“You mean you could try to trace Vanessa online or something like that?”
Alexis reached out and found Tina’s shoulder, then gave it a squeeze. “Blair’s a police detective. We just didn’t want to mention it right away.”
“That’s okay,” Tina cried. “I feel we’re on the same team, now that we’re raising puppies for bomb sniffers as well as guide dogs. And I couldn’t ever thank you enough if you’d try to help me! So—I have a feeling you two are not just together ’cause you caught that guy Sterling helped you nab. It’s more than that, right?”
“A lot more,” Blair said.
“That makes me happy, just like seeing how good Sterling’s doing. You know,” Tina said, her voice calmer now, “I’ll just bet you could get Sterling to walk Alexis right down the aisle at a wedding.”
EPILOGUE
As far as Alexis knew, their wedding today was a first for the PBB program: Sterling actually walked her down the aisle, even though her mother was on the other side to give her away. Alexis sensed Blair’s nervousness and happiness as he squeezed her hand, and her mother took Sterling’s harness, leaving them standing at the front of the church to face the minister and a new life together.
During the service, Alexis heard the occasional click of cameras. A friend of Blair’s was taking wedding pictures for them, and Tina’s two kids both had cameras and promised to take the photos to their mother next week when their aunt Vanessa took them to visit her again. Blair had traced Tina’s sister through her career as a nurse’s aide and found her not far away, working at a seniors’ health center. She’d been more than willing to raise both of Tina’s kids until Tina was paroled.
The wedding reception was going to be a great reunion. The guest list included some of Alexis’s students; Andy Curtis, Sterling’s guide dog instructor; and even the police officer, a close friend of Blair’s, who was going to train Tina’s dog, Corky, to be a bomb sniffer.
Wanting to cherish every moment, Alexis inhaled deeply. She smelled Blair’s pine-scented aftershave as he bent close to kiss her, the sweet roses in her bouquet—and everyone’s joy. She might be blind, but she could clearly see a lovely, blessed future.
Dear Reader,
I was so impressed by Puppies Behind Bars (PBB) and by meeting Gloria Gilbert Stoga, as well as several of the PBB dogs and their blind or F.B.I. partners, that I have since included working dogs in two other romantic suspense novels. In The Hiding Place (available from MIRA Books) and Deep Down (available June ’09 from MIRA Books) readers will meet great canine companions. Beamer in The Hiding Place was greatly inspired by getting to know several of the beautiful Labrador retrievers of the PBB program.
PBB is a charity that makes a difference where the rubber meets the road—or, in this case, where the paws meet the pavement. Take a look at the great Web site for PBB at: www.puppiesbehindbars.com. There you can learn about supporting this outreach through deeds and dollars as it breaks down the barriers of disability, low self-worth and fear.
And despite demands on your time, I would encourage you to get a new “leash on life” by working with charities in your own neighborhood.
www.karenharperauthor.com
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2955-0
MORE THAN WORDS: STORIES OF STRENGTH
Copyright © 2008 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Carla Neggers is acknowledged as the author of Close Call.
Susan Mallery is acknowledged as the author of Built To Last.
Karen Harper is acknowledged as the author of Find the Way.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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More Than Words: Stories of Strength Page 19
