Page 83 of Guarded from Sabotage

As we enter the shelter, the volunteer at the front desk greets Sarah with a smile. “You made it! Rambo’s been waiting for you. I really think he knew you were coming.”

“Rambo?” I glance at Sarah. “Who’s Rambo?”

Her face goes red to the tips of her ears. “Well. You’ll see. I hope… I thought…”

But just a few minutes later, my question is answered.

Rambo is a dog. Which I should have figured when we got here.

But he’s not just an ordinary dog. “He’s part lab, part American terrier,” Sarah explains. “His owner moved and just left him. So he was running loose, and got hit by a car. That’s why he’s missing his leg and his ear. The shelter took him in and used donations to pay the vet.”

Rambo cocks his head and stares at me with big, yearning eyes. His ear perks up. His tail whips back and forth.

“He’s been here for almost a year, and all the volunteers here love him,” Sarah says. “But no one will adopt him. It’s so sad. And he’s so sweet.”

Rambo makes a pitiful whining sound and pushes his wet nose against my hand.

“I just thought,” she continues in a rush, “you said you wanted a dog, and I’ve always wanted one, and I thought maybe we could get one together. And I asked everyone at B and A, and they all liked the idea. The yard is fenced in so he could run around, and we could take him for walks around the property, and…” She takes a deep breath. “I thought we could give him a home. If you want to.”

A dog.

This wasn’t what I was expecting when Sarah said she had a surprise.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t like it.

“Is it a bad idea? I’m sorry, I should have asked before bringing you here. It was?—”

“Sarah.” I frame her face with my hands. “It’s a great idea.”

“It is?” She bites her lip. “I came here just to look, but then I saw Rambo, and he just seemed… like he was meant for us.”

I drop to my knees, allowing Rambo to sniff my face. After a couple of whiffs, he licks my cheek and gives me a happy doggie grin. Sarah kneels beside me, and Rambo gives her a matching dog kiss, albeit a slightly less messy one.

“I think he likes us,” I tell her.

“Do you think so?” Sarah pats Rambo on the head, scratching between his ears. “I think he likes you.”

“I think he likes you, too.”

Leaning forward, I pull Sarah into my arms. She rests her cheek on my shoulder and asks quietly, “So… do you want him? They said we could bring him home on Friday. We could go shopping, buy him a bed and toys and food, and find a good vet, and maybe arrange for some training classes…”

She stops. “Am I going too fast? Is this too much?”

“No. It’s not too much.” I kiss her before continuing, “I think it’s perfect. Rambo is perfect.”

Hearing his name, Rambo nudges between me and Sarah, and she giggles.

Joy explodes inside me.

This. This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life.

“So we’re bringing him home?” Sarah asks. She looks at me with hope in her eyes.

“Yes.” I hug the woman I love more than life and the start of our new little family. “We’re bringing him home.”

Her face lights up. “Dante. This is going to be perfect. You, me, Rambo, everyone at B and A…” She pauses. “I never knew I could be this happy.”

My heart.“I never knew I could be this happy, either.”

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