Their Alaskan Past by Belle Calhoune

Author:Belle Calhoune
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-01-26T15:11:43+00:00

Chapter Nine

By the time Friday rolled around, Ace and Zach had checked off every single item on their to-do list. The shelter was in impeccable condition. Ace kept looking at his watch to check on the arrival times. Zach was giving off nervous energy by pacing around and looking out of the window every few minutes. Maya had been over twice in between appointments to see if Ace had heard anything about the dogs’ ETA.

When Ace heard the crunch of tires driving over the pebbled driveway, he felt butterflies flittering around in his stomach. One look out the window confirmed his hunch that the dogs had arrived. A white transport van was sitting outside. “Zach. The dogs are here,” he called out. Within seconds, Zach made a beeline for the door, exiting the building in lockstep with Ace. When they opened the door, Maya was standing there with an anxious look etched on her face. She resembled a little kid on the first day of kindergarten.

“I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” Maya said, clenching and unclenching her hands. “I deal with animals every day. It feels like Christmas morning when I was a little kid. Bess and I were always up at the crack of dawn waiting to open our presents.”

“Same here. It’s like that funny feeling I get when I ride a roller coaster,” Zach said, rubbing his hands together and peering over at the van.

“Nervous excitement,” Ace said. “It just means we’re all invested and we want everything to run smoothly.”

Ace had been full of jitters for days. This morning he’d woken up and gotten down on his knees to pray for a successful launch. Most of all, he’d prayed that they could provide comfort and healing to these dogs and serve as a bridge to their forever families. It would be such a blessing if the townsfolk opened their homes and their hearts to the rescue dogs.

There were twelve dogs in all—one dalmatian, two huskies, two malamutes, two Labradors, one boxer, two pit bulls, one Chihuahua and one terrier mix. In Ace’s opinion they were all wonderful and fascinating and amazing. For the first few hours Zach and Ace got the dogs acclimated to their new surroundings with Maya popping in between clients.

“I wish that I could stay over here all day,” Maya said as she cradled a terrier in her arms during a quick visit with the rescue dogs. “But duty calls. I have an appointment with a very cantankerous Siamese cat.” She placed the dog on the floor and scrambled to her feet.

“We’ve got it all under control,” Ace said. “Don’t we, Zach?”

“I don’t think there’s anything we haven’t planned for,” Zach said, grinning so widely Ace thought his face might break. He winked at Maya. “We’ve got this.”

Ace wasn’t sure if Zach was flirting with Maya, but the very idea of it annoyed him. What was wrong with him? He had no right to feel this way. Ace knew how goofy his younger brother could be, so this was par for the course for him.

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