A Season of Love. Kim Watters

for spreading gossip.

      “Anything new with the little girl?” Ethan changed the subject. He didn’t want to think about Holly anymore, or the tangible energy that had made the short hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention when his hand grazed hers as he gave her the snow globe. Meredith sat inside the kennel, stroking the little black-and-white mutt’s head, and he saw the bandages covering both front legs where the dog had licked away all her fur.

      “Pudding Cup will be fine. It’s just nerves. She misses her mom.”

      “How about the big guy I brought in to Tim?” He’d found the injured stray mix huddled on the side of the road yesterday, and it reminded him of one of the dogs their patrol had rescued from the cruelty of an Afghan family. He couldn’t ignore the mutt and had thoughts about keeping him, despite the fact Ethan needed to stick to his mission statement. There were other shelters in the area that took in homeless and abandoned dogs.

      “He’s going to be just fine. Tim thinks he’s found a home for him already, so he said not to worry about the bill.” Meredith was engaged to the local veterinarian, who also sat on the board and was willing to take care of any of their animals for cost.

      “I’ll have to stop by and thank him.” And make sure the animal was going to a good home. Okay, so he was a sucker for dogs and kids and apparently widows behind on their rent.

      Ethan rubbed his hand across his stubbly chin. “Anything else?”

      “Yep.” Meredith rose to her feet, causing Pudding Cup to whimper and follow her to the gate. “Another stray is being shipped over from Afghanistan, courtesy of your buddy Phil, along with the other one. Duggan and Jasper arrive Saturday, as do two more dogs on Wednesday. Their owners ship out next Friday.”

      “Great.” Ethan wiped the snowflake residue from his face. His six temporary accommodations were more than full. With four more dogs coming in, he would be over capacity at seven, even though the two from Afghanistan would only be temporary until he could reunite them with their owners, who’d arrived home from their tour of duty last month. He could spill out into his living room, but he’d be over the limit and need a kennel license that much sooner. “Where am I going to put them?”

      “Whose brilliant idea was it to provide a home for displaced animals when their owners left?”

      “Mine, and you know it’s a good one. It’s one less thing for our local service men and women to think about while they’re doing their tour. Most are fortunate to have family to take care of them, but not all.” Ethan had started his studies to be a lay minister and had often counseled some of the enlisted men when the need arose. Leaving their pets behind ranked pretty high up there behind family, especially when they had to dump their companion in a shelter.

      Being distracted could get a person killed. He knew that firsthand.

      He stared at the nubs on his hand and tried to feel the forgiveness. The emotion refused to come. Five people died that day, and he wrestled with the guilt. Despite the fact he was assigned to protect the chaplain, he felt a responsibility to everyone he traveled with. He should have seen the IED. He knew the signs to look for. A strange vehicle on the side of the road, the wink of light reflecting off the camera lens set up to film the incident, the uneasy feeling harbored inside his gut because of the delay in getting the convoy started.

      But he’d been distracted.

      None of that mattered now.

      What mattered as he stared at his scars and searched for forgiveness was that God had a plan for him. And it revolved around the sanctuary and taking care of man’s best friend.

      “You’re just a bleeding-heart softy. That’s what I love about you.” Meredith gave him a hug. “I’ll take Pudding Cup with me. I like the little girl, and Tim says it’s no problem for me to drop her off at his office during the day. I think she’ll recover quicker from her abandonment issues, so that frees up one kennel and then you’ll have enough.”

      “Thanks. I appreciate that.” For what seemed the first time that day, he smiled. Meredith was more like a sister than a cousin, and with a job in sales and marketing, she was an invaluable part of the team he’d selected for the board. He’d also asked her fiancé, Tim, and his mom because she owned the property that would house the permanent sanctuary. He should find one other person, to make the numbers odd in case they needed a tiebreaker, and he had yet to find someone with accounting experience so he could concentrate on the dogs and managing the sanctuary.

      Things had happened so quickly. He’d probably gone about this the wrong way by accepting animals before he was ready, but the alternative would have been for his first resident, Sadie, to end up in the pound. It would work out. God’s plan had been revealed to him during those long hours in the hospital and continued to be revealed daily.

      Pudding Cup treated him to a good licking when he bent and scratched her behind her ears. Bear, the black Lab who had alerted him to yesterday’s graffiti artists, whined and pawed at the metal fencing of his kennel, begging for attention. “I’ll be right there, boy.” His gaze scoured the cramped area again. “I need money to expand and move everything out to the farm.”

      “Keep praying. It’ll happen. We’ll get the grant money and more private funding. You’ll see.” Meredith picked up Pudding Cup and squeezed her gently. “Oh, there’s one other thing.” By the hesitant smile registered on her lips, Ethan knew he wasn’t going to like the next words out of his cousin’s mouth. “We’re also getting a ferret. Seems like one of the dogs arriving Saturday thinks it’s her baby. I told Private Smith it would be okay.”

      “But we agreed this would be strictly dogs. It’s called Beyond the Borders Dog Sanctuary.”

      Meredith crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him darkly. “Then change it to Beyond the Borders Animal Sanctuary. As a member of the board, I have the right to speak up, as well. How can you break up a family? What kind of peace of mind would our soldier get if he didn’t know both his pets were safe while he was away? I suspect we’ll be getting calls for cats soon, too.”

      Ethan shoved his hand through his hair. “No. Absolutely not. No cats.”

      “We’ll see about that.” She gave him a dark look. “Just because you have a personal issue with the cute, cuddly creatures doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the same consideration as dogs. They are all God’s creatures.”

      “I’m well aware of that. I’m okay with cats. I just don’t understand them. They need to go elsewhere. I’m having enough trouble raising the money and supplies for dogs.” His cousin’s scowl grew. Half Irish with red hair to match, Meredith was a force to be reckoned with when she was angry. “I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”

      She shook her head. “They make medicine for that, you know. I’ll make a cat lover out of you yet. I’ve gotta run, but I’ll be back after dinner to help you walk them and transition Bear and Sadie for the night. You really need to get some volunteers in here, though, when the other dogs arrive.”

      “I’ll work on it.” Another item to add to his list of things to do for the shelter that grew longer, not shorter, with each passing day. And now to complicate things, he had a whole separate issue to think about.

      Holly Stanwyck refused to budge from his mind.

      * * *

      Shadows from the early-morning sun stretched across the road in front of them as Holly drove to the other side of town Saturday morning. The digital clock in her car read 7:57 a.m. and she still had ten minutes to go according to Ethan’s directions. Holly disliked being late. The scheduled 7:45 departure time shouldn’t have been an issue, since she was an early riser. Too bad her son had other ideas. Holly had let him sleep as long as possible, but he still looked wiped out from the week, disgruntled and a bit dejected. He’d given her a hard time about getting up.

      Instead of going to the early church service tomorrow, they’d catch the later one. Not that she really wanted to go, but she had to, for