanity. But if we’re going to profess Christ, even a little, in what we do then using a paraphrased version of something from the Bible is like saying the original isn’t good enough.”

“So, the rules would’ve been in contention anyway?” She hoped so. It seemed like everything about her had caused upheaval at Wayside. Between her former relationship with Sam breaking one of Connor’s big rules and the drone activity slipping past their security, she was a lesson in what Wayside needed to change.

Sam picked up his phone and used his thumbs to type out a text, then she heard theswooshas he sent it. “It would’ve come to a head sooner or later. If you have anything you need to do before we leave, you should do it. He won’t tell us not to go, so you can get ready if you need to. I’m going to take Zeus back to the kennels.”

She gripped her knees, then reached for her new companion. “Can’t we take him along? Please? Maybe instead of Edwyn.”

Zeus, as if he knew exactly what she was asking, looked right at Sam and whined. Kelly scratched him behind the ear. “Good boy.”

Sam laughed, bringing a little light to her, just a single beam she could feel deep inside. Laughter was like medicine to her torn and abused soul. She tried to laugh with him but couldn’t remember how and gave up after a second. The voice inside her head that sounded like her grandmother snarled at her.You sound fake. Just like everything about you. You can’t even laugh right.

“I don’t think I’ve heard you laugh in years.” Sam stood and came over to her, then rested a gentle hand onher shoulder. “I hope I get to hear it more.” He whistled for Zeus. “We can take him along, but he still needs to go outside first. There’s nowhere to get off the road easily if he would need to get out of the truck before we get there. He also won’t be allowed in the bank, so we’ll have to lock him in the truck.”

She wished he could, but he wasn’t really her support animal in any other sense than that he was helping her feel human again. He wasn’t trained for that purpose, so he could be a risk to other dogs who were trained. “Are you okay with that?”

“He will be fine in the truck for a little visit, but let’s plan to go to a wide-open park area after the bank so he can run a little. That will make the trip worth it for him. Not that he won’t love a ride, anyway.”

That one word, ‘ride’ made the huge dog not only get up but start acting like a puppy. Kelly wanted to laugh at his wild antics as he lunged forward, his long legs splaying out in front of him, then popping back to his feet. He gave a deep “woof”, then ran for her door.

“I guess that settles it. I’ll get ready and meet you outside.”

As soon as the door closed, leaving her without the two who made her feel safe, she felt watched once again. She’d already checked the room for cameras and there hadn’t been any, but after living under scrutiny for years, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her every move was on camera and being relayed to Nathan in some way.

Kelly shook her arms and hands to physically shake away the feeling, but it didn’t help. After using the bathroom and brushing her hair, she grabbed her small, almost empty purse and headed outside. Her new driver’s license had finally arrived the day before, so for the firsttime in years, she had real identification with the right name on it. Praise God, she was who she said she was again.

Sam waited on her porch while Zeus sniffed around her yard. “Ready?” He pushed away from the wall and waited for her to answer.

“I am. I hope we can get this fixed. With him on my account, I’ll never be able to make money again. He’ll take it all. He promised to pay me . . .” She knew the promise was most likely a lie, but she needed that money to start over.

The ride in the truck was more enjoyable than she’d thought it would be. Zeus sat at her feet with his nose pressed to the window, gently fogging up the lower half. The thing she enjoyed the most though was that there was nothing about the ride that reminded her of her past. Like riding the horse, it was blessedly free of memories and open to feelings that were outside of her norm.

She opened the window slightly to clear the fog and the blast of cold air hit her in the face. She blinked away the sudden tears from the cold. “I keep forgetting how freezing cold it really is here.”

Sam snorted as he adjusted the country station on the radio. “After a while, it becomes second nature. Cold is just cold, warm is just warm. The only thing that’s semi constant here is the wind. It blows right off the mountains and just keeps rolling all the way to Nebraska.”

Funny how her world had felt so small for so long and Sam thought in terms of whole states. “Do you travel a lot?” She needed the distraction of conversation that had nothing to do with the purpose of their trip. That made her nervous enough.

“I do. Connor allows me to go look at dogs who areabout to be euthanized in shelters. I’d like to save more than I do, but in order to work for Wayside, they have to meet certain criteria. Unfortunately, the abused ones rarely fit.” His voice lowered slightly. “I wish I could do more.”

Saving abused animals. She could picture Sam doing that and loving it. He was so calm and patient. Sam was like the Sam from the Lord of the Rings, about as opposite from the usual hero as possible, yet that made him all the more her hero. He’d rescued her, just like she’d hoped for originally. If they hadn’t had the relationship they’d had then, she would have no one at Wayside to trust now.

“The fact that you care at all and save some says a lot.” She said the words nearly without thinking. When had she started giving compliments again?

“Thanks.” He grinned. “I do my best. I understand Connor’s worries. We always have to consider the guests and their safety. I’ll be glad though when Haven, the ranch next door, is finished and we can move in. I plan to put a kennel over there too so the dogs who are in danger and don’t fit at Wayside have somewhere to go. I still can’t save them all, but what else can I spend my money on?”

True, he didn’t have a family or wife. His lodging and meals were completely paid for. “You’ve been saving for quite some time?” He had the opposite problem she had.

“Yes. I don’t know why, though. I have no one to inherit what I’ve saved. I’ll never have to buy a house. After I’m too old to work at Wayside, I guess I’ll rent an apartment because Connor doesn’t have any kids to give the ranch to. When he retires, Wayside is done.”

She’d heard from the people at the halfway house that human trafficking was on the rise and bigger than it’s everbeen in documented human history. The thought that even one place that benefited those who got out would disappear at some point in the future left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Could he sell it?”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe, but to who? Who could he trust completely?”

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