Thad waited three days to let her settle back into her routine before visiting.

The Army taught him when to push forward, when to fall back. He just needed to bide his time. He’d let her run. Eventually, she’d get tired, or he’d capture her heart with love and kindness. Getting her to love him back, well…that might take more time.

“I have awesome news.” Thad walked into Karly's office. “Joe’s offered me a job.”

Karly looked up from her computer. “That’s great,” she said, although the enthusiasm didn’t follow.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me taking a deputy job, versus working for Chase?”

“Ummm…Sorry? I’m still trying to switch gears here.” She tossed her pen on the desk. “Deputy. That’s great news, and it shouldn’t matter what I think. It’s what is important to you.” She pushed her hair off her shoulder and stretched as if she’d been sitting for hours. “When do you start?”

“There's some paperwork and a few tests. Part of the requirement for me to work for the force is getting my leg back in shape and EMDR therapy.”

“What type of therapy? I’ve never heard of the EM…what did you call it?”

“EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It's some new psychotherapy that will be useful for helping me get my dad’s voice out of my head. Both Joe and I feel talking to someone will help.”

“That sounds great.”

Ah, that smile. If he could see her beauteous expression every minute of every day, he’d be a happy man.

“Joe will be hiring some new deputies, and wants me to train them in hand-to-hand combat and tactical maneuvering. He’s already hired a female he wants me to test. She’s moving up from Denver.”

“That’s great. I’m pleased for you.”

Thad sat on the edge of her desk. The floral scent from her shampoo wafted by, and he wanted to lean in closer to savor her essence. “You seem distracted today. What’s up? Something seems off.”

“Something’s off, all right. My bank account. My business. It’s all off.”

Thad studied the computer screen and saw a bunch of red. “Is that your financial statement for the year?”

“Yep. Even with not accepting any more rescues, adding volunteers, and cutting back on expenses, I still don’t have enough to pay the back bills plus fund operations. I just can't seem to figure out a way to make this place work. Even with the donated food and supplies, I can't do it.”

Can’t? She’d been using that word a lot lately. She never used to.

The tears welling in her eyes shredded his determination to keep his distance. He pulled her into his arms. “It’ll be okay, Karly. We'll figure something out. I’ve already been working on a plan to create some Facebook ads and get you more traffic to your site.”

“You have?” Her eyes expanded with her surprise.

“Yep. I just need to look into a few more things before I share.”

Her whole body deflated. “I wanted to prove to my parents I could do this, run a business. They never supported my dream, well, not until recently.”

“If the Army taught me one thing, it’s that a team of people can accomplish more than just one person.”

“It’s too little, too late. I've already put in calls to other shelters. They're willing to take some of the animals. I also called my brother this morning. That manager job in Denver’s still open. I still have time to get my resume in, not that I know how to write one.”

Wow. “An office job?” He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake until her common sense returned. “That's what you want to do?”

“What choice do I have? With everything that has happened over the last few weeks, I’m tired of the way people look at me like I’m some rescue that they have to adopt.” Karly shuffled papers on her desk. “Plus, my mother is being weird. She cleaned my apartment yesterday.”

“That doesn’t sound unusual.”

“She didn’t rearrange the furniture this time or reorganize my closet. Everything was where it was supposed to be when I got home.”

“That is weird.” Thad handed Karly a stray paperclip that had fallen to the floor. “Who replaced your mother with an alien?” Thad walked around to the other side of Karly’s desk. “Just kidding.”

“No, you’re not.” She shoved the papers into one of the filing cabinets. “It’s just I jump at every little sound. I have these nightmares. I can’t even go running and exercise the dogs, because I’m terrified someone will jump out and grab me. I know it’s silly. I need to get over the fear, because I love to run, and the large dogs need to release some energy.”

I can appreciate how you feel. “We can run together.”

“That still doesn’t solve the problem of funding.”

“How much do you need?”

“If I maintain my boarding and adoption income average, I'm still short five thousand dollars.”

Thad let out an elongated whistle. “That’s a chunk of change.”

“My point. Even if I train more service dogs, it won't be enough. I need money now. Plus, training dogs takes away from my time running the business. I’m exhausted and running low on chow.”

“This kennel has been your dream.” Thad pushed. “If you give up now, you might regret it.”

“If I can’t properly feed or take care of these animals, I’ll regret it even more. These guys have already been through enough.”

“Promise me you’ll give me a week.”

“Thad—”

“No. Promise me. Just one week. Let me see if I can come up with something.”

“You need to concentrate on your new job.”

“Let me worry about my job. We need to come up with ideas for how to keep this place running.”

“Have you ever thought it might be better, for both of us, if I leave town? I've seen the way you look at me, and you always seem to want more. I've already told you I can't give you more.”

A slow breath eased out his chest. Patience. He needed to have patience. “Let’s just take one step at a time. Let's focus on your business, and we can discuss our future some other time.”

The muscles in her face worked like gears on a bike, rotating around and around and around trying to get all the muscles working together, but then the ticking motion stopped, and she shrugged. “Okay. You’ve talked me into it. One week. I’ll give it one more week, then I have to start getting these animals placed, or find foster families.”

“I’ll take the week, and raise you exercising daily.”

“What are we, playing poker now?”

There was the pushback he loved. “It’s called physical therapy. In your case, it’s physical therapy for the mind. You need to keep doing what you love to do. What you went through was horrific, and nobody should have to go through that kind of thing. You need to give yourself a break, Karly. You need to give yourself time to heal.”

She put her feet up on her desk, leaned back and crossed her arms. “Are you healed?”

“I’m getting there, but it’s taken me much longer than I ever thought it would. How about it? We can each take three dogs. You can always do the paperwork later tonight.”

“Thad Lopez, did anyone ever tell you you're persistent?”

He chuckled. “I've been called a lot of things, but persistent hasn't ever been one of them.” Thad stood. “Why don’t I get the kennels loaded and the supplies packed while you finish up here?” The skepticism on her face he wanted to erase. “C’mon, it’ll be fun.”

Her sad eyes lifted to him. “Thank you. You’ve been a great friend these past several weeks. I'm glad you came home.”

Friend. He was starting to hate that word. “Yeah. Me too.”