Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“I think you need to go with another contractor,” I finally said.
She stopped walking and looked at me. “What did you see?”
“A lot of bullshit talk. This guy is stupid if he doesn’t think you’d have someone else read over this.”
Exhaling, she dropped to the loveseat. “That’s why he was so cheap in the first place. I guess he figures he is a shoe-in, and we’ll just take the higher costs.”
My hand rubbed at the back of my neck at a sudden ache. Should I stay out of it? No, I was in this for the long haul, which meant helping Haven however I could.
“I know someone. A contractor.”
Her head popped up. “You do?”
“Yeah. One of our ranch hands, his name is Solo; his father owns a construction company. He’s done several things for us at the ranch, including building my cousin Beck and Avery’s house. He remodeled the main barn a few years back and also built my house.”
She let out a little bubble of laughter. “You should have led with that. Your house is beautiful.”
I felt my cheeks heat. “I can arrange a meeting if you’d like.”
Haven jumped up, causing me to quickly stand as well. She threw herself into my arms. “Thank you, Nate! I would love that.”
Drawing back, I smiled down at her. I loved that I had made that sparkle in her eyes and those two dimples appear once again. “I’ll give him a call now before we leave.”
We walked up to a blue bus with the words, The Waggin, painted on it in white.
“The Waggin?” I asked as I looked at Haven. She winked, and if I didn’t know better, I would have sworn wild horses took off in my chest.
“Okay, so we go to each house, pick up the dogs, then head up to the trail.”
She climbed into the driver’s seat. “Chad will sometimes help me, especially if I have a full load. This morning is a light load, though.”
“What do you need me to do?”
With that big, dimpled smile, she replied, “I’ll show you on the first one how to strap them in. After that, each dog will jump into his or her seat and you can buckle them in. Once that is done, just enjoy the dogs.”
After getting on the bus, Haven started it. She pulled out a printed-out paper on a clipboard, looked it over, and then we were on our way.
“First up is Monty, a black lab and a total sweetheart.”
I looked out the front window as we pulled up to a house. A black lab was sitting on the sidewalk, his owner on the porch. Once Haven came to a stop, she opened the bus doors, and Monty came charging in. He stopped when he saw me, gave me a sniff, headed to a seat, and jumped up into it. Haven clipped on the dog seat belt to Monty’s harness, and we were on our way to get the next dog.
“They really know which seat is theirs?” I asked, glancing back at Monty, who I swore was smiling at me.
“Yes! They all know where to sit once they get onto the bus.”
We drove to five more houses and picked up Piper, a German shorthair pointer that sat beside me. Lucy was a mixed-breed dog that only had eyes for Monty. Next up was Nelly, a golden retriever who I swore was the happiest dog I had ever met. Lou, a small terrier-type dog, sat beside Nelly and completely ignored me. The last dog we picked up was Ralph. A German shepherd that was a retired bomb dog. According to Haven, Ralph was always on duty, and I shouldn’t be surprised if he started trailing something. My job was to get Ralph back into relaxed mode.
“Ralph? That’s really his name?” I asked as we pulled up to the parking lot of a trailhead. “Just doesn’t seem like a tough bomb dog name.”
Ralph barked, and Haven laughed. “I think you better take that back.”
Holding up my hands, I stood and faced Ralph. “I think your name is tough, boy. Just like you.”
He barked again, and if I hadn’t been looking, I would have missed the wink.
“Did he just wink at me?”
Haven laughed once again, and I couldn’t deny the way it made my stomach flip as if I were on a ride. I had totally made the right decision by spending the day with her.
“Normally, I take them off the bus in groups, but since you’re here and we have a smaller group today, you can help.”
“I’m at your service.”
Once we got all six dogs off the bus, I watched Haven put on a vest with carabiners attached. She then put each dog’s leash on a carabiner, and we started to walk to the trail.
“Um, you know I could hold a couple of them.”