Nothing but Love by Holly Jacobs Page B

have a new dog,” Angela said on Sunday morning to her WLVH audience.  “Her name is Sera.  When Nana Vancy saw her name, she looked at me and said, Angel, do you know that the seraphim are angels?  She’s the one for you.  She truly needs her forever home in time for Christmas. 
                  “I said no.  I meant no.  There are a million reasons I shouldn’t have a dog right now.
                  “But then I saw her.
                  “Sera was a dog the rescue group didn’t think would ever be adopted.  They found her on the side of I-79.  She’d obviously been out there a long time.  When they took her to the vet’s, she said Sera’s back was broken.  The only thing that still works below her waist is her tail.  And when she came out to meet me in her little doggie wheelchair, that tail wagged and wagged.  I had a mental image of those airboats they use in the Florida everglades.  Then, even worse than that tail, there were her soulful eyes.  I looked into them and saw nothing but kindness and optimism.  And I was lost. 
                  “Maybe Nana Vancy’s right.  Words have power.  She told me I was going to find love, and now I have Sera.
                  “Of course, I’m going to have to make my new house wheelchair accessible.  It shouldn’t be too hard.  It’s a small cape on the east side of town.  There are only three steps to get inside. I think I can manage making the ramp.  Not that I know a reciprocating saw from a glue gun…”

 
                  Justin switched off the radio.  He wasn’t sure why he’d turned on WLVH, a station known for its love songs.  He was more of a country guy, especially since his leg incident.
                  WLVH’s newest disc jockey had probably only taken the dog home because she felt sorry for it.  No one, not even a dog, wanted to be pitied.
                  As for a ramp for dog, it was obvious that the woman didn’t know her way around tools.  How on earth was she going to manage it?
                  Justin glanced out his window at his truck.  He hadn’t driven it since he got home from the hospital, then rehab.  His physical therapist assured him it was okay.  The truck was an automatic.  He still had his right leg.  He could definitely drive.
                  And though he didn’t know where the woman’s house was, it couldn’t be far.  Erie was a city, but it was a small city. 
                  Forget it.  There was no reason he needed to help her.
                  She could hire someone to build a ramp.
                  Or she could carry the dog in and out.
                  He remembered his physical therapist putting a belt around his waist and holding it as he first tried out the crutches, then the prosthetic and crutches, and finally just the prosthetic.  Ready to catch him if he fell.
                  Having someone hold him up was emasculating.
                  He couldn’t imagine the dog would like it any more than he did.
                  A ramp would give the dog a bit of independence.
                  Damn.
                  He reached over and took his hated prosthetic leg and strapped it in place.
                  It looked as if he was going to build a ramp.

              Angela got home at the end of her shift, anxious to check on her dog, Sera.
                  Her dog.
                  She had a dog.
                  She still wasn’t quite sure how it happened. 
                  One minute, Nana Vancy was introducing her to the dog, the next Angela was filling out papers, listening to instructions and bringing Sera home.
                  Nothing but love , Nana Vancy had said.  Words have power,