“Thank you.It’s not just us, though,” Magnus said.“We’ve got a great team, and if we’re lucky, we’ll have some volunteers.”
“Well, you can count me in if you’re looking for someone to sign up.”
“Animal lover,” Trey muttered with a smirk.
“That I am.”
“We’ll gladly take whatever help you’re willing to offer,” Magnus said.“If all goes well, we’ll be up and running by May or June.”
“March,” Ava corrected.“We’ll be open for business in March.”
Magnus grinned, mouthed, “May,” and subtly shook his head.Evidently, he was a bit more pragmatic.
“In the meantime, you can swing by Camp K-9 in Embers Ridge.Check out the search and rescue operations.Reese mentioned you’ve bonded with Tesha.”
Archer chuckled.“Like you said.Animal lover.”
A knock interrupted them a moment before the door opened, and Reese and Tesha strolled into the cramped space.
Tesha’s hind end started wagging before Magnus could crouch down to pet her.
“Hey, beautiful.What’s shakin’?”
Tesha lifted her paw to shake.
Archer watched the interaction, noticing how easily Magnus communicated with Tesha.
“Where’s Brantley?”Trey asked.
“We dropped him at the house.”
Archer heard something in Reese’s tone, but he didn’t know the man well enough to identify what it was.
Obviously, Trey noticed too.“Problem?”
“It’s all good.”Reese stepped over to the table.“This looks great.Construction startin’ soon?”
Archer crouched down when Tesha came over.He rubbed her head and her back, listening while Trey and Ava outlined what was what, noting the construction timelines.
“If you need anything, just holler.I’ll stop in whenever we’ve got a few minutes to help out.”
“We’re gonna put Archer to work, too,” Ava told him.
Standing tall, Archer smiled.“Whenever you need me.”
“As long as we don’t need him first,” Reese corrected.
“What he said.”
Reese cocked an eyebrow, clearly anticipating an answer.Archer managed to sidestep the conversation for a few minutes, chatting with Trey, Magnus, and Ava about the accommodations they were working on.But when they were back at their vehicles, Archer waited until the trio had left before giving Reese the answer he was waiting for.
“You already know I’m all in,” he said sincerely.“Just like everyone else on your team.”
“Then I guess I should welcome you.”Reese held out his hand.“We know you’ll be an asset to the team.”
Archer would agree with him there.But only because he consistently gave 150% to everything he did.
Chapter Nineteen
