Meant To Be Yours. Susan Mallery

water’s rising. My dad went to find the main shutoff.”

      Renee wrung out her hair and hoped her makeup wasn’t too badly smudged. Then she realized the water level in the reception hall was indeed climbing and hoped Monica’s father found the shutoff soon.

      She was just about to go help him when he returned.

      “All turned off.” He glanced at the mini flood. “Sorry about this.”

      “It’s fine,” Renee lied, her tone soothing, because that was part of her job. To pretend all was well even when they needed to be figuring out how to build an ark.

      The rest of the guests were heading out. Nothing like the threat of an unexpected flood to get people moving, she thought, trying to find the humor in the situation.

      “I’m so sorry,” Monica told her as she held her dress out of the water and slipped out of her shoes.

      “Don’t be. You had a wonderful wedding and reception. Why don’t you and Jim start gathering your things? I have a spare set of clothes in my office. I’ll get changed, then help you make sure you have everything.”

      As she spoke, she noticed the water seemed to have settled at about the six- or seven-inch level. Yup, she was going to have to call someone. No doubt she would be here all night. Oh, joy.

      “I’m really sorry,” Jim said. “We thought we’d planned for every contingency.” He glared at his new brother-in-law. “Except for stupid.” He turned back to her. “Let us know the cost of cleanup. We’ll pay for it.”

      “Thank you. I think the deposit should take care of it but I’ll let you know if there’s a problem. Now if you’ll let me go get changed, I’ll be back with you in ten minutes.”

      Monica nodded.

      Renee slipped out of her shoes and walked through the ankle-deep water. When she reached her office upstairs, she carefully closed the door behind her before undressing, then slipped on jeans and a T-shirt. Not exactly professional, but she wasn’t going to worry about that right now. Before she returned to her bride and groom, she looked up the local disaster cleaning service. The number was in her files, but wasn’t one she had had to use before.

      They picked up on the first ring.

      “Happily Inc CleanUp. This is Hilde. How can I help you?”

      “Hi. I’m Renee Grothen at Weddings Out of the Box. We had a firefighter wedding tonight with a big fountain. There was an accident with one of the hoses and now our main reception hall is flooded.”

      There was a pause. “Um, did you say firefighter wedding? Never mind. How much water?”

      “About six inches.”

      “That’s a lot.”

      “It was a big fountain.”

      “Give us thirty minutes and we’ll be there.”

      “Thank you.”

      Renee hung up, gave herself a second to catch her breath, then headed back to deal with the bride, the groom, the flood and anything else that might happen tonight. Because with a wedding, it was always something.

       CHAPTER TWO

      SIX DAYS INTO pet ownership, Jasper had no idea how he was doing. He and Koda—a name that had just kind of shown up in his brain and seemed to suit the dog—appeared to be getting along okay. Koda had slept most of the drive back, waking up for meals and for easy walks while they both stretched their legs. Along the way, Jasper had bought dog beds, some toys and more food. Koda’s appetite was good and he looked better every day.

      Once they’d reached Jasper’s mountain home just outside of Happily Inc, Koda had explored the house before quickly settling into a routine. When let out to do his business, Koda didn’t stray far from the house and he seemed to prefer to be inside rather than out. They took a couple of walks a day, going slowly, Koda sniffing and Jasper thinking. Koda slept quietly while Jasper worked. When they left the office together, Koda brought his favorite toy—a stuffed rabbit—with him.

      From Jasper’s point of view, Koda was pretty easy company. He slept on his dog bed in Jasper’s bedroom at night. Once, Jasper had awakened from a familiar nightmare, to find the dog on the bed, pressed hard against him, as if offering comfort. As Jasper got his bearings and was able to slow his breathing, Koda hopped down and returned to his own bed where he quickly went to sleep.

      Jasper had installed an electronic doggie door so Koda could come and go as he wanted without Jasper having to worry that local wildlife could also wander into the house. Koda had figured out how to work the doggie door in about ten minutes. They had a vet appointment later in the week and Jasper had downloaded a book on having a dog as a pet to make sure he had it all covered.

      He still didn’t know why he’d brought the old guy home—nor did it matter. Koda was here now and Jasper would take care of him. He had to admit, the quiet company was nice.

      “I’m going into town,” he told Koda as he set out the bowl of kibble mixed with canned food. “It’s Monday night and I like to hang out at The Boardroom. It’s a bar that caters to locals. On Mondays they have board game tournaments. Most of my friends go.”

      He had no idea why he was explaining any of this to the dog—it wasn’t as if Koda could understand him. Still, he couldn’t help going on.

      “I won’t be that late,” he continued. “You have water and your bed. I’ll leave the radio on that classical station you like. There’s the doggie door if you need to go out.” He paused, not sure what else to say.

      Koda finished his dinner, then looked at Jasper, as if processing the information. After a couple of seconds, the dog retreated to his bed in the family room and lay down.

      “All right.” Jasper put his food bowl in the sink. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

      He got in his truck and started down the mountain. The road was familiar and when compared with the RV he’d been driving, the 4X4 truck was practically sporty.

      The thought made him smile. The long book tour had been good for him. The RV had given him a home base. Although his publisher had offered to rent a fancy bus with pop-outs and an onboard washer and dryer, Jasper had decided to buy an old, used RV instead. He’d thought he might want to use it again, for a tour and maybe a trip of his own. He’d liked being on the road.

      As he headed into town he wondered if Koda would enjoy another trip or if he’d been too traumatized by what had happened to him in San Antonio. He supposed he could take an overnight trip and see how it went. Although any time away would have to wait. He was getting back into his book and had a deadline looming. For the next few months, his primary focus would be getting the story right, then getting it down on paper. Well, not paper, exactly. He used a computer, but the concept was the same.

      He reached the main part of town and turned into The Boardroom’s parking lot. He saw plenty of familiar cars and smiled. His friends would be there, as would other local residents. He would kick a little ass on the board game front, have a beer and a burger, talk to his buddies, then head home. A perfect evening.

      Four years ago, if someone had told him he would settle in this quirky wedding-based town, he would have said that person was crazier than him, but here he was—doing better than anyone could have expected. Forward progress, he thought as he made his way inside. It beat getting left behind.

      “Jasper! You’re back.”

      “Hey, stranger. How was the book tour?”

      “When’d you get home?”

      The calls came from every corner of the bar. Jasper nodded at his buddies, waved at a few people he knew by sight and scanned the room, looking for an open spot at the tables set up for four.