Other donations were coming in, and he’d already sold two sponsorships.Operation K-9 Brothers’ website was amazing thanks to Nichole’s brother.And then there was Nichole.She now donated a percentage of all her pottery sales to Operation K-9 Brothers.That meant more to him than he could ever tell her.
How was he going to thank all the people who’d helped make his dream happen?A year ago, he’d thought his life was over, and now he had a new future that excited him as much as being a SEAL had—even more, actually—a woman who loved him in spite of all his faults, a super-smart military-trained dog, a dog that was learning to live up to his name of Rambo, and a dumber-than-dumb dog that he wouldn’t have any different.
What more could he ask for?
He stood near the kennels, watching the people check out his dogs.He had eleven in various stages of training and was on the lookout for more.
The Jacobys approached, Trucker walking next to Nigel Senior, and Jack smiled as they neared.“Thank you for coming,” he said when the family stopped in front of him.
Nigel offered his hand.“We wanted to be here.I’ll admit that I wasn’t a believer in what a dog could do for me.”
“And now you are?”
“And now I am.I’m not back to where I was before my deployments, but I’m a lot better than I was before Trucker.”At hearing his name, the dog peered up, and Nigel scratched his head.
“I want to train dogs like you do when I grow up,” Junior said.
Jack smiled down at him.“Tell you what.When you get a little older, if you want, you can volunteer a few hours a week, see how you like it.”
Junior glanced at his parents.“Can I?Please.Please.”
“If you still want to by then,” his father said.“We’re going to head out.Just wanted to tell you that you’re doing a good thing here.I’ll see you Tuesday.”
“You bet.”Jack had fast-tracked Trucker’s training, but the dog still wasn’t where he needed to be, so he was working with Nigel and Trucker one-on-one on Tuesday mornings.
After they left, he scanned the area, looking for Nichole.Mark was standing with Deke and Heather.As soon as Mark learned Gregory was gone, he’d returned, and with the mind-boggling money he’d sold his game for, he’d bought Nichole’s house.He’d created another game already and was busy fine-tuning it before sending it to Clint Alba, now acting as Mark’s agent.Jack was surprised at how much fun he was having, playing the new game with Mark, looking for bugs.
He gave a grunt of satisfaction.All was right in his world...or would be if he could find Nichole.Today was important for more reasons than she knew.The event was winding down, and people were leaving.The time for the next item on his agenda was drawing near.He was nervous as hell.
“Come with me, Nic,” Mark said.
“Have you seen Jack?”Everyone was gone, the grounds cleaned up, and her boyfriend was nowhere in sight.Jack’s grand opening had been a tremendous success, and she couldn’t be prouder of him and what he’d accomplished.
“He’s around somewhere.”He grabbed her hand.“I need to show you something.”
When he stopped in front of the Operation K-9 Brothers sign, she glanced around.“What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“Just stand here and don’t move,” he said, then walked away.
Okay, this was weird.What was her brother up to?Maybe a minute passed, and then Dakota trotted up to her, carrying a silver gift bag in her mouth.Dakota sat in front of her, and Nichole took the bag.
“What’s this?”She reached inside, pulling out a black satin mask with a note attached to it.“‘Put this on,’” she read aloud.Weirder and weirder.Well, only one way to find out what was going on.She put on the mask.
As she stood, waiting to find out what was going to happen, she heard rustling, a dog that sounded like Maggie May bark, and then the quick growl that Dakota would give Maggie May when she was misbehaving, and was that Grammie giggling?She was sure it was her brother who shushed her.
Then all was quiet.
“You can take off the mask,” Jack said.
“Not sure I want to,” she muttered, suddenly nervous and not sure why.
Jack chuckled.“Do it anyway, babe.”
The sight in front of her sent her heart into jackhammer mode.Jack was on one knee, holding a black-velvet box open to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.Dakota sat on his right side with Maggie May next to her, and on Jack’s left was Rambo.
“Oh,” she whispered.Oh.
“Nichole Masters, when I was at my darkest, you walked into my life, bringing light.I wasn’t expecting you, hadn’t planned for you, and probably don’t deserve you.”He glanced at the velvet box.“I bought this ring eight months ago, knowing even then that I wanted to wake up next to you for the rest of my life.”
