Page 88 of Perfect Enough

Haven stood, and Duke started to make his way over to the creek, where all four other dogs were now playing. Duke, Monty, Lucy, Piper, and Lou decided to dip into the water. Duke barely got in, while Monty did a full-on dive, along with Piper and Lou. Lucy walked in just enough to get her chest wet.

Haven turned to face me and asked, “So, what do you think?”

“I think you have the coolest job in the world.”

She smiled. “The dogs all seem to love you, which is great.”

At that moment, Duke came up and sat down on my foot. He looked up at me as if to say, “Pet me, please.” I did as his eyes beckoned.

“You do this how many days a week?”

“I started off only doing it a few times, but I’m Monday through Friday now. Of course, if the dog park goes well, I’ll have to drop the number of days until I can find reliable people to be at the park. I really enjoy this time with the dogs.”

“Will you keep doing the off-leash adventures?”

She smiled wide. “You couldn’t drag me away from this. I love it.”

Looking out over the vast forest, I smiled. “Would you mind if I rode along for your PM crew?”

“The more the merrier!” Haven said as she took out a dog whistle and whistled, and I jumped, my hand over my heart. “Monty, donothump Lou!”

Laughing, I followed the five dogs and Haven as we walked down the path. This was going to be an adventure of a lifetime.

Chapter Twenty

JOSH

“You look tired,” Larry said as he hit the side of my shoe before sitting on my bed.

“I am tired,” I said as I opened one eye and looked at my friend and fellow firefighter. “How are younottired?”

“I live for this stuff.”

I huffed. “So do I, but that doesn’t mean I’m superhuman. This is two shifts in a row; I haven’t gotten any sleep.”

“Don’t say that, or another call will go off.”

Closing my eyes, I groaned.

“Shaw!”

The sound of our chief calling my name caused me to sit up.

“Where is your phone?”

“I haven’t lost it, if that’s what you mean,” I said with a half-smile. It faded when I saw the look on his face. I quickly stood. “What’s wrong?”

“Your sister has been trying to get a hold of you. You need to call her back as soon as you can.”

A chill ran down my spine as I looked at Larry, who stood. “I’ll leave you to call.”

Reaching for the side table, I grabbed my phone and saw I had ten missed calls from Rose and five from Nathan. Rose had also sent me two texts that said to call her right away, and Natesent one, asking me to phone him when I got off the last call we were on.

I stared at my phone, unsure of who to call first. I hit my sister’s name and it went to voicemail and I left her a message that I was on my way home. I pulled up Nathan’s name and called. It instantly went to voicemail.

I felt a lump form in my throat as I grabbed my stuff and turned—only to find Sophia standing in the doorway of our living quarters.

“Sophia.”

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