Page 66 of Devoted Enough

“Okay, I would love to come and stay with you.”

A brilliant smile lit up his face. “And you’ll talk to your mom about Thanksgiving?”

“Should you ask Stella first?”

Nate laughed. “Grams will say the more the merrier.”

I nodded. “I’ll talk to her later today about it.”

Leaning back in his chair, he looked at the pizza. “Should we take it to go?”

“Cold pizza and a movie sounds like a grand plan.”

Nate winked. “I like that plan too.”

“This is the perfect spot for this dog park,” Doug said as he stood in the middle of the field. “You’ve already got water and electricity here, so that’s an expense you won’t have to take on.”

Sophia and I followed Doug as he looked at the plans and the plot of land donated for the dog park. We wouldn’t own it, but the owners gave us a ninety-nine-year lease.

He nodded. “This would be a great project for us and a wonderful way to give back to this community that has been there for me for many years.”

We both smiled at Doug.

Sophia cleared her throat. “I can get you a copy of the plans so you can work up a bid. Once we have decided on a contractor, the bank will contact them, and all withdraws will be made to you...or um…them.”

Doug looked up from the plans he was studying. “That’s fine. For my portion, I’d like to do it pro bono. So, the only costs willcome from my subcontractors that I use if I don’t have someone in-house to do the work. I have a few on my payroll, like the electrician I’ll use for this project. That fee will be pro bono as well as the plumbing.”

I shook my head a little and leaned closer to Doug. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

About that time, Nate walked up and put his arm around my waist, causing a shiver to run down my spine. This connection we had found within the last twenty-four hours was still new to me, but I wasn’t about to complain.

“How’s it going?” he asked, looking around at us.

“Well,” Sophia started. “Doug just dropped a huge bomb, and I think Haven and I are trying to figure out if we heard him correctly.”

Doug laughed. “I try to find a project each year that I call my passion project. A way to give back.”

I felt myself lean toward Nate.Was this really happening?That would save us thousands upon thousands of dollars that we could put back into the dog park for things we didn’t think we would be able to do right away.

My mind raced in a million different directions. “What exactly does it mean when you say you’ll do it pro bono? Do we just not pay for your services, but you’ll oversee the construction, and we still pay the subcontractors?”

Doug smiled at me. “Yes, that pretty much sums it up. The in-house contractors I use, though, you will not have to pay for.”

I slowly shook my head. “That’s too much to ask you to do.”

Nate and Doug exchanged looks before Doug cleared his throat. “I’m not taking a loss, Haven, if you’re worried about that. I have a fund set up where I, as well as other members of our community, donate money, their time, and skills, as well as materials, so that I can do projects like this and return it to the community that helped me to get to the point in my career that Ican offer pro bono projects. It’s like a giant circle of a wonderful community.”

I stifled the urge to jump and scream like a crazy person. “If you do this pro bono, we can make the membership cheaper.” Turning to Sophia, I said, “We can also open it to the public, maybe a few days a month for free so everyone can enjoy the park!”

Sophia grinned. “That would be amazing. Everyone could get the chance to enjoy the dog park, not just those willing to pay for a pass.”

Tears gathered in my eyes, and I had to quickly excuse myself and walk away from the small group. I could hear Sophia asking Doug questions as I walked toward the area that would be for the large dogs.

I felt Nate before he said a word.

“Are you okay?”

With a jerky head bob, I wiped the tears away. “I can’t help but wonder if I’m dreaming. I never in my life imagined all of this would happen. It almost seems…too good to be true.”

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