The Reject Rescue Read online

  The Reject Rescue: A K9 Handler Romance

  Disaster City Search and Rescue

  Copyright © 2019 by George H. McVey All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Erin Dameron Hill/ EDH Graphics

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental or used fictitiously.

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  Introduction

  Roxanna (Roxy) Kowalski is a two-time reject when it comes to love. Left once at the altar and having a second love never even get off the ground. She was ready to give up before her boss’s wife signs her up for True Love Connection’s matchmaking service. Now on assignment in Disaster City, she is contacted that a 95% True love connection is also at the training center, she takes one last chance on finding her Happy Ever After. Only to have a disaster strike again.

  Jackson Cornilus knows that women are few and far between in Alaska. So he signed up for TLC.net at his best friend's advice. When he’s notified there’s a potential near perfect match while he’s training his Rescue partner Pinga at Disaster City’s Search and Rescue K9 program he takes a chance and meets Roxy, who is exactly what he wants in a wife. Only disaster strikes and her plane goes down over the Alaskan Wilderness.

  Can Roxie stay alive in the frozen Yukon using the survival supplies from her boss’s company until help can arrive? Will Jackson and Pinga be able to search and rescue the woman who holds Jackson’s heart? Or will the harsh weather conditions lead to another True Love Connection falling apart? Can Jackson pull off the Reject’s Rescue?

  Step into the world of Disaster City Search and Rescue, where officers, firefighters, military, and medics, train and work alongside each other with the dogs they love, to do the most dangerous job of all — help lost and injured victims find their way home.

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Books by George

  Prologue

  Roxy stood in front of the mirror trying to calm her nerves. “Something old; Grandma’s veil. Something New; The wedding dress. Something borrowed; Linda’s crystal necklace. Something blue; my flowers are blue. Why am I so nervous?”

  Her mother laughed from across the room. “Oh honey, being a nervous bride is normal. You just take deep cleansing breaths and before you know it your Daddy will be walking you down the flower covered runner to your husband.”

  Roxy nodded and did what her mother told her too and sure enough, soon she was standing in front of the preacher. She was finally here, with all her friends and family watching as she prepared to become Mrs. Winslow Bainbridge. She snapped to attention when the preacher asked her the question, the one she’d waited a lifetime to answer.

  “Do you, Roxanne Kowalski take Winslow Bainbridge to be your lawful wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward forsaking all others, until death do you part?”

  She smiled at the man she was about to pledge herself to forever. Her smile slipped as she noticed he was sweating and not really looking at her. Winslow’s attention seemed to be out in the crowd gathered to celebrate with them. Her smile had slipped, but she quickly put it back in place wondering what was bothering her groom. “I do.”

  The preacher turned to Winslow. “And do you, Winslow Bainbridge take Roxanne Kowalski to be your lawful wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, forsaking all others until death do you part?”

  Winslow swallowed and looked at Roxy, and then his eyes looked into the people seated in the audience. “I…” He looked back at Roxy and shook his head. “I’m sorry Roxy. I can’t, I don’t love you. I can’t lie anymore. I can’t marry you because I’m in love with your sister.”

  There were gasps from everyone, and he turned and walked to where her baby sister sat in the family section. “I love you Elisabeth Kowalski, and I can’t pretend otherwise anymore.”

  Roxy watched as her younger sister stood and hugged the man she was supposed to be marrying. “I love you too Winslow.”

  She looked up at Roxy, and her face went white. “I’m sorry too Roxy, but it is true. I love him.” That was the last thing Roxanne heard before everyone went nuts, then the world spun, before going dark.

  One

  Roxy

  Two Years Later

  Roxy looked at the letter from her mother and once again, felt the pain and rage at the betrayal of Winslow and her sister Beth. Most days she didn’t even think about them thanks to how busy she was since moving to Alaska to work for the Holiday Islands Resort and Rudy Holiday. However, now her mother was gushing over the fact that she was going to be a grandmother. She knew the fact that Beth and Winslow were having a baby shouldn’t bother her after all this time. However, that they’d run off to Vegas and were married by the time she got to the hospital after fainting at her wedding fiasco had never really been addressed.

  The betrayal of not just her sister but the whole family by accepting them so easily felt like a blow to her already fragile heart. She had quit her job working for her father as his secretary at the family company the next day. Then she’d used her savings to travel to a small town in George where she’d taken a job as the personal secretary of an insurance mogul. She’d worked there for six more months and applied on several website for online dating. She’d had a few disastrous dates, mostly men looking for a quick hookup. Then she’d been offered the job working for Rudy Holiday by his father Gordon and moved to Alaska.

  Now a year later, she had been promoted from Rudy's personal assistant to his vice president of operations for Alaska Survival Gear. The company he started after winning the lone survivor contest and marrying her best friend Clarice the first time.

  Not that Clarice had been her best friend at the time, but since her and Rudy’s second wedding with his brothers, they had grown close. So much so, that Roxy had been the birthing coach for the couple and was named God mother to their twins, Robbie and Evie. Heck Roxy even let her convince her to sign up for True Love Connection.com’s online matchmaking service.

  After all the algorithms had put Rudy and Clarice at a 98% match, and they were still as in love as the day they’d married the second time. Roxy had filled out the questionnaire, but that had been six months ago. So far she’d had no matches above the acceptable limit of 90%. Not even Gordon’s new wife, Evelyn could find her a more conventionally made match. No, Roxy was pretty sure there wasn't love in the cards for her. She sighed and shook her head, jumping at the deep voice of her boss coming from her doorway.

  “That’s a deep sigh for a Monday morning Roxy. Is everything okay with you?”

  “Yeah just thinking about the past. Today was supposed to be my second anniversary. Instead of celebrating I get a voicemail from my mom that my sister is pregnant. I’m not married or even dating. Other than that life is great."

  Rudy Holliday stepped into her office and shut the door. “Yeah I could see how that would make for a fantabul
ous day.” His smexy half smile tinged with sarcasm wasn’t welcome. A year ago it would have made her heart beat just a bit faster. That was until she’d gotten to see how he only had eyes for his wife. Now it was just a part of who her friend and boss was.

  “Oh, don’t even get me started. After all the father of her wonderful baby to be is the guy she stole from me, right at my altar, then she married him on my wedding day herself. Even so, hey I’m great! I chose to move to this frozen wonderland and make a difference in people’s lives.”

  “Well…” He rubbed his hand across his head. Roxy's eyes narrowed she knew that tone and move he was about to ask a big favor of her.

  “Just spit it out Rudy. What do you want me to do now?”

  “I need you to go to Texas and meet with a new client I’ve been trying to get for a while.”

  No words sent fear as much as those. In the two years Roxy worked for Rudy she’d never refused to go see a client when he needed her too. However, he’d also always been very careful not to ask her to go to Texas, mainly because Clarice told him why Roxy had left to begin with.

  “You need me to go meet with a client in Texas?”

  Rudy nodded. “I know what I’m asking you. It’s going to get worse for you too. If I could go, I would but I have the new season of Lone Survior to host, at the same time. I should never have agreed to my brother’s demand to become the new host of that show.”

  The pit in Roxy's stomach was getting bigger. “Where am I going?”

  Rudy nervously cleared his throat.“Company is called Disaster City Search and Rescue.”

  Well crud!!! She was going home! Wasn’t that just perfect? Roxy put on her fake smile.

  “Yeah I know where it is. Am I staying at the center or at the bed and breakfast?”

  “We actually rented you a house there. The center is going to give you a designated space to meet with the different departments. Their last equipment company kept raising prices and using less and less quality manufacturing. This could be a great opportunity for us and may help us expand beyond survival gear to fire and rescue gear as well.”

  Roxy slumped, that meant this wasn’t a quick one or two day meet. “When do I leave?”

  “I’ll have one of the Jets here Thursday. That will give you the weekend to settle into the house we rented for you. On Monday you’re to meet with Master Sargent Young, who will get you set up with the people that you need to see there. Stay until we have them everything they want lined up in whatever packages they need.”

  Roxy was already taking notes on her company tablet of everything Rudy was saying. She noticed she’d gotten several email notices from her work email account, mostly from the sales and travel departments of the firm about this trip. She made a note to refresh her knowledge of Disaster City Search and Rescue. She was sure she could set them up with comprehensive equipment setups for each of their Search and Rescue divisions. The thought of bringing back some new ideas for fire response and rescue for the R&D department also excited her. The last email she got however, made her heart race a bit. Clarice’s algorithms found her a 95% TLC match. She’d look at that one later, she had too much to do right now.

  Rudy stood and thanked her for going. Then started to leave before sticking his head back in the doorway. “Oh yeah, almost forgot. Corny and his new dog will be riding the plane with you. He’s taking Pinga there for some month-long training class.”

  Roxy stopped and took a deep breath “Thanks for the heads up.”

  “Just be nice to the guy Roxy, he finally let Clarice talk him into signing up for TLC after his latest girl dumped him for not being willing to work for her father in Chicago.”

  “Got It. Rudy. Be nice to your pal that I’m sharing my six hour flight home with, no problem. You know he doesn’t like me, right?”

  Rudy frowned and shook his head. “That’s not true, he just doesn’t know how to connect with you. He's a quiet guy, mostly. Okay I gotta jet. I need to fly to the set for our first meeting of Lone Survivor and see who the contestants are this season. Get us a great contract.”

  With that, he was gone, and Roxy let her head fall to the desk top where she banged her head. Looked like after two years, Roxanne Kowalski was heading home. Like it or not.

  Jackson

  Jackson Cornilus couldn’t believe he’d let Clarice and Evelyn Holliday talk him into signing up for that stupid matchmaking site. Yes, he was tired of dating the vamped women who he met working at the Resort. They all wanted the same thing: him to spend money on them and to change his survivalist ways. They thought, because he had money, he should live like the rich and famous Hollidays. Not spending his time working as a K9 arctic search and rescue team leader. His money was what allowed him to lead his team. The few arctic survival classes he taught on Rudolph’s Island was just a way to keep his skills sharp. Well, that and maybe teach some people how to actually survive if something happened to them in the frozen tundra of Alaska. Not that any of the weekend survivalist would ever really be alone in the arctic Northlands.

  The last woman left because he refused to accept her Daddy’s offer of a corner office in some big city on the mainland. In other words, she wanted to change him into her idea of a rich businessman. He just wanted one woman, one real woman who understood that not all men fit in the city. There had to be one woman who, like him, loved watching the stars and breathing the fresh air on his little piece of mountain. Wasn’t there a woman like that somewhere in the world? Clarice promised him she’d find him a match. He’d mainly filled out the profile and took the test to stop his best friend's wife and mother-in-law both from asking him to let them find him a match all the time.

  At least, he’d have a month-long break. He finally got Pinga, his new K-9 partner, ready for the final training and certification for wilderness Search and Rescue. He still missed Bumble his old partner, but the old guy had finally gotten too old to work. The harsh conditions they endured over the years had forced Jackson to have to put him down after the vet let him know the dog was in constant pain. Bumble had been a Newfoundland, Pinga was a Black Lab. She still had lots of energy to spare, and today they were just playing. Jackson was trying to letting her burn off her energy. He wanted to make sure she was good and tired this weekend, so she’d rest well on their way to Texas for the training and certification classes next week.

  Thankfully his buddy Rudy had business in Texas and had offered to let them hitch a ride on his private jet instead of having to fly commercial. Pinga could fly that way as a working dog, but the hassle of commercial airports and all the people wanting to pet the dog, even though her vest clearly asked them not to, made it such a hassle. The last time the airline even tried to make him put her in the cargo hold. When he showed them the law and threatened a lawsuit, they’d backed off; but suddenly his first-class seats were over booked, and they’d forced him to fly coach. So, flying private this time would be great.

  He looked up as a flash of blue color caught his attention. He smiled as he watched the Alaskan wind whip long blonde hair around the perfect form of one Roxanne Kowalski, his best friend's right hand umm… woman. Now there was the perfect woman. Too bad she only noticed him as Rudy’s survivalist buddy. He’d met her just before the big Reindeer Brothers wedding. While Roxy worked for Rudy, she was also one of Clarice’s best friends and as such off limits. Which was a shame.

  The girl was fun and kind of bubbly personality wise but whip smart too. Look wise, she was perfection personified. Thick, Blond waves of hair, with the perfect shade of blue eyes, and a figure that would make Norma Jean, aka Marilyn Monroe, jealous. She wasn’t the model thin size zero most of the girls who showed interest in Jackson were. No, she was pin-up girl flawless, with generous curves in all the right places. He’d noticed her and been attracted, and she’d seemed nice. He’d even gotten one dance with her on New Years Eve, but he’d had a girl at the time who was irritating, and the beauty had avoided him ever since.

  Still, he’d watche
d her since, and the few times they’d talked, he’d been tongue tied by that perfect Texas twang coming from her full cupid bow lips the color of fresh strawberries just off the vine. If he thought, she’d shown him any indication she was as attracted as he was, he’d be all over her trying to get a date or six. However, the last few times they did end up together she avoided him.

  The thing that really caught his attention about her though was the old soul he saw in her eyes. She’d seen things and survived. He wanted to know what it was that made her light seem so tortured, only he didn’t have the right to ask.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see an email from Clarice’s company. Apparently, they’d found him a match. The header said it was a near-perfect match at 95%. Too bad he’d be gone for just over a month. That near perfect match would have moved on by then, and since he was headed to Texas, there wasn’t any way he could start a relationship now. He’d just have to try again when he got back.

  Two

  Roxy

  Roxy arrived at the plane to find she wasn’t using Rudy’s private jet, or even one of the other Holliday Island Resort planes but a chartered private plane. She checked in with the Collette Sparks who had arranged all the travel and lodging to make sure she was at the proper hanger and was told that Rudy had needed his jet himself, and the family and corporate jets were all in use. “Okay, I understand, but I’m supposed to be helping a new client put together search and rescue gear packs for their specific needs when I get to Texas. Do I have gear to show them or am I going to have to rework my whole strategy by just using the online catalog?”

  Collette laughed. “Roxy you should trust me by now. It’s been almost a year since we started working together. As soon as I found out you weren’t traveling on Rudy’s plane, I had complete survival kits shipped next day mail to your rental. If there’s anything else that comes up after you get there just call, and I’ll overnight it to you.”