by Jenna Brandt
The Birch Heights Community Center was rebuilt, and the gala even raised enough money that they were able to put in the much-needed levee. Both businesses were rebuilt better than ever and making guests happier than they had before. Her parents were enjoying rebuilding the mansion, adding even more rooms than they had before. All in all, Megan couldn’t be happier with how everything was turning out since the fires.
Christian pulled up in his SUV, parked along the curb, hopped out of the vehicle, and came around to open the door for her.
“I told you, you don’t need to do that anymore.”
“I like doing it,” Christian said, before shutting the door behind her. He climbed back into the driver’s seat, looking over at Megan for a moment. “You look gorgeous in that dress. Blue really is your color.”
“Thanks.” Megan smiled at him as she reached over and squeezed his hand. “We should hurry or we’re going to be late meeting everyone.”
“Oh, Derik and Aspen had something come up, so they asked if we could push back the reservations,” Christian explained. “But that’s okay, I figured we could go spend a little time at the Thanks-Giving Square until it’s time to meet up with everyone.”
Megan nodded. “That sounds great.”
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at their favorite hang-out place. It was in a steady rotation of places they visited on date night. They walked along the path until they reached the bridge. Christian turned to face Megan, and for the first time, she realized that he seemed nervous.
“Megan, the last six months has been the best time of my life. Every moment I spend with you is better than the last.”
“I feel the same way,” she said, reaching out and taking his hand.
“I can’t imagine spending my life without you.” Christian bent down on one knee and pulled a ring box out of his jacket. Suddenly, she realized he was proposing, but she could hardly process it before the next part came. “Megan Williams, will you make me the happiest man in the world, and marry me?”
“Yes, yes, Christian, I will marry you,” she gasped as he pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto her left ring finger. She glanced down at the beautiful gold band with a solitaire diamond, then back up at Christian. “I love it.”
“Good, because there’s no take-backs,” he teased, lifting her up into his arms, swinging her around before placing her back down and planting a kiss on her lips.
“I wouldn’t want to,” she said through breathless gasps of joy. “You’re all I want, Christian Perez.”
“Come on, we have somewhere to be.” Christian took her by the hand, pulling her down one of the paths.
Megan was surprised when they arrived at the Hall of Thanksgiving, a reservation-only place for special events. “What are we doing here?”
“Well, as it turns out, I have a very influential soon-to-be father-in-law. He called in some favors, and we were able to have a surprise engagement party planned for you here tonight.”
He pushed open the doors. Inside were all of their friends from DCSR with their K9 partners, church members, the Birch Heights Community Center workers, both sets of their parents, and the Reyes.
Their guests clapped and cheered as the newly engaged couple entered the building.
“I can’t believe you did all of this for me,” Megan gushed with shock. “You might be the most wonderful man in the world.”
“I’d say second. Derik has him beat,” Aspen teased as they came up to Christian and Megan. “You’re going to join us as newlyweds soon enough. Get ready for the ride of your life.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Megan beamed, “and I’m going to need a lot of help planning the wedding.”
“I’m more than willing, and kind of an expert since I planned my wedding, Clara and Adam’s wedding, and helped Aspen with hers,” Deanna Hendricks bragged as she came up to the group with her husband, Ted, beside her. “Anything you need, I can help.”
“Don’t take too much on yourself in your condition,” Ted warned his wife. “Your full-time job right now is taking care of that little person you’re growing inside you.”
The rest of the guests came up and congratulated the couple. Towards the end, Jesse Dixon was the last to make his way over. “I’m really happy for you, Christian, but it kind of stinks being the only single guy at DCSR.”
“You know, we can fix that,” Megan said with a smile. “I know lots of single women at the church. Just give me the word, and I can set you up on a blind date.”
“I’m not really the blind date type of guy, but thanks for the offer, Megan.” Jesse sauntered off towards the rest of the DCSR group.
Megan’s parents came up to them next, her mother hugging them both. Her father turned his attention to Christian, giving him a stern look that made Christian nervous until a small grin spread across his face. He reached out his hand to his soon-to-be son-in-law. “I have to admit, in the beginning, I wasn’t sure about you, Christian, or if you were good enough for my daughter. Over the past six months, however, you’ve proven to be an admirable man, worthy of Megan. I’m proud that you’re going to be part of the family.”
“Thank you, Mr. Williams, that means a lot,” Christian said, taking the man’s extended hand. “I promise you, I’m going to do right by your daughter.”
“Good, I’m going to hold you to that, and if you ever hurt her, I’ll…”
“That’s enough threats for one night, dear,” Megan’s mother sighed, pulling her husband away by the arm. “Let’s give them a little time alone. They haven’t had a moment by themselves since they arrived here.”
Christian turned to Megan and pulled her into his arms. “So, you ready to become Mrs. Perez?”
She nodded with excitement. “I can’t wait for us to start our next adventure together.”
“As long as it doesn’t involve fires again, I’m in,” he joked with a chuckle before leaning forward and kissing Megan on the mouth, ready and willing to step into a bright new future with the woman he loved.
Sneak Peek of The Girlfriend Rescue
Ted Hendricks pulled his beanie cap down over his sandy blond hair to cover the edge of his ears. Even though spring was approaching, the Colorado mornings still held that crisp, cool air that made layers a necessity.
“You ready for your next search, Titan?” Ted asked his unofficial K9 partner, removing his leash and let him sniff the sock in his hand. “You’ve done great on the last two; let’s make it three.”
Titan sniffed several times, inhaling deeply. He turned and took off in the opposite direction. Ted followed, pleased that his partner was headed in the right direction. Every time he wondered if the K9 was going to underperform, Titan proved to Ted that he was the most capable search and rescue dog out there. It still shocked Ted that no one wanted to work with him after his police officer partner in Boulder was killed in a car accident. When the police bulletin went out to the county offering adoption for the dog, Ted immediately seized the opportunity. Not only was he a big animal person because he grew up on a farm just outside Clear Mountain, but he knew it was the perfect way to prove he could be a great additional K9 handler for the Clear Mountain Search and Rescue team.
Titan continued up the dirt trail, moving along the edge, stopping occasionally to take another whiff of whatever was driving him forward. About twenty yards further up the trail, Titan found the spot where the other matching sock had been hidden earlier in the day by Ted. He barked and sat down next to a bush on the side of the path.
Ted jogged up and dug inside the bush. He plucked out the sock with pride. “Great job, Titan, you did really good,” he said, pulling out a treat from his cargo-pants’ pocket and giving it to the German shepherd.
Titan barked a second time, wagging his tail with joy. Ted ruffled his partner’s fur, laughing at how happy he was at his work. Ted had been worried whether or not they would bond and make a good team; however, the moment he picked him up from the Boulder County police kennel
, there was an instant connection.
“You ready to head over and get Deanna?” Ted asked, as he re-attached the leash to Titan’s collar.
He barked again, wagging his tail even faster at the mention of Ted’s girlfriend. The only person Titan liked more than Ted was Deanna, and he couldn’t blame his K9 friend. Deanna was amazing. Not only was she drop-dead gorgeous with curly red hair and bright green eyes, she was smart, funny, and one of the kindest people he knew. Even though he had worked with her for years, he had purposely never gone after her. He saw how it bothered her when the other men at the station hit on her, and he didn’t want to be that guy. Plus, he didn’t think he had time for a relationship when he was so focused on his career. When Deanna asked him out on a date, her pursuit was the first time he thought about the possibility of making room for anything other than his job and his family.
Once back at the parking lot of the Clear Mountain Resort, they loaded into Ted’s truck and headed down the main road back into town. He drove to the east side of town and pulled up to a set of townhomes.
“Wait here, Titan. I’ll be right back.”
Ted hopped out of his truck and headed up the walkway. He reached the top of the steps and knocked on the door of the left unit. A few minutes later, Deanna opened the door. She was pulling on her last heel. “Just give me a quick sec,” she said, moving over to grab her purse and jacket from the coat rack behind the door.
Ted grinned, repressing the chuckle that wanted to escape. It was so like Deanna to be late. She was as easy-going as they came in her personal life. This was probably her way of off-setting the need to be tough-as-nails when she was at work trying to keep up with the cops.
“Are we going to make it on time? I don’t want your parents to be upset with me.”
“We’ll be fine,” Ted promised, as he helped her into her black jacket. He hated covering up her blue blouse and jeans—which hugged the curves of her body perfectly—but he knew it was still a little too chilly to go anywhere without a coat. “Besides, they love you. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Good, because I know how important this is to your mom,” Deanna said, locking the door behind her before they took off.
Saturday brunch was a tradition Ted’s mother started for the family when his first brother moved out on his own four years ago. As the youngest of the three brothers, Ted decided to move out two years ago. His mother complained all the time about having an empty nest now that they were all gone. It was probably why she liked Deanna so much. She thought it meant Ted would be settling down soon and giving her lots of grandchildren. His oldest brother, Phil, enjoyed the single life. Ken, the middle son, had only had one daughter from a previous relationship and swore he was done. This was the main reason their mother pinned all her hopes on Ted.
A few miles outside of town, they reached a dirt road that led to Ted’s family’s ranch. Set back and surrounded by trees was a rambling farmhouse with a wooden barn next to it. There were also two large silos and, next to the barn, a corral filled with horses.
Ted climbed out of the truck and came around to help Deanna climb down, then kept the door open to let Titan out as well. They made their way to the front of the house, but before they could even knock, the door swung open. “Uncle Teddy!” his six-year-old niece, Maggie, yelled with a giant grin on her face. “You ready to play Minecraft with me?” All of a sudden, noticing Titan, she pushed past Deanna and Ted to wrap her arms around the dog’s neck. “Never mind, I want to play with Titan instead. Come on, boy,” she said, gesturing for the K9 to follow her.
Ted and Deanna trailed after them into the dining room where the men were sitting around the table and his mother was putting out the last of the dishes.
“Can I help you with anything, Mrs. Hendricks?” Deanna offered.
“How many times do I need to remind you to call me Tamara?”
“I guess it’s just a habit from my job. I tend to call everyone ma’am or by their last name,” Deanna explained.
“Well, I suppose Mrs. Hendricks is better than ma’am. That would make me feel so old.”
The men around the table chuckled.
“We wouldn’t want that,” Ken said, elbowing their brother Phil in the side. “Mom wants to pretend she’s still twenty-two.”
“Stop that,” she chastised, patting her blonde mane. “Can I help it that I don’t have a single gray hair on my head.”
“Dying your hair will do that,” Phil pointed out with a wry grin.
“I don’t appreciate the accusation,” she said, giving her son a withering look of anger. Turning her attention to Deanna, she added, “I don’t need to dye. I have great genes. Just remember that, dear, when you and Teddy decide to finally get married and have children together. They’re going to be blessed with the same great genes.”
“Let’s hurry up and eat before the game comes on. I want to find out who is going to make it to the state finals,” Ted’s father, Bill, said as he gestured to the empty seats next to him. “Sit down.”
“Come on in here, Maggie,” Ted’s mother called out towards the living room. “It’s time to eat.”
Deanna and Ted did as they were directed just as Maggie came running into the room with Titan behind her. She took the last remaining chair at the table, and Titan laid down on the floor beside her.
His father said a prayer over the food before they passed the dishes of mashed potatoes, fried chicken, green beans, and bread around the table. The family laughed and talked about their week. Maggie kept slipping pieces of food to Titan. Ted knew he should probably stop it; it wasn’t the best idea to feed him from the table, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop it since it made them both so happy.
Just as they were finishing up the meal, Ted’s cell phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw it was a call from work. “I have to take this.” He answered the call only to be informed he was getting called in for a missing hiker. He wished he could take Titan with him and prove how great of a team they were, but he hadn’t gotten up the nerve to seek the captain’s approval yet. It would just have to wait until next time.
“Ken, do you mind giving Deanna a ride home for me?” Ted asked, standing up from the table. “I have to go to work. We’ve got a missing hiker.”
“What about Titan?” Maggie asked, looking down at her K9 friend.
“Can you keep him here until I can pick him up later?” Ted asked.
“We can watch him, can’t we, Daddy?” Maggie begged. “Please, Daddy, please?”
He shrugged. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”
Ted leaned over and gave Deanna a quick kiss. “Sorry about this. I’ll call you later.”
“I knew what I was signing up for when I decided to date a search and rescue cop,” she teased with a smile. “Go find that missing hiker.”
As Ted took off, he was grateful for his wonderful family and girlfriend; however, part of him still longed for the one thing he didn’t have that he always wanted. He wanted to be a K9 handler. He knew he needed to finally just go for it, but in the back of his mind, he worried that it wasn’t going to work out. Pushing that troubling thought away, Ted focused on what he needed to do next. He sped towards the station, ready to meet his team, and start their search.
Grab your copy of The Girlfriend Rescue!
Sneak Peek of The Wedding Rescue-A Disaster City Short Story
“I can’t believe you’re finally getting married,” Derik Cruise said in his slow Texas drawl, as he slung his arm across his friend’s shoulders. “You’re a lucky man, landing a woman like Deanna.”
“Don’t I know it,” Ted Hendricks, his fellow Disaster City Search and Rescue instructor, agreed with an appreciative grin. “I’ve waited for this day for a long time. I can’t wait to slip that ring on Deanna’s finger and make her my wife.”
Derik had been surprised, but touched, when Ted had asked him to be a groomsman. They’d only been friends a year, but working and living in such close
quarters at the DCSRA facility tended to make the staff form relationships faster and stronger than in normal circumstances.
“When will the rest of the guys be getting here?” Adam Reynolds, a Colorado native like Ted, DCSRA instructor, and groomsman, asked as they made their way to the hotel desk to check in at the posh Dallas resort.
When their flight arrived from Boulder in a couple hours, Ted’s two brothers as well as Officers Aiden O’Connell and Zach Turner from his old search and rescue team, would be joining the rest of the wedding party. Everyone besides Derik hailed from the small town of Clear Mountain, and they often talked about how great the place was. It made him want to visit someday, especially if it meant he could get some epic skiing in.
“They should be arriving in just a few hours, along with the rest of the old gang,” Ted explained, as the trio took their spot in line for check-in at the hotel.
“Man, I’m just glad our last rescue in Wilmont got finished in time so we weren’t late today. Thank goodness our K9 partners did such a good job of locating the survivors from yesterday’s incident.” Derik pushed his bag up on his shoulder, making it more comfortable as they waited. “I didn’t expect to have a set of tornadoes touch down so late in the season.”
Their group of K9 partners obediently sat next to them as they waited. It was unusual to have dogs at a wedding. Considering nearly the entire wedding party was comprised of handlers and/or their spouses; however, it made sense that the dogs were as much a part of the event as the humans. Ted and Deanna even went as far as to make sure the hotel had plenty of accommodations for their furry partners, which included doggie treats at the wedding meals, as well as a special dog area during the reception.
“You did well today, didn’t you, Ripley,” Derik said, leaning down and patting his golden Labrador retriever on the top of her head. Ripley barked and wagged her tail in return, letting him know she was happy to be there.
