Chapter One
BrodyHolliswipedabead of sweat off his brow and leaned on a wooden fence post. He admired the six-foot chain-link fence he and Aaron had just installed around his property. “This is solid,” he said with a grin. “I'd like to see the dog that can jump this.”
“Don't joke about that,” Aaron Barnes replied with a frown. “I've seen a trained Belgian Malinois clear a seven-foot fence without blinking. Luckily for us, that sort of agility isn't in our training protocols.” Aaron pulled his Indiana Pacers baseball cap further down over his head as the cool November breeze threatened to blow it off. “At least for the time being, our dogs are focusing on service and therapy training.”
“Just as long as they don’t get out of the yard, I’ll be happy.” Brody lifted his head, his hazel eyes glancing over at the land beyond his newly fenced backyard. “One of these days, I’d like to do something with all that over there,” he said with his customary slow drawl, and pointed at the land currently covered in mesquite trees and low shrubs.
Five acres, nestled outside of Cielo Springs, a small, sleepy town just north of San Antonio, that Brody inherited when his parents died two years prior. Five acres that included the house, a barn, and a few farm plots where his parents had once grown heirloom tomatoes for a local grocery chain. A few cows grazed in the distance between patches of wildflowers and tall grasses swaying in the warm summer breeze.
Five acres that had been his home—at least until they had kicked him out of the house when he was eighteen and sent to live with his grandparents in rural Tennessee.
Five acres that Brody vowed to turn into a place of healing and helping now that it belonged to him. K-9 Companions Rescue, a business they recently started, took dogs from shelters and trained them to be service animals for wounded vets.
Brody glanced down at his own service animal and grinned widely. “What do you think, Peach? Should we fence the whole damn farm and just let you run buck wild?” he asked and reached down to pet her.
The border collie at his side cocked her head as she looked up at him. Intelligence sparkled behind those warm, brown eyes as they gazed Brody, eager and curious as he spoke.
Aaron snorted as he walked to Brody’s other side. “As if. She’s the best trained service animal I’ve ever known. And we’re not gonna worry about the entire farm, at least not yet.” His dark eyes followed Brody’s as they both took in the wooded land back behind where greenhouses once stood, now turned into an over-sized backyard. “But it would sure be nice to get the business large enough that we’d be able to use all that land out there.”
“We’ll get to it eventually.” Brody nodded his head in agreement as he rubbed the small of his back. “Baby steps, isn’t that what you’re always saying?”
Aaron noticed immediately. “You feel okay, man?” Concern etched on Aaron’s face, and his brows furrowed as he gave Brody a quick once-over.
A black city kid from Indianapolis, Aaron’s childhood had contrasted in many ways with Brody’s small town country upbringing. But their common love for hard work and dogs brought them together, and now Brody depended on Aaron’s friendship and appreciated his concerns. “Oh yeah. Just a twinge from driving these posts into the ground.”
But Brody understood Aaron’s worry. Before they went into business together, Aaron had overseen his physical therapy during his rehab after he’d been discharged. There wasn’t anything about Brody’s past injuries or current physical state Aaron didn’t know. He clapped Brody gently on the shoulder. “Let’s finish this last section and head inside. We’ve earned our naps today.”
There was a time in Brody’s life when a statement like that would have made him laugh. At his physical peak, he’d been Staff Sergeant Broderick James Hollis—six foot four, one-hundred and ninety pounds of muscle, proudly serving his country in the Army. He’d lost some of that muscle while recovering from a bomb blast that hit his barracks while he’d been stationed in Syria. But his relentless drive to get the job done hadn’t diminished–even if his body sometimes had other ideas.
The two men finished installing the fence and headed back to the barn to put away their tools. Aaron’s eyes surveyed their progress with approval. “Looks good. I think the next project should be to add more kennels to the barn. We’ve got room for the three dogs we’ve got right now, but we could get that number up to ten by the summer.”
Brody glanced over at the right side of the barn, where they had converted horse stalls into dog kennels. “Ten dogs is a big jump. That's more food, more training supplies, more vet bills. We'll need to seriously think about bringing on Audra as a full-time dog trainer. Is she ready to make that move?”
Aaron nodded. “She talks about it all the time. Hell, I think she loves these dogs more than she loves me. She's finished with all her certifications and is ready to make the move as soon as you are. We're both committed one hundred percent to K-9 Companions.”
Brody smiled at the mention of Audra. She was Aaron's wife and a fellow dog lover. That kind of talk only reinforced Brody’s gut feeling about their decision to go into business together. Aaron and Audra were good people. “We'll need some financial backing. I know there are grants and charitable foundations out there. I reckon it might be time to start reaching out to them.”
“It's past time,” Aaron agreed. “Those three dogs that we've got now are already spoken for, and there's a long list of people waiting for a service animal.”
As they walked back to the house, Aaron's phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket and chuckled. “Speaking of, take a look.”
Brody peered over Aaron's shoulder at the screen. It showed a picture of Audra, sitting in the living room with Jace and Jonah, Brody's nephews, watching a movie on the television. The boys had honey-blond hair and golden eyes, and they looked like miniature versions of Brody. Each of them had a black lab next to them, and a third dog, a yellow mixed breed, sprawled comfortably across Audra's lap. “So, we're working today, and everyone else is just taking the day off?” Brody said with a laugh.
“Looks that way,” Aaron tucked the phone back into his jeans pocket. “How are the boys adjusting?”
“It's hard on them,” Brody said and sighed. “They spent two months in foster care before I was able to bring them down here. They haven't said much about anything, and I haven't pressed them for details.”
“How much do they know about their mom?” Aaron asked.
“Only that she’ll be gone for a long time.” Three years–that was what Nichole’s court-appointed lawyer told Brody when she finally located him to tell him about his sister’s children–two boys, aged five and seven–and asked if anyone knew anything about their father or if any family could take them in. “They’re still a little shell-shocked from being tossed into the foster care program. Nichole’s the only family they’ve ever known. But I think the dogs have helped them settle in down here.” He felt Peach lean against his leg, and he gave her a scratch behind the ear. “Dogs don’t ask questions or require much conversation.”
Aaron nodded as they approached the house. “It's good training for the dogs too, getting them socialized. And it was a good thing you did, Brody, bringing the boys here. Giving them a home.”
“Nothing is more important to me right now than taking care of those boys.” Brody thought for a moment again about his own dark memories of this house, this farm, and what it felt like being torn from his family. “I want them to feel safe and loved and hopefully bring Nichole back here when she's let out so she can start over again as well.”
Brody glanced once more at the farm, the barn, and the house. It had been a great place to grow up–until the day it all went to hell. But he could make that all right now, by doing right by his nephews and his sister and those sweet dogs. He could turn those bad memories into good ones. “This is their home too,” he said, conviction in his voice.
As they entered the house, the scent of fresh-baked cookies greeted them. Brody grinned. “I see Audra's been busy.”
