Page 95 of Devoted Enough

Once Nate and I finished breakfast, I texted Sophia to let her know we were on our way to the building site. We pulled up in Nate’s truck and parked next to Josh’s truck. Sophia and Josh were already standing with Doug, and I was surprised to see my mother there as well.

“My mother is already here,” I said as Nate opened my door and held out his hand to help me out.

He chuckled. “I can’t help but wonder if she came to watch, or simply to see Doug.”

I smiled. “You know, I wouldn’t mind if she dated him. He is such a nice man, and my mother deserves someone who will cherish her.”

Nate took my hand in his. “So do you, Haven.”

Stopping, I faced him. “I found him in you.”

Leaning down, he gently brushed a kiss across my lips. “I love you.”

I placed my hand on the side of his face. “I love you more.”

Tapping the tip of my nose, he replied, “Impossible.”

Taking my hand once again, we started to make our way toward the small group. Heavy equipment was pulled up and parked, and about twenty guys were marking out things with survey sticks.

“Sorry we’re late,” I stated as I walked up and hugged my mother and then Sophia. “I hope you weren’t waiting for us.”

“We just got here as well,” Sophia said as she rubbed her hands together. “It’s so cold out.”

Doug laughed. “It is, but the sooner we get going, the better. We haven’t gotten much snow, so it’s perfect to get things marked out. The next step will be to use the heavy equipment to prep the area.”

“How exciting!” I said as I looked out. “What are they marking now?”

“That is the building. I met with Rose the other day over Zoom. She has some great ideas, and I really like the idea of doing a small area out here for the fire pit.”

“Yes,” I said as I looked at the plans. “We just need to figure out a way to keep it safe so the dogs don’t get near the fire.”

“That should be easy enough. Also, I want to make sure we are a go for the splash park.”

Turning to look at Nate, I smiled before focusing back on Doug. “Yes, that is a go.”

“Great. I don’t think I have any other questions as of now. Let’s take a walk, and I can show you a rough layout of the park.”

I nearly jumped and clapped my hands. I was so excited. I could not believe my dream of the dog park was finally coming true.

As we walked around the area, I was surprised to see how big the park actually was.

“I had a few people reach out to me about making a donation in the form of memorial benches for people to sit on, as well as some covered areas for the benches. You could even offer something like plaques in memory of a pet that people lost.”

“Really?” Sophia and I said at the same time.

“Yep,” Doug replied as he kept walking ahead of us.

Sophia held me back. “Who do you think donated the benches and covers?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe someone who is excited about the dog park?”

“Let’s ask Doug if he knows who it was.”

We quickly caught up to everyone else.

“This will be the small dog park. Over here will be the covered seating, the poop station, and the dog washing station.”

“How exciting!” my mother said as she did a three-sixty turn. “I can’t wait to see it.”

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